Published plans and annual reports 2020-2021: Treasury Board Secretariat

Ministry overview

Ministry’s vision

Treasury Board Secretariat (TBS) was established to support the President of the Treasury Board in leading the government's efforts on accountability, risk management, openness, and modernization. In its government-wide leadership capacity, TBS will continue to play a crucial role in building a smarter and more efficient government in support of the government’s fiscal plan. It will do this by strategically driving cultural change and embedding a focus on fiscal responsibility across the whole of government. TBS will continue to spearhead the review and analysis of all government programs and services by ensuring increased efficiency and effective outcomes.

TBS’ responsibilities include:

• Providing planning, expenditure management and controllership to support TBS’ role in managing the government’s fiscal plan, and to ensure sound stewardship and investment of public funds.
• Providing advice and support to Treasury Board/Management Board of Cabinet (TB/MBC).
• Overseeing labour relations and compensation in the Ontario Public Service (OPS) and the Broader Public Sector (BPS).
• Overseeing corporate and provincial agency policy and guidance to ministries and agencies to ensure strong governance, accountability, and oversight.
• Providing internal audit services across the government to ensure ministries meet their business objectives while employing sound management practices.
• Developing enterprise-level human resources strategies and policies, managing executive recruitment, learning and development, talent and performance management, workforce analytics, and public appointments.
• Ensuring information and information technology (I&IT) governance practices and processes support government digital first strategy.
• Building risk management and audit capability and capacity across the enterprise to ensure strong fiscal accountability, transparency in reporting, and financial management.

TBS also:

• Supports the development of the Ontario Budget and the Ontario Economic Outlook and Fiscal Review.
• Prepares and releases Expenditure Estimates, Public Accounts of Ontario and the Public Sector Salary Disclosure compendium.
• Leads OPS diversity, inclusion and equity initiatives to build a diverse and inclusive workplace, and more responsive policies, programs and services for Ontarians.
• Monitors and reports on ministries’ response to the recommendations of the Agency Review Task Force to ensure all provincial agencies are relevant, efficient and have appropriate oversight structures in place.

COVID-19 response

The ministry has undertaken activities to ensure that services and programs continue to be delivered to Ontarians during the COVID-19 pandemic.

In collaboration with client ministries, TBS implemented application changes to support the following initiatives:

• Enabled the issuance of doubled Guaranteed Annual Income System payments for six months to support 194,000 vulnerable seniors who may need more help to cover essential expenses during the COVID-19 outbreak.
• Enabled a temporary increase to the Employer Health Tax exemption amount for approximately 57,000 employers; thereby, reducing their taxes significantly.
• Provided five months of interest and penalty relief for businesses to file and make payments for the majority of provincial taxes making available approximately $6 billion to employers.
• Prevented businesses from going into collections during the COVID-19 pandemic period.
• Adapted programs in response to the COVID-19 outbreak and focused on efforts to support the temporary redeployment of non-represented talent across the OPS to support the delivery of critical OPS programs and services.

TBS is working with ministry partners to implement temporary pandemic pay which is aimed at helping frontline staff who are experiencing severe challenges and are at heightened risk during the COVID-19 outbreak. Eligible employees in eligible workplaces such as hospitals and long-term care homes will receive temporary pandemic pay. Pandemic pay is expected to support over 375,000 frontline workers.

TBS continues to support the government decision-making process, as well as working with ministry partners across different sectors to advise on and develop labour compensation policy in response to the COVID-19 outbreak.

Ministry programs

TBS is committed to innovation and to transforming processes, programs and services to help government function better.

The Ministry Administration Program provides administrative and support services to enable the ministry to deliver results to support the government’s objectives and fiscal priorities. Its functions include financial and human resource management and accommodations and facilities management. The program also provides legal and communications services, planning and results monitoring. The program assists and supports ministry program areas in achieving their business goals.

The Labour Relations and Compensation Program supports the government’s commitment to positive labour relations within the Ontario Public Service and Broader Public Sector.

The program represents the Crown as the employer in all collective bargaining and labour relations issues affecting the OPS, provides employee and labour relations advisory services, supports ongoing union-management relations and manages corporate compensation strategies and programs. It also provides fiscal governance of all benefit and pension plans for employees and retirees of the OPS and the judiciary.

The program analyzes internal and external factors that drive collective bargaining outcomes in the BPS, in order to develop and provide evidence-based strategic guidance and advice to government, ministries and BPS employers related to ongoing collective bargaining and labour relations issues. The program also provides policy advice and support on government initiatives impacting executive compensation in the BPS.

The Employee and Pensioner Benefits (Employer Share) Program provides for the government’s expenses as an employer for insured benefits, statutory programs, non-insured benefits and certain public service pension plans, including third party administration and adjudication costs. The expenses are based on changes in the accrued liabilities of the government as sponsor or co-sponsor of certain insured benefit plans, pension plans and termination of employment entitlements.

The Treasury Board Support Program provides leadership and advisory services that support evidence-based decision making, prudent financial management and transparent public reporting across the public sector in Ontario. The program also provides leadership to ministries and provincial agencies through the delivery of strategic enterprise-wide policies, directives and advice designed to promote excellence in public service, including leading and supporting the review of Ontario’s provincial agencies.

The program fosters accountability and fiscal integrity by providing expertise and advice on the development and implementation of fiscal, financial management, performance measurement infrastructure frameworks. The program ensures the appropriate use of public resources to meet government priorities by supporting Treasury Board/Management Board of Cabinet and providing advice on ministries' annual multi-year plans, the management of in-year expenditures and the design of programs. In addition, the program assists the President of the Treasury Board, Deputy Minister and Secretary of the Treasury Board/Management Board of Cabinet and the government with public reporting on plans and results through, for example, the Expenditure Estimates. The program also provides the Ontario Public Service and broader public sector with accountability and oversight advice.

The Office of the Public Service Commission (OPSC) develops enterprise human resource strategies and policies to build a healthy, inclusive and productive workplace culture. It enables transformation, manages human capital risks, drives HR management excellence and fosters a high performing public service. The OPSC also leads the efforts of the OPS to build a strong leadership talent pipeline and a culture of effective leadership and learning.

This enterprise human resource program is responsible for providing leadership in achieving the objectives of the Public Service of Ontario Act, 2006 (PSOA) specifically to ensure the OPS is a non-partisan, professional, ethical and competent organization.

The Central Agencies Cluster Program provides leadership and cost-effective Information Technology (IT) support to its clients with the goal of improving the effectiveness of the government’s ability to deliver citizen-centred services. The Cluster develops and maintains the underlying IT solutions necessary to support a more modern, open, transparent and digitally connected government and helps its clients across the OPS to optimize the value of their services to taxpayers.

The Bulk Media Buy Program supports the purchase of media for paid government marketing. Funding also covers associated agency fees, creative production costs, market research costs, marketing and data management technology and services, and the development of related marketing materials to support integrated campaigns associated with government initiatives. Paid government advertising is subject to the Government Advertising Act, 2004 and is reviewed and reported on by the Auditor General.

The Office of the Comptroller General is responsible for government-wide direction and leadership for provincial controllership, enterprise risk management and administrative oversight with respect to the internal audit function. This program provides oversight of functions that ensure strong fiscal accountability, transparency in reporting, a modern public sector comptrollership framework, and financial management, risk and audit capability and capacity.

The program supports the Ontario Public Service and Broader Public Sector in meeting their business objectives by providing a challenge function to support planning and decision-making and evaluating and making recommendations to improve governance, risk management, control, accountability and compliance processes and to improve the effectiveness, efficiency and economy of ministry and provincial agency operations. The program assists the President of the Treasury Board and the government with public reporting of the Public Accounts and Annual Consolidated Financial Statements; provides the Ontario Public Service and Broader Public Sector enhanced internal oversight including accountability, financial management policy and leading risk management practices across government; and provides advice, direction and development of a strategic framework for building and strengthening the financial, risk management and internal audit communities.

2020-21 Strategic plan

Ministry contribution to priority outcomes

In its enterprise-wide capacity, the ministry is at the centre of the government’s fiscal plan to help build a smarter government.

TBS drives responsive transformation, achieving greater efficiency to ensure programs and services are sustainable and effective by:

• Coordinating an on-going program review process to further embed the culture of continuous improvement and fiscal responsibility across the OPS and to improve programs/services and achieve better outcomes for Ontarians.
• Transforming and modernizing public service delivery and enhancement of organizational efficiency, effectiveness, and sustainability.
• Developing a framework for negotiating collective bargaining outcomes in the BPS.

TBS applies sound business practices to government, ensuring government operates in the most efficient and effective way by:

• Monitoring ministries’ response to the Agency Review Task Force’s recommendations to improve an accountability framework to ensure effectiveness, relevance, and efficiency of all provincial agencies.
• Improving outcomes and prudent leadership in labour relations with its OPS and BPS partners.

TBS demonstrates accountability in action, restoring transparency and trust in public finances through:

• Supporting the Ontario Internal Audit Committee and the Sector Audit Committees to provide operational flexibility to apply an enterprise-wide and sector-wide lens to address high risk areas on a priority basis, and to support a strengthened internal audit function to provide enhanced oversight and discipline in government spending.
• Establishing the Office of the Comptroller General to provide oversight functions that ensure strong fiscal accountability, transparency in reporting, a modern public sector comptrollership framework, and financial management, risk and audit capability and capacity.

TBS delivers value for taxpayer dollars and enables investments in key programs and services that Ontarians rely on through:

• Developing, with the Ministry of Government and Consumer Services, an integrated supply chain system across the OPS and BPS that will make procurement processes more efficient, resulting in reduced red tape for vendors and more effective use of public expenditures for the people of Ontario.
• Monitoring and implementing efficiencies through a strong expenditure management strategy to bend the cost curve and improve programs/services to ensure taxpayer value and inform multi-year strategies.

As an enabler of change, TBS is helping to build a smarter government to support the province’s commitment to ensure sustainability and protect what matters most to Ontarians.

Key performance measures

TBS is committed to delivering on government priorities through the ministry’s mandate of:

• Delivering good government and sustainable public services in the most effective and efficient way possible.
• Strategically driving cultural change and embedding a focus on fiscal responsibility across the whole of government.
• Spearheading the review and analysis of all government programs and services to ensure effective outcomes and value for money while protecting what matters most.
• Delivering on its core mandate with a strengthened internal audit function through the Audit and Accountability Committee, Ontario Internal Audit Committee and Sector Audit Committees, and ongoing program and agency reviews to find efficiencies and improve outcomes for Ontarians.
• Leadership in labour relations and compensation with its OPS and BPS partners.

Utilizing a robust accountability measurement framework, key performance indicators are tracked to monitor the ministry’s progress towards the following TBS-led government priorities:

• Supporting fiscal responsibility and transparency.
• Containing program growth.
• Strengthening accountability and internal audit controls.
• Increasing administrative efficiencies.

Supporting fiscal responsibility and transparency

TBS continues to ensure timeliness of tabling and of the Expenditure Estimates and Public Accounts, and public reporting of the Public Sector Salary Disclosure Compendium.

Containing program growth

In support of the government’s fiscal objectives of expenditure management to ensure services and programs are both effective and sustainable, TBS has implemented the following measures:

Managing compensation

TBS monitors the province’s efforts in managing compensation through:

• Continued benchmarking of the annual wage increases for provincial public sector employees against outcomes reached across comparable jurisdictions and the private sector, which help to restore sustainability to the province’s finances.
• A reduction in the size of the OPS through entirely voluntary means to ensure a leaner and more agile public sector without impacting front-line services. Trends indicate a gradual decrease in the size of the OPS (as measured by relative changes in the size of the organization since June 2018).
• An increase in the scope of government control and oversight in public sector workforce negotiations and the development and compensation of the BPS employees, ensuring consistent and sustainable compensation increases.

Program review

Effective and efficient program delivery is key to providing services and supports for Ontarians. TBS continues to monitor progress towards an annual target of 100 program reviews to identify opportunities for improvement, modernization or reform. To date, 76 program reviews identified in 2020-21 Multi-year Planning are underway.

Strengthening accountability and internal audit controls

Recognizing the importance of accountability and ensuring efficient process, operations, and governance structures, TBS supported the establishment of the following committees:

The Audit and Accountability Committee, a sub-committee of TB/MBC, provides enhanced oversight of internal audit, ensuring the identification and delivery of priority risk-based audits, and the effective and efficient allocation of internal audit services and resources.

• The Ontario Internal Audit Committee, a provincial advisory agency with external and internal members provides independent advice and recommendations to the President of the Treasury Board, in consultation with the Secretary of the Cabinet.
• Sector Audit Committees, as sub-committees of the Ontario Internal Audit Committee, provide independent advice and recommendations on the adequacy of the government’s risk management, governance and internal control practices related to the sectors, including the adequacy of addressing audit findings, and the effectiveness of the internal audit function.

To support the continued effectiveness of these committees in strengthening accountability, the following measures are underway:

• Progress had been made toward implementing the Auditor General’s recommended actions, ensuring Ontario government programs and services operate with due regard for value-for-money. As reported in the 2019 Auditor General’s Annual Report, 69% of the 2017 recommended actions have been fully implemented or are in the process of being implemented. In that Annual Report, the Auditor General stated, “It is encouraging that we are seeing, through our follow-up work, steadily increasing implementation rates for recommendations from past years”.
• In a year of significant and unprecedented transformation to enhance the internal audit model, the Ontario Internal Audit Division (OIAD) continued to drive completion of engagements where OIAD has the authority to audit, supporting the ministry’s mandate of a strengthened internal audit function of value-added and independent assurance and advisory services. During this year of transformation, 83% of the audit plan was completed and the majority of outstanding engagements are in the reporting phase and approaching completion.

Increasing administrative efficiencies

As part of the government’s mandate to increase efficiencies, TBS continues to implement initiatives as it makes progress in achieving its multi-year savings and efficiency targets.

As demonstrated by Pan-Canadian examples, administrative efficiencies can be increased by identifying payments where Harmonized Sales Tax (HST) may have been embedded and not previously rebated by the Canada Revenue Agency to realize anticipated savings and improve service delivery going forward. TBS has embarked on the review of provincial programs and identifying previous expenditures that may have had embedded HST payments, identifying $27.9 million in savings to date.

Ministry identified key performance indicators

In its ministry role, TBS is committed to supporting smarter government and providing more efficient and effective services and processes for Ontarians.

Driving responsive change

Providing increased availability to access documents and improving the level of security assurance for public access for critical OPS services digitally is a key component in the government’s Digital First Strategy. To ensure that Ontarians have access to critical documents and services when needed:

• TBS is currently hosting in excess of 100 million documents in the repository for services that directly affect Ontarians.
• The identification, authentication, and access management (IAM) service that protects the security of government information and services used by OPS, BPS, Ontarians, and businesses. maintains a services availability level is at 99.5%.
• The new IT Consulting acquisition model is replacing the current I&IT Task Based Vendor of Record. In alignment with Open for Business, this initiative will offer opportunities for more Ontario vendors to compete for OPS business. The new model will make the process more streamlined, efficient, and cost effective to meet the OPS current requirements.

Ministry planned expenditures 2020-21 by vote (%)

Detailed financial information

For additional financial information, see:

Expenditure Estimates

Public Accounts of Ontario

March 2020 Economic and Fiscal Update

Agencies, boards and commissions (ABCs)

Case Management Masters Remuneration Commission

Commissioner: William Kaplan

Established by Order in Council. Conducts inquiries and makes non-binding recommendations to the President of the Treasury Board regarding the remuneration of Ontario Case Management Masters (provincially appointed judicial officers). The Commission’s report is submitted to the Lieutenant Governor in Council for a response.

Deputy Judges Remuneration Commission

Commissioner: Warren Winkler

Established by Order in Council. Conducts inquiries and makes non-binding recommendations to the President of the Treasury Board regarding the remuneration of Deputy Judges. The Commission’s report is submitted to the Lieutenant Governor in Council for a response.

Justices of the Peace Remuneration Commission

Chair: Warren Winkler

Established under the Justices of the Peace Act. Conducts inquiries and makes non-binding recommendations to the President of the Treasury Board regarding the remuneration of Ontario Justices of the Peace. The Commission’s report is submitted to the Lieutenant Governor in Council for a response.

Ontario Internal Audit Committee

Chair: Charles-Antoine St-Jean

A provincial advisory agency (replacing the former internal Corporate Audit Committee), providing advice and recommendations to the President of the Treasury Board, in consultation with the internal audit services. OIAC supports the President of the Treasury Board (in his role as the Chair of the Audit and Accountability Committee) in delivering its mandate and reports back on the status/key findings of top priority risk-based audits.

Sector Audit Committees (nine) are sub-committees of the Ontario Internal Audit Committee and remain accountable to the President of the Treasury Board in his role as Chair of the Audit and Accountability Committee, in consultation with the Secretary of the Cabinet, providing advice and recommendations through the Chair of the Ontario Internal Audit Committee. Sector Audit Committees also support Deputy Ministers and senior executives in the management and stewardship of public resources through audit committee operations, advice and outcomes.

Ontario Public Service Employees’ Union Pension Plan Board of Trustees

Chair: Michael Grimaldi

An independent trust organization (not a provincial agency or a public body) established under a Joint Sponsorship Agreement between Ontario and the Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU) under the Ontario Public Service Employees’ Union Pension Act, 1994. Administers the OPSEU Pension Plan, including the investment of the OPSEU Pension Fund and the adjudication and provision of benefits under the plan.

Ontario Public Service Pension Board

Chair: Geraldine (Geri) Markvoort

A public body and Trust agency established under the Public Service Pension Act. Administers the Public Service Pension Plan, including the investment of the Public Service Pension Fund and the adjudication and provision of benefits under the plan. Also carries out administrative functions in relation to the Provincial Judges Pension Plan for the Provincial Judges Pension Board and other benefit programs for government.

Provincial Judges Pension Board

Chair: Deborah Anne Oakley

A public body and Trust agency continued by O.  Reg.  290/13 made under the Courts of Justice Act. Administers the Provincial Judges Pension Plan, including the investment of the associated trusts and the adjudication and provision of benefits under the plan.

Provincial Judges Remuneration Commission

Chair: William Kaplan

Continued under the Framework Agreement between Ontario and the Provincial Judges set out as a schedule to O.  Reg.  407/93 under the Courts of Justice Act. Conducts inquiries and makes binding recommendations to the President of the Treasury Board regarding the salaries and benefits and non-binding recommendations regarding the pensions of Provincial Judges.

Public Service Commission

Chair: Kevin French

Established under the Public Service of Ontario Act, 2006 (PSOA). Ensures the effective management and administration of human resources in relation to public servants appointed under Part III of PSOA. Ensures non-partisan recruitment and employment of public servants.

Note: For all agencies above, except for Office of the Conflict of Interest Commissioner, the figures represent only those expenses incurred by Treasury Board Secretariat on behalf of these agencies. The amounts above do not represent these agencies' full allocations.

Ministry organization chart

• President of the Treasury Board – The Honourable Peter Bethlenfalvy
  • Group of 4 Chair positions:
    • Chair, Public Service Commission
    • Chair, OPSEU Pension Trust
    • Chair, Ontario Public Service Pension Board
    • Chair, Provincial Judges Pension Board
  • Deputy Minister, Treasury Board Secretariat and Secretary of Treasury Board and Management Board of Cabinet – Kevin French
    • Director of Operations – Sarah O'Callaghan (A)
    • Legal Director – Len Hatzis
    • Communications Director – Bryant Sullivan (A)
    • Chief Information Officer, Central Agencies Cluster – Liz MacKenzie (A)
    • ADM, Central Agency Communications – Sofie DiMuzio
    • Chief Administrative Officer & ADM, Corporate Services Division – Sandy Yee Diversity Office – Virginia Hatchette
    • Chief Talent Officer, Office of the Public Service Commission – Brian Fior
      • ADM, People Strategy & Organizational Performance – Sean Twyford (A)
    • Associate Deputy Minister, Office of the Treasury Board – Linda McAusland (A)
      • ADM, Planning and Performance – Shannon Fenton (A)
      • ADM, Operating Expenditure Management –Maria Duran-Schneider
      • ADM, Capital Expenditure Management – David Clarke
    • Associate Deputy Minister, Centre for Public Sector Labour Relations and Compensation – Marc Rondeau
      • ADM, Centre for Public Sector Labour Relations & Compensation – Matt Siple
  • Comptroller General, Office of the Comptroller General
    • Chief Risk Officer and ADM, Enterprise Risk Office – Gary Wuschnakowski (A)
    • Provincial Controller and ADM, Office of the Provincial Controller Division – Maureen Buckley
    • Chief Internal Auditor, Ontario Internal Audit Division – Beili Wong

Acts administered by the Treasury Board Secretariat

• Adjudicative Tribunals Accountability, Governance and Appointments Act, 2009
• Auditor General Act
• Broader Public Sector Accountability Act, 2010, except in respect of sections 5, 6, 8, 14, 15, 17, 18 and 20
• Broader Public Sector Executive Compensation Act, 2014
• Cabinet Ministers' and Opposition Leaders' Expenses Review and Accountability Act, 2002
• Crown Foundations Act, 1996
• Fairness in Procurement Act, 2018
• Financial Administration Act, in respect of sections 1.0.1, 1.0.3 to 1.0.10, 1.0.21, 1.0.24, 1.0.25.1, 1.1, 9 to 10, 11.1 to 11.4, 11.5 to 11.8, 15 to 16.0.2 and 47; and in respect of sections 1, 1.0.2, 1.0.14, 1.0.16, 1.0.17, 1.0.20, 1.0.22, 1.0.25, 1.0.26, 2, 5, 5.1, 6, 7, 8.1, 10.1, 11, 11.4.1, 14.1, 16.3, 16.4, 28 and 38 (except clause (1) (a.3)) to 45, the administration of the Act is shared between the President of the Treasury Board and the Minister of Finance
• Flag Act
• Floral Emblem Act
• Government Advertising Act, 2004
• Interim Appropriation for 2020-2021 Act, 2019
• Lobbyists Registration Act, 1998
• Management Board of Cabinet Act
• Ministry of Government Services Act, in respect of services provided by the Treasury Board Secretariat
• Ontario Provincial Police Collective Bargaining Act, 2006
• Ontario Public Service Employees' Union Pension Act, 1994
• Protecting a Sustainable Public Sector for Future Generations Act, 2019
• Public Sector Compensation Restraint to Protect Public Services Act, 2010
• Public Sector Expenses Review Act, 2009
• Public Sector Salary Disclosure Act, 1996
• Public Service of Ontario Act, 2006, except in respect of sections 21 to 27 and clause 31 (1) (b)
• Public Service Pension Act
• Supply Act, 2020

Appendix - 2019-20 annual report

TBS supports the President of the Treasury Board and leads transformation that builds better public services for the future of Ontario.

During the past year, the ministry played a crucial role in delivering good government and sustainable public services in the most effective and efficient way possible.

Below are the highlights of TBS’ 2019-20 achievements that support the government in ensuring fiscal stewardship, sustainability, transparency, producing effective outcomes and value for money while protecting what matters most.

Supporting fiscal responsibility and transparency

In its leadership role of fiscal responsibility and ensuring government services and programs are sustainable, TBS led and effectively managed the multi-year planning and in-year expenditure management processes to support achievement of the government’s fiscal targets. The government is following a long-term plan that ensures the government is more efficient and services provide real benefits to Ontarians.

To support long-term sustainability of the services that matter most, the TBS Central Agencies I&IT Cluster spearheaded initiatives for cost savings and efficiencies for better, people-focused government and service delivery by:

Enhancing the client experience and eliminating operational issues by replacing the Ontario administered Gas Card with the Certificate of Indian Status card issued by Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada to obtain tax exempt gas purchases.

• Implementing a scalable and automated workflow tool to support efficient fulfillment of the administration of Estate Tax, including reporting, tracking, and integration with tax roll data. It is expected that approximately 25,000 estate tax returns will be processed annually.
• Implementing application changes to the OntTax system to support the Ontario government in delivering on its commitment to reduce the aviation fuel tax rate in Northern Ontario, helping to lower the cost of living for people in the region.
• Updating the document repository system, OPSdocs, to ensure several mission critical systems such as the Child Protection Information Network unit and Enterprise Financial Systems can access sensitive business files securely without the need for Virtual Private Network authentication; thus, ensuring business continuity.

TBS continues to pursue back-office administrative efficiencies by streamlining accommodation costs and the use of communications equipment.

Strengthening accountability and internal audit controls

TBS continues to deliver on government accountability through a collaborative working relationship with the Auditor General. This is evidenced by the release of the 2018-19 Public Accounts, which received a clean audit opinion from the province’s Auditor General, meaning the consolidated financial statements were prepared in accordance with Canadian Public Sector Accounting Standards and were presented fairly. This is the second year in a row in which Ontario’s financial statements received a clean audit opinion from the Auditor General.

TBS has transformed the internal audit function to provide enhanced oversight and discipline in government spending. TBS’ OIAD continues to provide value-added audit assurance and advisory services and to operate in conformance with the Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA) Standards, demonstrated through the achievement of the IIA quality assurance certification, which is assessed every five years. The quality assurance certification of internal audit signifies independence, quality and professionalism. OIAD was certified in 2009, 2014, and was successfully recertified in 2019.

In keeping with Ontario's commitment to openness and transparency, the government released the salaries of OPS and BPS employees who were paid $100,000 or more in the 2019 calendar year. The compendium was released in a downloadable, machine-readable format. The data is also available in sortable, searchable tables on Ontario.ca/salarydisclosure making it more accessible to the public.

To support the government’s long-term plan of restoring accountability and trust, the Agency Review Task Force completed a comprehensive review of over 190 provincial agencies. The Task Force reviewed all provincial agencies and provided recommendations to enable immediate efficiencies and ensure agencies remain transparent and sustainable over the long-term and better align with government priorities. The government is working to implement the Task Force recommendations and is monitoring progress.

Managing public sector compensation growth

TBS’ goal is to implement a fair and reasonable approach to managing compensation and protecting critical front-line public services, while continuing to seek opportunities for greater oversight of key areas within the provincial public sector.

In Spring 2019, the government undertook six weeks of good-faith consultations with employers and bargaining agents representing more than one million employees across the provincial public sector to discuss how compensation growth can be managed in a way that results in wage settlements that are most reasonable and sustainable. This resulted in the introduction of the Protecting a Sustainable Public Sector for Future Generations Act, which received Royal Assent in November 2019.

• TBS has also successfully reduced the size of the OPS by six per cent through attrition and voluntary means, positioning the government to make targeted investments in critical front-line services. Additional initiatives to manage compensation include:
• Supporting asset pooling and consolidation of smaller public sector pension plans. Ontario Northland Transportation Commission (ONTC) pension plans were consolidated into the Public Service Pension Plan.
• Enabling benefits pooling of several BPS employers that joined the OPS insured benefits umbrella to leverage the economies of scale that come with group purchasing.
• Implementing the pension recommendations from the 9^th and 10^th Provincial Judges Remuneration Commissions, which creates a new funding structure with opportunities to reduce long-term costs.
• Achieving fair and sustainable collective bargaining agreements, with wage outcomes that are in alignment with the government’s approved mandates for 32 per cent of the provincial agencies sector to date.

Public service modernization

TBS is committed to modernizing the OPS and creating a purpose-driven workplace culture that attracts, retains, reskills, and redeploys capable and diverse talent to successfully deliver on government priorities.

The following initiatives were undertaken to achieve successful organizational transformation that is responsive to government priorities and outcome-based program and service delivery:

• Developing human resource strategies and policies to enable employees to leverage their full potential and deliver on transformation and organizational effectiveness.
• Facilitating and supporting OPS-wide strategic workforce planning to address emerging ministry and enterprise business priorities.
• Expanding socio-demographic data collection related to executive staffing to measure ministry diversity targets in an effort to diversify executive leadership.

Modernizing government programs and services

In 2019, TBS initiated reforms to improve services and achieve efficiencies. As part of the Transfer Payment Consolidation Smart Initiative, with support from the Ministry of Government and Consumer Services (MGCS), TBS is acting on opportunities to reinforce efficiency, transparency, and accountability. The focus is to provide an improved experience for transfer payment recipients, so more time can be spent delivering services to Ontarians and less time on inefficient procedures and administration.

This initiative enabled the government to reduce administrative and reporting burdens on transfer payment recipients across multiple sectors, including education, human and social services, and business supports and economic development sectors.

Containing program growth / program review

TBS has also provided leadership and governance in the coordination of Smart Initiatives, a set of complex, cross-government initiatives to improve outcomes, fix inefficiencies, and protect the sustainability of public services. This includes supporting MGCS on the development and implementation of a centralized supply chain management system across the OPS and BPS. The initiative will save taxpayer money, drive back office efficiencies and help small and medium-sized businesses tap into new opportunities in government procurement.

TBS supported the line-by-line review of government spending conducted by EY Canada to find opportunities for savings and transformation. The review helped to lay a foundation to modernize government and better meet the needs of Ontarians.