Response to Parliamentary Committees and External Audits

House of Commons

Standing Committee on Veterans Affairs (ACVA)

In June 2023, ACVA tabled its 11^th report, titled New Contract for the Administration of Veterans Affairs Canada's Rehabilitation Program. The report examined the impact of the new rehabilitation contract awarded by the Department of Veterans Affairs on the role of  case managers and the quality of service delivery. It included ten recommendations for the Government to ensure effective monitoring of the contract’s implementation and to guarantee improvements in the quality of services offered to Veterans.

• Report 11 – New Contract for the Administration of Veterans Affairs Canada’s Rehabilitation Program was presented in the House of Commons on 14 June 2023.
  • A Government Response to the report was presented in the House of Commons on 4 October 2023, which provided individual responses to the Committee’s recommendations.

In October 2023, ACVA tabled its 12^th report, National Strategy for Veterans Employment. The report examined Veterans' employment post-service and the benefits of creating a National Veterans Employment Strategy. It offered thirty recommendations for the Government to provide support, funding, and outreach related to Veterans’ employment.

• Report 12 – National Strategy for Veterans Employment was presented to the House of Commons on 17 October 2023.
  • A Government Response to the report was presented in the House of Commons on 16 February 2024, which provided individual responses to the Committee’s recommendations.

Senate of Canada

There were no Senate committee reports requiring a response by Veterans Affairs Canada (VAC) in 2023–24.

Title and chapter of the report: Treasury Board Secretariat, Horizontal Fixed Asset Review

Brief Summary: The Review conducted the most extensive study of the federal real property program in over 35 years, providing detailed observations and a comprehensive suite of recommendations. Emphasizing that the current approach is not sustainable, the Review urges the government to transform both the way it manages  real property and the assets  it delivers, aiming to modernize its portfolio. This transformation would foster a more proactive and innovative approach, shifting the perception of real property from a cost-burden and liability to a strategic asset that positions Canada for success in the 21^st century and beyond. Give the federal real property portfolio’s reach -  from densely populated urban centres and northern, rural and remote communities to capital cities around the world- the potential benefits of this transformation are substantial.

Describe corrective actions taken:

• Established the Strategic Projects and Planning team (within Real Property and Workplace Services) with an allocated 2023/24 budget.
• Conducted consultation and collaboration sessions with stakeholders and partners, including Commemoration, Finance, Accessibility, Sustainability/Greening, to integrate planning of opportunities, program priorities, reporting, and evaluation.
• Developed a Real Property Portfolio Strategy and implementation action plan with project timelines.
• Developed governance and reporting frameworks and leveraged opportunities for interdepartmental partnerships on existing tools and processes.
• Identified opportunities with interdepartmental partners and the TBS Centre of Expertise.
• Established a real property reporting framework to support life-cycle decisions and provide evidence for accountability.
• Documented a summary of consultation outcomes including details on who was consulted, the consultation period , and the outcomes.  Developed the Stakeholder Consultation Tracker and the Responsible, Accountable, Consulted and Informed (RACI) Tracker as a result. The Stakeholder Consultation tracker is a live document recording completed consultations and topics discussed. The RACI tab provides a legend indicating which internal or external stakeholders have an interest in the Horizontal Fixed Asset Review Management Response and Action Plan (MRAP) recommendations, ensuring appropriate consultation for each. This document is updated monthly by VAC’s Strategic Projects & Planning team.
• Enabled and leveraged knowledge and supports gained through partners, stakeholders, and GC/TBS Centre of Expertise best practices.
• Included the identification of life-cycle funding requirements, with specific considerations for new builds, in the real property reporting framework.
• Consulted with the Sustainability team and other internal partners to ensure any documented real property responsibilities and compliance issues related to Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) or matters from VAC greening and sustainability reports are addressed.
• Completed and documented initial site assessments.
• Consulted with external partners, including the TBS Centre of Expertise, to identify possible opportunities for divesting surplus properties.
• Incorporated results from consultations on the divestiture of surplus properties into the new real property governance framework.
• Established a reporting framework, as part of the strategy, to support evidence-based decisions regarding value, divestiture and accountability.
• Developed governance requirements and objectives within the portfolio strategy relevant to the role of custodians holding office space for VAC and how optimized use of office space demonstrates compliance with policy.
• Participated in real property portfolio strategy planning and development.
• Attended an educational seminar hosted by the Real Property Institute of Canada (RPIC), gaining knowledge on greening, net-zero, and sustainability topics.
•  Developed tools used for analyzing investment options.
• Consulted with partners, stakeholders and areas of expertise for requirements and direction, including standard assumptions for analyzing investment options.
• Established the Strategic Projects and Planning team, including research and analysis expertise.
• Consulted with partners, stakeholders and areas of expertise for requirements and direction on identifying baselines for project timelines, opportunities, priorities and key performance indicators.
• Developed project tools, including work breakdown schedules, Gantt charts, key performance indicators, roadmaps, and dashboards, to provide accurate, periodic trend analysis (both quantitative and qualitative) on desired states (portfolio view) and funding gaps.
• Utilized assessment templates to collect and report financial information at the asset level.
• Consulted with partners and stakeholders and subject matter experts to identify gaps in financial information at the asset level and, if necessary, develop a methodology for gathering and retaining this information.
• Established real property project tools, including dashboards and PKIs, and identified available data sets (and gaps) for financial reports and governance frameworks.
• Consulted with external partners and TBS Centre of Expertise to establish a prioritized action plan for reviewing the real property inventory, discussing divestiture considerations, and identifying dependencies, ensuring alignment with VAC’s mandate.

There were no audits in 2023–24 requiring a response.