Info Source - Sources of Federal Government and Employee Information

Introduction to Info Source

Info Source: Sources of Federal Government and Employee Information provides information about the functions, programs, activities and related information holdings of government institutions subject to the Access to Information Act and the Privacy Act. It provides individuals and employees of the government (current and former) with relevant information to access personal information about themselves held by government institutions subject to the Privacy Act and to exercise their rights under the Privacy Act.

The Introduction and an index of institutions subject to the Access to Information Act and the Privacy Act are available centrally.

The Access to Information Act and the Privacy Act assign overall responsibility to the President of Treasury Board (as the designated Minister) for the government-wide administration of the legislation.

Background

The Public Prosecution Service of Canada (PPSC) is an independent prosecution service mandated to prosecute offences under federal jurisdiction.

If you would like more information on the background of the PPSC, including the organization’s history, its legislative foundation and how the PPSC reports to Parliament through the Attorney General of Canada, please see About the PPSC.

Responsibilities

The principal objective of the PPSC is to serve the public by diligently prosecuting criminal and regulatory offences under federal law in a manner that is independent, impartial, and fair.

Mandate

The mandate of the PPSC is set out in the Director of Public Prosecutions Act. The Act calls on the PPSC to provide high-quality prosecutorial advice to law enforcement agencies and to prosecute matters on behalf of the Crown that are within the jurisdiction of the Attorney General of Canada. For additional information, please see the mandate.

Key Responsibilities

The PPSC is responsible for carrying out key duties on behalf of the Attorney General of Canada in an objective and non-partisan manner as follows:

The Director of Public Prosecution Act provides the Director of Public Prosecutions with the authority to:

Prosecution Responsibilities

The PPSC prosecutes cases under federal statutes that are referred to it by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), other federal investigative agencies, as well as provincial and municipal police forces.

In total, over 250 federal statutes contain offences that fall under the PPSC’s jurisdiction to prosecute. The PPSC regularly provides prosecution services under approximately 40 of those statutes.

The PPSC is not an investigative agency. Where required, the PPSC provides prosecution-related advice to investigators for all types of prosecutions and, in particular, for drug, terrorism, criminal organization, proceeds of crime, money laundering, market fraud, and mega cases.

Institutional Functions, Programs and Activities

As an organization, the PPSC engages in the following program activity to achieve its core mandate of providing prosecution services: the Federal Prosecutions Program. This program is the result of a merger on April 1, 2019, of two previously separate programs: the Drug, National Security and Northern Prosecutions Program and the Regulatory Offences and Economic Crime Prosecutions Program.

A second program activity, Internal Services, is responsible for corporate accountabilities and program support.

Federal Prosecutions Program

This program supports the protection of Canadian society against crime through the provision of legal advice to police and federal investigative agencies, and the prosecution of all cases under federal statutes under the jurisdiction of the Attorney General of Canada including all prosecutions in the three Northern territories. In addition, this program also includes the recovery of outstanding federal fines and involves the promotion of federal-provincial-territorial as well as international cooperation on criminal justice issues of mutual concern.

Internal Services

Internal Services are groups of related activities and resources that are administered to support the needs of programs and other corporate obligations of an organization. These groups are: Management and Oversight Services; Communications Services; Legal Services; Human Resources Management Services; Financial Management Services; Information Management Services; Information Technology Services; Real Property Services; Materiel Services; Acquisition Services; and Travel and Other Administrative Services. Internal Services include only those activities and resources that apply across an organization and not to those provided specifically to a program.

Acquisitions Services

Acquisition Services involve activities undertaken to acquire a good or service to fulfil a properly completed request (including a complete and accurate definition of requirements and certification that funds are available) until entering into or amending a contract.

Communications Services

Communications Services involve activities undertaken to ensure that Government of Canada communications are effectively managed, well coordinated and responsive to the diverse information needs of the public. The communications management function ensures that the public - internal or external - receives government information, and that the views and concerns of the public are taken into account in the planning, management and evaluation of policies, programs, services and initiatives.

Financial Management Services

Financial Management Services involve activities undertaken to ensure the prudent use of public resources, including planning, budgeting, accounting, reporting, control and oversight, analysis, decision support and advice, and financial systems.

Human Resources Management Services

Human Resources Management Services involve activities undertaken for determining strategic direction, allocating resources among services and processes, as well as activities relating to analyzing exposure to risk and determining appropriate countermeasures. They ensure that the service operations and programs of the federal government comply with applicable laws, regulations, policies, and/or plans.

Information Management Services

Information Management Services involve activities undertaken to achieve efficient and effective information management to support program and service delivery; foster informed decision making; facilitate accountability, transparency, and collaboration; and preserve and ensure access to information and records for the benefit of present and future generations.

Information Technology Services

Information Technology Services involve activities undertaken to achieve efficient and effective use of information technology to support government priorities and program delivery, to increase productivity, and to enhance services to the public.

Legal Services

Legal Services involve activities undertaken to enable government departments and agencies to pursue policy, program and service delivery priorities and objectives within a legally sound framework.

Management and Oversight Services

Management and Oversight Services involve activities undertaken for determining strategic direction, and allocating resources among services and processes, as well as those activities related to analyzing exposure to risk and determining appropriate countermeasures. They ensure that the service operations and programs of the federal government comply with applicable laws, regulations, policies, and/or plans.

Materiel Services

Materiel Services involve activities undertaken to ensure that materiel can be managed by departments in a sustainable and financially responsible manner that supports the cost-effective and efficient delivery of government programs.

Real Property Services

Real Property Services involve activities undertaken to ensure real property is managed in a sustainable and financially responsible manner, throughout its life cycle, to support the cost-effective and efficient delivery of government programs.

Travel and Other Administrative Services

Travel and Other Administrative Services include Government of Canada (GC) travel services, as well as those other internal services that do not smoothly fit with any of the internal services categories.

Classes of Personal Information

Subject Files and Routine Correspondence

Some Public Prosecution Service of Canada (PPSC) programs and activities result in the accumulation of personal information that is not cofntained in our personal information banks. This form of personal information consists of enquiries concerning particular matters as well as requests for publications and reports. The information is normally retrievable only if specific details are provided concerning the subject matter. Retention of this form of personal information is controlled by the retention and disposition schedules of the subject files in which the information is stored.

Manuals

Additional Information

Per the Interim Directive on the Administration of the Access to Information Act , institutions are required to post summaries of completed access to information requests to the Open Government Portal within 30 calendar days after the end of each month. This also extends to posting monthly “nothing to report” summary lines when an access to information request was not completed for the given month.

The Government of Canada encourages the release of information through informal requests. You may wish to consult the PPSC’s summaries of completed access to information requests to obtain records that were previously released under the Access to Information Act.

To see a list of information that is proactively published by the PPSC on a regular basis, please consult the Transparency section. For additional information about the programs and activities of the PPSC, please Contact Us.

If you would like information on how to submit a formal request to receive PPSC records pursuant to the Access to Information Act or to seek access to your own personal information under the Privacy Act, please see Contact Us (ATIP) under the PPSC’s Access to Information and Privacy (ATIP) section.

Reading Room

In accordance with the Access to Information Act and Privacy Act, an area on the PPSC premises will be made available should you wish to review materials on site. The address is:

160 Elgin Street, 12th Floor
Ottawa, Ontario

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