The government is committed to reducing its spending and its size. To achieve this, it started with a number of initiatives, including the strategic review that you noted in your question. In 2010 HRSDC began a strategic review of its programs. These reviews are done on a regular cycle, and our review was essentially in the fourth year of a four-year cycle. We undertook to look at our programs and services to ensure that they were efficient and effective, that they continued to respond to the priorities of Canadians, and that they were in line with our core federal responsibilities.
On September 29th, 2011. See this statement in context.