Executive Vice-President's Transition Binder 2019
Southern Ontario Region

Mandate / Vision / Context

Southern Ontario Region (SOR) will manage, monitor, assess and report in accordance with the Regional Director General (RDG) / Vice-Presidents (VP)s Mandate Letter and MOU’s established between the SOR and Functional Branches. In addition SOR remains committed to advancing the border of the future in support of the Agency's transformation initiatives under Renewal. In delivering the mandate, SOR is committed to fiscal probity and sound management of human resources.

Several factors exist that may impact SOR’s operational activities during fiscal year (FY) 2019 to 2020. These include:

• support to national service pressures (i.e. Quebec region asylum seeker influx)
• staff availability to meet service level demands during the summer peak period
• budget challenges (i.e. overtime utilization to meet service level demands) and
• stakeholder expectations (collaboration/engagement regarding operational/service pressures)

Risks/Issues in SOR:

• border management: balancing service standards with program integrity
• processing efficiency: need for more innovative processing
• fixed infrastructure: addressing fixed infrastructure challenges
• detection technology: effectiveness and maintenance of existing technology
• integrity of trusted programs: ensure consistent assessment of compliance
• staff availability: impacts from accommodations and non-discretionary leave (care of family)

Southern Ontario Region resource profile

Note: Budget allocation includes B-Base Projects

Risks, mitigation strategies and key milestones

Border management

Challenges in managing traveller and commercial volumes within established service standards while ensuring program integrity.

Related improvement activity (if applicable):

Traveller: NEXUS eGate Expansion

Commercial: Secure Corridor (SC) Pilot

All Modes: Working Groups: For Travellers, Commercial and Enforcement streams

Milestones and expected completion date:

Second quarter and ongoing

First quarter and ongoing

Processing efficiency

Introduction of processing technology across the Agency has largely occurred in air mode. There is a need for a shift in focus to more innovative processing in the land border environment.

Related improvement activity (if applicable):

Traveller: Continue to seek innovative solutions to process low risk facilitative documentation by leveraging technology.

Commercial: Licence Plate Reader (LPR) / RFID for Highway Commercial to increase program integrity and data integrity.

Milestones and expected completion date:

First quarter and ongoing

Ongoing

Fixed infrastructure

Current fixed infrastructure is unlikely to meet future service demands in both traveller and commercial streams.

Related improvement activity (if applicable):

Ambassador Bridge Enhancement Plan

Regional Consolidation Small Port Deficiencies

Milestones and expected completion date:

Ongoing

Fourth quarter

First quarter and ongoing

Detection technology

Need for additional detection technology.

Related improvement activity (if applicable):

Milestones and expected completion date:

Trusted programs

Program integrity: Ensure program integrity through the consistent assessment of compliance.

Related improvement activity (if applicable):

Business case developed to acquire Pallet X-ray technology and handheld X-rays.

Milestones and expected completion date:

First quarter and ongoing

Staff availability

Reduction of staff availability at POE due to accommodations and non-discretionary leave (particularly LWOP for Care of Family)

Related improvement activity (if applicable):

All Modes: eGate and Secure corridor: Provides for return of non-tooled BSOs to the POE and assignment of tooled BSOs to PIL and enforcement activities in order to enhance program integrity.

Milestones and expected completion date:

SC Pilot: second quarter

NEXUS eGate: second quarter and third quarter

Additional improvement activities

Implemented April 1, 2019 and ongoing

Alignment of SOR’s governance structure with the Functional Management Model in order to ensure seamless service delivery and engagement with internal services and nationalized areas.

First quarter and ongoing

Our people: health, wellness and employee development are key Strategic Priorities for SOR.

• regional Wellness Strategy for mental health, harassment, discrimination and violence in the workplace to increase awareness and support
• transition Strategy to support the integration of accommodated employees back to POEs as Trusted Services BSOs
• talent Management Strategy and
• director Champions for Indigenous Affairs, Diversity, Integrity, Women’s Strategy, Mental Health, and Employee Development

Staffing plan

Procurement plan

Efficiency planning 1 to 2% savings

Management practices

Total dollar figure planned for reserve and from which fund centre: Anticipated overtime expenditures of $5.91 million during peak period

Areas where there is flexibility: Management practices remain in force to achieve efficiencies. The SOR budget allocation for fiscal year 2019 to 2020 was already taxed $558,000 as part of the overtime reduction strategy.

Management practices in SOR:

• leave management
• commercial and Immigration cross-training
• utilization of shift planning tool and overtime Staffing Projection Tool for forecasting
• mandatory 50% PIL utilization
• implement regional Flagpole and Asylum Seeker mitigation measures
• increase scheduling of Holiday off Duty (Hìng)

SOR overtime reduction strategy and Hìng generated $1.06 million in efficiency savings for the period 2016 to 2017 to 2018 to 2019.

Identify impacted deliverables: Overtime Saturation: Over reliance on overtime to compensate for on-going staff availability gaps leads to `burnout` and refusal of overtime shifts, particularly during Peak Period. This leads to increased Border Wait Times; complaints from stakeholder/clients; and risks to the Agency safety and security mandate.

Overtime funding: New programs are being funded with overtime rather than indeterminate resources.

Risk level: High

Variable Shift Scheduling Arrangement (VSSA) Negotiation at Rainbow Bridge

Total dollar figure planned for reserve and from which fund centre: Total planned: VSSA negotiations are underway at Rainbow Bridge, the anticipated savings will be determined in late third quarter/early fourth quarter.

Areas where there is flexibility: The negotiation and implementation of a new VSSA to create a more efficient and balanced schedule.

Other than Rainbow Bridge, no VSSA negotiations are anticipated for first quarter and second quarter with a Federal election planned for Fall 2019.

Identify impacted deliverables: Operational Impacts: A more efficient and balanced VSSA

Risks/Benefits: Reduce the need for overtime.

Risk level: Low

Bids against FIMC reserve

SOR intends to bid against FIMC Reserve for fiscal year 2019 to 2020 regarding the following:

• Detection Technology: $[redacted] for ten Handheld X-rays, and $10.5 million for three Pallet LSI.
• CCTV maintenance and repairs: $300,000 (increased costs due to aging equipment and standing offer pricing; estimating a total of 100 service/repair calls for 20 sites/POEs across the region averaging $3,000 per call)
• Workplace violence external investigator contracts: $450,000 (new policy requirement, 4 on-going, 5 pending, and 5 potential investigations averaging $32,000 per investigations)
• Salary costs associated with the management and delivery of non-nationalized activities (business service functions) downloaded to Regional Operations: $180,000

Date modified:

2019-12-04