Canadian public sector organizations honoured by IPAC and Deloitte for building trust and demonstrating perseverance

Toronto, February 6, 2018 – Today, the Institute of Public Administration of Canada (IPAC) and Deloitte announced the winners of the IPAC/Deloitte Public Sector Leadership Awards program. Now it its 10th year, the program recognizes organizations for outstanding leadership and taking bold steps to improve Canada, through advancements in public policy and management. Award recipients demonstrated the importance of innovation, strategic thinking, trust and team building, shared vision, and effective collaboration and partnerships.

Quotes
"This year’s applicants are particularly inspirational. Every team that presented to our jury was excited and passionate about what they do in service of the public interest — and that kind of excitement is contagious. The IPAC/Deloitte Public Sector Leadership Awards program is an opportunity to draw attention to the excellent work that the public service does across the country, and to learn from one another."

- Marcia Nelson
Deputy Minister of Executive Council for Alberta Public Service Cabinet Secretary and Head

"Public service leaders overcome incredible challenges to find solutions to shared problems. In many cases, programs can take long periods of time to come to fruition because parties that historically had never worked together are coming together for the first time. This year’s IPAC/Deloitte Public Sector Leadership Awards program winners demonstrate that the perseverance really pays off."

- Paula Gallagher
Awards Co-chair and Deloitte Consulting Partner

The 2018 IPAC/Deloitte Public Sector Leadership Awards winners are:

Gold:

Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry and Nipissing First Nation
Lake Nipissing Fishery: Strategic Collaboration on a Shared Resource

Despite changes to fishing regulations and longstanding discussions between Nipissing First Nation (NFN) and the Ontario government, 40 years of increased demand for walleye from the province’s Lake Nipissing was pushing the species’ population towards collapse. Instead of renewing the debate, NFN and the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry (MNRF) in 2013 initiated a three-year discussion of the broader issues around the matter, with a focus on traditional values, fisheries science, understanding historical grievances, Indigenous fishing practices and compliance challenges, plus a host of other socio-economic factors. The end result? A groundbreaking Memorandum of Understanding in 2016 that would see the NFN’s Fisheries Law, flowing from their
Chi-Naaknigewin (Constitution or Great Law), be adopted as part of the province’s regulatory regime.

Aside from addressing concerns from the First Nations fishers about the provincial regulation, this is the first time Ontario adopted a First Nation law. Both parties reported a reduction in the overall harvest of walleye, a general improvement in fish health, and more male and female walleye spawning. These measurable outcomes are now fully supported by a formal protocol that enables both parties to uphold the NFN Fisheries Law, while at the same time raising the bar for what is possible in other key areas of First Nations and provincial government collaboration.

Silver:

Halifax Regional Municipality & Nova Scotia Health Authority
Mobile food markets

The problems associated with food insecurity are formidable. People living in low-income neighbourhoods often cannot easily access or afford to buy fresh food. This, in turn, can compromise the individual’s physical and mental health and increase the risk of chronic health conditions. In 2012, when Halifax reported the highest level of household food insecurity of 33 surveyed Canadian metro areas, a disparate team of provincial partners came together to find solutions. One brainchild of this collaboration was the Mobile Food Markets (MFM) initiative – a travelling food market selling fresh vegetables and fruit at affordable prices to low-income residents, newcomers to Canada, seniors, single parents, and people with disabilities. Partners from the Halifax Regional Municipality, Nova Scotia Health Authority, local communities and not-for-profit sector, government departments and private business worked together between 2015 and 2016 to implement an MFM for five Halifax communities. By May 2016, a retrofitted Halifax transit bus was circulating through vulnerable communities, carrying a veritable cornucopia of fresh and affordable food. That project in itself signaled a successful outcome, but the MFM team quickly discovered their program had developed unexpected benefits. Community members could be mobilized to do their own food work: one group formed a Food Action Network, while another helped support at-risk youth with employment opportunities in the food work sector. Just as gratifying is the new animation of public spaces in these communities, where the MFM bus attracts neighbours and local artisans to chat, shop, browse local crafts, enjoy music — even to experience a Syrian coffee ceremony.

Bronze:

City of Toronto
Embracing Disruptive Technology and the Sharing Economy: Transforming legislation for Vehicle-for-Hire by regulating Uber in Toronto

When American-owned vehicle-for-hire transportation option UberX landed in Toronto in September 2014, the service launched tens of thousands of illegal and unregulated drivers and vehicles into the streets. Just over a year later, the city’s taxi and limo services industry expressed their intense frustration with the situation, staging a mass demonstration and shutting down rush-hour traffic downtown. Recognising the new ‘sharing economy’ reflected a larger phenomenon of worldwide technological disruption, the Toronto’s Municipal Licensing and Standards office surmised it was up to the City of Toronto to reframe its processes to keep pace. Months of research, discussion and debate with elected Toronto officials and hundreds of stakeholders followed — a process exposing the team to intense political pressure, not to mention international media attention. Then, working in lockstep with the City of Toronto’s Information and Technology division and other related departments, the collaboration produced its Vehicle for Hire legislation. Approved in May 2016 and implemented a mere two months later, the new policy has automated all private transportation company drivers' licenses and renewals, eliminated renewal wait times for existing drivers, and allowed Uber licenses to be issued within 24 hours of application. The initiative has levelled the playing field for both parties by requiring all vehicle-for-hire operators to have the same vehicle safety inspections, insurance requirements, criminal background and driving record checks. It’s also saved approximately $3.4M in administrative licensing costs and created new data collection methods for analysis of transportation developments to predict future trends.

Honourable mention:

Atlantic Workforce Partnership

Faced with an aging population, a variety of seasonal sectors and a workforce based almost entirely in small- to medium-sized enterprises, Canada’s Atlantic provinces did something unique in the region: they didn’t simply focus on skills shortages, immigration recruitment and training/apprenticeship opportunities but, for good measure, harmonized workforce efforts across all four provinces. Formed in 2012, the Atlantic Workforce Partnership (AWP) keyed on six priority areas: 1) aligning the ways Atlantic workers enter the skilled trades and cross provincial borders as they work toward certification; 2) attracting and retaining greater numbers of skilled immigrant and Francophone workers; 3) identifying opportunities and skill demands for small- and medium-sized enterprises; 4) collaborating with federal labour market agreements; 5) collecting and more effectively leveraging labour market information; and 6) improving labour market planning, transitions to work and employer engagement for youth. As of 2017, the AWP's foundational strategy has produced significant results, with 18 trades harmonized under the project and 80 per cent of Atlantic apprentices positively engaged. To date, the Partnership has received more than 500 applications for its immigration pilot, with 400 employees designated under the program. In addition, the program’s award-winning Study and Stay initiative attracted talented young people from India, China and the Philippines. For a group of provinces that historically has competed for labour resources, the AWP is proof of the power of collaboration.

About IPAC
Founded in 1947, the Institute of Public Administration of Canada (IPAC) is a dynamic association of public servants, academics, and others interested in public administration. IPAC is a membership-based organization that creates knowledge networks and leads public administration research in Canada. www.ipac.ca

About Deloitte
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