The CRA Board of Management

Our goal

The Board’s goal is to ensure that the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) has a robust strategic framework to support its ongoing success, and that sound management, monitoring and reporting practices are in place.

Our outcome

Our collaboration with CRA management in 2009-2010 enhanced the effectiveness and efficiency of the CRA and the Board, thereby maintaining the CRA’s reputation as a leader and innovator in management practices in Canada’s public service and ensuring the CRA is a responsive, effective and trusted tax and benefits administration.

CRA and Board challenges

Some of the challenges the CRA and the Board faced during 2009-2010 were:

• Economic environment – The CRA faced the ongoing challenges posed by the economic environment and its associated budgetary restrictions, while continuing to deliver high-quality tax and benefit services on behalf of governments across Canada.
• IT sustainability – To meet the challenges of managing complex, mission-critical systems, the CRA strengthened its IT responsiveness and sustainability to support both new and ongoing business requirements.
• Demographic trends – With the impending retirement of many employees, the CRA has continued to address the dual challenge of transferring knowledge before it disappears, and of attracting, retaining, and developing talent in an increasingly competitive labour market.

In addition, strengthening CRA services continued to be an important matter for the Board in 2009-2010. The CRA is the public organization that touches the largest number of Canadians; it therefore needs to commit to providing timely, accessible, and effective services to taxpayers and benefit recipients.

Overview

The Canada Revenue Agency Act provides for the establishment of a Board of Management consisting of 15 directors appointed by the Governor in Council. Under the provisions of the Act, the Board oversees the organization and administration of the CRA, including overseeing the management of its resources, services, property, personnel, and contracts. In fulfilling this role, the Board brings a forward-looking strategic perspective to the CRA’s operations, fosters sound management practices, and is committed to efficient and effective service delivery.

The development and ongoing enhancements to the Board of Management Oversight Framework (BoMOF) has helped to ensure that the Board is able to monitor the CRA’s performance. In this regard, the Board has been key in providing Canadians with the assurance that the CRA is a responsive, effective, and trusted tax and benefits administration.

The Board’s membership is outlined in Schedule A.

Priorities and accomplishments for 2009-2010

The following pages describe the Board’s most significant priorities for 2009-2010, along with its accomplishments. Additional information regarding the CRA’s accomplishments in many of these priority areas can be found under Agency Governance – Management Results.

Organization of the CRA (governance and accountability)

A key element in fulfilling its responsibilities in this area is for the Board to set performance objectives for the Commissioner at the beginning of each year and to assess performance at the end of the year. This practice, which began four years ago, complements the federal government’s performance assessment process for deputy heads.

In 2009-2010 the Board’s key objectives for the Commissioner of the CRA included the following: continue to strengthen the BoMOF; ensure that risks in the CRA are properly managed and integrated in all CRA decision-making processes; continue to improve financial systems and processes to sustain a rigorous environment of financial stewardship; oversee major information technology initiatives; oversee the implementation of the CRA Service Strategy; and build and sustain a highly skilled workforce.

In 2009-2010 the Board assessed performance for both Commissioner William Baker upon his departure and Commissioner Linda Lizotte-MacPherson for her first six months as the head of the CRA.

As was the case for previous years, the Board also provided input into the performance objectives and assessments of both the CRA’s Chief Financial Officer and Chief Audit Executive. Moreover, to further ensure that the accountabilities of executives are aligned with CRA priorities and Board objectives, in 2009-2010 the Board began providing input into the performance agreements and assessments of additional CRA senior executives whose responsibilities relate to the Board’s oversight responsibilities. These executives included the CRA’s Chief Information Officer, the Assistant Commissioner of the Human Resources Branch, and the Assistant Commissioner of the Corporate Strategies and Business Development Branch.

Administration of the CRA

CRA strategy and strategic planning

The Board played an important oversight role in ensuring that the CRA focuses on long-term planning, and that strategy in the CRA is appropriately and effectively aligned with Agency risks and strategic investments. In this regard, the Board oversaw the introduction of a formal Strategic Investment Plan for the CRA and was engaged in developing the Corporate Business Plan 2010-2011 to 2012-2013. The Board was also involved in approving individual strategies and monitoring their implementation.

Board of Management Oversight Framework

In 2007-2008 the Board and CRA developed and introduced the BoMOF to enable the Board to measure and monitor CRA performance in those areas that fall under the Board’s purview. The BoMOF complements the Management Accountability Framework assessment conducted by the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat. Both of these tools ensure that the CRA is effectively meeting its responsibilities based on a rigorous and evidence-based assessment.

Since the inception of the BoMOF, the Board and CRA management have enhanced the Framework to make it more robust, transparent, and quantifiable. Changes to the BoMOF in 2009 included an increased focus on questions about performance results of management processes and systems. The Board is proud to report that the assessment of the CRA revealed very positive results for 2009-2010; of the 18 expectations assessed, the CRA was rated “strong” for 14 expectations and “acceptable” for four.

Enterprise Risk Management

In 2009-2010, the Board reviewed the CRA’s updated Corporate Risk Inventory for 2009, as well as the action plan describing the response strategies to address the risks identified. In addition, the Board monitored the implementation of the risk management program, which included reviewing the Status Report of the 2007 Risk Action Plan and ensuring that CRA risks formed an integral part of the organization’s strategic planning exercise.

Furthermore, in its efforts to ensure that the CRA has a robust risk management regime, the Board reviewed the role of boards in enterprise risk management during its Strategic Planning Meeting in November 2009. The Board reaffirmed that its three essential risk governance roles are risk direction, risk oversight, and risk control. Finally, with the Board’s support, the CRA established a dedicated Chief Risk Officer position at the Assistant Commissioner level, to report directly to the Commissioner, with responsibility for regular reporting to the Board of Management; this is the first such position in the federal public service.

Management of resources

Each year, the Board fulfils its fiduciary oversight responsibilities by reviewing and monitoring the CRA’s planned allocation of resources, performance, and spending, including approving the CRA’s financial statements and major investment projects.

Strategic investment plan and major project oversight

The Board oversaw the introduction of the CRA’s first multi-year strategic investment plan, which provides CRA senior management with the information needed to identify investment priorities and funding strategies. The Board was also actively involved in overseeing and monitoring major projects, such as Provincial Sales Tax Administration Reform for Ontario and British Columbia. Implementing the harmonized sales tax in Ontario and British Columbia is the most significant tax harmonization effort undertaken by the CRA since the implementation of the Corporate Tax Administration for Ontario in 2007-2008. Harmonization involved developing human resources agreements for both provinces to manage the transfer of provincial employees to the CRA, and entailed a significant number of system changes and adjustments to CRA activities.

Information technology

Information technology is a key element of almost everything the CRA undertakes; therefore, it continues to be an important area of Board oversight. In 2009-2010, the Board closely reviewed the CRA’s Infrastructure Investment Plan to ensure the CRA’s information technology systems and architecture are sustainable. Of particular interest to the Board was the Data Centre Co-location Initiative: the Board regularly monitored all aspects of the work surrounding the CRA’s efforts to secure Data Centre co-location services with Public Works and Government Services Canada and the Bank of Canada.

Financial accountability initiatives

The Board oversaw a number of initiatives designed to strengthen financial accountability at the CRA. These included monitoring the development of the Certification Process by the Commissioner/Chief Executive Officer and the Chief Financial Officer with respect to the CRA’s internal controls over financial reporting, enhancing internal controls over financial reporting to the provinces and territories under the tax collection agreements, and refining the CRA’s Financial Monitoring Framework, which entailed the Board’s approval of the CRA Policy Framework for Financial Management and Corporate Finance.

Management of services

CRA service agenda

Strengthening CRA services continued to be an important matter for the Board in 2009-2010. Although the CRA is recognized as a leader in service delivery in the federal government, the Board’s Strategic Planning Meeting of November 2009 focused on what a recognized service leader would look like in five to ten years, and examined avenues for the CRA to explore in the future. The Board plans to continue discussions on service improvements at its 2010-2011 Strategic Planning Meeting, in the context of evolving social media and the ever-increasing need for electronic services.

Monitoring the CRA’s service complaint system

Throughout 2009-2010, the Board monitored the CRA’s service complaints system, a three-tier process beginning with the local Tax Services Office, followed by the CRA Service Complaints Program, and culminating in complaints that are forwarded to the Taxpayers’ Ombudsman’s Office. To this end, the Board reviewed the CRA’s second annual report on service complaints. The Taxpayers’ Ombudsman presented his first annual report to the Board in December 2009. Since that time, the Board has continued to receive regular updates on the CRA’s response to the issues and recommendations raised by the Ombudsman.

Management of personnel

Succession planning

In 2009-2010, the CRA witnessed significant movement in its senior executive ranks, including the arrival of a new Commissioner and Deputy Commissioner and the appointments of a number of Assistant Commissioners and Deputy Assistant Commissioners. The Board closely monitored the CRA’s succession planning strategies and provided input into the policies and tools necessary to attract, hire, develop, and retain talented employees, placing particular interest in Executive Cadre succession planning.

Integration of human resources planning and business planning

The Board monitored the ongoing integration of human resources planning with the CRA’s business planning, as evidenced in the evolving Agency Workforce Plan. The Agency Workforce Plan 2009-2010 to 2011-2012 built on the existing human resources management regime and aligned it to the Corporate Business Plan’s strategic outcomes with specific human resources strategies and objectives.

Implementation of end-state pre-qualification processes

In an effort to streamline staffing processes, the CRA migrated to end-state pre-qualification processes (PQP) on April 1, 2010. End-state PQP was a fundamental step in advancing the CRA’s competency-based human resources regime. To this end, throughout the year, the Board received regular updates on the progress of implementing end-state PQP. The initiative has significantly reduced the time it takes to staff.

Collective agreement with the Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada

The Board closely monitored contract negotiations with the Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada (PIPSC). The successful outcome of the contract negotiations represented an example of the CRA’s willingness to move forward and work together with PIPSC to resolve issues through interest-based discussions.

Board governance

Board governance and practices

As part of its ongoing commitment to enhance its governance and increase the effectiveness and efficiency of its operating practices, the Board established an ad hoc committee to review board process and agenda content in early 2010. The committee began to examine all aspects of the Board’s operations with a view to ensuring that the use of the Board’s time, as well as that of CRA senior management, is most effectively optimized to focus more effort on strategic and risk discussions.

Board evaluation

In 2009, the Board conducted its third board evaluation in as many years. Ongoing evaluations of a board’s performance are an effective means of assessing how well a board is functioning and carrying out its mandate. The full-scale 2009 evaluation of the CRA’s Board for the first time included input from members of the CRA’s senior executive team on the Board’s performance and effectiveness. Overall results were very positive and an action plan was put in place to address areas identified for improvement.

Board appointments and director orientation

The Board experienced a significant turnover of directors in 2009-2010. A new Chair was appointed, new members from Prince Edward Island and Yukon Territory were welcomed, the director from Quebec, Mr. André Gingras, departed, and another, Mr. Robert Healey from Newfoundland and Labrador, sadly passed away. Customized orientation programs had to be developed to meet the needs of incoming directors in a timely manner.

Board secure online portal

In 2009-2010, the Board implemented its new, secure online board portal. Board members had explored many options for an online portal that would allow secure communications among directors and CRA management, and facilitate the paperless distribution of Board documents. The portal made it easier for the Board to conduct its business, increased Board effectiveness and efficiency, and promoted business sustainability. Adopting the portal marks a significant development in the ongoing enhancement of the Board’s governance practices.

Date modified:

2010-11-02