2014-2015 Departmental Performance Reports

Minister's Message


ISSN 2368-5492

 

The Honourable MaryAnn Mihychuk

As Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Labour, I am pleased to present the 2014-15 Departmental Performance Report for the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety (CCOHS).

CCOHS continued to build on its legacy of providing reliable and practical occupational health and safety information in innovative formats that employers and workers in Canada need to create healthy workplaces and prevent injuries and illnesses.

This past year, CCOHS developed a strategic plan to help direct the Centre’s efforts over the next three years. Centered on continued growth, CCOHS’ focus has been on improving the domestic coverage of CCOHS, increasing the uptake of its products and services and reinforcing the Centre’s role as a leader in the promotion of healthier and safer workplaces in Canada.

In partnership with the Workplace Hazardous Materials Bureau of Health Canada (formerly the National Office of WHMIS), and working with the provinces and territories, CCOHS released a collection of tools and resources to help workplaces in Canada navigate and embrace the long awaited changes to WHMIS 2015.

CCOHS’ commitment to workplace mental health is both as an employer, and as a health and safety organization. The Centre has been implementing the National Standard for Psychological Health and Safety in the Workplace and participating in the Mental Health Commission of Canada’s case study research project. CCOHS has crossed the country sharing experiences, data and challenges that may help organizations create mentally healthy workplaces to the benefit of all.

The health and safety of new and young workers remained at the forefront of concern. In addition to providing a web portal to deliver youth-specific information and tools, CCOHS sponsored and promoted the National Youth Video Contest to heighten awareness of workplace health and safety with students and young workers.

Through its programs, services, knowledge, and leadership, CCOHS will continue its efforts to advance health and safety in the workplace and I look forward to working with CCOHS to help improve the lives of the working population in Canada.

The Honourable MaryAnn Mihychuk
Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Labour

Institutional Head’s Message

Steve Horvath

CCOHS continues to serve as a vital component of regional and national dialogue on workplace health, safety and wellness.

It’s rewarding when the investments made in our organization and our partnerships throughout Canada deliver benefits for workplaces across the country. We have utilized our understanding of emerging trends in the national health and safety landscape to develop ambitious tools for Canadian workplaces that provide a framework for success in preventing injuries and illnesses. Against a backdrop of emerging issues and sudden shifts in the occupational health and safety environment, as well as regional economic challenges, CCOHS pursued a national agenda for action-oriented relationships with all our partners, and product development based on global best practises and our evidence-based principles.

We have advocated that workplace challenges cannot be resolved in isolation. No single organization, health and safety association, Ministry, or individual can provide a solution to a complex issue that traverses regions, generations, business sectors and cultures. Whatever successes we have achieved can be directly attributed to direct dialogue, embracing the value of diversity, and leveraging our partnerships across Canada.

Internally, we have marshalled our resources to expand and enhance capacity to ensure we remain at the forefront of national prevention and wellness promotion and program development. Our investments in technology and software systems will improve efficiency, provide seamless stakeholder interactions, and enhance the customer experience for Canadian workplaces.

This year we’ve laid the foundation for sustainable growth with a strategic plan that affirms our guiding principles and a vision that will respond to an uncertain future environment. Along with these internal values, the plan supports our ongoing efforts in building consensus around initiatives such as mental health, GHS, young and new worker programs, and promotion of leading indicators as predictors of organizational performance. I would like to extend by appreciation to Council and the whole CCOHS team for their passion, commitment and valued contribution in making this an outstanding year for CCOHS.

Steve Horvath
President and Chief Executive Officer

Section I – Organizational Expenditure Overview

Organizational Profile

Appropriate Minister: The Honourable MaryAnn Mihychuk, Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Labour

Institutional Head: Steve Horvath

Ministerial Portfolio: Employment and Social Development Canada, Labour Program

Enabling Instrument(s): Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety Act

Year of Incorporation / Commencement: 1978

Organizational Context

Raison d’être

The Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety was founded by an Act of Parliament in 1978 with a mandate to promote health and safety in the workplace and to enhance the physical and mental health of working people.


Responsibilities

The Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety (CCOHS) operates under the legislative authority of the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety Act S.C., 1977-78, c. 29 which was passed by unanimous vote in the Canadian Parliament. The purpose of this Act is to promote the fundamental right of Canadians to a healthy and safe working environment by creating a national institute (CCOHS) concerned with the study, encouragement and co-operative advancement of occupational health and safety.

CCOHS is Canada’s national occupational health and safety resource which is dedicated to the advancement of occupational health and safety performance by providing necessary services including information and knowledge transfer; training and education; cost-effective tools for improving occupational health and safety performance; management systems services supporting health and safety programs; injury and illness prevention initiatives and promoting the total well-being – physical, psychosocial and mental health - of working people. The Centre was created to provide a common focus for, and coordination of, information in the area of occupational health and safety.

CCOHS functions as a departmental corporation under Schedule II of the Financial Administration Act and is accountable to Parliament through the Minister of Labour. Its funding is derived from a combination of appropriations, cost recoveries and collaboration with the provinces. It is expected that 50% of the budget will be funded through cost recoveries from the creation, production, and worldwide sales of fee-for-service and revenue generating occupational health and safety products and services.

CCOHS is a recognized leader in providing effective programs, products and services, which are based on the centre’s core knowledge, its collection of occupational health and safety information, and its application of information management technologies.

CCOHS is governed by a tripartite council representing governments (federal, provincial and territorial), employers, and labour organizations. The Council of Governors assists in overseeing a policy framework for a trustworthy and complete occupational health and safety service, and ensures that the information CCOHS disseminates is unbiased. Our Council members are directly involved in the policy, governance and strategic planning for the organization. They also assist with reviews of programs and services to help ensure that our information is impartial and relevant. Our Inquiries Service is supported and funded from contributions provided by provincial and territorial governments.

CCOHS has a broad range of collaborative arrangements with many national and international health and safety organizations. These include the International Labour Organization (ILO), the Pan- American Health Organization (PAHO) the World Health Organization (WHO), North American Occupational Safety and Health Week (NAOSH), European Agency for Safety and Health at Work, and Health Canada. Further information on the many partnerships is available at http://www.ccohs.ca/ccohs/partner.html and in our Annual Report.

Collaborative projects serve many purposes at CCOHS. They are opportunities to enhance our occupational health and safety information resources, generate revenues and collaborate with partners worldwide. This collaboration among nations serves to promote the sharing of information and knowledge for social and economic programs relating to health and safety, to reduce injuries and illness, and improve conditions for workers. They also contribute to Canada’s role in the world and bring the wealth of global occupational health and safety information for use by CCOHS to benefit Canada and to improve the health and safety of Canadians.

Strategic Outcome(s) and Program Alignment Architecture

Strategic Outcome: Improved workplace conditions and practices that enhance the health, safety and well-being of working Canadians

1.1 Program: Occupational health and safety information development, delivery services and tripartite collaboration

Internal Services

Organizational Priorities

Priority Type1 Strategic Outcome(s) [and/or] Program(s)
Continuously improve the national profile of CCOHS Ongoing SO1
Summary of Progress

In an effort to raise CCOHS’ national profile, the Centre regularly engages its Canadian audience and increases its reach through new content via webcasts, podcasts, social media, Twitter, and newsletters.

A revitalized website, incorporating feedback from stakeholders, user groups and customers, provided more intuitive navigation and increased accessibility to resources. The increased demand for CCOHS to present at conferences speaks to the heightened organizational profile and was evidenced by the increase in the number of speaking engagements from 31 to 37 this year.

Priority Type1 Strategic Outcome(s) [and/or] Program(s)
Improve cost recovery program Ongoing SO1
Summary of Progress

CCOHS continues to grow revenue and invest those resources in the development of occupational health and safety material that matters to Canadians. By doing so, CCOHS saw an increase in new app development and online, mobile accessible products and for the first time, CCOHS held Twitter chats and a Google Hangout on workplace violence. New podcasts were also added which resulted in a significant increase in the monthly average listens from the same period last year.

Priority Type1 Strategic Outcome(s) [and/or] Program(s)
Increase the number of Canadians impacted by CCOHS Ongoing SO1
Summary of Progress

CCOHS measures the number of Canadians impacted by their services and information by the number of users of their content. The Centre broadened its reach to include more Canadian workplaces by developing partnerships with other safety organizations and by launching new products that are better suited to meet the health and safety needs of Canadian employers.

New collaborations with Health Canada and the Public Services Health and Safety Association (Ontario) resulted in the development of new e-courses. As well, through its collaboration with Health Canada and the federal, provincial and territorial jurisdictions, CCOHS has developed a single point of access to information, resources and the status of WHMIS laws and regulations in each jurisdiction.

Partnerships with the Hamilton Port Authority and the Transportation Safety Board of Canada also resulted in the development of more new health and safety programs in the federal sector.

These new partnerships and collaborations extend the reach of the Centre and help ensure more Canadians benefit from best practices in workplace health and safety. In addition, CCOHS leverages their extensive communications channels to raise awareness of the Centre and health and safety issues, and drive traffic to the website. The average number of unique visitors (569,569) to the CCOHS website increased 7% this year, with approximately 29% of the visits being from Canada, up from 27% the previous year.


1Type is defined as follows: previously committed to—committed to in the first or second fiscal year prior to the subject year of the report; ongoing - committed to at least three fiscal years prior to the subject year of the report; and new - newly committed to in the reporting year of the RPP or DPR.

 

Risk Analysis

Key Risks

Key Risks
Risk Risk Response Strategy Link to Program Alignment Architecture
Operating deficit due to the reliance on funding from partners CCOHS keeps regular contact with all partners. CCOHS is increasing its focus on cost recoveries in order to continue to provide all of its services to Canadians. SO1
Technology changes are impacting the way in which we must deliver our products CCOHS has discontinued the sale of CD based products and expanded its Internet based products and information channels. SO1

Key Risks

CCOHS relies heavily on cost recovery programs and contributions from partners to supplement its parliamentary appropriations and cover fixed costs. The CCOHS funding model is based upon 50% of our operating budget being generated through cost recovery and our products and services must be continually updated to be marketable. Changes to our partners’ funding can have a direct impact on our revenues and our ability to deliver our products and services to Canadians.

CCOHS is proactively managing this risk by improving its cost recovery program. The program focuses on three main elements. First, we are rationalizing the product inventory to improve focus on the products that our stakeholders demand. Next, we are reviewing the pricing and marketing models for those products to ensure that we are reaching more Canadian workplaces and receiving fair market value for our products. Finally, we are reviewing and revising the commercial agreements with our suppliers in order to help reduce the cost of the operation.

The organization also faces the risk that technological advances have rendered traditional delivery methods for its content unsustainable and out-dated. CCOHS has responded by expanding its on-line resources to include more specialized web portals, e-learning programs, webinars, podcasts, Facebook and Twitter promotion and on-line discussion groups. These new channels are key to supporting our priority to expand our reach and impact more Canadians on a daily basis. CCOHS is investing in the technology required to support these new communication channels and is challenged to do so with a very limited operating budget.

Actual Expenditures

Budgetary Financial Resources (dollars)
2014–15
Main Estimates
2014–15
Planned Spending
2014–15
Total Authorities Available for Use
2014–15
Actual Spending (authorities used)
Difference (actual minus planned)
5,059,041 5,059,041 5,440,178 4,685,938 (373,103)

 

Planned spending represents the total amount authorized through the main estimates process. Authorities represent the total amounts authorized for the entire year, including the main estimates. The increase in total authorities is due to funding received for carry forward amounts from the prior year.


Human Resources (Full-Time Equivalent - [FTEs])
2014-15
Planned
2014-15
Actual
2014-15
Difference (actual minus planned)
96 81 (15)

Budgetary Planning Summary for Strategic Outcome(s) and Program(s) (dollars)
Strategic Outcome(s), Program(s) and Internal Services 2014–15
Main Estimates
2014–15
Planned Spending
2015–16
Planned Spending
2016-17
Planned Spending
2014–15
Total Authorities Available for Use
2014–15
Actual Spending (authorities used)
2013–14
Actual Spending (authorities used)
2012–13
Actual Spending (authorities used)
Strategic Outcome 1: Improved workplace conditions and practices that enhance the health, safety and well-being of working Canadians.
Occupational health and safety information development, delivery services and tripartite collaboration. 2,251,329 2,251,000 2,259,188 2,259,188 2,383,911 1,846,820 2,335,006 3,006,921
Internal Services Subtotal 2,807,712 2,808,000 2,811,081 2,811,081 3,056,267 2,839,118 2,912,740 2,450,394
Total 5,059,041 5,059,000 5,070,269 5,070,269 5,440,178 4,685,938 5,247,746 5,457,315

Alignment of Spending With the Whole-of-Government Framework

Alignment of 2014-15 Planned Spending With the Whole-of-Government Framework (dollars)
Strategic Outcome Program Spending Area Government of Canada Outcome 2014-15 Actual
Spending
Improved workplace conditions and practices that enhance the health, safety and well-being of working Canadians Occupational health and safety information development, delivery services and tripartite collaboration Social Affairs Healthy Canadians 1,846,820

Total Spending by Spending Area (dollars)
Spending Area Total Planned Spending Total Actual Spending
Economic Affairs    
Social Affairs 2,251,000 1,846,820
International Affairs    
Government Affairs    

Departmental Spending Trend

Departmental Spending Trend Graph

Expenditure Profile - Spending Trend Graph

[D]

For the years 2012-13 through 2014-15 the total spending includes all Parliamentary appropriations and revenue sources: Main Estimates, Supplementary Estimates, Treasury Board Vote 10, 15, 23, 25 and 30 as well as respendable revenues. It also includes carry forwards and adjustments. For the 2015-16 to 2017-18 periods, the total spending corresponds to the planned spending factoring in projected respendable revenues. Vote 15 transfers were high during fiscal 2012-13 due to the discontinuation of severance benefits and disbursements for this program.

Expenditures by Vote

For information on CCOHS’s organizational Votes and statutory expenditures, consult the Public Accounts of Canada 2014 on the Public Works and Government Services Canada website.

Section II – Analysis of Programs by Strategic Outcome

Strategic Outcome: Improved workplace conditions and practices that enhance the health, safety and well-being of working Canadians

Performance Measurement

Expected Results Performance Indicators Targets Actual Results
Easy access to CCOHS occupational health and safety information and services. Satisfaction with and ease of access and retrieval of occupational health and safety information from Inquiries service, web access and other CCOHS resources such as our web portals, articles and presentations. Overall 85% satisfaction rating from Inquiries and web usage and 10% increase in usage 89% satisfaction rate for Inquiries service.
13% increase in website usage.
99.5% overall satisfaction rate amongst CCOHS’ Health and Safety Report newsletter readers.
87% overall satisfaction rate amongst CCOHS’ Liaison newsletter readers.
Increased awareness and understanding of occupational health and safety issues in the workplace. Distribution of information to employees and employers to improve understanding of occupational safety and health. Increase distributions and usage of awareness information by 10% 5% increase in reach of CCOHS’ Health and Safety Report newsletter.
69% increase in poster downloads.
Application of occupational health and safety information in the workplace. Percentage of respondents that say information is being applied in the workplace by employees, government and employers to make change. 72% of clients who use information provided to make change in the work place 67.9% of Health and Safety Report readers use the information in the Report to make current or planned changes in their workplace that might improve occupational health and safety.
70% of Liaison readers use information from the newsletter to affect change in their workplace.
59% of users of CCOHS’ free Inquiries service indicated their use of information will lead to current or future changes to the workplace again this fiscal.

Program 1.1: Occupational health and safety information development, delivery services and tripartite collaboration.

Description

The goal of this program is to provide free information on occupational health and safety to support Canadians in their efforts to improve workplace safety and health. Citizens are provided information through a free and impartial personalized service via telephone, e-mail, person-to-person, fax or mail. Alternatively, they can independently access a broad range of electronic and print resources developed to support safety and health information needs of Canadians. This may include cost recovery products and services and is supported financially by contributions from various stakeholders.

Through health and safety information development, CCOHS collects, processes, analyzes, evaluates, creates and publishes authoritative information resources on occupational health and safety for the benefit of all working Canadians. This information is used for education and training, research, policy development, development of best practices, improvement of health and safety programs, achieving compliance, and for personal use. When the product or service provided by CCOHS is too identifiable external recipients with benefits beyond those enjoyed by the general taxpayer, a user fee is charged.

CCOHS promotes and facilitates consultation and cooperation among federal, provincial and territorial jurisdictions and participation by labour, management and other stakeholders in the establishment and maintenance of high standards and occupational health and safety initiatives for the Canadian context. The sharing of resources results in the coordinated and mutually beneficial development of unique programs, products and services. Collaborative projects are usually supported with a combination of financial and non- financial contributions to the programs by partners and stakeholders and result in advancement of the health and safety initiatives.

Budgetary Financial Resources (dollars)
2014-15
Main Estimates
2014-15
Planned Spending
2014-15
Total Authorities Available for Use
2014-15
Actual Spending (authorities used)
2014-15
Difference (actual minus planned)
2,251,329 2,251,000 2,383,911 1,846,820 404,180
 

Human Resources (Full-Time Equivalent - [FTEs])
2014-15
Planned
2014-15
Actual
2014-15
Difference (actual minus planned)
73 61 (12)

Performance Analysis and Lessons Learned

In order to achieve these results, CCOHS executed the following activities:

  • Participated in collaborative projects with different levels of government and organizations. Examples of this include our work with the Workplace Hazardous Materials Bureau of Health Canada (formerly the National Office of WHMIS), Health Canada, the Canada School of Public Service and WorkSafeNB. CCOHS also assumed administration of the It’s Your Job! video contest.
  • Partnered with the Workplace Hazardous Materials Bureau of Health Canada and each of the federal, provincial and territorial occupational health and safety regulatory jurisdictions across Canada, to create a micro site to help Canadians transition to the new WHMIS 2015. WHMIS.org was officially launched in February 2015 and the portal received 44,607 worldwide page views in the two months it was available this fiscal year.
  • CCOHS collaborated with Canadian health and safety organizations and other health organizations as well as international organizations on various health and safety issues in order to bring to Canadians the most useful and relevant occupational health and safety information.
  • Expanded information content to meet needs for emerging high-risk occupational health and safety issues, such as new and young workers and developed appropriate resources.
    • The Young Workers Zone portal is a resource for young workers and their parents, employers and teachers, with single-point access to information on workplace health and safety issues. This year there were 63,636 total page views of the web portal content.
    • Through the Young Workers Zone portal, CCOHS offers a web-based resource called Health and Safety Teaching Tools. This year there were 96,537 unique page views of the basic web version, available to Canadians as a free public service.
  • CCOHS continued to support the issue of mental health in the workplace by developing new educational tools and services around the topic and participating in the Mental Health Commission of Canada’s case study research project, sharing experiences, data and challenges that may benefit others and helping improve the lives of the working population.
    • CCOHS offers a suite of mental health related e-courses (such as Mental Health: Health and Wellness Strategies and Signs, Symptoms and Solutions), awareness tools (Mental Health in the Workplace Infographic and Mental Fitness Fast Facts Cards), webinars, podcasts, articles in addition to our Healthy Minds at Work web portal. This year the portal had 22,878 page views.
  • CCOHS strategically selects relevant conferences and trade shows from across occupational sectors and geographic regions in which to exhibit speak and participate. This year the Centre participated in 43 conferences/events as well as 37 speaking engagements, representing a total conference reach of 29,980.
  • CCOHS’ website is the go-to resource for many looking for advice on occupational health and safety issues. This year, the website had 13,168,006 total page views and an average of 569,569 unique visitors per month. There was a substantial increase in Canadian usage of the site with approximately 29% of the visits from Canada.
  • CCOHS saw growth in its online community through its five social media channels (Twitter, Facebook, Google+, LinkedIn and YouTube) increasing engagement and encouraging discussions about health and safety in the workplace. Our two largest channels Twitter and Facebook showed exponential growth, with a 28% increase in Facebook fans, and a 27% increase in Twitter followers which resulted in annual retweet audience of 2,981,646.
  • Continued to seek, and experiment with innovative ways to connect with and engage various audiences by hosting two new social media driven events, a Twitter Chat and a Google Hangout.
  • Launched a series of infographics on important and relevant topics. The infographics were promoted through Pinterest, Facebook, and Twitter and were widely downloaded and repurposed.
  • Increased educational resources, customizing e-learning. Four new e-courses were developed, bringing the total to 104. This year, 97,351 seats were purchased and 44,108 free awareness e-courses were accessed.
  • Increased satisfaction rating of Safety InfoLine, CCOHS’ free person to person service. 7,652 questions were answered from every province and territory. The service received 89% overall satisfaction rate, and 59% of users also indicated the information they received.
  • With 36,119 monthly subscribers, the Health and Safety Report had a monthly share rate of 891,888. The content was also heavily repurposed by other organizations and publications resulting in an audience reach of 909,255.
  • CCOHS’s podcast program received a total 44,131 listens this year.
  • 455 media sightings were noted which netted an estimated reach in excess of 104,021,164 impressions.
  • CCOHS continued its commitment to foster future leaders in the field of occupational health and safety by awarding two $3,000 scholarships for the annual Dick Martin Scholarship Award.

Lessons Learned

Clients require information on demand and in many different formats to meet their needs. CCOHS works to address needs and identify trends quickly. Our feedback identifies emerging issues that are relevant for Canadian workplaces, and CCOHS has identified free and paid services to support future health, safety and wellness needs. Recent examples include mental health, workplace wellness and changes to WHMIS due to the implementation of the Globally Harmonized System for Classification and Labelling of Chemicals (GHS). Emerging issues drive development of new presentations, courses, fact sheets, micro sites, apps, podcasts and articles for our newsletters.

In response to client feedback, we’ve moved beyond database services, but that clients expect to find resources instantly through web-based, App-based and social-media resources. When there are changes in legislation, current events and best practices we need to respond quickly. In order to expand our reach we need to adopt new technologies quickly. It is also critical to keep our employees engaged since improved engagement leads to improved employee health, workplace health and wellness.

Internal Services

Description

Internal Services are groups of related activities and resources that are administered to support the needs of programs and other corporate obligations of an organization. These groups are: Management and Oversight Services; Communications Services; Legal Services; Human Resources Management Services; Financial Management Services; Information Management Services; Information Technology Services; Real Property Services; Materiel Services; Acquisition Services; and Travel and Other Administrative Services. Internal Services include only those activities and resources that apply across an organization and not to those provided specifically to a program.

Budgetary Financial Resources (dollars)
2014-15
Main Estimates
2014-15
Planned Spending
2014-15
Total Authorities Available for Use
2014-15
Actual Spending (authorities used)
2014-15
Difference actual minus planned)
2,807,712 2,808,000 3,056,267 2,839,118 31,118

Human Resources [FTEs])
2014-15
Planned
2014-15
Actual
2014-15
Difference (actual minus planned)
23 20 (3)

Performance Analysis and Lessons Learned

The focus for Internal Services continues to be to support the occupational health and safety information development, delivery services and tripartite collaboration program, with a focus on two areas: employee engagement and systems infrastructure.

The employee engagement survey yielded a list of important initiatives that are being implemented in order to increase current and future employee engagement as well as ensure a solid knowledge transfer as a significant portion of our staff approach retirement. We are planning a second survey in the coming year to help quantify some of the gains that are being achieved.

Significant investments have been made in order to refresh the CCOHS systems infrastructure in order to better support the organization’s ability to deliver its products and services. Many of the servers have been updated and an investment into a new telephone system was made in order to ensure the continuity of our popular Inquiries Service. Further investments are planned in the coming year in order to complete the technology refresh and allow CCOHS to continue to reach Canadians through all available platforms.

Section III – Supplementary Information

Financial Statement Highlights

CCOHS
Condensed Statement of Operations and Departmental Net Financial Position (unaudited)

For the Year Ended March 31, 2015 (dollars)

  2014–15
Planned Results
2014–15
Actual
2013–14
Actual
Difference (2014–15 actual minus 2014–15 planned) Difference (2014–15 actual minus 2013-14 actual)
Total expenses 9,359,000 10,095,904 10,567,062 736,904 471,158
Total revenues 4,300,000 4,419,670 3,991,799 (119,670) (440,686)
Net cost of operations before government funding and transfers 5,059,000 5,676,234 6,588,078 (617,234) (911,844)
Departmental net financial position (1,900,000) (2,068,639) (2,262,755) (168,639) (194,116)

 

CCOHS
Condensed Statement of Operations and Departmental Net Financial Position (Unaudited)

For the Year Ended March 31, 2014 (dollars)

  2013–14 2012-13 Difference
(2013-14 minus
2012-13)
Total net liabilities 3,222,967 2,953,812 269,155
Total net financial assets 815,791 605,379 210,412
Departmental net debt (2,407,176) (2,348,433) (58,743)
Total non-financial assets 144,421 210,579 (66,158)
Departmental net financial position (2,262,755) (2,137,854) (124,901)

Condensed statement of Operations and Departmental Net Financial Position

In 2014-15, CCOHS continued to build financial stability surpassing the record revenues set in 2013-14. The fiscal year ending March 31, 2015 yielded the best financial results in the history of the Centre due to some strong growth in Project income, E-Learning, Legislation and MMS products combined with continued fiscal prudence on the expenditure side of the ledger. CCOHS has generated a surplus that exceeds its maximum allowable operating budget carry forward for the third year in a row.

Revenue

Total Revenues for the year were $4.42M on an accrued basis and $4.73M on a cash basis, which eclipsed our record revenues in 2013-14 of $3.98M accrued and $4.13M cash. The 11% growth ($441K) in accrued revenues is mainly driven by growth in Project income ($195K) and continued growth in E-Learning ($73K), Legislation ($56K) and MMS ($134K), partially offset by the remaining product mix. The boost in Project income is mainly attributable to a collaboration with Health Canada on WHMIS 2015 and we do expect the overall project work to decline in 2015-16 due to the timing of the regulations.

Operating Expenses

Total Operating Expenses for the year are down 4.6% ($404K) due to continued prudent cost management. Given the nature of the operation, personnel expenditures are the most significant part of our cost structure accounting for approximately 88% of our costs. Direct salaries are down 1.9% year over year, reflecting a timing difference in replacement of retiring personnel as well as salary differences for new employees starting at the lower end of their respective salary ranges. Overall, personnel expenditures including benefits accounted for $251K of the decrease in opex while a reduction in professional services of $141K accounted for most of the remaining difference. Costs of sales in the year were reduced by 6% despite the increase in sales due mainly to new royalty agreements that were negotiated late in 2013-14.

Capital

In order to execute on its strategy to deliver its products and services to Canadians across many platforms, CCOHS has been investing in refreshing its technology assets. Many of these servers and other assets were over 10 years of age and investments in prior years had been limited due to cash flow concerns and operational capacity. In 2014-15, we invested $236K in new systems and technology to enable the organization to support future growth. Investments include new servers, a new telecom system as well as a new integrated customer relationship management and finance system to replace unsupported technology.

Condensed statement of Financial Position

The increase in net liabilities is primarily driven by the increase in deferred revenues ($131K) from the sale of web delivered subscription products as their popularity continues to increase. The Centre has also seen a decline in employee related ($80K) liabilities as many of its long-tenured employees continue to retire.

The increase in assets is due in part to significant investment in technology assets to deliver the program as well as the year end timing for some accounts receivable.

Financial Statements

http://www.ccohs.ca/ccohs/reports.html

Supplementary Information Tables

The supplementary information tables listed in the 2014–15 Departmental Performance Report can be found on the CCOHS website.

Tax Expenditures and Evaluations

The tax system can be used to achieve public policy objectives through the application of special measures such as low tax rates, exemptions, deductions, deferrals and credits. The Department of Finance Canada publishes cost estimates and projections for these measures annually in the Tax Expenditures and Evaluations publication. The tax measures presented in the Tax Expenditures and Evaluations publication are the sole responsibility of the Minister of Finance.

Section IV – Organizational Contact Information

For further information about this document or any of the products and services available from the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety please contact:

CCOHS
135 Hunter Street East
Hamilton ON L8N 1M5
Tel: 905-572-2981
1-800-668-4284 Canada and US
Fax: 905-572-2206
www.ccohs.ca

Steve Horvath
President and Chief Executive Officer
905-572-2981, ext 4433
Steve.Horvath@ccohs.ca

Frank Leduc
Vice-President Finance and Chief Financial Officer
905-572-2981, ext 4401
Frank.Leduc@ccohs.ca

Appendix: Definitions

  • appropriation (crédit): Any authority of Parliament to pay money out of the Consolidated Revenue Fund.
  • budgetary expenditures: (dépenses budgétaires) Include operating and capital expenditures; transfer payments to other levels of government, organizations or individuals; and payments to Crown corporations.
  • Departmental Performance Report (rapport ministerial sur le rendement): Reports on an appropriated organization’s actual accomplishments against the plans, priorities and expected results set out in the corresponding Reports on Plans and Priorities. These reports are tabled in Parliament in the fall.
  • full-time equivalent (équivalent temps plein): Is a measure of the extent to which an employee represents a full person year charge against a departmental budget. Full-time equivalents are calculated as a ratio of assigned hours of work to scheduled hours of work. Scheduled hours of work are set out in collective agreements.
  • Government of Canada outcomes (résultats du gouvernement du Canada): A set of 16 high-level objectives defined for the government as a whole, grouped in four spending areas: economic affairs, social affairs, international affairs and government affairs.
  • Management, Resources and Results Structure (Structure de la gestion, des ressources et des résultats): A comprehensive framework that consists of an organization’s inventory of programs, resources, results, performance indicators and governance information. Programs and results are depicted in their hierarchical relationship to each other and to the Strategic Outcome(s) to which they contribute. The Management, Resources and Results Structure is developed from the Program Alignment Architecture.
  • non-budgetary expenditures (dépenses non budgétaires): Include net outlays and receipts related to loans, investments and advances, which change the composition of the financial assets of the Government of Canada.
  • performance (rendement): What an organization did with its resources to achieve its results, how well those results compare to what the organization intended to achieve and how well lessons learned have been identified.
  • performance indicator (indicateur de rendement): A qualitative or quantitative means of measuring an output or outcome, with the intention of gauging the performance of an organization, program, policy or initiative respecting expected results.
  • performance reporting (production de rapports sur le rendement): The process of communicating evidence-based performance information. Performance reporting supports decision making, accountability and transparency.
  • planned spending (dépenses prévues) : For Reports on Plans and Priorities (RPPs) and Departmental Performance Reports (DPRs), planned spending refers to those amounts that receive Treasury Board approval by February 1. Therefore, planned spending may include amounts incremental to planned expenditures presented in the Main Estimates.

    A department is expected to be aware of the authorities that it has sought and received. The determination of planned spending is a departmental responsibility, and departments must be able to defend the expenditure and accrual numbers presented in their RPPs and DPRs.
  • plans (plan): The articulation of strategic choices, which provides information on how an organization intends to achieve its priorities and associated results. Generally a plan will explain the logic behind the strategies chosen and tend to focus on actions that lead up to the expected result.
  • priorities (priorité): Plans or projects that an organization has chosen to focus and report on during the planning period. Priorities represent the things that are most important or what must be done first to support the achievement of the desired Strategic Outcome(s).
  • program (programme): A group of related resource inputs and activities that are managed to meet specific needs and to achieve intended results and that are treated as a budgetary unit.
  • Program Alignment Architecture (architecture d’alignement des programmes): A structured inventory of an organization’s programs depicting the hierarchical relationship between programs and the Strategic Outcome(s) to which they contribute.
  • Report on Plans and Priorities (rapport sur les plans et les priorités): Provides information on the plans and expected performance of appropriated organizations over a three-year period. These reports are tabled in Parliament each spring.
  • results (résultat): An external consequence attributed, in part, to an organization, policy, program or initiative. Results are not within the control of a single organization, policy, program or initiative; instead they are within the area of the organization’s influence.
  • statutory expenditures (dépenses legislatives) : Expenditures that Parliament has approved through legislation other than appropriation acts. The legislation sets out the purpose of the expenditures and the terms and conditions under which they may be made.
  • Strategic Outcome (résultat stratégique) : A long-term and enduring benefit to Canadians that is linked to the organization’s mandate, vision and core functions.
  • sunset program (programme temporise) : A time-limited program that does not have an ongoing funding and policy authority. When the program is set to expire, a decision must be made whether to continue the program. In the case of a renewal, the decision specifies the scope, funding level and duration.
  • target (cible): A measurable performance or success level that an organization, program or initiative plans to achieve within a specified time period. Targets can be either quantitative or qualitative.
  • voted expenditures (dépenses votes) : Expenditures that Parliament approves annually through an Appropriation Act. The Vote wording becomes the governing conditions under which these expenditures may be made.
  • whole-of-government framework (cadre pangouvernemental): Maps the financial contributions of federal organizations receiving appropriations by aligning their Programs to a set of 16 government-wide, high-level outcome areas, grouped under four spending areas.