Progress Against Last year's Performance Improvement Plan

In addition to reporting to Parliament and Canadians on the results we have achieved, account ability is a valuable tool to help our organization focus attention on areas where we must accelerate performance improvements. Our efforts to measure, assess, and report on our operational effectiveness inevitably involve identifying performance gaps. We need to concentrate our resources on these areas, developing the plans and making the changes necessary to become a more effective and innovative organization. Account ability also provides an important opportunity to acknowledge a job well done by our employees and managers.

Making the shift to results-based performance measurement is a major undertaking for the CCRA. We are implementing a state-of-the-art performance measurement framework (the Balanced Scorecard) that is backed by a sophisticated, activity-based costing system and an integrated management model. These management tools will help us establish integrated, results-based decision-making across the organization. We will also advance our own research on better ways to measure compliance.

Areas where improvements are required, particularly those for which a significant performance gap or weak data quality have been identified, are being addressed through various strategies and initiatives. These include our 2002-2003 to 2004-2005 Corporate Business Plan, performance improvement plans, and related accountability contracts for senior executives. In some cases, corrective measures have already been implemented. In other areas, improvements will be implemented over the next three years on a priority basis. However, in pursuing performance improvements, the CCRA is balancing its efforts to deliver on its change agenda with the paramount requirement of maintaining the integrity of our current program delivery systems.

Exhibit 18 highlights our progress against last year's performance improvement plans. More detailed plans for each business line can be found in the Main Points section of this report.

Exhibit 18: Progress Against Last Year's Performance Improvement Plan

Last year's Targeted Areas for Improvement*	Last year's Targeted Completion Date*	Status	On Track During 2001-2002?	Roll Forward Into the Performance Improvement Plan, 2002-2003?
Enhanced CCRA performance measurement	2003-2004	We are behind schedule in implementing the Balanced Scorecard, but we are redesigning it to begin better management performance reporting in 2002-2003.		Yes See item 1 below
Improved performance against service standards	2001-2002	While we have made some improvements with respect to the most significant service standards, more effort is needed to close our performance gap overall.		Yes See item 2 below
Target for level of tax debt is met	2001-2002	A multi-faceted strategy to address the level of accounts receivable has been developed. Elements of this strategy include nationalizing the collections workload and reducing the level of accounts more than 5 years old.		Yes See item 3 below
Enhanced programs for enforcing tax compliance	2001-2006	We received additional funding from the Treasury Board to invest in compliance programs. We hired and trained 900 auditors, positioning us well to meet our higher audit coverage targets for 2002-2003 to 2004-2005.		Yes See item 4 below
Improved timeliness of disputes processing	2001-2002	We have not improved timeliness much. We are establishing targets for case completion to further reduce turnaround times. If met, these targets will lead to a substantial improvement in turnaround times in almost all program areas between 1998-1999 and 2004-2005.		Yes See item 5 below
Enhanced telephone accessibility	2001-2002	We expanded our 1-800 Canada Child Tax Benefit (CCTB) national telephone service. Caller accessibility improved modestly for GST/HST credit enquiries from 68% to 71%.		Yes See item 6 below
Enhanced border compliance, including a more comprehensive and integrated approach to risk management and quantitative performance information	2003-2004	We worked closely with U.S. and Canadian law enforcement agencies and resumed the risk management approach that is the cornerstone of our Compliance Improvement Plan. This will ensure the legitimate flow of trade without compromising the safety and security of Canadians.		Yes See item 7 below
Enhanced information technology infrastructure and support across business lines	Ongoing	Various systems were enhanced [e.g., Tax on Net Income (TONI), Standardized Accounting (SA/T2)], and ongoing maintenance of existing applications was carried out. Improvement plans (e.g., e-commerce platform, Business Intelligence/Decision Support) were initiated. The final components of our Information Technology (IT) Strategy were implemented ahead of schedule.		Yes See Item 8 below
Increased transparency across business lines	2001-2002	We implemented planned improvements to increase compliance with legislated timeframes for Access to Information requests. The Agency's performance rating is now Grade “B,” as opposed to a “C” rating for 2000-2001.		No Fully Implemented
Effective response to HR challenges	2001-2004	Significant progress was achieved in 2001-2002. Highlights include the new MG Group, successes in collective bargaining, and a stronger Performance Management Regime. Improvements in learning were also recorded, with continued strong investments in CCRA-wide learning activities and the development of 25,000 individual learning plans.		Yes See item 9 below

* Source: Prior-year Annual Report to Parliament (2000-2001), Exhibit 7, page 1-61.

Date modified:

2003-04-25