Official Languages Committee on March 8th, 2011

[The Vice-Chair, Liberal, Mauril Bélanger]

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. Mr. Blaney apologizes for his absence. You will have to put up with me as Chair one more time.

First, I would like to welcome our witnesses this morning: Ms. Forand, Mr. Nixon, Mr. La Salle and Mrs. Rallis.

I will turn the floor over to Ms. Forand and her team for approximately ten minutes, and then we will go to questions.

[Liseanne Forand, Chief Operating Officer, Senior Associate Deputy Minister of the Department of Human Resources and Skills Development, Service Canada]

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.

We are appearing before you today following the audit report by the Commissioner of Official Languages regarding the delivery of bilingual services at Service Canada.

This morning, I will give you a brief description of Service Canada, of its role in the delivery of federal government services, and of its commitment to official languages, which is an integral part of the organization's culture of service excellence.

I will also speak about the progress that has been made over the last three years and set forth our commitments to making further improvements, based on the Commissioner's recommendations.

As the Chair mentioned, I am accompanied by my colleagues: Mr. Charles Nixon, Assistant Deputy Minister, Citizen Services Branch; Mrs. Gina Rallis, Assistant Deputy Minister, Human Resources Services Branch; and Mr. Dominique La Salle, Director General, Seniors and Pensions Policy Secretariat and Official Languages Champion at Human Resources and Skills Development Canada.

Service Canada plays a special role in the lives of Canadians. One could say that it is the face of the Government of Canada. Service Canada is 16,000 employees, 620 points of service across the country, a 1-800 O-Canada call centre, a telephone network and an Internet site. It is a single window for residents seeking access to Government of Canada programs and services, wherever they are, and in the way that best suits their needs.

Each day, Service Canada carries out approximately one million transactions, whether in person, by telephone, online or through our processing centres. We deliver programs and services that affect Canadians at key moments in their lives. I am thinking in particular of Social Insurance Numbers, the Student Loans Program, the Employment Insurance Program, Canada Pension Plan and Old Age Security benefits, to list only a few.

In light of the scope and nature of its mandate, Service Canada has been audited on the delivery of services to the public in English and French. We have welcomed the Commissioner's recommendations because they allow us to see the progress we have made since his last report in 2008, and also to identify the additional improvements we need to make.

The delivery of bilingual services is quite a challenge for an institution like ours, which must serve residents in every region of the country in various ways, but it is a challenge that we take very seriously. Excellence in service is at the heart of everything we do, and official languages are a key element of that.

In his audit report, the Commissioner of Official Languages acknowledged the considerable efforts that we have made to improve the delivery of bilingual services and ensure an equal quality of service in English and French. At the same time, the Commissioner has identified areas in which Service Canada must do better, particularly in regard to the active offer of bilingual services.

In the face of the dismal results we achieved in 2006-2007, when our performance stood at only 8%, we implemented an action plan that included a number of measures to improve our performance. Among others, we put in place a new directive on the active offer of bilingual services and the training required to support it. Our efforts have borne fruit then, since our performance has gone from 8% in 2006-2007 to 33% in 2007-2008 to 54% in 2008-2009.

But we know that we can do better and our objective is to reach 100% every time a client comes to one of our bilingual service centres. I would add that we conducted a survey in 2010 on the active offer of service and, according to the results, our performance was 85%. So we hope that the next time the Commissioner of Official Languages evaluates this aspect, our grade will be even higher. We always target 100%.

We are aware we still have work to do to meet all our obligations under part IV of the Official Languages Act. With that in mind, we've developed a new three-year action plan for the period 2011 to 2014. In that action plan we acknowledge that the ability of Service Canada employees to provide bilingual services is key. We set forth the measures we will take regarding training, language of work, staffing, performance, and accountability.

For reference purposes, I'd note that 3,745 employees hold bilingual positions in Service Canada and that 94% of them have the required linguistic profile for their positions. We will be implementing various projects to help these employees acquire and maintain the language skills needed for their positions, and we will continue to invest in training. For instance, we've created an independent online training program called For the Love of English/ Pour l'amour du français and an improved training module regarding all aspects of the Official Languages Act.

We've also developed a departmental language-of-work strategy, which aims to achieve several objectives: to create a work environment that will allow us to attract and retain a workforce who are competent in both official languages; to better equip managers so they can meet their official language obligations and promote linguistic duality; to offer all employees the opportunity to work in an environment that encourages the use of both official languages; and to act in such a way as to encourage our employees to see institutional bilingualism as an asset that is linked to service excellence.

We've also committed to developing a results-based management and accountability framework. That framework will set forth accountability mechanisms, and the role of managers, official language coordinators, and employees responsible for serving the public, both in the regions and at national headquarters. For instance, we're proposing the creation of an official languages coordinator position in each region.

Although Service Canada already conducts analyses and research into official language minority communities and consults with them to better understand their needs, we have also committed in our action plan to creating structured and coordinated consultation mechanisms and to seeking continuous feedback.

One challenge we face is to find ways to be creative in our approaches while nonetheless using our resources in an ever more efficient manner.

An example of innovation in this regard is the pilot project that we launched last May, offering English and French interpretation services at unilingual Service Canada centres. Through this project, clients can have access to services in their language of choice, without having to travel to a bilingual centre.

We will study the results of this pilot project at the end of the year in order to judge whether a case can be made for extending the service to other unilingual sites. A decision of this kind will also be the object of consultations with official language minority communities in the locations affected.

We are pleased to have made progress regarding official languages. Over the past year, as I mentioned, we carried out a survey on client satisfaction. In this survey, 98% of clients who were served in person—out of the 6,000 people who responded to the survey—said they were served in the language of their choice. Among clients from official language minority communities, this figure climbed to 99%.

And we are determined to make the necessary improvements to strengthen our official languages program and our bilingual ability.

We have committed to implementing all of the Commissioner's recommendations, and he has expressed his satisfaction with the proposed measures and timeline.

I have to say that since my arrival at Human Resources and Skills Development Canada, a year and a half ago, I have noted that a great deal of energy is invested in creating a culture that values official languages at all levels of the organization.

At Service Canada in particular, we see official languages as a fundamental value of our institution, and that is what we are trying to communicate to our entire workforce.

I can assure you that the delivery of bilingual services is a priority at Service Canada.

It is a question of equality and of law, it is true, but also a commitment on our part to offer the best service possible to all Canadians, from coast to coast to coast.

Thank you for your attention. I'll be pleased to answer your questions.

[The Vice-Chair, Liberal, Mauril Bélanger]

Thank you, Ms. Forand.

Since there is no time restriction today, members will have five minutes for questions.

We will begin with Mrs. Zarac.

[Lise Zarac, Liberal, LaSalle—Émard, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Good morning. Thank you for being here today.

You mentioned, Ms. Forand, that 3,745 employees occupy bilingual positions. What percentage of what is required do these employees represent?

To better explain myself, are all the positions that are designated bilingual staffed?

[Liseanne Forand]

We have 3,745 bilingual positions and the employees who fill them meet 94% of the staffing requirements.

[Lise Zarac, Liberal, LaSalle—Émard, QC]

I understand that, but I am referring more to the 130 points of service out of the 600 that were designated bilingual. Are 3,745 positions enough to meet the needs of citizens?

[Liseanne Forand]

No. Under our current organization, the positions that are designated bilingual are the ones that we have. In our action plan, we committed to reviewing the guidelines for the establishment of bilingual positions by 2013.

[Lise Zarac, Liberal, LaSalle—Émard, QC]

Is the action plan you mentioned ready?

[Liseanne Forand]

The action plan contains our response to the commissioner and the commitments we have made. We incorporated all of these components into a Service Canada action plan.

[Lise Zarac, Liberal, LaSalle—Émard, QC]

Can you send that plan to the committee?

[Liseanne Forand]

Certainly, of course.

[Lise Zarac, Liberal, LaSalle—Émard, QC]

Very good, thank you.

In the commissioner's recommendation 5, he refers to bilingual positions. The commissioner recommends that Service Canada define the language profile required to perform the tasks in the job descriptions. Has this been done?

[Liseanne Forand]

It has not yet been done, but we are committed to carrying it out in several stages between now and April 1, 2013. We will review the designated bilingual positions and our method of establishing them. I could perhaps tell you more about this, and the commissioner refers to it elsewhere in his audit.

At Service Canada, we implemented what we call the structural model of service management, which means that all of our regional offices are structured in the same way as concerns the organization and the organizational chart. We have a limited number of generic positions in the country, only about 30. That is a first step. It is in fact the basis of a much more structured approach to human resources as a whole.

We will be incorporating this whole concept of the designation of bilingual positions into this approach, which is well structured and standardized across the country.

[Lise Zarac, Liberal, LaSalle—Émard, QC]

We should be able to see that in your action plan.

You listed some of the services that you offer, which are very important for the population: Social Insurance Numbers, the Student Loans Program, and the Employment Insurance Program, just to name a few. These are very important services for our citizens. It is important that they can communicate and make themselves understood when they request services from Service Canada.

In his recommendation 6, the commissioner suggests consulting official language minority communities before making any changes that could have an impact on services, and he also recommends that you develop an ongoing feedback mechanism. Has that been done, or is it part of your action plan?

[Liseanne Forand]

In our regional offices, there are many exchanges with official language minority communities. However, we fully agree with the commissioner's perception that the approach is not particularly structured or coordinated and that we must do better to ensure more effective monitoring of our communications.

For example, over the past year, in the Ontario region, we had 34 different contacts with these communities. However, not all the regions we serve provide us with this type of statistics. We thus committed to adopting, by September 2011, a much more structured and coordinated approach and to implementing monitoring measures so that we can check the performance of our regional offices each year.

[Lise Zarac, Liberal, LaSalle—Émard, QC]

The closing of certain offices is scheduled for March 31, 2011. Were the communities consulted about this decision?

[Liseanne Forand]

At the end of this month, there will be a change in the services offered in certain community offices located in Newfoundland and Cape Breton in Nova Scotia. Until now, services were delivered by third parties. We had contracts with certain organizations in these communities and information on the programs and services offered by the Government of Canada was provided in these offices. They are community offices, not regular Service Canada offices.

After having evaluated the services delivered by these offices, we realized that it was not the same as services offered elsewhere. Elsewhere, not only can you receive information on programs and services, but you can also, for example, apply for a Social Insurance Number and receive it immediately. In these community offices, this is not possible, because the employees are third parties working on a contract basis.

What we intend to do, therefore, is to replace the services offered in these community offices either with access to a regular Service Canada office, if it is less than 50 kilometres away—that is our performance standard—, and to establish what we call a regular outreach site. This would involve having Service Canada employees go from place to place with a laptop and all the programs and equipment they need to deliver services available on site. They would travel to the communities on request. It could be once a week or once every two weeks; it all depends on existing demand. Some of these community offices in Cape Breton serve francophone communities in Nova Scotia...

[The Vice-Chair, Liberal, Mauril Bélanger]

We will certainly....

[Liseanne Forand]

...and, to answer your question, we did consult the francophone communities in Nova Scotia about this change.

[The Vice-Chair, Liberal, Mauril Bélanger]

Thank you, Mrs. Zarac.

Mr. Nadeau, the floor is yours.

[Richard Nadeau, Bloc, Gatineau, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Good morning to all.

You have a Service Canada call centre. Is there only one or are there several of them in Canada?

[Liseanne Forand]

We have a 1-800 O-Canada call centre, located here in Ottawa, but we also have several telephone services for specific programs, such as Employment Insurance, the Canada Pension Plan, the...

[Richard Nadeau, Bloc, Gatineau, QC]

Fine. Are these other telephone services located in Canada?

[Liseanne Forand]

Yes, they are all located in Canada.

[Richard Nadeau, Bloc, Gatineau, QC]

Very well.

The other matter I want to address is service to the public. One someone dials the 1-800 number—you state that there are 1 million calls per day—and wants to obtain service in French, is there some waiting time or is the service offered automatically?