Published plans and annual reports 2021-2022: 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, and serves as the enterprise Employer during collective bargaining with unions. In its government-wide leadership capacity, TBS plays a crucial role in building a smarter and more efficient government in support of the government’s fiscal plan. It does 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 to support decision-making by 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 enterprise-wide provincial agency policy, and oversight including guidance to ministries and agencies to ensure strong governance, and accountability; leading evaluation of provincial agencies through the Agency Modernization Initiative to ensure all provincial agencies are relevant, efficient and have appropriate oversight structures in place.
• Overseeing administration of all areas of public appointments to ensure fair and transparent appointments process.
• Providing value-added internal audit services that supports the delivery of excellence to Ontarians.
• Creating the conditions for public service innovation and excellence by building an engaging and diverse workforce culture through enterprise-level human resources strategies and policies, executive recruitment, learning and development, talent and performance management, workforce analytics, and public appointments.
• Building controllership, risk management and audit capability and capacity across the enterprise to ensure strong fiscal accountability, transparency in reporting, and financial management.
• Providing advice, direction and development of a strategic framework for strengthening and modernizing financial management and controllership practices, and internal control frameworks across the Ontario Public Service.
• Leveraging Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) to empower the OPS to take smart risks, provide key risk information to decision makers to pursue bold opportunities to deliver trusted services, programs and policies to Ontarians while ensuring value for taxpayer dollars.
• Ensuring accountability and value-for-money in government spending by coordinating processes that support the work and responsibilities of the Audit and Accountability Committee (AAC), the Ontario Internal Audit Committee (OIAC), and nine Sector Audit Committees (SACs).
• Providing leadership and cost-effective Information Technology (IT) support to clients with the goal of improving the effectiveness of the government’s ability to deliver citizen-centred services.
• Developing and maintaining IT solutions to support a more modern, open and transparent government and helping clients across the OPS to optimize the value of their services to taxpayers.
• Helping to create a modern and digitally enabled government that equips all Ontarians to thrive in the digital age.
• Promoting modern ways of working throughout the public service and increasing value for taxpayers’ dollars by using agile development, user-centred design, and lean principles to improve service delivery
• Helping to restore accountability and trust in government by promoting safe and equitable access to information and data, delivering high quality digital services, and helping the government respond to and create positive outcomes in an era of technological change.
• Providing support to the Future State Modernization Committee (FSMC), with a focus on implementation of Ontario Onwards: Ontario’s COVID-19 Action Plan for a People-Focused Government and other related modernization initiatives.
• Supporting the development of the Ontario Budget, Ontario Economic Outlook and Fiscal Review, as well as the First and Third Quarter Ontario Finances.
• Preparing and releasing Expenditure Estimates, Public Accounts of Ontario and the Public Sector Salary Disclosure compendium.

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.

TBS in collaboration with ministry partners implemented temporary pandemic pay aimed at helping frontline staff who are experiencing severe challenges and are at heightened risk during the on-going COVID-19 pandemic. Approximately 425,000 eligible employees in eligible workplaces, such as hospitals and long-term care homes, received temporary pandemic pay for work performed between April 24, 2020 and August 13, 2020.

During the on-going COVID-19 pandemic, TBS continues to support the government decision-making process in its enterprise-wide capacity by providing strategic advice for the approval of COVID-19 relief items, TBS is also working with ministry partners across different sectors to advise on and develop the government’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Through the use of the Contingency Fund, COVID-19 Pandemic Response Fund, and the Support for People and Jobs Fund, TBS continues to provide effective support by facilitating the timely disbursement of urgent and targeted time-limited funding to critical priorities in order to ensure that ministry partners are able to meet the extraordinary and emerging needs of the health care system, and to support people and jobs during this unprecedented global pandemic.

Additionally, TBS continues to facilitate the development of other tools and the modernization of government services to support the government’s overall COVID-19 response.

Future State Modernization

The Future State Modernization Committee (FSMC) was established as a special-purpose committee of Cabinet in May 2020 as part of the government’s overall COVID-19 response, with a mandate to improve service delivery for the people of Ontario. FSMC has identified a suite of policy and modernization initiatives that will support the government in addressing long-standing operational issues and the need for responsive change, including on the digital front.

In addition, FSMC oversees the implementation of the Ontario Onwards Action Plan: Ontario’s COVID-19 Action Plan for People Focused Government, which was released in 2020. The Action Plan is a roadmap to make public sector services more customer-centric, digital focused and data-driven, while increasing the efficiency of government operations and decision-making. The plan includes more than 30 projects that will modernize the way people and businesses interact with the government and is based on lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic. These projects are enabled and accelerated by the 4-year $500 million Ontario Onwards Acceleration Fund announced in the Fall 2020 Budget.

Other advancements

In collaboration with client ministries, TBS developed, launched and managed computer system applications and changes, and a series of high-impact digital tools that made a concrete difference in helping Ontarians navigate the pandemic, as follows:

• Enabled the issuance of doubled Guaranteed Annual Income System (GAINS) payments for six months providing an additional $75 million to 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, thereby making available approximately $6 billion to employers.
• 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.
• Created the Vaccine Eligibility Checker to make a more user-friendly experience for Ontarians booking vaccination appointments, whether through the provincial booking system, a local health unit or at a pharmacy. This tool has been used more than 15 million times since launching in mid-March 2021.
• Supported the development of a privacy-first COVID-19 Alert exposure notification app to alert Ontarians when they may have been exposed to COVID-19. The app has been downloaded by more than 6.3 million Canadians.
• Developed the COVID-19 website that provides easy-to-access information on the government’s response to the pandemic and the latest updates in relation to public safety; the website has been visited by 50 million users since March 2020.
• Created the COVID-19 Self-Assessment Tool that enabled Ontarians to easily evaluate their symptoms and receive clear guidance on the next steps; the tool has been used more than 5.8 million times.
• Released key COVID-19 data on the Open Data Catalogue, crucial to understanding and responding to the pandemic. This data has been viewed over 2 million times (excluding Application Programming Interfaces) and has been used to create influential insights by journalists, epidemiologists and Ontario communities.
• Created a daily dashboard of COVID-19 information and data from across government to provide a single point of reference and aid decision-makers in better understanding and responding to the pandemic.
• Created the COVID-19 School Screening tool to give parents, students and staff information they need before deciding to attend school each day, completed more than 3.9 million times.
• Developed the Courthouse Screening tool to ensure safe re-opening of Ontario’s courts avoiding a planned procurement cost of $400,000.
• Developed the Ontario Together site, which led to the procurement of $187M in critical supplies in supporting the fight against COVID-19.
• Ensured that service on the Ontario.ca website was 99.99% available during a period of record setting traffic (over 175 million visits in 2020, a 109% year over year increase) and several large unexpected traffic spikes.

In addition, TBS applied lean principles to ensure that work on the frontlines and behind the scenes cuts waste and brings value to the people of Ontario. For instance, TBS made process recommendations regarding COVID-19 test (swab) to reduce avoidable work and urgent email requests by 90 per cent, making it easier for healthcare facilities to get critical supplies and allowing frontline workers to focus on COVID-19 testing.

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. 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 (OPS) and Broader Public Sector (BPS). 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 also 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. In addition, the program serves as a centre of expertise supporting government initiatives impacting total compensation policy in the broader public sector (e.g. executive compensation and benefits policy).

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 also fosters accountability and fiscal integrity by providing expertise and advice on the development and implementation of fiscal, financial management, performance measurement and 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 Centre for People, Culture and Talent (CPCT) (formerly the Office of the Public Service Commission) provides leadership and oversight for setting human resource strategy and policy that supports the government’s commitment to a healthy, inclusive, and antiracist workplace across the public sector in Ontario. The program fosters the organizational culture, leadership capacity, learning and development to support a diverse, skilled and engaged Ontario Public Service (OPS) workforce. It also supports organizational performance through enterprise-wide workforce analytics, employee engagement initiatives and agency governance.

The CPCT also provides secretariat support to the Public Service Commission and supports the achievement of objectives under the Public Service of Ontario Act, 2006 (PSOA) to ensure the OPS continues to be 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 program 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 also 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.

In addition, the program supports the President of the Treasury Board and the government with public reporting of the Public Accounts and Annual Report and Consolidated Financial Statements. It provides the Ontario Public Service and Broader Public Sector enhanced internal oversight including accountability, financial management policy and leading risk management practices across government.

Additionally, the program provides advice, direction and development of a strategic framework for building and strengthening the financial, risk management and internal audit communities.

The Ontario Digital Service is helping create a modern, digitally enabled government that equips all Ontarians to thrive in the digital age. It is helping improve the quality, value and offering of government services by making them more efficient and more of them available digitally. The Ontario Digital Service is doing this by transforming internal processes, setting new standards and equipping the Ontario Public Service to use internet-era methods.

The Future State Modernization program supports the delivery of enterprise-wide transformational change. The program enables modernization projects with a focus on making government services more digitally accessible, reducing red tape and simplifying policies, and improving government purchasing. This enterprise-wide transformation drives more convenient, reliable and accessible services for people and businesses across Ontario. 

2021-22 Strategic plan

Ministry contribution to priority outcomes

In its enterprise-wide capacity and as an enabler of change, TBS is at the centre of developing and implementing the government’s fiscal plan to help build a smarter government that supports the province in ensuring sustainability and protecting what matters most to Ontarians.

Transformation and modernization

TBS drives responsive transformation and applies sound business practices to government, thereby achieving greater efficiency to ensure programs and services are sustainable, efficient and effective by:

• Supporting accelerated Treasury Board/Management Board of Cabinet (TB/MBC) decision-making processes to ensure effective support to ministries working on tight timelines to effectively manage pandemic-related expenditures, while providing sound guidance and support to TB/MBC members.
• 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 Broader Public Sector (BPS).
• Supporting ministry partners in establishing new agencies that are critical to the delivery of key government priorities (e.g., Ontario Health, Invest Ontario, and Supply Ontario).
• Exploring the collection of provincial workforce data to increase transparency and accountability while allowing the government to make more effective use of public resources.
• Advancing transformational Information Technology (IT) and digital policies and practices, including IT and digital governance, capacity building and measurement.
• Building user-centred products and platforms such as Digital Identity and Notify that accelerate the government’s technology and service modernization.
• Helping ministries redesign their programs and services using innovative technologies and methods (e.g., agile, service design, lean and continuous Improvement, open source software, eliminating traditional fax in favour of modern methods), supporting the adoption of lean processes, and building lean capacity across government.
• Increasing government transparency and accountability and enabling informed government and public decision-making by managing the government's data inventory, data catalogue and open data program.
• Supporting the implementation of the Ontario Onwards: Ontario’s COVID-19 Action Plan for a People-Focused Government to enable the improvement of programs and frontline services (including health care and ServiceOntario), expand access to broadband, and support the government’s commitment to achieve a modern, efficient and customer-focused government.
• Improving outcomes and prudent leadership in labour relations with its OPS and BPS partners.
• Leading, overseeing and monitoring the Agency Modernization Initiatives to ensure effectiveness, relevance and efficiency of all provincial agencies.
• Expanding the FORTE application to provide a consistent, leading-edge tool that provides the Employer with access to data for talent and performance planning and allows all employees to document their skills and learning plans.
• Supporting Ontario’s Digital First Strategy through the use of a business application called OPSDocs to make documents for services that directly affect Ontarians available online, thereby, improving ease of access to government services for people, businesses and communities.

Accountability and transparency

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

• 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.
• Providing oversight functions through the Office of the Comptroller General to ensure strong fiscal accountability, enterprise financial system governance and integrity, transparency in reporting, a modern public sector comptrollership framework, and financial management, risk and audit capability and capacity.
• Establishing a Data Analytics Centre of Excellence as part of the Ontario Internal Audit Division’s audit and forensic investigation function to enable enhanced business risk intelligence for internal audit planning, more agile and leaner practices, and evidence-based approaches.

Value for money

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

• Working with the Ministry of Government and Consumer Services to make procurement processes more efficient through an integrated supply chain system across the OPS and BPS, resulting in reduced red tape for vendors and more effective use of public expenditures for the people of Ontario.
• Continuing to monitor and implement efficiencies through a strong expenditure management strategy and improving programs/services to ensure taxpayer value and inform multi-year strategies.
• Applying lean principles across government to improve service delivery and create a nimble, efficient, and effective public service.
• Promoting agile and service design approaches that work to reduce risks in projects, ensure faster delivery to users in smaller increments, and allow teams to continue to iterate to meet changing needs and requirements.

Key performance measures

TBS’ progress towards government-directed and ministry-identified key performance indicators (KPIs) is tracked utilizing a robust accountability measurement framework. These KPIs demonstrate TBS’ commitment to delivering on government priorities through the ministry’s mandate of:

• Leading the government’s efforts on accountability, risk management, openness and modernization.
• Supporting the government’s fiscal plan by strategically driving cultural change and embedding a focus on fiscal responsibility across the whole of government.
• Serving as the enterprise Employer during collective bargaining with unions.
• Supporting the provision of high-quality and convenient digital government programs and services.
• Spearheading the review and analysis of all government programs and services by ensuring increased efficiency and effective outcomes.

Government-firected key performance indicators

Supporting fiscal responsibility and transparency

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

Containing program growth

TBS continues to support the government’s fiscal objectives by implementing measures that enable expenditure management and ensure that government services and programs are both sustainable and effective.

Managing compensation

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

• Analysis of compensation outcomes reached across comparable jurisdictions and the private sector. This includes compensation studies and jurisdictional scans to derive evidence-based compensation decisions that 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 frontline 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 (i.e., OPS and BPS) collective agreement negotiations and compensation of BPS employees, thereby ensuring consistent and sustainable compensation increases.
• Ongoing sector engagement to monitor and track collective agreements and arbitration awards in order to ensure compliance with the Protecting a Sustainable Public Sector for Future Generations Act, 2019 (PSPSFGA).

Program review

Effective and efficient program delivery is key to providing services and supports for Ontarians. TBS continues to monitor progress towards a target of 250 programs reviewed by March 31, 2024, each identifying opportunities for improvement, modernization or reform. As of March 31, 2021, a total of 61 program reviews have been completed with an additional 78 expected to be complete by Fall 2021.

Strengthening accountability and internal audit controls

TBS is supporting strong fiscal management by ensuring accountability and value-for-money in government spending through the work and responsibilities of the Audit and Accountability Committee, the Ontario Internal Audit Committee, and nine Sector Audit Committees. In addition, TBS coordinates processes that support the continued effectiveness of these committees in strengthening accountability:

• Implementation of the Auditor General’s recommended actions from Value-for-Money Audits continues to progress, thereby ensuring that government programs and services operate with due regard for taxpayers’ money. As reported in the 2020 Auditor General’s Annual Follow-Up Report, 75 per cent of the recommended actions from the 2018 Value-for-Money Audit have been addressed (i.e., fully implemented, in process of being implemented, no longer applicable, or no longer planned to be implemented).
• TBS continues to drive completion of engagements where Ontario Internal Audit Division (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.

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 within its reduced program allocation.

In addition to achieving its multi-year savings and efficiency targets, TBS is investing in an audit of Harmonized Sales Tax (HST) recoveries. As demonstrated by other Canadian jurisdictions, administrative efficiencies can be increased by identifying payments where HST may have been embedded and not previously rebated by the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA). In fiscal year 2020-21, $83,129,417 in previously unclaimed HST rebates from the CRA have been recovered.

Fulfilling the emergency management program legislative requirements

• TBS is fulfilling its role in ensuring Ontario is prepared for emergencies and natural disasters by complying with the Emergency Management and Civil Protection Act and O.Reg. 380/04. TBS is successfully responding to the pandemic by maintaining operations and resources during the unprecedented challenges of this time. In addition, TBS met all legislated compliance requirements as part of the 2020 calendar year of the Emergency Management Program through its Continuity of Operations Program (COOP) to ensure continued service delivery and its Order-in-Council role of coordinating communications affecting labour relations and human resources management across the OPS during emergency situations.

Delivering best-in-class, user-centric and secure digital solutions

TBS is driving the development of horizontal digital Key Performance Indicators and is working with partner ministries to refine measurement and evaluation approaches to demonstrate progress on government’s digital transformation goals. The ministry continues to support an increased use of digital channels for government services and programs by ensuring the delivery of best-in-class, user-centric and secure digital solutions to the people and businesses of Ontario. For instance,

• The creation of all I&IT consulting Purchase Order requisitions for all vendors (including small and medium businesses) has been digitized using Robotic Process Automation (RPA) as of October 2020, thereby resulting in high-volume interactions being conducted digitally.
• Collaborating with Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services (MCCSS), Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks (MECP) and Ministry of Transportation (MTO) on a pilot called Public Secure. The pilot modernizes Identity and Access Management (IAM) services in order to provide up to 150,000 Ontarians with secure login access through mobile and cloud platforms to three government programs (i.e., social assistance, child support, and environment protection). The pilot will be extended to include Parents of Children with Autism, with a goal of making Public Secure available to all government services upon completion of the pilot. There were 90,000 Public Secure users as of November 2020.

Ministry identified key performance indicators

Supporting government’s Digital First Strategy

TBS continues to support Ontario’s Digital First Strategy that is intended to make government work better for people, businesses and communities. For instance, TBS is using a business application called OPSDocs to make documents for services that directly affect Ontarians available online. As of November 2020, OPSDocs stores and manages over 106 million Ontario Public Service (OPS) documents. OPSDocs is a modern cloud-based digital records management system that is built on OpenText technology. It is rated for high security records, supports data analysis and artificial intelligence, and fulfills policy and legislative requirements for proper storage and document management of business critical and high sensitivity records.

Building lean capacity in the Ontario Public Service

TBS is leading the increase of Lean capacity in government through a series of training courses and events in order to increase the effectiveness and efficiency of OPS processes. By March 2021, 4,463 OPS staff had been trained in Lean principles, compared to a target of 6,000 trained staff by 2024.

Digital service standard of government’s digital services

TBS is supporting teams across the OPS in understanding the Digital Service Standard and how to apply the standard in the design and delivery of government digital services. The Digital Service Standard outlines best practices for the creation of effective online services to ensure Ontario is releasing high-quality, efficient digital products and services. In 2020-21, TBS completed 86 Digital First Assessments and 27 rush Digital First Assessments. 29 per cent of assessments received an overall approved result on their alignment with the Digital Service Standard.

Detailed financial information

Chart 1: Distribution of 2021-22 approved allocation by ministry programs (votes)

For additional financial information, see:

Expenditure Estimates

Public Accounts of Ontario

2021 Budget

Provincial agencies

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 (OIAC)

Chair: Michael Stramaglia

A provincial advisory agency providing advice and recommendations to the President of the Treasury Board, in consultation with the Ontario Internal Audit Division (OIAD). 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: Sharon Pel

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 entities above, the figures represent only those expenses incurred by Treasury Board Secretariat on behalf of these entities. The amounts above do not represent the full financial position for each entity.

Ministry organization chart

• President of the Treasury Board – The Honourable Peter Bethlenfalvy
  • Group of 5 Chair positions:
    • Chair, Public Service Commission
    • Chair, OPSEU Pension Trust
    • Chair, Ontario Pension Board
    • Chair, Provincial Judges Pension Board
    • Chair, Audit and Accountability Committee
  • Deputy Minister, Treasury Board Secretariat and Secretary of Treasury Board and Management Board of Cabinet – Kevin French
    • Director of Operations – Sarah O'Callaghan
    • Legal Director – Len Hatzis
    • Communications Director – Bryant Sullivan
    • Chief Information Officer, Central Agencies Cluster – Liz MacKenzie
    • ADM, Central Agency Communications – Sofie DiMuzio
    • Chief Administrative Officer and ADM, Corporate Services Division – Sandy Yee
    • Executive Lead, Future State Modernization Transformation Office – Lisa Priest
    • Chief Talent Officer, Centre for People, Culture and Talent – Brian Fior
      • ADM, People and Culture – Sean Twyford
      • ADM, Talent and Leadership – Stephen Brown
    • Associate Deputy Minister, Office of the Treasury Board – Linda McAusland
      • ADM, Planning and Performance – Shannon Fenton
      • ADM, Operating Expenditure Management – Lisa Zanetti
      • ADM, Capital Expenditure Management – David Clarke
    • Associate Deputy Minister, Centre for Public Sector Labour Relations and Compensation – Marc Rondeau
      • ADM, Employee Relations and Negotiations – Matt Siple
      • ADM, Broader Public Sector Oversight and Compensation – Kirstin Rydahl
  • Deputy Minister and Comptroller General, Office of the Comptroller General – Carlene Alexander
    • Chief Risk Officer and ADM, Office of the Chief Risk Officer – Ingrid Robinson
    • Provincial Controller and ADM, Office of the Provincial Controller Division – Maureen Buckley
    • Chief Internal Auditor, Ontario Internal Audit Division – Beili Wong
  • Deputy Minister and Chief Digital and Data Officer, Ontario Digital Service – Hillary Hartley
    • ADM, Lean and Continuous Improvement – Rachel Kampus
    • ADM, Digital – Michael Maddock
    • ADM, Platforms – Robert Devries

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 2021-2022 Act, 2020
• 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 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
• Simpler, Faster, Better Services Act, 2019
• Supply Act, 2021

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’ 2020-21 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

The health and safety of Ontarians is necessary to support economic recovery and it is the government’s top priority. In its leadership role of fiscal responsibility and ensuring that government services and programs are sustainable, TBS led and effectively managed the enterprise-wide multi-year planning and in-year expenditure management processes to support the government’s COVID-19 response. In addition, TBS continues to pursue back-office administrative efficiencies by streamlining accommodation costs and the use of communications equipment.

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

• Developing an eSignature service for applicants to provide electronic consent for targeted benefit programs that require income verification to determine program eligibility and entitlement. This initiative digitizes the application submission process for Ontarians, improves convenience and access for users applying for benefit programs (e.g., Healthy Smiles Ontario (HSO)), and promotes increased uptake of benefits programs for those in need.
• Implementing the Canada Ontario Housing Benefit (COHB) program, which provides portable housing support to low income, vulnerable Ontario citizens whose circumstances may require them to relocate (e.g., victims of domestic violence).
• Continuing to work on the implementation of an anonymous public facing service for OntTax/Automated Income Verification and Business Services (AIVBS) submissions. This initiative aligns with the Government’s Digital First strategy by eliminating the need for paper submissions and significantly improving customer service and administration.

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 2019-20 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 third year in a row in which Ontario’s financial statements received a clean audit opinion from the Auditor General.

In keeping with Ontario's commitment to openness and transparency, the government released the names, positions, salaries and total taxable benefits of public sector employees (OPS, BPS and municipal) paid $100,000 or more in the 2020 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 in the province’s finances, the government undertook a comprehensive review of provincial agencies. This agency modernization work started with the Agency Review Task Force followed by an additional agency evaluation process in Fall 2020. Recommendations from these reviews focused on ensuring agencies remain transparent and sustainable over the long term and better align with government priorities. The government is working to implement the recommendations from these reviews 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 November 2019, the legislature passed the Protecting a Sustainable Public Sector for Future Generations Act, 2019 to enable the government manage compensation growth while respecting taxpayers and the services they rely on and ensuring that public-sector jobs and vital frontline services are protected.

Since introducing the Act, collective agreements covering about 370,000 workers, representing over 45 per cent of unionized public sector employees have been settled in compliance with the Act. Additionally, settlements reached in the private sector over this same period included average annual wage increases of 2.2 per cent — roughly double those reached in Ontario’s public sector.

TBS continued to support the government’s efforts to reasonably manage the size of the OPS. From June 2018 to January 2021, the size of the OPS was reduced by 7 per cent without involuntary job loss or impacts to frontline services. This has positioned the government to make targeted investments in critical frontline services. Additional initiatives to manage compensation include:

• 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.
• 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.
• Developing and publicly releasing the OPS’ first annual report on the work underway to diversify the OPS' senior leadership so that it is more reflective of the Ontario labour force. The report outlines the OPS’ senior leadership diversification strategy and the plan to achieve the organizational goal of parity with the diversity of the Ontario labour force by 2025 for the most underrepresented groups. The report also reflects all socio-demographic data that will be used to track progress.
• TBS continues to promote the ethical framework in the Public Service of Ontario Act, 2006 (PSOA), including rules and restrictions governing oaths of office and allegiance, conflict of interest, political activity and disclosure of wrongdoing.

Modernizing government programs and services

Building on the reforms that TBS initiated in 2019 to improve services and achieve efficiencies, TBS continues to work with the Ministry of Government and Consumer Services (MGCS) on the Transfer Payment Consolidation Initiative in order to reinforce efficiency, transparency and accountability. As part of the initiative, TBS and MGCS coordinated the onboarding of transfer payment programs across ministries onto Transfer Payment Ontario (TPON). TPON is intended to improve the experience of transfer payment recipients and administrators, so that more time can be spent delivering services to Ontarians.

The Transfer Payment Consolidation 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.

TBS continues to lead the way to make Ontario a leading digital government jurisdiction. In 2020-21, the ministry was instrumental in advancing the government’s priorities, including driving the outcomes outlined in the Ontario Onwards Action Plan. TBS also engaged with over 7,000 Ontarians and 700 small and medium-sized businesses on Ontario’s first digital ID and received advice from diverse sectors (i.e., Technology to Finance) on how to ensure that the digital ID meets their needs and helps grow the economy. In addition, TBS developed and launched the Digital and Data Directive, which sets the policy and governance landscape for digital and data in the Ontario Public Service.

Other digital advancements that TBS supported include:

• The completion of 86 Digital First Assessments and 27 rush Digital First Assessments to ensure that Ontario is releasing high-quality, efficient digital products and services.
• Hosted over 557 user research sessions with end users both internal and external to the OPS.
• Held a series of training courses and events with over 10,000 people attending digital training and over 5,000 attending lean training to increase digital and lean capacity in government.

TBS also partnered with ministries to improve online experiences, develop cost efficient and user-friendly services, and deliver high impact lean projects that achieved a minimum of 20 per cent process efficiency improvements. For example, TBS worked with:

• MGCS to improve and update web content across multiple OPS web pages (e.g., Ontario.ca, application portal, etc.), thereby reducing the number of inquiries to the ServiceOntario call centre by 90 per cent. This reduction in calls saved the government time and money by connecting people immediately to the information that they needed online.
• MGCS on the Top Ten Transactions initiative to move 530,000 transactions online, thereby making it easier for Ontarians to renew their health cards, valtags and drivers licences online. This digitization of everyday transaction decreased cost delivery and saved Ontarians time.
• Ministry of Labour, Training and Skills Development (MLTSD) to apply lean principles on the Ontario Immigration Nominee Program and, thereby achieve a 9 per cent increase in nominations in 2020 without increasing additional staffing resources.
• MGCS to apply lean principles in the production and renewal of the Ontario Licence Plate Stickers. These lean improvements resulted in 100 per cent productivity improvement, which is equal to 6,300 more stickers being produced each day. The improvements also generated capacity online for an additional one million licence plate stickers to be renewed annually, thereby increasing the online uptake target to 65 per cent.
• Ministry of the Solicitor General on a lean project in the Chief Coroner’s Office to recommend a digital solution for medical death certificates. This lean project is saving physicians’ time and an estimated $500,000 annually.

Program review

The annual Program Review process (which is led through multi-year planning) helps ensure that public programs are assessed for their efficiency and effectiveness, overall value-for-money, and alignment with core government priorities. This process is a part of the government’s efforts to promote modernization and ensure that government programs are implemented and delivered as efficiently and effectively as possible.

Increasing Administrative Efficiencies

As demonstrated by other Canadian jurisdictions, administrative efficiencies that realize savings and improve cost effectiveness can be increased by identifying payments where Harmonized Sales Tax (HST) may have been embedded and not previously rebated by the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA). TBS has embarked on the review of provincial programs and identifying previous expenditures that may have had embedded HST payments.

In fiscal year 2020-21, $83,129,417 in previously unclaimed HST rebates from the CRA have been recovered.