Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I'd like first to introduce my colleagues, Jean-François Fleury, vice-president of learning programs; and Elizabeth Tromp, vice-president of corporate services and chief financial officer.
The school was created in 2004 as part of the Treasury Board portfolio, and it is the central learning and training institution for the public service.
The school has been in a major transformation since 2014 to respond to public service needs and deliver a better service at a lower cost. We are revitalizing our curriculum and modernizing how we deliver our learning services to provide public servants with equal access to the learning they need anywhere, any time,
in both official languages. We are moving from primarily classroom-based learning to a broadened learning ecosystem in various formats and through different means.
A new common curriculum supports public servants at every stage of their careers and includes foundational and transformational learning, talent management and leadership development programs, and specialized learning for functional communities. For Canadians, this new model fosters a culture of high performance, innovation, and continuous learning that results in a stronger, more effective, and more efficient public service, achieving better value for money.
To support the new approach, the school has been moving from a blended funding model based on parliamentary appropriations and cost recovery to one that is primarily funded through appropriations.
This new approach is funded from reallocations from client departments based on employee numbers, allowing the school to offer more enterprise-focused, value-added training to the roughly 240,000 public servants who make up the core public service.
This new funding model will come into effect for the first time in 2016-2017.
In the 2016-17 report on plans and priorities, the school reported forecasted spending of $93 million for 2015-16, decreasing to $92 million in 2016-17. Through the transition period of the transformation, spending increased to invest in updates to the school's learning platform. This transformation was entirely self-funded by the Canada School of Public Service drawing on its own reference levels.
Beginning in 2017-2018, the main estimates will reflect steady state funding of approximately $79 million, post-transformation.
In closing, I believe this is a great time for learning in the federal public service. We are already starting to see the positive results of our transition toward the new model. More and more public servants from all regions of the country are using the learning tools.
The school is proud to be leading the new public service-wide approach to learning, already contributing to a more engaged, up-to-date, agile, and responsive public service. This year we will be focusing on strengthening our partnerships both inside and outside the public service to deliver a robust learning platform.
We are committed to equipping public servants with the knowledge and skills needed to perform to the highest standards and to serve Canadians with excellence.
Thank you.