The CRA Board of Management

The CRA Board of Management

Members’ names listed from left to right, bottom to top rows.

Raymond Desrochers, Sylvie Tessier, William V. Baker (Commissioner and Chief Executive Officer), Connie I. Roveto (Chair of the Board of Management), Stephen E. Rudin, Camille Belliveau, Howard A. Leeson, André Gingras, Robert J. (Bob) Healey, James J. Hewitt, James R. Nininger, Gordon Gillis, Patricia J. Mella, Rod Malcolm, Myles Bourke.

Information about Board and committee membership, as well as directors’ participation rates, is presented in Schedule A.

Overview

The CRA Board of Management’s legislative role is to oversee the organization and administration of the CRA, and the management of its resources, services, property, personnel, and contracts. This overarching responsibility includes overseeing the development and the approval of the CRA’s Corporate Business Plan. As it undertakes its legislated role, the Board brings to bear a forward-looking strategic perspective, and fosters sound management practices. Working with CRA management, the Board has helped the CRA achieve considerable success during the course of this past year.

Priorities and Results for 2007-2008

Listed below are the Board’s most significant priorities for 2007-2008, along with its accomplishments. Information relating to the achievements realized by the CRA regarding a number of these priorities can be found in the Management Results chapter.

Organization and Administration of the CRA

As noted above, the Board of Management is responsible for overseeing the organization and administration of the CRA. In 2007-2008, the Board approved plans, strategic approaches and investments related to major initiatives, and regularly monitored their progress. The two key areas of focus were Enterprise Risk Management and the Corporate Tax Administration for Ontario.

Enterprise Risk Management

Because of its implications for planning, reporting, and decision making, enterprise risk management remains an important area of focus within the Board’s purview.

As required by the Board-approved CRA Enterprise Risk Management Policy, we have reviewed the CRA Corporate Risk Inventory and the resulting Action Plans; the Inventory and Plans help strengthen decision-making at the CRA by ensuring that risk is understood and that strategies and approaches are implemented to reduce, maintain, or control the CRA’s risk exposure. The Board also monitored progress in the management of a number of the CRA’s key risk areas.

Corporate Tax Administration for Ontario (CTAO)

The Board’s strategic outlook for the CRA recognized the potential of the CRA’s expanding role in the administration of taxes and benefits in Canada, to achieve a simpler and more integrated tax and benefits administration for Canadians. The most significant and recent example of the CRA’s expanding role is the Corporate Tax Administration of Ontario initiative, which transfers the administration of Ontario’s corporate income tax from the Ontario Ministry of Revenue to the CRA.

This past year, the Board approved the CTAO project plan, including: the governance structure, the human resources transition plan, the monitoring framework, and all planned expenditures. The Board continues to monitor this initiative through key milestones during the project lifecycle.

Management of Personnel

Succession Planning

Succession planning has become a key focus of the Board of Management in recognition of the CRA’s aging workforce and environmental drivers including: the global economic environment; new technology drivers; growing competition in labour markets; and the more and more diverse and aging Canadian population and workforce.

In 2007-2008, the Board reviewed the CRA’s succession planning approaches and processes to ensure that the CRA is well prepared to deal with current and future waves of retirements at the senior levels. The value of this plan was demonstrated in the CRA’s timely and effective transitioning of a significant number of executive positions, eight of which were senior positions reporting directly to the Commissioner.

The Board will continue to provide input to the development of strategies and policies to attract, develop, and retain the skilled workers the CRA needs to meet its mandate.

Labour Negotiations/Agency Classification Standard

The Board oversaw, reviewed, and approved the negotiating mandate that led to the signing of the new collective agreement with the Public Service Alliance of Canada. This was achieved before the previous contract had expired.

This achievement was even more impressive considering that the collective agreement introduced the new Agency Classification Standard for 25,000 Services and Programs (SP) personnel. The transition, overseen and approved by the Board, combined 16 legacy occupational groups and provides for a simpler, more streamlined and efficient human resources structure that is better aligned to CRA business needs.

Management of Resources

Each year, the Board fulfills its fiduciary oversight responsibilities in this area by reviewing and monitoring the CRA’s planned allocation of resources, and its performance and spending, including the approval of the CRA’s financial statements. In 2007-2008, particular emphasis was placed on project oversight and information technology.

Project Oversight

The Board played an increased role in the oversight of major CRA projects, in accordance with the CRA Project Management Policy. We have reviewed and approved the governance structure, the monitoring framework and the planned expenditures for a number of major investment projects relating to program operations. We then regularly monitored the progress of each project to ensure that all set objectives and timelines were met.

Information Technology (IT)

Information Technology is a key enabler of everything the CRA does. With an aging infrastructure and expanding applications, the Board undertook a review of the CRA’s IT strategic direction to ensure alignment with the CRA’s current and future business needs.

The Board also monitored various IT initiatives to ensure that risks to IT systems were identified and mitigated. These initiatives included maintenance and upgrades to legacy systems, as well as plans to upgrade the CRA’s data centres to accommodate the CRA’s growing computing systems infrastructure.

Board Governance

With its ongoing commitment to improving governance and operating practices, the Board strives to function in an effective and efficient manner that successfully supports CRA operations and decision making. To maximize its contribution to the CRA’s strategic objectives, the Board continued to refine its own governance framework and operating procedures.

A milestone in the Board’s evolution was reached with the introduction of the Board of Management Oversight Framework (BoMOF). This complements Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat’s Management Accountability Framework (MAF). Both accountability frameworks are structured around key elements that establish the expectations for good management.

In addition to complementing the MAF, the BoMOF helps the Board ensure that it is appropriately meeting its oversight responsibilities as set out in the Canada Revenue Agency Act.

In 2007-2008, the Board worked with CRA management to develop the BoMOF and then assessed the CRA’s performance against it. The Board is pleased to report that this first assessment demonstrates the strong and transparent management of the CRA and its commitment to continuous improvement.

The Board believes that setting the performance objective for the Commissioner-CEO and evaluating the incumbent’s performance based on those objectives, is a key element in the fulfillment of its accountabilities. The Board provides the objectives for the coming year, as well as a report on achievements of prior year performance objectives, to the Clerk of the Privy Council as input to the overall annual performance review for the Commissioner-CEO.

The Board’s membership was stable in 2007-2008, with the appointment of only one new member.

In preparation for the nomination of director candidates, the Board approved revisions to its Competency Profile and gap analysis. These documents are key elements of the Board nomination process and list the competencies, knowledge, experience, and representation collectively desired on the Board.

Building on a Solid Foundation

Since the Board was established in 1999, it has matured into a productive, proactive, and diverse body that has become one of the CRA’s governance strengths. The CRA’s governance structure is increasingly recognized as a model for other government organizations with the Board as the cornerstone of this structure.

This success hinges on the joint efforts of the Board and senior management to increasingly take advantage of the CRA’s legislative flexibilities and authorities. With its approval of the Board of Management Oversight Framework, the Board has positioned itself at the next level of governance maturity, enhancing the conduct of its oversight responsibilities to better lead the CRA into the next decade and beyond.

Date modified:

2009-01-29