Program directory · National Defence
Ombudsman
- Department
- National Defence
- Program code
- BUP09 (ND)
- Core responsibility
- Defence Team
- In Departmental Plans
- 2018-19 – 2026-27 · New since an earlier plan
What it does
The Ombudsman program ensures that employees of the Department of National Defence, members of the Canadian Armed Forces, and other members of the Defence Community have access to existing channels of assistance or redress when they have a complaint or concern. The Ombudsman is also responsible for reviewing and investigating complaints from constituents who believe they have been treated improperly or unfairly by the Department of National Defence or the Canadian Armed Forces.
Source: the department's Program Inventory, via GC InfoBase.
History and lineage
First appears in GC InfoBase's actual spending by program in 2018-19. The data does not record when a program was created; it may be older than its first appearance here, which is limited by the sources (program spending starts in 2010-11, Departmental Plans in 2018-19).
| Program | Relation | Years with data | Actual spending over those years |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ombudsman | This program | 2018-19 – 2028-29 | $58.5M |
No earlier or later program in the same department has a similar name.
Significant changes in scope and budget
Detected from the data: renames between plans, programs it appears to replace, merge with or split into (matched by name), year-over-year changes in spending of at least 25% and $5M, or in employees of at least 20% and 25 FTEs, linked budget measures, and results indicators added or dropped.
| Year | What changed | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 2020-21 | Indicators added: % of constituent files that meet service standards; % of recommendations made by the Ombudsman's office in general investigation reports agreed to by the Department of National Defence/Canadian Armed Forces leadership | Departmental Results Framework (GC InfoBase) |
| 2026-27 | Indicators added: % of recommendations made by the Ombudsman's office in published reports implemented by the Department of National Defence/Canadian Armed Forces leadership; % of recommendations made by the Ombudsman's office in relation to individual general investigations, implemented by the Department of National Defence/Canadian Armed Forces leadership | Departmental Results Framework (GC InfoBase) |
Success criteria
The program's indicators from its department's Departmental Results Framework: the target set in each year's plan, and the result reported the following year. Source: GC InfoBase.
Historical: targets against results
Bars: result reported. Dashed line: target.
| Report year | Target | Due | Result | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020-21 | ≥ 80% | 2021 | 80% | Met |
| 2021-22 | ≥ 80% | 2022 | 78% In FY 2021-22, the Ombudsman’s Office saw a 35% increase in case files received which significantly increased the workload for the organization. Additional challenges such as complexity of files, lack of cooperation from the constituents, being short staffed and lengthy stakeholder administrative processes have impacted the organization’s ability to reach the target. As a result these service sta… | Not met |
| 2022-23 | ≥ 80% | 2023 | 79.4% In FY 2022-23, the Ombudsman’s Office saw similar challenges to last fiscal year such as increased workload and complexity of files as well as delays in stakeholder engagement and cooperation. Despite these challenges, service standards fell short by less than 1% of the target. | Not met |
| 2023-24 | ≥ 80% | 2024 | 73.6% The results for this indicator are 1503/2041 or 73.64% of files met service standards. In FY 2023-24, the Ombudsman’s Office saw similar challenges to last fiscal year such as increased workload and complexity of files as well as delays in stakeholder engagement and cooperation. Unfortunately, at the time of this report, the systems used to generate this data are not functioning and the office is… | Not met |
| 2024-25 | ≥ 80% | 2025 | 73% The target was not met due to continued increases in both the volume and complexity of complaint files received by the Ombudsman’s Office in fiscal year 2024-25. Further challenges were encountered related to stakeholder engagement and cooperation. | Not met |
Bars: result reported. Dashed line: target.
| Report year | Target | Due | Result | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020-21 | ≥ 80% | 2021 | 100% | Met |
| 2021-22 | ≥ 80% | 2022 | 100% | Met |
| 2022-23 | ≥ 90% | 2023 | 100% | Met |
| 2023-24 | ≥ 90% | 2024 | 100% The results for this indicator are 53/53 or 100% of recommendations were agreed to by the Department of National Defence/ Canadian Armed Forces leadership. | Met |
| 2024-25 | ≥ 90% | 2025 | 100% | Met |
Bars: result reported. Dashed line: target.
| Report year | Target | Due | Result | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019-20 | ≥ 80% | 2020 | — No systemic investigations were published in FY 2019-20. A new investigation was launched in the summer of 2019 into the administration of postings outside of Canada, which will provide decision makers with evidence-based recommendations about the many administrative, procedural, and policy challenges facing CAF members, DND employees, Non-Public Funds staff, and their families when posted outsid… | No result reported |
| 2020-21 | ≥ 80% | 2021 | — No results regarding the acceptance rates of recommendations are available at this time. Thirteen recommendations were made in systemic investigation reports in FY 2020-21 but no response has been provided by the DND/CAF leadership. | No result reported |
| 2021-22 | ≥ 80% | 2022 | — There are no results regarding the acceptance rates of recommendations available at this time. Three recommendations were made in a systemic investigation report which was submitted in March 2022 to the Minister of National Defence. No response has been received by the Minister of National Defence after the mandatory 28 day hold period. | No result reported |
| 2022-23 | ≥ 90% | 2023 | 100% | Met |
| 2023-24 | ≥ 90% | 2024 | 0% At the time of reporting these results, the six recommendations that our office has provided to the department have yet to be agreed upon by the Department. The Ombudsman's office is therefore unable to determine to what extent this target has been met. | Not met |
| 2024-25 | ≥ 90% | 2025 | 93.5% | Met |
Current: the 2026-27 plan's targets
Bars: result reported. Dashed line: target.
| Report year | Target | Due | Result | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-27 | ≥ 80% | 2027 | — | Planned |
Bars: result reported. Dashed line: target.
| Report year | Target | Due | Result | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-27 | ≥ 90% | 2027 | — | Planned |
Bars: result reported. Dashed line: target.
| Report year | Target | Due | Result | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-27 | ≥ 50% | 2027 | — | Planned |
Bars: result reported. Dashed line: target.
| Report year | Target | Due | Result | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-27 | ≥ 50% | 2027 | — | Planned |
Bars: result reported. Dashed line: target.
| Report year | Target | Due | Result | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-27 | ≥ 90% | 2027 | — | Planned |
Future goals: targets due after 2026-27
No targets with a later due date.
Spending and employees: planned against actual
Spending
Show the numbers
| Fiscal year | Planned | Actual |
|---|---|---|
| 2018-19 | $6.4M | $7.3M |
| 2019-20 | $7.2M | $7.3M |
| 2020-21 | $7M | $8.4M |
| 2021-22 | $7.2M | $7.9M |
| 2022-23 | $7.4M | $8.7M |
| 2023-24 | $7.7M | $9.6M |
| 2024-25 | $10M | $9.3M |
| 2025-26 | $9.5M | — |
| 2026-27 | $10M | — |
| 2027-28 | $10.2M* | — |
| 2028-29 | $10.3M* | — |
Employees (FTEs)
Show the numbers
| Fiscal year | Planned | Actual |
|---|---|---|
| 2018-19 | 63 | 65 |
| 2019-20 | 71 | 70 |
| 2020-21 | 65 | 68 |
| 2021-22 | 72 | 67 |
| 2022-23 | 65 | 76 |
| 2023-24 | 71 | 71 |
| 2024-25 | 80 | 69 |
| 2025-26 | 68 | — |
| 2026-27 | 62 | — |
| 2027-28 | 64* | — |
| 2028-29 | 65* | — |
Planned spending, plan by plan
Each row is one year's Departmental Plan and its forecast for the next three fiscal years; read a column down to see how the forecast for one year changed. The last row is what was actually spent. Click an amount for its source. Biggest changes in federal spending plans
| Plan | 2018-19 | 2019-20 | 2020-21 | 2021-22 | 2022-23 | 2023-24 | 2024-25 | 2025-26 | 2026-27 | 2027-28 | 2028-29 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018-19 plan | $6,355,233 | $6,410,979 | $6,439,598 | ||||||||
| 2019-20 plan | $7,235,463 | $7,406,777 | $7,555,138 | ||||||||
| 2020-21 plan | $7,027,061 | $7,059,214 | $7,202,550 | ||||||||
| 2021-22 plan | $7,164,296 | $7,269,677 | $7,265,207 | ||||||||
| 2022-23 plan | $7,430,675 | $7,396,204 | $7,395,333 | ||||||||
| 2023-24 plan | $7,715,753 | $8,124,090 | $8,066,760 | ||||||||
| 2024-25 plan | $9,994,326 | $10,327,369 | $10,242,692 | ||||||||
| 2025-26 plan | $9,514,923 | $9,921,587 | $9,937,560 | ||||||||
| 2026-27 plan | $9,956,602 | $10,153,749 | $10,281,992 | ||||||||
| Actual | $7,332,822 | $7,286,481 | $8,373,338 | $7,878,380 | $8,685,961 | $9,639,817 | $9,260,285 |
Actual spending is from Departmental Results Reports and the Public Accounts, as published in GC InfoBase. FTEs are full-time equivalents.
