Departmental Results Report 2023-24

The Honourable Arif Virani, P.C., M.P.
Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada

Public Prosecution Service of Canada

160 Elgin Street, 12th Floor
Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0H8
www.ppsc-sppc.gc.ca

Also available on the Web in PDF and HTML formats

© His Majesty the King in Right of Canada (2024)

Cat. No. J76-6E-PDF
ISSN 2560-9343

On this page:

• From the Director of Public Prosecutions and Deputy Attorney General of Canada
• Results: what we achieved
  • Core responsibility 1: Prosecutions Services
  • Internal services
• Spending and human resources
  • Spending
  • Funding
  • Financial statement highlights
  • Human resources
• Corporate information
• Supplementary information tables
• Federal tax expenditures
• Definitions

From the Director of Public Prosecutions and Deputy Attorney General of Canada

George Dolhai
Director of Public Prosecutions and Deputy Attorney General of Canada

I am pleased to present the Public Prosecution Service of Canada’s^{Footnote 1} (PPSC) Departmental Results Report (DRR) for 2023-24.

The PPSC plays a key role in Canada’s justice system to protect the rights of individuals, to uphold the rule of law and to work within the criminal justice system to make Canada a safe and just society. I am proud of what all of my colleagues have accomplished.

The accomplishments for this year are a testament to the value of our investments in our people and our policy framework. It has been a year of notable progress and achievements that reflect our commitment to our priorities, our colleagues, and our essential role within the criminal justice system.

During this year, following the renewal of the PPSC’s Mission Statement and Values, we have strengthened our engagement with the public, ensuring they know what to expect from our organization and from our employees. Our improved public facing “Public Feedback and Complaints Policy” invites feedback from Canadians. It commits to ensuring that any complaint will be full investigated and treated with the seriousness it deserves, enhancing public safety outcomes and upholding our values.

A significant focus this year has been to provide additional tools to support our employees continuing dedication to making the best decisions they can. We have been providing training to our employees, particularly regarding the impact of unconscious biases on decision-making. We have taken concrete steps to support our common goal of addressing the over-representation of Indigenous and Black Canadians in the criminal justice system. The majority of our prosecutors and paralegals have completed the national training program, Expanding our Mindset – Applying an Intersectional Lens to Prosecutorial Work: A GBA Plus Approach, aimed at building internal capacity in the application of GBA Plus considerations, also known as intersectional analysis, in prosecutorial work. Additionally, employees continued to receive cultural competence training, entitled Historical and Present Indigenous Realities, Trauma and Gladue Reports, to better serve the diverse communities across Canada.

We have been revising our policies in our PPSC Deskbook, our primary tool guiding prosecutorial decision-making, to reflect best practices and approaches. The revisions sought to help prosecutors more directly address systemic factors that can lead to biases in our prosecutorial policies. We were able to implement changes to three guidelines, including Guideline 2.2” Duties and Responsibilities of Crown counsel,” Guideline 3.7“Resolution Discussions,” and Guideline 6.1“Drug Treatment Courts.” Additionally, following the relaunch of the Decision to Prosecute guideline, to ensure that prosecutors are well supported, discussions and training sessions were held across all our regional offices to highlight the important changes to this chapter. Applying these most recent changes is a tangible way for us to take action and promote public trust in the criminal justice system.

As the Covid-19 context evolved and departments and agencies gradually moved from a remote by default posture, allowing for more on-site presence, we have fully embraced a hybrid workplace model, taking the opportunities offered by flexibility to work from home and come together to work in the office. We will evaluate our tools, communication methods, and onboarding processes, to continue to innovate and foster a culture of trust, respect and engagement within our professional workforce.

I want to extend my gratitude to our dedicated employees who consistently give their best to improve our results so that we can implement our priorities.

George Dolhai
Director of Public Prosecutions and
Deputy Attorney General of Canada

Results – what we achieved

Core responsibilities and internal services

• Core responsibility 1: Prosecution Services
• Internal services

Prosecution Services

In this section

• Description
• Progress on results
• Key risks
• Resources required to achieve results
• Related government-wide priorities
• Program inventory

Description

The PPSC prosecutes criminal and regulatory offences under federal law in an independent, impartial and fair manner. It also provides prosecutorial legal advice to investigative agencies.

Progress on results

This section presents details on how the department performed to achieve results and meet targets for Prosecution Services. Details are presented by departmental result.

Table 1: Targets and results for Prosecution Services

Table 1 provides a summary of the target and actual results for each indicator associated with the results under Prosecution Services.

Timely and comprehensive legal advice is provided to investigative agencies^{Footnote 2}

Federal prosecutions are completed in a timely manner^{Footnote 6}

Through professionally conducted prosecution-related work, the ODPP contributes to the administration of justice

Additional information on the detailed results and performance information for the PPSC’s program inventory is available on GC InfoBase.

Details on results

The following section describes the results for Prosecution Services in 2023-24 compared with the planned results set out in PPSC’s departmental plan for the year.

Prosecution and Legal Advice: The Role of the PPSC in Federal Law Enforcement

The PPSC prosecutes criminal and regulatory offences under federal law in an independent, impartial and fair manner. It also provides prosecutorial legal advice and assistance to law enforcement agencies or investigative bodies.

Results achieved

• The PPSC is responsible for the prosecution of all offences stemming from the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act (CDSA)and the Cannabis Act; however, only those investigated by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) will be prosecuted by the PPSC in the Provinces of Quebec and New Brunswick. The PPSC continued to give special attention to two areas of drug prosecutions. First, significant efforts have been spent on the prosecution of the large-scale manufacture and importation of controlled substances which is often connected to organized crime. Second, we continued to emphasize the devastating impacts of the toxic opioids crisis by advocating for serious sentences against those involved in the commercial trafficking of fentanyl and other high potency synthetic drugs. This involves the preparation of court materials including expert medical evidence to strenuously advocate for proportionate sentences that recognize the extreme danger trafficking in these substances poses to Canadian society.
• In 2023-24, the PPSC’s National Prosecution Policy Committee reviewed chapters within the PPSC Deskbook through an intersectional lens to ensure that the guidelines direct prosecutors to make fair and equitable decisions, and to take active steps to avoid bias, racism, and systemic discrimination.
  The Deskbook sets out the guiding principles which all federal prosecutors, and persons acting as federal prosecutors, must follow. In 2021, the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) tasked our National Prosecution Policy Committee to review the Deskbook and recommend changes to any policy or practice that may contribute to discrimination, systemic racism, or over-representation of Indigenous, Black and racialized individuals in the criminal justice system. As a result, in 2023-2024, the DPP implemented changes to three guidelines:
  • Guideline 2.2 “Duties and Responsibilities of Crown Counsel”: In any exercise of discretion, prosecutors must consider any systemic and background factors that may have contributed to the accused coming before the court. They must also guard against all forms of biases that may perpetuate historical and systemic discrimination and ensure that their decisions do not disproportionately impact any vulnerable or marginalized person in the justice system. Prosecutors also have a duty to inform themselves about the community in which they prosecute.
  • Guideline 3.7 “Resolution Discussions”: Prosecutors must be careful to avoid contributing to over-representation. They can do so in a number of ways, such as avoiding “short and sharp sentences,” exploring all available sanctions other than imprisonment that are reasonable in the circumstances, and recognizing the circumstances in which they can suggest a sentence lower than established common-law ranges.
  • Guideline 6.1 “Drug Treatment Courts”: Prosecutors now have greater flexibility on the design of Drug Treatment Court (DTC) programs, thus removing unnecessary barriers that may contribute to discrimination and over-representation. The guideline also gives flexibility on when persons who use drugs can seek enrollment into DTC and the determination of criteria for graduation from a DTC program.
• The DPP issued a new guideline entitled: Prosecution of Possession of Controlled Substances Contrary to s. 4(1) of the CDSA to direct PPSC prosecutors to pursue prosecution only in the most serious cases raising public safety concerns and to otherwise pursue suitable alternative measures and diversion from the criminal justice system for simple possession. Since implementing this policy in August 2020, the PPSC, in consultation with health officials and the police, have moved away from prosecuting any offence related to possession of a controlled substance for personal use except in cases where the alleged offending conduct poses serious and direct harm to others, in particular children. This change has resulted in a year-over-year reduction in simple possession charges, allowing the PPSC to dedicate more resources to prosecutions related to trafficking and the import/export of illicit substances, which all constitute serious public safety concerns.
• Additionally, as of 2023-24, the PPSC prosecutes offences under the statutes enforced by the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), notably those dealing with tax evasion and contraband tobacco and cannabis. Specialized PPSC prosecutors provide advice during the investigative stage, conduct prosecutions, and provide training to investigators. CRA investigations focus on complex tax evasion schemes, including cross-border crime and offences committed by organized groups. Due to the necessity for the CRA to invest considerable time and resources in the training and onboarding of new investigators and the resolution of existing cases, the PPSC will not immediately observe the results of these additional resources. The CRA experienced its lowest number of files referred during the 2023-24 period, in part due to the impact of the pandemic. However, the number of files referred will increase threefold in 2024-25.

Drug Treatment Courts

Results achieved

Drug Treatment Courts (DTCs) are vitally important in addressing the issues associated with substance abuse within the criminal justice system. They provide nonviolent offenders with problematic substance use the opportunity to complete a court-monitored drug treatment program as an alternative to incarceration. DTCs take a comprehensive approach intended to reduce the number of crimes committed to support substance dependency through judicial supervision, comprehensive substance abuse treatment, random and frequent drug testing, incentives and sanctions, clinical case management, and social services support. This approach supports offenders in addressing their cycle of problematic substance use and criminal behaviour. It has been successful as a means of reducing criminal recidivism.

The statutory framework for DTCs is provided through the CDSA and the Criminal Code, both of which offer sentencing alternatives to incarceration for eligible offenders. The PPSC has dedicated counsel who work with the court, police and service providers.

• In 2023-24, the PPSC worked with stakeholders on the expansion of DTC programs throughout the country. The PPSC currently supports more than 20 DTCs across all our regions. Furthermore, in 2023-24, the PPSC reviewed its Deskbook guideline to ensure that it is supporting DTCs in a manner that is consistent with an intersectional and reconciliatory approach, including a review of how to support access to DTCs without requiring an individual to enter a guilty plea.
• In 2023-24, the PPSC implemented changes to the Deskbook in regards of the Drug Treatment Courts. DTCs are a judicially supervised treatment program that enables persons suffering from a substance use disorder to meaningfully address their substance use. The treatment program is a non-adversarial environment supported by a multidisciplinary team that includes judges, prosecutors, defence counsel, law enforcement, social service agencies, and health service professionals.
  • The objective of a DTC program is to reduce the likelihood that its participants will commit a criminal offence that is related to their substance use disorders, thereby breaking the cycle of recidivism.
  • Crown counsel exercise an important gatekeeping role when determining if an individual is eligible to participate in a DTC program. In addition to eligibility, Crown counsel make recommendations on the approach to adopt with each participant, depending on what stage of the proceedings the participant engages in DTC. A person can apply to DTC at any point in their criminal proceedings.

The PPSC’s Response to the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls

Results achieved

The PPSC continued its work in supporting the Government of Canada's Federal Pathway to Address Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls and 2SLGBTQQIA+ People, and to respond to Calls for Justice 1.5, 5.12, 9.2, 9.2(ii), 10.1, 16.27, 17.8 and 17.29, to improve the level of justice provided to Indigenous victims, witnesses and communities experiencing sexual violence and intimate partner violence in Yukon, the Northwest Territories (NWT), and Nunavut.

• Increasing prosecutorial capacity across the three territories.
  Increasing prosecutorial capacity in order to improve support for Indigenous victims and witnesses remains a top priority for the organization.
  The PPSC has launched a Northern Recruitment Strategy that focuses on addressing immediate gaps and reaching full staff complement through outreach programs, partnerships, innovative advertising and branding techniques, as well as targeted hiring strategies by region and job category.
  Significant progress has already been made in increasing prosecutorial capacity in the northern territories. However, external factors such as a lack of childcare, non-competitive salaries and benefits, lack of infrastructure, living conditions and environmental factors, as well as the nature of the work, continue to pose significant challenges for recruitment and retention.
• Creating Inuktut-speaking Inuit paralegal positions.
  PPSC’s Nunavut Regional Office is committed to increasing Inuit representation as decision-makers in the criminal justice system in Nunavut.
  The PPSC Inuit Employment Plan contains an employment strategy aimed at increasing the number of Inuit employees to a representative level. The Plan includes removing employment barriers, increasing Inuit representation on staffing panels, career laddering within the office and emphasizing the acquisition of leadership skills through formal and on-the-job training.
• The Inuit Court Worker (ICW) Program, a first of its kind in the country, includes an intensive training program including post-secondary courses, self-study, hands-on training and hands-on experience under the direct supervision and mentorship of a Senior Counsel to train junior court workers to become paralegals able to act independently on behalf of the PPSC in the Nunavut Justice of the Peace Court and in summary conviction matters throughout Nunavut. The ICW program is fully operational and ICW’s have overseen the summary offences court in Iqaluit. Due to the success of the program in Iqaluit, the ICW mandate is extended to attend circuit court to address summary matters in all communities in Nunavut, allowing for more communities in Nunavut to benefit from this program. Further, the most experienced ICW has been promoted to the Senior Court Worker position and has started addressing summary matters in the Nunavut Court of Justice unified court and going on circuits. Through the hiring and development of Inuktut-speaking Inuit paralegals, direct Inuit participation in prosecutions is increased.
• Engaging with Indigenous communities in the three territories.
  The PPSC is committed to engaging with local justice committee members and/or Elders to identify culturally appropriate and trauma-informed approaches for victims and witnesses. The organization has continued to focus its engagement efforts toward a more regional and local approach to complement the development of prosecutorial innovations rather than the original pan-northern approach.
  Prosecution teams in the Northwest Territories and in Nunavut have been engaging with local Non-Government Organizations and Indigenous community leaders to address sexual violence issues in these regions. The knowledge and lessons learned gathered from these activities will be shared with the Yukon office to assist them in developing a strategy that is meaningful for their region.
• Training on historical and current Crown Indigenous relations, anti-racism, bias and stereotypes of Indigenous peoples, trauma and Gladue reports.
  Since the launch of the training in 2023, the PPSC has delivered nine (9) sessions in the following regional offices: Ontario, Yukon, Nunavut, Manitoba, Quebec, Atlantic, National Capital, Headquarters and Internal Services. Each training session is adapted to integrate the Indigenous specific realities of the region.
  
  This curriculum is divided into four modules:
  
  • Module 1 focuses on the historical relationship between the Crown and Indigenous peoples;
  • Module 2 focuses on cultural competency and current realities and aims to challenge stereotypes associated with Indigenous, First Nations, Inuit and Métis people;
  • Module 3 focuses on intergenerational trauma and trauma-informed practices; and,
  • Module 4 provides hands-on training on Gladue principles and the role of the Crown.
• The first three modules of the course are mandatory for all employees, while the fourth module is mandatory for prosecutors and paralegals, and remains open to all other employee groups.

Key risks

The PPSC continued working to update its Organizational Risk Profile (ORP). The objectives for this cycle were to review and adjust the scope of each risk to ensure it reflects the current operational context and objectives, and to strengthen the risk exercise by including tools that assist with risk assessment. Significant progress was made on identifying six inherent and potential risks that may affect the PPSC's effort in achieving its strategic outcomes and organizational priorities. Progress on key risks and related mitigation strategies will be monitored and reported in the corresponding Departmental Results Report.

Resources required to achieve results

Table 2: Snapshot of resources required for Prosecution Services

Table 2 provides a summary of the planned and actual spending and full-time equivalents (FTEs) required to achieve results.

Complete financial and human resources information for the PPSC’s program inventory is available on GC InfoBase.

Related government-wide priorities

Gender-based analysis plus

The PPSC recognizes the importance of its role in the Canadian criminal justice system. The PPSC’s commitment to reconciliation, equity, diversity, inclusion, and accessibility is clearly reflected in its values and its organizational priorities. In line with these commitments, the PPSC has made significant strides in integrating GBA Plus considerations across all areas of its work.

The delivery of the mandatory national training program for prosecutors and paralegals, “Expanding our Mindset – Applying an Intersectional Lens to Prosecutorial Work: A GBA Plus Approach,” continued throughout 2023-24 and concluded in December 2023. Overall, 97% of prosecutors, and 97% of paralegals have completed the training. In total, 562 prosecutors and 83 paralegals have completed the training.

In 2023-24, the GBA Plus Responsibility Center continued to support the National Prosecution Policy Committee (NPPC) with its review of Deskbook chapters with an intersectional lens. This ensures that prosecution decisions are made in fair and equitable manner, and that PPSC policies are reflective of the evolution of its role and purpose.

Program inventory

Prosecution Services is supported by the following programs:

• Federal Prosecutions

Additional information related to the program inventory for Prosecution Services is available on the Results page on GC InfoBase.

Internal services

In this section

• Description
• Progress on results
• Resources required to achieve results
• Contracts awarded to Indigenous business

Description

Internal services are the services that are provided within a department so that it can meet its corporate obligations and deliver its programs. There are ten (10) categories of internal services:

• management and oversight services
• communications services
• legal services
• human resources management services
• financial management services
• information management services
• information technology services
• real property management services
• materiel management services
• acquisition management services

Progress on results

This section presents details on how the department performed to achieve results and meet targets for internal services.

Advancement Centre for Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Accessibility

As stated in our Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, and Accessibility (EDIA) Action Plan, our EDIA Commitments are:

• To foster authentic, respectful, transparent, and accountable relationships.
• To intentionally promote, recruit, and retain employees to reflect diverse perspectives.
• To integrate an intersectional lens in our prosecutorial work.

Throughout 2023-2024, we remained focused on two broad but critical objectives:

• ensuring that we continue to mature as an equitable, diverse, inclusive and accessible organization for our employees; and
• making changes to our prosecutorial practices to be an intentional contributor in reducing the mass incarceration of marginalized groups in Canada’s criminal justice system.

Our EDIA Governance Structure is essential to our EDIA maturity. The Advancement Centre for EDIA has hosted quarterly meetings of the co-leads of our five National Councils of Employees (NCEs), as well as our eleven Regional EDIA Committees (REDIACs). Sharing information regularly with both groups, supporting their priorities and working to alleviate their concerns, is central to building trust within the organization. The then DPP had the opportunity to meet most of the NCE members and welcomed their feedback on areas where focus needs to be given to support PPSC’s growth.

We invested in activities that would help advance the objectives we set out for ourselves in our EDIA Action Plan. The Advancement Centre for EDIA worked with other divisions, such as Human Resources and Communications, on the following:

• published the PPSC’s first EDIA Progress Report;
• hosted 13 Learning Labs entitled “Intentionally Diversifying our Workforce” with sub-delegated managers to discuss inclusive hiring practices and targeted EDIA staffing;
• solicited interest in creating a pool of diverse assessment board members;
• reviewed and strengthened staffing tools;
• supported the beginning of equity subgroup data analysis;
• initiated plans to establish targeted EDIA staffing goals;
• embedded EDIA staffing best practices in the recruitment process for senior general counsel;
• offered vicarious trauma training;
• offered Indigenous employees the Myrna McCallum’s “LoveBack” course on Trauma and Healing in the Workplace; and,
• marked various EDIA-related commemorative days, weeks, and months.

We are striving to become an organization where every employee living with a disability feels that they belong. During 2023-24, we worked collaboratively with partners in the Corporate Services Branch, as well as managers in the regions, to make sure that progress continues to be seen and felt at all levels. Some of our undertakings included:

• published our first National Accessibility Plan Progress Report;
• developed a confidential feedback form which allows employees to provide information related to barriers in the workplace anonymously;
• drafted and shared an internal document entitled, “Duty to Accommodate Guidance for Supervisors and Managers” to assist with exceptions and accessibility requests in the context of the return to office;
• continued to promote the GC Workplace Accessibility Passport;
• held two training events led by a Workplace Accessibility and Neurodiversity Specialist, Tara Beaton, aimed to develop awareness and expand understanding of neurodiversity and better understand neurodiverse communications, performance and mental health at work;
• conducted internal audits of many of our office spaces to assess barriers in the workplace; and
• increased the use of plain language in reporting, announcements, and communication products.

The most significant accomplishment of 2023-24 was the creation of the Accessibility Support Centre (ASC) for employees living with a disability, an injury or an illness. This new support centre was established as a two-year pilot project. The ASC is a centre of expertise for all matters related to accessibility and workplace adjustments. Since its creation, the ASC has:

• Created awareness, educated, and helped employees get the tools and resources they need to succeed in their jobs.
• Informed managers and employees of their role in accessibility and equipped them with the tools they need.
• Increased collaboration with internal partners and unions to ensure that accommodations are provided in a timely manner.

Corporate Services Branch

The Corporate Services Branch (CSB) includes most internal services that support the organization and its prosecution teams as well as two national programs. Like all federal government departments, internal services help to ensure that the organization is effectively governed and meets government policy requirements and administrative responsibilities.

In 2023-24, CSB continued working on developing an integrated approach to PPSC’s business and investment planning. This effort is part of CSB's broader initiative to enhance PPSC’s governance framework, which includes the implementation of both a governance project framework and a data governance framework. The CSB also continued its development of a performance measurement framework that will provide performance baselines on which potential improvement areas could be uncovered as trends develop. In 2023-24, CSB has developed seven (7) dashboards for the following corporate services: Human Resources - Classification, Human Resources - Staffing, Administrative Services – Personnel Security Screening, Administrative Services - Business and Analytics Support, the National Fine Recovery Program, Communications and Parliamentary Affairs - Ministerial and Parliamentary Affairs, as well as Access to Information and Privacy. CSB’s long-term goal is to establish a performance measurement framework that will provide decision makers and senior management with concrete data and information on which to make effective and evidence-based decisions and continuously improve organizational performance.

Human Resources

The PPSC is investing in its leaders to ensure they are well equipped to support operations and effectively deliver on its mandate. In 2023-2024, the PPSC fully integrated character-based leadership into the selection process for senior leaders. This year, seven (7) executives were appointed after successfully completing character leadership interviews, which involved an evaluation of eleven dimensions of character, alongside competence, during the leadership selection process. Over the past two years, 227 supervisors, managers, and executives from the PPSC, representing 88% of all supervisors, have completed the Leadership Development Program. This program consists of a series of workshops on character-based leadership and various leadership themes, including Authentic Communication, Managerial Courage, and Performance Management.

The eleven dimensions of character assessed by the PPSC are integrity, humility, courage, humanity, drive, accountability, temperance, justice, collaboration, transcendence, and judgment. The PPSC has continued to integrate Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, and Accessibility (EDIA) into talent development, performance management, advancement, retention, and recruitment strategies.

To ensure talent management practices are aligned with the needs and concerns of the workforce, the PPSC consulted with key stakeholders, including its National Councils of Employees and Managers. This collaborative approach ensures that policies, practices, and initiatives related to performance and talent management, HR planning, and succession planning programs are comprehensive and effective.

Administrative Services Division

In 2023-24, the Administrative Services Division (ASD) continued to lead the planning and development of a legal case management system digital platform in addition to its continuous effort in promoting the use of digital resources, e-signatures, and e-documents for court filings, file work, and administrative operations, ensuring access to essential tools for counsel and support staff. Additionally, the ASD collaborated on electronic disclosure projects to enhance the organization’s agility and effectiveness in working with partners in the criminal justice system. The ASD also completed modifications to the PPSC’s national headquarters office to support a hybrid work environment, maintaining a modern and functional workplace for both remote and non-remote legal and administrative operations.

National Fine Recovery Program

The National Fine Recovery Program (NFRP) plays a significant role in preserving the integrity of the justice system by enforcing sentences ordered by the courts. The NFRP has continued its consultation and work with the Northwest Territories Government to implement fine enforcement.

In 2023-24, the NFRP pursued the implementation of all action items identified in the NFRP Privacy Impact Assessment report. It developed a PPSC Data and Information Governance Directive to better protect the privacy, confidentiality, and security of the personal information held by the NFRP. Additionally, the NFRP is working diligently with the Canada Revenue Agency to enhance collaboration and increase the exchange of information to assist with fine recovery, including civil litigation. Consultations were undertaken with the Deputy Chairperson at the Parole Board of Canada regarding Canadians seeking pardons with outstanding federal fines. The NFRP also continued various discussions to enable the development of partnerships with provinces and territories to assist in the recovery of federal fines.

Agent Affairs Program

The Agent Affairs Program (AAP) continued the review of its current service delivery model to promote efficiencies and ensure compliance with the Financial Administration Act (FAA).

In March 2024, the National Agents Project team was established to develop a more efficient account review process that will comply with financial standards. This optimization will also provide better control over agent expenditures.

Phase 1 of this initiative involved information gathering, and was successfully completed during 2023-24. We are now in Phase 2, focusing on constructing the new process within a detailed timeline. This phase includes implementing a comprehensive communication plan with PPSC teams, PPSC private-sector lawyers (Agents), and other Government of Canada departments, as well as developing a robust training program.

Phase 3 will be the initiation of the pilot phase. It will cover onboarding and testing the process with designated Agent Firms; it is scheduled to begin on October 1, 2024. Upon its completion, PPSC will evaluate the results and consider national implementation by Fall 2025.

Finance and Acquisitions

In the 2023-24, the Finance and Acquisitions Directorate (FAD) achieved significant advancements in procurement and finance modernization. The FAD's modernization initiatives were designed to reflect modern best practices and lessons learned, resulting in updated policy instruments and the development of an updated costing model.

On January 15, 2024, the Procurement Management Framework came into force, establishing comprehensive guidelines for planning, acquiring, operating, maintaining, divesting, and reporting on all movable materiel assets of value (excluding money, records, and seized assets) with an expected life beyond one year. This framework supports the program requirements of the Public Prosecution Service of Canada (PPSC) and encompasses a wide range of information management, information technology, and communication hardware and devices, as well as other equipment, furniture, furnishings, and fixtures. It also includes a limited number of crown-owned vehicles.

Following this, on March 11, 2024, the Procurement Management Framework was implemented. This framework applies to all employees involved in procurement management within the PPSC and establishes the structural principles upon which all PPSC procurement policy instruments are based, excluding agreements with legal agents.

Additionally, the PPSC introduced a modernized delegation instrument that incorporates new and revised authorities to align with legislation, central agency policy instruments, and internal PPSC processes. To support these modernization efforts, various forms and tools were developed and updated.

Moreover, the PPSC launched a sustainable and accessible training tool in 2023-24. This tool provides users with the flexibility to access training at their convenience, ensuring that all employees can stay informed and compliant with the latest practices and frameworks.

Resources required to achieve results

Table 3: Resources required to achieve results for internal services this year

Table 3 provides a summary of the planned and actual spending and full-time equivalents (FTEs) required to achieve results.

The complete financial and human resources information for the Public Prosecution Service of Canada’s (PPSC) program inventory is available on GC InfoBase.

Contracts awarded to Indigenous businesses

Government of Canada departments are to meet a target of awarding at least 5% of the total value of contracts to Indigenous businesses each year. This commitment is to be fully implemented by the end of 2024-25.

PPSC result for 2023-24:

Table 4: Total value of contracts awarded to Indigenous businesses¹

As shown in Table 4, PPSC awarded 14.4% of the total value of all contracts to Indigenous businesses for the fiscal year.

As a Phase 2 organization, the PPSC achieved the minimum 5% target by the end of 2023-24.

The following measures were taken by the PPSC to achieve the 5% minimum target:

• Developed annual Indigenous procurement planning;
• Directed specific commodities such as information technology equipment and office furniture procurements to Indigenous resellers when possible;
• Developed and socialized internal policy instruments coupled with ongoing training to stakeholders involved in the procurement process to support the implementation and sustain this initiative moving forward;
• Made it mandatory within the PPSC to include a minimum of one Indigenous business, where capacity exists, when using a Public Services and Procurement Canada mandatory standing offer or supply arrangement; and,
• Employed the use of the Government of Canada’s Procurement Strategy for Indigenous businesses to:
  • Set-aside large IT and office furniture procurements
  • Increase use of voluntary set-asides where Indigenous capacity is known; and,
  • Increase use of conditional set-asides where Indigenous capacity is unknown.

In its 2024-25 Departmental Plan, the department forecasted that, by the end of 2023-24, it would award 5% of the total value of its contracts to Indigenous businesses.

The PPSC also ensured that all Procurement Officers in the organization have completed the mandatory course on Indigenous Considerations in procurement (COR409) from the Canada School of Public Service.

Spending and human resources

In this section

• Spending
• Funding
• Financial statement highlights
• Human resources

Spending

This section presents an overview of the department's actual and planned expenditures from 2021-22 to 2026-27.

Budgetary performance summary

Table 5: Actual three-year spending on core responsibilities and internal services (dollars)

Table 5 presents how much money the PPSC spent over the past three years to carry out its core responsibilities and for internal services.

Analysis of the past three years of spending

The total actual expenditures net increase from 2021-22 to 2022-23 is mainly due to an increase in funding received for the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls (MMIWG) and an increase in funding to support Drug Treatment Courts (DTC) across Canada.

The Actual expenditures in 2023-24 increased due to:

• increased funding to assist in fighting tax evasion in a complex global and digital environment;
• the ratification of collective agreements; and
• the payment of contingent liability.

The variance of $12.4 million stems from an operating surplus of $10.8 million and a surplus of $1.6 million related to the outsourcing of the collection of federal fines. From the surplus, an amount of $10.6 million resulting from the operating budget can be spent in the next fiscal year.

More financial information from previous years is available on the Finances section of GC Infobase.

Table 6: Planned three-year spending on core responsibilities and internal services (dollars)

Table 6 presents how much money the PPSC plans to spend over the next three years to carry out its core responsibilities and for internal services.

Analysis of the next three years of spending

The PPSC's planned spending reflects the amounts approved by Parliament to support the department's core responsibility. This includes funding received for the collective agreements signed in 2023-24, and a permanent reduction for the Refocusing Government Spending initiative.

More detailed financial information from previous years is available on the Finances section of GC Infobase.

Table 7: Budgetary actual gross and net planned spending summary (dollars)

Table 7 reconciles gross planned spending with net spending for 2023-24.

Analysis of budgetary actual gross and net planned spending summary

PPSC’s revenue is primarily generated from the authority to recover amounts from other departments and for the provision of legal advice and prosecution services.

Information on the alignment of PPSC’s spending with Government of Canada’s spending and activities is available on GC InfoBase.

Funding

This section provides an overview of the department's voted and statutory funding for its core responsibilities and for internal services. For further information on funding authorities, consult the Government of Canada budgets and expenditures.

Graph 1: Approved funding (statutory and voted) over a six-year period

Graph 1 summarizes the department's approved voted and statutory funding from 2021-22 to 2026-27.

Note. The above 2021-2022 to 2025-2026 figures may differ from previous years' Departmental Results Reports. This is due to the change in the method of presentation of authorities according to the planned basis of authorities to approved authorities.

Analysis of statutory and voted funding over a six-year period

Funding for 2021-22, 2022-23 and 2023-24 reflects approved funding (statutory and voted), which includes main estimates, supplementary estimates, and adjustments, warrants and transfers, as presented in the Public Accounts.

Increase of $10.7 million in total available authorities in 2022-23 ($229.1M) compared to 2021-22 ($218.4M).

The cumulative increase can be explained by:

• Increase of $4.6M in funding received for Improving Access to Justice for Indigenous People.
• Increase of $2.8M due to the new funding received to Support Additional Drug Treatment Courts (DTC) Across Canada.
• Increase of $3.5M due to funding received for a Settlement of Claim against the Crown.
• Other increase of $0.2M is the result of funding variances in miscellaneous activities, such as the permanent reduction in departments’ travel budgets announced in Budget 2021.

Increase of $6.5 million in total available authorities in 2023-24 ($235.6M) compared to 2022-23 ($229.1M).

The increase is primarily attributable to the following:

• $6.3M increased funding to the ratification of multiple collective agreements.
• Other increase of $0.2M is attributable to other various funding variances in miscellaneous activities.

Funding for 2024-25, 2025-26, and 2026-27 reflects funds already brought into the department's reference levels, as well as amounts to be authorized through the Estimates process as presented in the Department's Annual Reference Level Update.

PPSC is anticipating a decrease from the previous year’s total Main Estimates due to the following:

• A decrease in funding to improve access to justice for Indigenous people and to address systemic barriers in the criminal justice system.
• Decreases related to the Refocusing Government Spending announcement.

For further information on PPSC’s departmental voted and statutory expenditures, consult the Public Accounts of Canada.

Financial statement highlights

The PPSC’s complete financial statements (unaudited or audited) for the year ended March 31, 2024, are available online.

Table 8: Condensed Statement of Operations (unaudited or audited) for the year ended March 31, 2024 (dollars)

Table 8 summarizes the expenses and revenues for 2023–24 which net to the cost of operations before government funding and transfers.

The 2023-24 planned results information is provided in PPSC’s Future-Oriented Statement of Operations and Notes 2023-24.

Table 9 summarizes actual expenses and revenues which net to the cost of operations before government funding and transfers.

Expenses by type

Increase of $17 million (or 6.4%) in total expenses in 2023-24 ($266.0 million) compared to 2022-23 ($249.0 million).

The cumulative increase can be explained by:

• Increase of $10.3 million in salary expenses due to new collective Agreements ratified;
• Increase of $2.1 million in claims and ex-gratia payments;
• Increase of $7.8 million in loss on a write-down of tangible assets; and
• Increase of $3.2 million in other operating expenses.

offset by:

• Decrease of $6.4 million in contingent liabilities.

In 2023-24, the PPSC had the following major categories of expenses:

• Salary expenses: $180.3 million (or 67.8% of expenses);
• Professional services – counsel fees: $35.5 million (or 13.3% of expenses);
• Accommodations: $16.6 million (or 6.2% of expenses); and
• Other categories of expenses totalizing $33.6 million (or 12.7% of expenses).

Revenue by type

Decrease of $1.2 million (or 6.3%) in respendable revenues.

The total respendable revenues earned in 2023-24 were $18.0 million compared to $19.2 million in 2022-23.

In 2023-24, the PPSC had the following revenue categories:

Respendable Revenue

• Revenue earned from the provision of advisory and prosecution services to Other Government Departments and Agencies (OGDAs): $18.0 million (or 21.1% of revenue);

Non-Respendable Revenue

• Collection of fines, forfeitures and court costs: $66.3 million (or 77.9% of revenue);
• Rent from residential housing provided to employees: $0.8 million (or 1.0% of revenue).

Table 10: Condensed Statement of Financial Position (unaudited or audited) as of March 31, 2024 (dollars)

Table 10 provides a brief snapshot of the department’s liabilities (what it owes) and assets (what the department owns), which helps to indicate its ability to carry out programs and services.

Human resources

This section presents an overview of the department’s actual and planned human resources from 2021-22 to 2026-27.

Table 11: Actual human resources for core responsibilities and internal services

Table 11 shows a summary of human resources, in full-time equivalents (FTEs), for PPSC’s core responsibilities and for its internal services for the previous three fiscal years.

Analysis of human resources over the last three years

The increase in 2023-24 of full-time equivalents is to assist the Canada Revenue Agency in fighting tax evasion in a complex global and digital environment, to support additional Drug Treatment Courts across Canada as well as support Canada's efforts to improve access to justice for Indigenous peoples, including victims, offenders and families.

Table 12: Human resources planning summary for core responsibilities and internal services

Table 12 shows information on human resources, in full-time equivalents (FTEs), for each of PPSC’s core responsibilities and for its internal services planned for the next three years. Human resources for the current fiscal year are forecasted based on year to date.

Analysis of human resources for the next three years

PPSC does not anticipate any increase in Full Time Equivalent from 2024-25 to 2026-27.

Corporate information

Departmental profile

Appropriate minister(s): The Honourable Arif Virani
Institutional head: George Dolhai, Director of Public Prosecutions and Deputy Attorney General of Canada
Ministerial portfolio: Justice
Enabling instrument(s): Director of Public Prosecutions Act
Year of incorporation / commencement: 2006

Departmental contact information

Mailing address:
Public Prosecution Service of Canada
160 Elgin Street, 12th Floor
Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0H8

Telephone:
613-957-7772
1-877-505-7772

Fax:
613-954-2958

Email:
info@ppsc.gc.ca

Website(s):
PPSC’s website

Supplementary information tables

• The following supplementary information tables are available on PPSC’s website: Gender‑based analysis plus

Federal tax expenditures

The tax system can be used to achieve public policy objectives through the application of special measures such as low tax rates, exemptions, deductions, deferrals and credits. The Department of Finance Canada publishes cost estimates and projections for these measures each year in the Report on Federal Tax Expenditures. This report also provides detailed background information on tax expenditures, including descriptions, objectives, historical information and references to related federal spending programs as well as evaluations and GBA Plus of tax expenditures.

Definitions

appropriation (crédit)

Any authority of Parliament to pay money out of the Consolidated Revenue Fund.

budgetary expenditures (dépenses budgétaires)

Operating and capital expenditures; transfer payments to other levels of government, organizations or individuals; and payments to Crown corporations.

core responsibility (responsabilité essentielle)

An enduring function or role performed by a department. The intentions of the department with respect to a core responsibility are reflected in one or more related departmental results that the department seeks to contribute to or influence.

Departmental Plan (plan ministériel)

A report on the plans and expected performance of an appropriated department over a 3 year period. Departmental Plans are usually tabled in Parliament each spring.

departmental priority (priorité ministérielle)

A plan or project that a department has chosen to focus and report on during the planning period. Priorities represent the things that are most important or what must be done first to support the achievement of the desired departmental results.

departmental result (résultat ministériel)

A consequence or outcome that a department seeks to achieve. A departmental result is often outside departments’ immediate control, but it should be influenced by program-level outcomes.

departmental result indicator (indicateur de résultat ministériel)

A quantitative measure of progress on a departmental result.

departmental results framework (cadre ministériel des résultats)

A framework that consists of the department’s core responsibilities, departmental results and departmental result indicators.

Departmental Results Report (rapport sur les résultats ministériels)

A report on a department’s actual accomplishments against the plans, priorities and expected results set out in the corresponding Departmental Plan.

Full-time equivalent (équivalent temps plein)

A measure of the extent to which an employee represents a full person year charge against a departmental budget. For a particular position, the fulltime equivalent figure is the ratio of number of hours the person actually works divided by the standard number of hours set out in the person’s collective agreement.

gender-based analysis plus (GBA Plus) (analyse comparative entre les sexes plus [ACS Plus])

An analytical tool used to assess and support the development of responsive and inclusive how different groups of women, men and gender-diverse people experience policies, programs and policies, programs, and other initiatives. GBA Plus is a process for understanding who is impacted by the issue or opportunity being addressed by the initiative; identifying how the initiative could be tailored to meet diverse needs of the people most impacted; and anticipating and mitigating any barriers to accessing or benefitting from the initiative. GBA Plus is an intersectional analysis that goes beyond biological (sex) and socio-cultural (gender) differences to consider other factors, such as age, disability, education, ethnicity, economic status, geography (including rurality), language, race, religion, and sexual orientation.

government-wide priorities (priorités gouvernementales)

For the purpose of the 2023-24 Departmental Results Report, government-wide priorities are the high-level themes outlining the government’s agenda in the November 23, 2021, Speech from the Throne: building a healthier today and tomorrow; growing a more resilient economy; bolder climate action; fight harder for safer communities; standing up for diversity and inclusion; moving faster on the path to reconciliation; and fighting for a secure, just and equitable world.

horizontal initiative (initiative horizontale)

An initiative where two or more federal departments are given funding to pursue a shared outcome, often linked to a government priority.

Indigenous business (enterprise autochtones)

For the purpose of the Directive on the Management of Procurement Appendix E: Mandatory Procedures for Contracts Awarded to Indigenous Businesses and the Government of Canada’s commitment that a mandatory minimum target of 5% of the total value of contracts is awarded to Indigenous businesses, an organization that meets the definition and Arequirements as defined by the Indigenous Business Directory.

non‑budgetary expenditures (dépenses non budgétaires)

Net outlays and receipts related to loans, investments and advances, which change the composition of the financial assets of the Government of Canada.

performance (rendement)

What an organization did with its resources to achieve its results, how well those results compare to what the organization intended to achieve, and how well lessons learned have been identified.

performance indicator (indicateur de rendement)

A qualitative or quantitative means of measuring an output or outcome, with the intention of gauging the performance of an department, program, policy or initiative respecting expected results.

plan (plan)

The articulation of strategic choices, which provides information on how an organization intends to achieve its priorities and associated results. Generally, a plan will explain the logic behind the strategies chosen and tend to focus on actions that lead to the expected result.

planned spending (dépenses prévues)

For Departmental Plans and Departmental Results Reports, planned spending refers to those amounts presented in Main Estimates.

A department is expected to be aware of the authorities that it has sought and received. The determination of planned spending is a departmental responsibility, and departments must be able to defend the expenditure and accrual numbers presented in their Departmental Plans and Departmental Results Reports.

program (programme)

Individual or groups of services, activities or combinations thereof that are managed together within the department and focus on a specific set of outputs, outcomes or service levels.

program inventory (répertoire des programmes)

Identifies all the department’s programs and describes how resources are organized to contribute to the department’s core responsibilities and results.

result (résultat)

A consequence attributed, in part, to an department, policy, program or initiative. Results are not within the control of a single department, policy, program or initiative; instead they are within the area of the department’s influence.

statutory expenditures (dépenses législatives)

Expenditures that Parliament has approved through legislation other than appropriation acts. The legislation sets out the purpose of the expenditures and the terms and conditions under which they may be made.

target (cible)

A measurable performance or success level that an organization, program or initiative plans to achieve within a specified time period. Targets can be either quantitative or qualitative.

voted expenditures (dépenses votées)

Expenditures that Parliament approves annually through an appropriation act. The vote wording becomes the governing conditions under which these expenditures may be made.

Date modified:

2024-12-17