Program directory · Privy Council Office
Social and Economic Policy
- Department
- Privy Council Office
- Program code
- BWW09 (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 provides advice and support to the Prime Minister and portfolio ministers on a wide range of issues, including those pertaining to social, economic, regional development. PCO supports the efficient and effective functioning of Cabinet and Cabinet committees on a day-to-day basis. As part of this work, PCO coordinates departmental policy 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.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Social and Economic Policy | This program | 2018-19 – 2028-29 | $77.7M |
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 |
|---|---|---|
| 2026-27 | Planned employees (FTEs) 161, against 75 in 2025-26 (+115%). | FTEs (GC InfoBase) |
| 2026-27 | Planned spending $47.6M, against $12.9M in 2025-26 (+268%). | Latest Departmental Plan |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018-19 | — | 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. | No result reported |
| 2019-20 | 70% – 100% | 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% | 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% | 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% | 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% | 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
Bars: result reported. Dashed line: target.
| Report year | Target | Due | Result | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-27 | ≥ 80% | 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 | $9.5M | $8.8M |
| 2019-20 | $9.5M | $9.6M |
| 2020-21 | $8.4M | $9.6M |
| 2021-22 | $9.1M | $9.9M |
| 2022-23 | $9M | $11.2M |
| 2023-24 | $10.4M | $14.3M |
| 2024-25 | $11.3M | $14.2M |
| 2025-26 | $12.9M | — |
| 2026-27 | $47.6M | — |
| 2027-28 | $51.1M* | — |
| 2028-29 | $53M* | — |
Employees (FTEs)
Show the numbers
| Fiscal year | Planned | Actual |
|---|---|---|
| 2018-19 | 69 | 63 |
| 2019-20 | 69 | 64 |
| 2020-21 | 59 | 63 |
| 2021-22 | 62 | 66 |
| 2022-23 | 64 | 72 |
| 2023-24 | 71 | 82 |
| 2024-25 | 82 | — |
| 2025-26 | 75 | — |
| 2026-27 | 161 | — |
| 2027-28 | 157* | — |
| 2028-29 | 156* | — |
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 | $9,477,889 | $9,477,312 | $7,688,353 | ||||||||
| 2019-20 plan | $9,516,151 | $7,833,599 | $7,833,599 | ||||||||
| 2020-21 plan | $8,356,390 | $8,426,994 | $8,442,154 | ||||||||
| 2021-22 plan | $9,113,439 | $9,129,745 | $9,129,745 | ||||||||
| 2022-23 plan | $8,996,862 | $8,996,862 | $8,996,862 | ||||||||
| 2023-24 plan | $10,369,733 | $10,369,733 | $10,369,733 | ||||||||
| 2024-25 plan | $11,326,450 | $10,857,511 | $10,700,617 | ||||||||
| 2025-26 plan | $12,921,332 | $13,746,372 | $11,447,924 | ||||||||
| 2026-27 plan | $47,589,339 | $51,060,669 | $52,963,837 | ||||||||
| Actual | $8,834,041 | $9,602,292 | $9,622,916 | $9,894,874 | $11,220,943 | $14,324,537 | $14,203,198 |
Actual spending is from Departmental Results Reports and the Public Accounts, as published in GC InfoBase. FTEs are full-time equivalents.
