Program directory · Privy Council Office
Planning and Operation of Cabinet
- Department
- Privy Council Office
- Program code
- BWW03 (PCO)
- Core responsibility
- Serve the Prime Minister and Cabinet
- In Departmental Plans
- 2018-19 – 2026-27 · New since an earlier plan
What it does
PCO supports government-wide initiatives to enhance productivity. PCO coordinates departmental policy, legislative and government administration proposals going to Cabinet and its committees; performs a challenge function during the policy development process; and prepares briefing materials and accompanying policy analysis to facilitate Cabinet’s decision-making process. PCO also provides a secretariat function for Cabinet and its committees, which includes scheduling and support services for meetings, as well as preparation and distribution of Cabinet documents. In addition, PCO supports effective policy integration across the federal government so that proposals take into account the full range of departmental and Public Service-wide perspectives and issues related to implementation, such as communications, parliamentary affairs, intergovernmental relations and budget impacts. PCO leads the operation of Cabinet and Cabinet committees, including agenda-setting and meeting management and by providing secretarial support and expert advice to the Cabinet and the Chairs of Cabinet committees on the full range of issues and policies they address. PCO also prepares Orders in Council and other statutory instruments to give effect to Government decisions. PCO coordinates government-wide communications in support of the Government's legislative and policy agenda, programs and services.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Planning and Operation of Cabinet | This program | 2018-19 – 2028-29 | $217M |
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 | Employees (FTEs) 206, against 162 in 2019-20 (+27%). | FTEs (GC InfoBase) |
| 2020-21 | Spending $32.3M, against $23.5M in 2019-20 (+38%). | Actual spending (GC InfoBase) |
| 2024-25 | Planned employees (FTEs) 292, against 207 in 2023-24 (+41%). | FTEs (GC InfoBase) |
| 2024-25 | Spending $44.9M, against $33.2M in 2023-24 (+35%). | Actual spending (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
| Report year | Target | Due | Result | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018-19 | The target will be established after the first year of reporting. Improvement of up to 5% annually from benchmark with a maximum of 80% | 2019 | 75% In 2018-2019, the first year of reporting, Cabinet ministers rated their satisfaction at 75% in relation to the quality of products and services provided by the public service to support their participation in Cabinet deliberations. | Met |
| 2019-20 | Achieve a minimum of 70% | 2020 | Result not available - Survey not conducted The Cabinet survey was not undertaken this year due to comprehensive re-focus of committee work on COVID-19, reflecting the urgency of the crisis. | No result reported |
| 2020-21 | 80% or more | 2021 | 70% The 70% result is not a significant decrease from the 75% result in 2018-19.The Cabinet survey to collect data for this indicator was not conducted in 2019-20 due to comprehensive re-focus of committee work on COVID-19, reflecting the urgency of the crisis. | Not met |
| 2021-22 | 80% or more | 2022 | 76% The result of 76% is a slight increase from the last year’s result of 70%. In 2021-22, PCO provided advice and support to 151 Cabinet and Cabinet committee meetings, including decision making on 183 Memoranda to Cabinet with discussions also supported by 212 presentations and other documents. Items scheduled for Cabinet and Cabinet Committee consideration focused on managing the federal response… | Not met |
| 2022-23 | 80% or more | 2023 | 79% The result of 79% substantially achieved our target goal of 80% of ministers who felt satisfied with service and advice from the Privy Council Office. The Privy Council Office conducts an annual survey sent to Cabinet ministers, to which the results of the survey provide insight as to how the department can continuously respond to evolving needs from ministers. | Not met |
| 2023-24 | 80% or more | 2024 | 78% Overall, the support provided by PCO during the 2023-24 fiscal year was rated as generally positive, as indicated by the aggregate satisfaction percentage of 78%, and the Department continues to substantially strive to achieve its target of 80%. By directing attention to where survey responses coalesced around common themes, areas needing attention have been identified, and work continues on impr… | Not met |
Current: the 2026-27 plan's targets
| Report year | Target | Due | Result | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-27 | 80% or more | 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 | $20.8M | $23.2M |
| 2019-20 | $20.5M | $23.5M |
| 2020-21 | $23.2M | $32.3M |
| 2021-22 | $31.8M | $29M |
| 2022-23 | $30.4M | $30.5M |
| 2023-24 | $33.1M | $33.2M |
| 2024-25 | $46.1M | $44.9M |
| 2025-26 | $46.9M | — |
| 2026-27 | $49M | — |
| 2027-28 | $43.9M* | — |
| 2028-29 | $41.1M* | — |
Employees (FTEs)
Show the numbers
| Fiscal year | Planned | Actual |
|---|---|---|
| 2018-19 | 145 | 148 |
| 2019-20 | 135 | 162 |
| 2020-21 | 161 | 206 |
| 2021-22 | 200 | 203 |
| 2022-23 | 201 | 198 |
| 2023-24 | 194 | 207 |
| 2024-25 | 292 | — |
| 2025-26 | 297 | — |
| 2026-27 | 259 | — |
| 2027-28 | 236* | — |
| 2028-29 | 233* | — |
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 | $20,820,893 | $20,832,367 | $20,839,588 | ||||||||
| 2019-20 plan | $20,504,740 | $20,510,125 | $20,492,064 | ||||||||
| 2020-21 plan | $23,208,451 | $23,819,545 | $23,834,757 | ||||||||
| 2021-22 plan | $31,752,076 | $32,033,024 | $31,714,190 | ||||||||
| 2022-23 plan | $30,410,171 | $30,410,171 | $30,410,171 | ||||||||
| 2023-24 plan | $33,100,102 | $33,100,102 | $33,100,102 | ||||||||
| 2024-25 plan | $46,067,627 | $46,244,353 | $46,050,826 | ||||||||
| 2025-26 plan | $46,931,702 | $45,385,690 | $45,385,690 | ||||||||
| 2026-27 plan | $49,026,229 | $43,886,906 | $41,061,928 | ||||||||
| Actual | $23,249,438 | $23,501,563 | $32,324,211 | $29,041,023 | $30,512,506 | $33,161,316 | $44,890,444 |
Actual spending is from Departmental Results Reports and the Public Accounts, as published in GC InfoBase. FTEs are full-time equivalents.
