Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I'd like to acknowledge that we are meeting on the unceded territory of the Anishinabe Algonquin nation.
I'm pleased to be here to address the Auditor General's recent report on the current and future use of federal office space, and the findings and recommendations directed to Public Services and Procurement Canada.
I’m joined today by Nathalie Bertrand, associate assistant deputy minister of real property services.
Public Services and Procurement Canada, PSPC, manages the government's general purpose office space. This represents an office space portfolio of 5.9 million square metres. We estimate that before the pandemic, approximately half that space was underused on any given day.
We therefore initiated a process to optimize the office space footprint. Throughout this process we have worked with federal departments and agencies to ensure we provide sufficient office space in line with Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat’s directive on prescribed presence in the workplace. We’ve made important progress on optimizing the use of federal office space, but we recognize there is more to be done.
We thank the Auditor General and her office for their work, and we agree with the recommendations in the report.
The Auditor General's report highlighted delays encountered by PSPC in achieving the target of reducing the office space portfolio by half. As it stands, our efforts are projected currently to reduce approximately by 33% by 2034.
We recognize that the plan to reduce our portfolio by 50% is ambitious. Achieving it will require innovative portfolio strategies, cross-government collaboration and more effort. We have already identified ways to optimize our leased and owned spaces, including the co-location of federal departments and agencies, and accelerating the disposal of surplus assets. We will continue to work closely with federal departments and agencies to explore ways to bridge the gap between the 33% and the 50% reduction.
We agree with the recommendation that we must improve our public reporting on progress toward achieving the reduction of our office portfolio. As part of PSPC’s commitment to transparency, the department will publicly share information related to the management and use of space, and report on our progress toward achieving the 50% reduction of its office portfolio over the next 10 years.
I note that information on progress has been available online since March of this year, and will be updated annually.
In closing, PSPC will continue to work closely with the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat; and Housing, Infrastructure and Communities Canada to implement the Auditor General's recommendations.
We have taken careful note of the Auditor General's findings with respect to delays and transparency, and we have already started to make progress on making information available publicly. We will continue to provide updates on our progress towards reducing the federal office footprint.
Thank you.