2026–27 Departmental Plan

On this page

At a glance

This departmental plan details priorities, plans and associated costs of the Office of the Public Sector Integrity Commissioner of Canada (the Office) for the upcoming three fiscal years.

These plans align with the priorities outlined in the Office's Vision, mission, raison d’être and operating context.

Key priorities

The Office’s top priorities for 2026–27 are as follows:

  • Timeliness and effectiveness
    • Seek essential funding to avert the collapse of the independent federal whistleblowing regime and remain an effective deterrent to wrongdoing in the federal public sector
    • Optimize internal procedures and resources, as well as promote new operational strategies, as demand outpaces capacity
  • Awareness and access to information
    • Foster better understanding of the Office’s mandate by launching and refining the redesigned website

Comprehensive Expenditure Review

The Office does not have planned reductions under the Comprehensive Expenditure Review.

Highlights for the Office in 2026–27

In 2026–27, the Office will focus on sustaining the effective delivery of the federal whistleblowing regime in the context of persistent growth in disclosures of wrongdoing, complaints of reprisal and general inquiries. The Office will seek critical funding to address a widening capacity gap, as existing reference levels are insufficient to support the timely and effective management of an increasingly complex and expanding caseload. Despite these pressures, the Office will continue to fulfill its statutory mandate by rendering quasi-judicial decisions in reprisal matters and reporting founded cases of wrongdoing to Parliament, while advancing targeted improvements to internal processes and systems to maximize operational efficiency, maintain procedural fairness, and support accountability within the federal public sector.

In 2026–27, total planned spending (including internal services) for the Office is $8,077,875 and total planned full-time equivalent staff (including internal services) is 45.

Summary of planned results

The following provides a summary of the results the department plans to achieve in 2026–27 under its principal areas of activity, called “core responsibilities.”

  • Core responsibility: Public sector disclosures of wrongdoing and complaints of reprisal
    • Planned spending: $5,428,676
    • Planned human resources: 36
    • Departmental results:
      • The Office plans to deliver on its core responsibility by investigating disclosures of wrongdoing and complaints of reprisal, including complex cases that require specialized expertise. It will render quasi-judicial decisions in reprisal matters and report founded cases of wrongdoing to Parliament, thereby reinforcing accountability, transparency, and integrity within the federal public sector.


    More information about the Office’s core responsibility, Public sector disclosures of wrongdoing and complaints of reprisal, can be found in the full plan.

For complete information on the Office’s total planned spending and human resources, read the Planned spending and human resources section of the full plan.

From the Commissioner

I am pleased to present the 2026–27 Departmental Plan for the Office of the Public Sector Integrity Commissioner of Canada (the Office).

Beginning in late 2023, the Office has received an unprecedented and now sustained surge in the number of disclosures of wrongdoing, complaints of reprisal and general inquiries. As forecasted through our predictive modelling, the number of submissions continues to climb year after year, placing enormous pressure on our limited resources.

While increased awareness of the Office is positive, a lack of resources to process submissions has created a substantial risk to our mandate and could result in some cases never being investigated. Moreover, delays in investigations can have serious impacts such as the potential loss of evidence or erosion of witness testimony. In addition, each investigation that is delayed creates a risk that wrongdoing or reprisal may be repeated or continued.

A modest injection of funds in 2025, coupled with gains in operational efficiency, resulted in an increase in our capacity to analyze submissions and render decisions about investigations. However, resources still fall far short of what is necessary to handle the existing and growing caseload.

This year, the Office will be seeking essential funding to respond to the ever-increasing number of disclosures of wrongdoing and complaints of reprisal. Communications with the people of Canada are an essential part of our business. The Office will also launch the newly designed website to foster a better understanding of the Office’s mandate. The website is the portal through which nearly all submissions are received. It will be more accessible, more interactive, and will guide users through the submission process.

While awaiting an increase in critical funding, the dedicated and professional members of my team will continue to work diligently to provide the best possible service to the Canadian public, within the limitations of our resources, contributing to an essential part of the accountability and integrity system of the federal public sector.

Harriet Solloway

Commissioner

Plans to deliver on core responsibilities and internal services

Core responsibilities and internal services

Core responsibility: Public sector disclosures of wrongdoing and complaints of reprisal

Description

The Office of the Public Sector Integrity Commissioner of Canada (the Office) contributes to strengthening accountability and increases oversight of government operations by:

  • Providing an independent and confidential process for receiving and investigating disclosures of wrongdoing in, or relating to, the federal public sector from public servants and members of the public;
  • Reporting founded cases of wrongdoing to Parliament and making recommendations to chief executives on corrective measures; and
  • Exercising quasi-judicial functions in the handling of complaints of reprisal from public servants and former public servants, including rendering decisions, facilitating conciliation where appropriate, and referring cases to the Public Servants Disclosure Protection Tribunal.

Quality of life impacts

The domains from the Quality of Life Framework for Canada that relate the most closely to the Office’s core responsibility, Public sector disclosures of wrongdoing and complaints of reprisal, are:

  1. Good Governance (primary domain): Public servants will have a mechanism to call out wrongdoing. The Office’s core responsibility contributes to this domain more specifically to the subdomain “Democracy and institutions” through all the activities mentioned in the core responsibility description. The indicator of interest for this domain is “Confidence in institutions.”
  2. Prosperity: Canadians will be proud of an ethical public sector that ensures good job quality and job satisfaction. The Office’s core responsibility contributes to the subdomain “Employment and job quality,” and the indicator of interest is “Job satisfaction.”
  3. Society: A robust whistleblowing regime supports social cohesion by ensuring trust in the public sector. The Office’s core responsibility contributes to the subdomain “Social cohesion and connections,” and the indicator of interest is “Trust in others.”

Indicators, results and targets

This section presents details on the Office’s indicators, the actual results from the three most recently reported fiscal years, the targets and target dates for the Office’s core responsibility, Public sector disclosures of wrongdoing and complaints of reprisal. Details are presented by departmental result.

Table 1 provides a summary of the target and actual results for each indicator associated with departmental result 1 under the Office’s core responsibility, Public sector disclosures of wrongdoing and complaints of reprisal.

Table 1: Departmental Result 1 – Public sector disclosures of wrongdoing and complaints of reprisal are dealt with in a timely and effective manner
Departmental result indicatorsActual resultsTargetDate to achieve target
Percentage of cases addressed within established service standards, which are available on the Office’s website
  • 2022–23: 75%
  • 2023–24: 75%
  • 2024–25: 25%*
The service standards will not be met.March 2030
Percentage of applications addressed within established service standards under the Legal Access Request Program
  • 2022–23: 100%
  • 2023–24: 99%
  • 2024–25: 81%*
The service standards will not be met.March 2030

*Note: The Office has implemented four service standards to ensure transparency and provide an objective means of measuring performance. One of these standards is a statutory requirement and must be met 100%, while the other three have a target of 80%. However, the exceptional and sustained surge in activity the Office has faced since fall 2023 is exerting considerable pressure on operational resources, resulting in delays in the processing of files and legal access requests, investigating allegations, and responding to general inquiries.

Table 2 provides a summary of the target and actual results for each indicator associated with departmental result 2 under the Office’s core responsibility, Public sector disclosures of wrongdoing and complaints of reprisal.

Table 2: Departmental Result 2 – Public servants and members of the public are aware of the Office and have access to information to make an informed decision about disclosures of wrongdoing and complaints of reprisal
Departmental result indicatorsActual resultsTargetDate to achieve target
Percentage of new website visitors
  • 2022–23: 96%
  • 2023–24: 94%
  • 2024–25: 77%*
90% of website visitors are new visitors.March 2027
Number of attendees at outreach events
  • 2022–23: 3,264
  • 2023–24: 7,470
  • 2024–25: 14,253
The total number of attendees for the combined events, in which the Office participates in a year, is at least 2,500 attendees.March 2027

*Note: This percentage represents over 89,000 new visitors to the website.

Additional information on the detailed results and performance information for the Office’s program inventory is available on the GC InfoBase Infographic for Results.

Plans to achieve results

The following section describes the planned results for the Office’s core responsibility, Public sector disclosures of wrongdoing and complaints of reprisal, in 2026–27.

Departmental result 1 – Public sector disclosures of wrongdoing and complaints of reprisal are dealt with in a timely and effective manner

A timely and effective process to deal with disclosures of wrongdoing and complaints of reprisal in the federal public sector is essential to the success of the Office. This contributes to our vision of being a trusted organization and meeting our service standards.

Results we plan to achieve:

  • The Office will continue to seek additional resources to support operational capacity in response to sustained growth in disclosures of wrongdoing and complaints of reprisal.
  • The Office will further optimize its internal procedures and resources, as well as promote new operational strategies to better manage the ever-growing influx of new submissions and growing caseload.
  • The Office will make progress toward stabilizing its operational capacity, subject to available resources, in response to sustained growth in disclosures of wrongdoing and complaints of reprisal.
Departmental result 2 – Public servants and members of the public are aware of the Office and have access to information to make an informed decision about disclosures of wrongdoing and complaints of reprisal

Efforts in enhancing public awareness and understanding of the Office’s role and how it delivers on its mandate are crucial to its outreach strategy.

Results we plan to achieve:

  • In 2026–27, the Office will continue to take part in activities aimed at better informing public servants and others who might have seen wrongdoing in the federal public sector. Members of the Office will offer presentations and information sessions to federal organizations and attend pertinent conferences and learning events. In addition, the Commissioner will seize opportunities for speaking at events targeted to federal public servants.
  • A redesigned website is targeted for completion at the end of 2025–26. In the coming year, we will assess the new website, as well as tracking user data to determine possible improvements.
  • Adjustment of new website forms or content as needed to enhance the user experience and decrease the number of submissions that fall outside the Office’s mandate.

Planned resources to achieve results

Table 3 provides a summary of the planned spending and full-time equivalents (FTEs) required to achieve results.

Table 3: Planned resources to achieve results for the Office’s core responsibility, Public sector disclosures of wrongdoing and complaints of reprisal
ResourcePlanned
Spending$5,428,676
FTEs36

Complete financial and human resources information for the Office’s program inventory is available on the GC InfoBase Infographic for Finances and Infographic for People.

Related government priorities

Program inventory

The Office’s core responsibility, Public sector disclosures of wrongdoing and complaints of reprisal, is supported by the Disclosure and Reprisal Management program.

Additional information related to the program inventory for the Office’s core responsibility, Public sector disclosures of wrongdoing and complaints of reprisal, is available on the GC InfoBase Infographic for Results.

Internal services

Description

Internal services are the services that are provided within a department so that it can meet its corporate obligations and deliver its programs. There are 10 categories of internal services:

  • management and oversight services
  • communications services
  • legal services
  • human resources management services
  • financial management services
  • information management services
  • information technology services
  • real property management services
  • materiel management services
  • acquisition management services

Plans to achieve results

This section presents details of the Office’s plans to achieve results and meet targets for internal services.

Finance and acquisition management services

The Office will prepare for significant changes to public-sector financial reporting across government, including the implementation of the new Conceptual Framework and Section PS 1202. In collaboration with central agencies and partners, the Office will update its financial policies, procedures, and systems to comply with these new standards.

As part of its multi-year monitoring plan, the Office will conduct internal audits of financial signing authorities and transfer payments in 2026–27 to support strong governance and accountability.

Human resources management services

In 2025–26, the Office continued to prioritize organizational resilience and operational excellence by reinforcing its internal capacity in Human Resources and Finance. The strategic addition of two key leadership roles—Executive Director and Chief Financial Officer, alongside the Head of Human Resources—marks a significant step toward sustaining departmental effectiveness and supporting the Office’s growing caseload.

Looking ahead, the focus remains on strengthening core operations to ensure agility and responsiveness to an increasing caseload. Growth will be pursued in a fiscally responsible manner, contingent on budgetary considerations, while maintaining a commitment to efficiency, employee well-being, and organizational integrity. These efforts directly support the Office’s overarching goal of delivering high-quality services and fostering a culture of accountability and continuous improvement.

Information technology services

In addition to maintaining current information technology (IT) services, in 2026–27, the Office plans to:

  • Maintain and evolve the case management system as a continuous improvement program;
  • Improve some of the Office’s processes by leveraging automatization and artificial intelligence; and
  • Upgrade the IT infrastructure to increase reliability and security.

Information management services

The Office plans to strengthen practices for information lifecycle management, metadata, retention and disposition to support compliance, privacy, and access to information.

Planned resources to achieve results

Table 4 provides a summary of the planned spending and FTEs required to achieve results.

Table 4: Planned resources to achieve results for internal services this year
ResourcePlanned
Spending$2,649,199
FTEs9

Complete financial and human resources information for the Office’s program inventory is available on the GC InfoBase Infographic for Finances and Infographic for People.

Planning for contracts awarded to Indigenous businesses

To support the Government of Canada’s commitment to awarding at least 5% of the total value of contracts to Indigenous businesses, the Office will strengthen procurement planning and solicitation practices.

The Office will concentrate on early opportunity identification and targeted measures to guarantee that Indigenous suppliers are taken into consideration wherever capability exists, given the Office’s small contractual base and specific procurement needs. This includes:

  • Reviewing planned procurements;
  • Consulting Indigenous Services Canada’s Indigenous Business Directory during the planning phase to identify and pre-qualify suppliers;
  • Strengthening internal procurement planning and coordination to embed Indigenous considerations before solicitation strategies are finalized; and
  • Tracking results throughout the fiscal year to adjust strategies.

These measures integrate Indigenous procurement considerations into the Office’s end-to-end procurement process and support the achievement of the 5% target.

Table 5 presents the actual results with forecasted and planned results for the total percentage of contracts the Office awarded to Indigenous businesses.

Table 5: Percentage of contracts planned and awarded to Indigenous businesses
5% reporting field2024–25 actual result2025–26 forecasted result2026–27 planned result
Total percentage of contracts with Indigenous businesses2.38%5%5%

The results published in the Office’s 2024–25 Departmental Results Report are in line with the 2024–25 actual results mentioned above.

In 2024–25, the Office awarded $8,905 of $374,138 (2.38%) in contracts to Indigenous businesses, which was less than the 5% goal set by the Government of Canada. This result reflected the Office’s limited opportunities in specialized procurement sectors and its small contractual base. There were no exclusions.

Key risks

There is a risk that the Office may not have the capacity to deliver on its statutory mandate. The unpredictable nature of file intake and volume means that, in the event of a sudden increase in cases and investigations, the Office runs the risk of not being able to process files in a timely manner. The recent and sustained trend of increasing numbers of new disclosures of wrongdoing and complaints of reprisal each year has significantly impacted the Office’s caseload, which continues to outpace the Office’s resource capacity. The Office’s risk response strategy is to optimize processes for maximum efficiency, closely monitor caseloads as well as human resource capacity, and support ongoing professional development. In addition, the Office is submitting a request for additional funding that would enable it to increase human resource capacity to effectively deliver its mandate in the context of growing trends and caseloads.

The Office faces the risk of not being able to attract, retain and develop the right people with the appropriate mix of skills. The Office’s strategy to mitigate this risk includes proactive recruitment, as well as the use of casual employment and contractors when warranted.

The Office relies on external service providers for many of its corporate functions. This dependency subjects the Office to the risk of service providers not having the capacity to meet our operational needs at any given time. To mitigate this risk, the Office ensures that memoranda of understanding are in place with each service provider that detail both the services and levels of service to be provided. Regular monitoring of service delivery and audits of service level agreements are also conducted.

Furthermore, there is a risk that external and internal threats (including malware, hacking, and errors) could compromise the confidentiality, integrity and availability of sensitive information and business systems, disrupt operations and negatively impact the Office’s ability to deliver on its mandate. To mitigate this risk, the Office is updating its outdated IT infrastructure, using multi-factor authentication across all its critical systems, supporting a new and more reliable case management system, providing quarterly cyber security training for all staff, and reinforcing internal IT capacity.

Planned spending and human resources

This section provides an overview of the Office’s planned spending and human resources for the next three fiscal years and of planned spending for 2026–27 with actual spending from previous years.

Spending

This section presents an overview of the Office’s planned expenditures from 2023–24 to 2028–29.

Budgetary performance summary

Table 6 presents the Office’s spending over the past three years to carry out its core responsibility and internal services. Amounts for the 2025–26 fiscal year are forecasted based on spending to date.

Table 6: Three-year spending summary for core responsibility and internal services
Core responsibilities and internal services2023–24 actual expenditures2024–25 actual expenditures2025–26 forecast spending
Public sector disclosure of wrongdoing and complaints of reprisal$4,199,622$4,677,242$5,344,041
Internal services$2,577,345$2,087,521$2,850,638
Total$6,776,967$6,764,763$8,194,679

More financial information from previous years is available on the GC InfoBase Infographic for Finances.

Table 7 presents the Office’s planned spending over the next three years for its core responsibility and internal services.

Table 7: Planned three-year spending on core responsibilities and internal services
Core responsibilities and internal services2026–27 planned spending2027–28 planned spending2028–29 planned spending
Public sector disclosure of wrongdoing and complaints of reprisal$5,428,676$5,302,905$5,313,561
Internal services$2,649,199$2,706,042$2,711,532
Total$8,077,875$8,008,947$8,025,093

More detailed financial information on planned spending is available on the GC InfoBase Infographic for Finances.

Funding

This section provides an overview of the Office’s voted and statutory funding for its core responsibility and internal services. For further information on funding authorities, consult the Government of Canada budgets and expenditures.

Graph 1: Approved funding (statutory and voted) over a six-year period

Graph 1 summarizes the Office’s approved voted and statutory funding from 2023–24 to 2028–29.

For further information on the Office’s departmental appropriations, consult the 2026–27 Main Estimates.

Future-oriented condensed statement of operations

The future-oriented condensed statement of operations provides an overview of the Office’s operations for 2025–26 to 2026–27.

Table 8 summarizes the expenses and revenues net to the cost of operations before government funding and transfers for 2025–26 to 2026–27. The forecast and planned amounts in this statement of operations were prepared on an accrual basis. The forecast and planned amounts presented in other sections of the Departmental Plan were prepared on an expenditure basis. Amounts may therefore differ.

Table 8: Future-oriented condensed statement of operations for the year ended March 31, 2027
Financial information2025–26 forecast results2026–27 planned resultsDifference (forecasted results minus planned)
Total expenses$8,787,140$9,289,744$502,604
Total revenues$0$0$0
Net cost of operations before government funding and transfers$8,787,140$9,289,744$502,604

A more detailed Future-Oriented Statement of Operations and associated Notes for 2026–27, including a reconciliation of the net cost of operations with the requested authorities, is available on the Office’s website.

Human resources

This section presents an overview of the Office’s actual and planned human resources from 2023–24 to 2028–29.

Table 9 shows a summary of human resources, in FTEs, for the Office’s core responsibility and internal services for the previous three fiscal years. Human resources for the 2025–26 fiscal year are forecasted based on year to date.

Table 9: Actual human resources for core responsibilities and internal services
Core responsibilities and Internal Services2023–24 actual FTEs2024–25 actual FTEs2025–26 forecasted FTEs
Public sector disclosure of wrongdoing and complaints of reprisal252929
Internal services8811
Total333740

Table 10 shows information on human resources, in FTEs, for the Office’s core responsibility and internal services planned for the next three years.

Table 10: Human resources planning summary for core responsibilities and internal services
Core responsibilities and Internal Services2026–27 planned FTEs2027–28 planned FTEs2028–29 planned FTEs
Public sector disclosure of wrongdoing and complaints of reprisal363636
Internal services999
Total454545

Corporate information

Supplementary information tables

The supplementary information table Details on transfer payment programs is available on the Office’s website.

Information on the Office’s departmental sustainable development strategy can be found on the Office’s website.

Federal tax expenditures

The Office’s Departmental Plan does not include information on tax expenditures.

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 publishes cost estimates and projections for these measures each year in the Report on Federal Tax Expenditures.

This report also provides detailed background information on tax expenditures, including descriptions, objectives, historical information and references to related federal spending programs as well as evaluations and the Gender-based Analysis Plus of tax expenditures.

Definitions