2024-25 Departmental Plan

ISSN: 2371-7262

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From the Chair

Headshot of Christopher J. McNeil

Christopher J. McNeil

Chair

I am pleased to present the 2024-25 Veterans Review and Appeal Board (VRAB, the Board) Departmental Plan. Our Departmental Plan serves as a roadmap, guiding us toward the achievement of our strategic priorities and goals.

This plan reflects our commitment to excellence, accountability, and, most importantly, our dedication to serving Veterans, Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) and Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) members, and their families.

Within this plan, you will learn how we support Veterans and their families in the year ahead, the initiatives we will undertake to advance this work around our priorities outlined in the Strategic Plan, as well as how we plan to measure progress on our objectives.

The Board’s priorities for 2024-25 include:

  • Ensuring justice is accessible to all in a timely manner
  • Delivering high-quality, and effective hearings
  • Maintaining a culture of innovation and continuous improvement
  • Fostering a healthy and safe organization that considers diversity and inclusion

Thank you for your trust and partnership as we strive to ensure Veterans receive the support they deserve and the benefits they are entitled to.

Plans to deliver on core responsibilities and internal services

Core responsibilities and internal services

Appeals

Description

Provide an independent review and appeal program for disability benefits decisions made by Veterans Affairs Canada; ensure Veterans, Canadian Armed Forces and Royal Canadian Mounted Police members, and their families, receive the benefits they are entitled to under law for service-related disabilities.

Quality of life impacts

This core responsibility contributes to the “Good Governance” domain of the Quality of Life Framework for Canada and, more specifically, “Access to fair and equal justice (civil and criminal).” It also contributes to the “Health” domain, more specifically, “Timely access to primary care provider”; and the “Prosperity” domain, more specifically, “Financial well-being”.

Results and targets

The following table shows, for each departmental result related to Appeals, the indicators, the results from the three most recently reported fiscal years, the targets and target dates approved in 2024–25.

Table 1: Indicators, results and targets for departmental results
Indicator
2020-2021 result
2021-2022 result
2022-2023 result
Target
Date to achieve

Percentage of Applicants who provide positive feedback about their hearing
Not available1
Not available1
97%
≥95%
March 31, 2025

Percentage of Board decisions that meet quality standards
91%
71%
93%
≥85%
March 31, 2025

Percentage of Board decisions overturned by the Federal Court
0.1%
0.1%
0.4%
<2%
March 31, 2025
Percentage of Review decisions issued within 16 weeks of the applicant/ representative notifying the Board their case is ready to be heard
88%
77%
49%
≥95%
March 31, 2025
Percentage of Appeal decisions issued within 16 weeks of the applicant/ representative notifying the Board their case is ready to be heard
66%
37%
40%
≥85%
March 31, 2025
Explanation of table 1

1 This indicator is based on responses to questions from the Board’s Review Hearing Exit Survey, which is administered to applicants following their in-person hearing. During the global pandemic, in-person review hearings had to be suspended, except for very limited circumstances. Results for this indicator are not available as the survey was not administered.

The financial, human resources and performance information for the [organization’s name]’s program inventory is available on GC InfoBase.

Plans to achieve results

Everything the Board does under its core responsibility aims to provide Veterans and their families with high quality, timely hearings and decisions. In 2024-25, the Board will focus on the following priorities to achieve these results.

Access to Justice

Access to justice is a key component of the Board’s mandate. The Board is continuously working to help Veterans and their families obtain access to the disability appeal process, and ultimately benefits, more quickly. In 2024-25, the Board will build on previous and new initiatives in support of increased efficiency in the appeal process, while streamlining processes to improve workload management so that Veterans and their families receive decisions quicker. To this end, the Board will:

  • Foster the use of data and tools, such as dashboards and other reports, to assist with effective workload management and support informed, timely decision-making;
  • Regularly monitor and report on productivity results against performance targets, identifying challenges as they arise and adjusting processes as required; and
  • Review workflows and make meaningful process improvements to eliminate operational redundancies and ensure more flexible service delivery.

In recent years, there has been a significant increase in the number of cases coming to the Board. As a result, the Board put forward a 2023 request for additional resources, to help address the increased workload. The Board was successful in obtaining resources towards this objective, on both a temporary and permanent basis. Looking ahead, the Board will focus on maintaining this enhanced capacity to hold hearings and issue decisions, and addressing the increase in workload.

Communications and outreach are fundamental to improving and supporting access to the Board’s appeal program, while ensuring that Veterans, their families and stakeholders understand what the Board does. The Board recognizes the significance of transparent communication and the need to keep our stakeholders informed about the Board's activities, decisions, and initiatives.

In 2024-25, the Board will continue to meet with stakeholder groups across the country to hear about the issues that are important to Veterans. We will continue leveraging social media platforms to improve communications and outreach to the public, Veterans and stakeholders, and will explore the use of additional social media channels such as Linked In.

In 2022, the Board produced a series of informational videos. These videos were posted on our website, shared with stakeholders and have been useful communications tools for providing information about the Board. The Board is planning to produce two additional videos in 2024-25 that will provide more information about who we serve, key statistics of interest, and a look at our strategic priorities.

Further, in an increasingly digital environment, it is important to expand our knowledge and use of digital advertising to ensure that we are reaching our target audience in the most effective way. In the coming year, the Board will explore opportunities to incorporate targeted digital advertising into our marketing strategy.

Productivity

Strong productivity enables the Board to provide access to justice to as many Veterans as possible. In an environment where the workload continues to be greater than the Board’s processing capacity, the organization’s plans for the year are focused on building capacity and leveraging the temporary and permanent investments provided in 2023. In addition, the Board will make efforts to adjust the way we work to improve productivity, enhance the quality of and consistency in decision-making, and foster a workplace that cares about its staff and Members.

Recognizing that a diverse and skilled workforce is the foundation of the organization’s success, the Board will work on several initiatives to ensure a work environment where people feel safe, valued, and respected. Among other things, this will include initiatives identified in the Board’s Workplace Action Plan, such as ongoing collaboration with managers to ensure they have access to the tools they need to support their teams in a hybrid work environment, and by leveraging results from the Public Service Employee Survey to guide related action.

In 2024-25, the Board will continue to pursue and invest in innovative measures to recruit, retain and develop a highly skilled, diverse and bilingual workforce. We will manage our workforce through employee development and effective succession planning strategies, to provide the language requirements, expertise, leadership and experience needed to ensure Veterans and their families receive high-quality, timely hearings and decisions.

Focusing on quality and consistency in decision-making ensures the Board is providing meaningful and fair access to justice. To optimize high-quality decision-making, Members must have access to relevant and timely training. In 2024-25, the Board will hold training seminars where Members will be provided training on a variety of topics, such as legislation, management of hearings, and administrative law and judicial decisions. Further, the Board will continue to develop and strengthen the training programs for Members and staff involved in the adjudication process to ensure that quality decisions continue to be rendered. We will enhance our onboarding program, ensuring new staff are equipped to effectively carry out their roles. Additionally, to reduce wait times for Veterans, the Board will focus on adopting new approaches to decision processing and establishing simplified and early resolution processes.

Innovation

Maintaining a culture of innovation and continuous improvement allows the Board to best serve Veterans and their families. We are continuously evolving and adapting what we do and how we do it by implementing new processes, increasing automation, leveraging technology and focusing on improving service to Veterans.

In 2024-25, the Board will continue to modernize the appeal program, while ensuring our staff and Members have the right tools and skills they need to do their job. To this end, the Board will:

  • Use data to analyze workload and trends to ensure that the appropriate resources are in the right place at the right time so Veterans and their families receive timely hearings and decisions;
  • Streamline business processes and employ strategies and technologies that enhance operational efficiency;
  • Support the implementation of a modernized client information management system;
  • Establish a business process to digitize the Board’s physical documents;
  • Explore opportunities to further automate the scheduling of hearings, making the processes more efficient;
  • Continue to modernize our website to ensure it is user-friendly and barrier free; creating fillable web forms and reviewing website content for clarity, use of plain language, and ensuring information is up to date;
  • Encourage and support the creation and operation of employee-led networks and initiatives, such as the Board’s artificial intelligence exploration team, devoted to raising awareness, and sharing ideas and information to support process improvement; and
  • Invest in staff and Members by offering new opportunities to build skills and knowledge.

Further, the Board will explore innovations that aim to create efficiencies in the Board’s appeal program, such as Veterans Affairs Canada’s Service Health Record Search Tool. This tool enables faster identification of relevant information for a specific health condition, providing only relevant search records instead of all service health records, reducing the time it takes to prepare documentation for Board hearings.

People

The Board is dedicated to being a progressive and modern organization, positioned to respond to the changing environment under which it operates, and respectful of the diverse needs of Veterans and their families. The staff and Members who work at the Board are integral to the organization successfully fulfilling its mandate. We are committed to advancing inclusion, both in the appeal program we provide, and as an employer and workplace of choice. We want to ensure all Veterans and their families have an equal opportunity to access and participate in the Board’s program.

The Board sets a high standard for promoting organizational culture that is based on the values of respect, diversity and inclusion. Building off past work, the Board will continue to focus its efforts on creating an equitable, diverse, inclusive, accessible, and bilingual work environment. In 2024-25, the Board will:

  • Engage with staff and Members on key priorities such as mental health, wellbeing, accessibility and anti-racism through regular communication, such as quarterly conversations and staff meetings.
  • Celebrate diversity and inclusion by encouraging participation in various events, activities and education and awareness sessions offered by the Board and Veterans Affairs Canada.
  • Continue to deliver mandatory training on unconscious bias and its impacts for all managers with staffing delegations; and provide harassment awareness training to new staff.
  • Build organizational capacity on gender-based analysis plus to ensure we continue to apply a gender and diversity lens to our activities and decision-making.
  • Encourage staff to attend Board hearings to learn more about the Veterans we serve through hearing their stories.
  • Identify and work to eliminate barriers in staffing, which includes reviewing staffing practices to help identify and remove systemic barriers and ensuring that the Board’s recruitment and staffing processes are fair and equitable for everyone.

In 2024-25, the Board will continue the implementation of its Accessibility Action Plan, which addresses barriers to accessibility. The actions identified in this plan will contribute to a barrier-free appeal program, services and physical environments for staff and Members, as well as Veterans and their families.

Key risks

  • Due to the evolving nature of the Board’s workload and significant increase in the volume of applications to the Board, there is a risk that the Board will not be able to meet the demands for timely hearings and decisions. To mitigate this risk, the Board will work to improve the scheduling process, continue to explore options to bring in additional resources as required and continue to streamline processes even further, to ensure that resources are focused on delivering decisions to Veterans and their families as quickly as possible.
  • Due to the complex and changing environment under which the Board operates, there is a risk that the Board will not have adequate resources in place, with the necessary skillsets and competencies to meet the organization’s evolving operational goals. To mitigate this risk, a strategic human resources framework will be developed to ensure the Board has a skilled and agile workforce in place to effectively support the organization. Key priorities will include examining the Board’s human resource capacity to identify gaps in skillsets, and recruiting strategically to respond to organizational needs.
 

Snapshot of planned resources in 2024-25

  • Planned spending: $22,575,341
  • Planned full-time resources: 228

Related government priorities

Gender-based analysis plus

The Board serves a diverse group of Veterans, including factors such as gender, race, ethnicity, religion, age, ability, etc. The Board applies a gender-based analysis plus (GBA Plus) lens to help ensure we take into consideration the variation in experiences and barriers that different groups face as we develop or improve our program and services. The Board recognizes that GBA Plus training for staff and Board Members is key to successful integration of GBA Plus throughout the organization. GBA Plus training is included in the Board’s mandatory training curriculum for all new employees. In 2024- 25, all employees will be required to take the training so they understand more about GBA Plus and how this process is used to explore the changing realities and inequalities of diverse groups of people.

United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the UN Sustainable Development Goals

The Board is committed to supporting Canada’s efforts to implement the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Through its core responsibility, the Board provides an independent appeal process for Veterans who are not satisfied with their disability benefits decisions made by Veterans Affairs Canada. The core responsibility contributes to these specific SDGs.

SDG 3: Good health and Well-being

  • Veterans who receive favourable decisions from the Board have access to disability benefits and services provided by Veterans Affairs Canada. These benefits and services support Veterans in improving their physical and mental health and well-being

SDG 16: Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions

  • The Board’s primary objective is ensuring Veterans receive the benefits to which they are entitled. The Board is continuously working to help Veterans and their families obtain access to the disability appeal process, and ultimately benefits, more quickly. This contributes to providing access to justice for all.

More information on VRAB’s contributions to Canada’s Federal Implementation Plan on the 2030 Agenda and the Federal Sustainable Development Strategy can be found in our Departmental Sustainable Development Strategy.

Program inventory

Appeals is supported by the following program:

  • Review and Appeal

Supporting information on planned expenditures, human resources, and results related to VRAB’s program inventory is available on GC InfoBase.

Summary of changes to reporting framework since last year

No changes were made to the Board’s departmental results framework.

Internal services

Description

Internal services are the services that are provided within a department so that it can meet its corporate obligations and deliver its programs. There are 10 categories of internal services:

  • management and oversight services
  • communications services
  • legal services
  • human resources management services
  • financial management services
  • information management services
  • information technology services
  • real property management services
  • materiel management services
  • acquisition management services

Plans to achieve results

VAC provides some internal services to the Board under a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU). This service relationship has been in place since the Board was established in 1995. It allows the Board to maximize resources by capitalizing on the significant investment VAC has made in these services, while maintaining its adjudicative independence.

The Board will continue to work within this MOU with VAC for internal services.
 

Snapshot of planned resources in 2024-25

  • Planned spending: $0 (Internal Services to support the operations of VRAB are provided at no cost under a MOU with VAC.)
  • Planned full-time resources: 0 (Internal Services to support the operations of VRAB are provided at no cost under a MOU with VAC.)

Related government priorities

Planning for contracts awarded to Indigenous businesses

In line with the Government of Canada’s commitment, the Board will work to ensure that a minimum target of 5% of the Board’s total value of contracts is awarded to Indigenous businesses in 2024-25. The Board has already made strides in this area, having worked with the VAC Procurement and Contracting team, which supports the Board’s contracting activities via the aforementioned MOU, to engage Indigenous Businesses for our contracts within the 2023-24 fiscal year. The Board will continue its work with VAC in 2024-25, to increase contracting activities with Indigenous businesses and meet or exceed this target.

Table 2: Planning for contracts awarded to Indigenous businesses
 
5% reporting field
2022-23 actual result
2023-24 forecasted result
2024-25 planned result
Total percentage of contracts with Indigenous businesses

20%

n/a
5 % 

Planned spending and human resources

This section provides an overview of VRAB’s planned spending and human resources for the next three fiscal years and compares planned spending for 2024–25 with actual spending from previous years.

Spending

Table 3: Actual spending summary for core responsibilities and internal services ($ dollars)

The following table shows information on spending for each of VRAB’s core responsibilities and for its internal services for the previous three fiscal years. Amounts for the current fiscal year are forecasted based on spending to date.

Core responsibilities and internal services
2021-2022 actual expenditures
2022-2023 actual expenditures
2023-2024 forecast spending
Appeals
11,103,961
13,620,181
19,619,345
Internal services
01
01
01
Total
11,103,961
13,620,181
19,619,345
Explanation of table 3

1 Internal Services to support the operations of VRAB are provided at no cost under an MOU with VAC.

Planned spending for appeals increased in 2023-24 due to funding received to address increased demand for review and appeal services

Table 4: Budgetary planning summary for core responsibilities and internal services (dollars)

The following table shows information on spending for each of VRAB’s core responsibilities and for its internal services for the upcoming three fiscal years.

Core responsibilities and internal services
2024-25 budgetary spending (as indicated in Main Estimates)
2024-25 planned spending
2025-26 planned spending
2026-27 planned spending
Appeals
22,575,341
22,575,341
22,628,122
22,334,538
Internal services
01
01
01
01
Total
22,575,341
22,575,341
22,628,122
22,334,538
Explanation of table 4

1 Internal Services to support the operations of VRAB are provided at no cost under an MOU with VAC.

Planned spending for appeals is expected to increase due to funding received to address increased demand for review and appeal services.

Funding

Figure 1: Departmental spending 2021-22 to 2026-27

The following graph presents planned spending (voted and statutory expenditures) over time.

[alt text]. Text version below:
 
Explanation of figure 1

Fiscal Year

Total

Voted

Statutory

2021-2022

11,103,961

9,811,517

1,292,444

2022-2023

13,620,181

12,153,646

1,466,535

2023-2024

19,619,345

16,482,406

3,136,939

2024-2025

22,575,341

20,045,176

2,530,165

2025-2026

22,628,122

20,093,473

2,534,649

2026-2027

22,334,538

19,832,151

2,502,387

 

The Board’s planned spending is expected to increase in 2024-25 due to funding received to address increased demand for review and appeal services.

Estimates by vote

Information on VRAB’s organizational appropriations is available in the 2024–25 Main Estimates.

Future-oriented condensed statement of operations

The future-oriented condensed statement of operations provides an overview of VRAB’s operations for 2023–24 to 2024–25.

The forecast and planned amounts in this statement of operations were prepared on an accrual basis. The forecast and planned amounts presented in other sections of the Departmental Plan were prepared on an expenditure basis. Amounts may therefore differ.

A more detailed future-oriented statement of operations and associated notes, including a reconciliation of the net cost of operations with the requested authorities, are available at VRAB’s website.

Table 5: Future-oriented condensed statement of operations for the year ending March 31, 2025 (dollars)

Financial information
2023-24 forecast results
2024-25 planned results
Difference
(2024-25 planned results minus
2023-24 forecast results)
Total expenses
21,172,989
24,407,978
3,234,989
Total revenues
0
0
0
Net cost of operations before government funding and transfers
21,172,989
24,407,978
3,234,989
Explanation of table 5

The planned spending for Veterans Review and Appeal Board as reported on a modified-cash basis for 2024-2025 is $22,334,538. This amount has been adjusted by estimated amounts for services provided without charge (i.e. accommodations, government payments to employee insurance plans, etc.), to arrive at a future-oriented total expense of $24,407,978 for 2024-2025. The Boards planned spending is expected to increase in 2024-2025 due to temporary funding received to address increased demand for review and appeal services.

Human resources

Table 6: Actual human resources for core responsibilities and internal services

The following table shows a summary of human resources, in full-time equivalents (FTEs), for VRAB’s core responsibility and for its internal services for the previous three fiscal years. Human resources for the current fiscal year are forecasted based on year to date.

 
Core responsibilities and internal services
2021-22 actual FTEs
2022-23 actual FTEs
2023-24 forecasted FTEs
Appeals
97
101.5
140
Internal services
01
01
01
Total
97
101.5
140
Explanation of table 6

1Internal Services to support the operations of VRAB are provided at no cost under an MOU with VAC.

Planned human resources for appeals increased in 2023-24 due to funding received to address increased demand for review and appeal services.

Table 7: Human resources planning summary for core responsibilities and internal services

The following table shows information on human resources, in full-time equivalents (FTEs), for VRAB’s core responsibility and for its internal services planned for 2024–25 and future years.

Core responsibilities and internal services
2024-25 planned FTEs
2025-26 planned FTEs
2026-27 planned FTEs
Appeals
228
228
225
Internal services
01
01
01
Total
228
228
225
Explanation of table 7

1Internal Services to support the operations of VRAB are provided at no cost under an MOU with VAC.

Planned human resources for appeals are expected to increase due to funding received to address increased demand for review and appeal services.

Corporate information

Organizational profile

Appropriate minister(s):

The Honourable Ginette Petitpas Taylor, P.C, M.P

Institutional head:

Christopher J. McNeil

Ministerial portfolio:

Veterans Affairs

Enabling instrument(s):

Veterans Review and Appeal Board Act; Veterans Review and Appeal Board Regulations

Year of incorporation / commencement:

1995

Other:

Applications for review and appeal can be made to the Board under the following legislation:

The Board also adjudicates applications for compassionate awards made under section 34 of the Veterans Review and Appeal Board Act.

Organizational contact information

Mailing address:

Veterans Review and Appeal Board
PO Box 9900
Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island C1A 8V7
Canada

Telephone:

Toll Free in Canada and the United States

  • 1-800-450-8006 (English Service) or
  • 1-877-368-0859 (French Service)

From all other locations, call collect

  • 0-902-566-8751 (English Service) or
  • 0-902-566-8835 (French Service)

TTY:

1-833-998-2060

Fax:

1-855-850-4644

Email:

info@vrab-tacra.gc.ca

Website(s):

http://www.vrab-tacra.gc.ca

Supplementary information tables

The following supplementary information tables are available on VRAB’s website:

Information on VRAB’s departmental sustainable development strategy can be found on VRAB’s website.

Federal tax expenditures

VRAB’s Departmental Plan does not include information on tax expenditures.

Tax expenditures are the responsibility of the Minister of Finance. The Department of Finance Canada publishes cost estimates and projections for government wide tax expenditures each year in the Report on Federal Tax Expenditures.

This report provides detailed information on tax expenditures, including objectives, historical background and references to related federal spending programs, as well as evaluations, research papers and gender-based analysis plus.

Definitions

List of terms
appropriation (crédit)
Any authority of Parliament to pay money out of the Consolidated Revenue Fund.
budgetary expenditures (dépenses budgétaires)
Operating and capital expenditures; transfer payments to other levels of government, organizations or individuals; and payments to Crown corporations.
core responsibility (responsabilité essentielle)
An enduring function or role performed by a department. The intentions of the department with respect to a core responsibility are reflected in one or more related departmental results that the department seeks to contribute to or influence.
Departmental Plan (plan ministériel)
A document that sets out a department’s priorities, programs, expected results and associated resource requirements, covering a threeyear period beginning with the year indicated in the title of the report. Departmental Plans are tabled in Parliament each spring.
departmental result (résultat ministériel)
A change that a department seeks to influence. A departmental result is often outside departments’ immediate control, but it should be influenced by program-level outcomes.
departmental result indicator (indicateur de résultat ministériel)
A factor or variable that provides a valid and reliable means to measure or describe progress on a departmental result.
departmental results framework (cadre ministériel des résultats)
A framework that consists of the department’s core responsibilities, departmental results and departmental result indicators.
Departmental Results Report (rapport sur les résultats ministériels)
A report on a department’s actual performance in a fiscal year against its plans, priorities and expected results set out in its Departmental Plan for that year. Departmental Results Reports are usually tabled in Parliament each fall.
fulltime equivalent (équivalent temps plein)
A measure of the extent to which an employee represents a full personyear charge against a departmental budget. Fulltime equivalents are calculated as a ratio of assigned hours of work to scheduled hours of work. Scheduled hours of work are set out in collective agreements.
gender-based analysis plus (GBA Plus) (analyse comparative entre les sexes plus [ACS Plus])
An analytical tool used to support the development of responsive and inclusive policies, programs and other initiatives. GBA Plus is a process for understanding who is impacted by the issue or opportunity being addressed by the initiative; identifying how the initiative could be tailored to meet diverse needs of the people most impacted; and anticipating and mitigating any barriers to accessing or benefitting from the initiative. GBA Plus is an intersectional analysis that goes beyond biological (sex) and socio-cultural (gender) differences to consider other factors, such as age, disability, education, ethnicity, economic status, geography, language, race, religion, and sexual orientation.
government-wide priorities (priorités pangouvernementales)

For the purpose of the 2024–25 Departmental Plan, government-wide priorities are the high-level themes outlining the government’s agenda in the 2021 Speech from the Throne: building a healthier today and tomorrow; growing a more resilient economy; bolder climate action; fighter harder for safer communities; standing up for diversity and inclusion; moving faster on the path to reconciliation and fighting for a secure, just, and equitable world.

horizontal initiative (initiative horizontale)

An initiative in which two or more federal organizations are given funding to pursue a shared outcome, often linked to a government priority.

Indigenous business
As defined on the Indigenous Services Canada website in accordance with the Government of Canada’s commitment that a mandatory minimum target of 5% of the total value of contracts is awarded to Indigenous businesses annually.
non-budgetary expenditures (dépenses non budgétaires)
Net outlays and receipts related to loans, investments and advances, which change the composition of the financial assets of the Government of Canada.
performance (rendement)
What an organization did with its resources to achieve its results, how well those results compare to what the organization intended to achieve, and how well lessons learned have been identified.
plan (plan)
The articulation of strategic choices, which provides information on how an organization intends to achieve its priorities and associated results. Generally, a plan will explain the logic behind the strategies chosen and tend to focus on actions that lead up to the expected result.
planned spending (dépenses prévues)

For Departmental Plans and Departmental Results Reports, planned spending refers to those amounts presented in the Main Estimates. A department is expected to be aware of the authorities that it has sought and received. The determination of planned spending is a departmental responsibility, and departments must be able to defend the expenditure and accrual numbers presented in their Departmental Plans and Departmental Results Reports.

program (programme)
Individual or groups of services, activities or combinations thereof that are managed together within a department and that focus on a specific set of outputs, outcomes or service levels.

program inventory (répertoire des programmes)
An inventory of a department’s programs that describes how resources are organized to carry out the department’s core responsibilities and achieve its planned results.

result (résultat)
An external consequence attributed, in part, to an organization, policy, program or initiative. Results are not within the control of a single organization, policy, program or initiative; instead, they are within the area of the organization’s influence.

statutory expenditures (dépenses législatives)
Expenditures that Parliament has approved through legislation other than appropriation acts. The legislation sets out the purpose of the expenditures and the terms and conditions under which they may be made.

target (cible)
A measurable performance or success level that an organization, program or initiative plans to achieve within a specified time period. Targets can be either quantitative or qualitative.

voted expenditures (dépenses votées)
Expenditures that Parliament approves annually through an Appropriation Act. The vote wording becomes the governing conditions under which these expenditures may be made.

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