Service Canada
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Service Canada is an initiative under the department of Human Resources and Social Development within the Government of Canada which was created in the fiscal year 2005-2006 federal budget.
The department was created in an effort to consolidate duplicate services offered across all functional departments and agencies within the federal government. Full implementation of Service Canada will roll out by the end of fiscal year 2007-2008 and will provide Canadians with "one-stop, easy access to the benefits and services they need, through the channel of their choice, whether that is by phone, in-person, or the Internet."
The creation of Service Canada, modelled after the first government service agency in Canada, Service New Brunswick, has been viewed with concern by the Public Service Alliance of Canada which believes that the government of Prime Minister Martin will use service consolidation as a means to reduce the number of public servants.
The Treasury Board Secretariat is spearheading the implementation of the department and predicts savings of up to $3 billion (CAD) over 5 years, mostly recovered from a reduced public service. Some media have reported job cuts could amount to 20,000+. At first, it was unclear whether Service Canada would be created as a separate functional department, or an agency aligned with an existing department such as the Department of Public Works and Government Services.
Service Canada was officially launched as a department on September 13, 2005 with Hon. Belinda Stronach as its first minister. Several weeks later it was announced that Service Canada was subcontracting its service design and delivery to Service New Brunswick, given that organization's experience in implementing similar projects.
