Setting the bar for tomorrow's public sector leaders 

From coast to coast to coast, this year’s winners illustrate a range and diversity of achievement that together clearly reinforce the benefits of public sector leadership to Canadians. They have identified challenges and creatively and passionately brought their often scarce resources to bear to address them in ways that rewrite how today’s public needs to be served. Our advisory committee members were inspired by what they set out to do, what they accomplished, how they accomplished it and what that says about the future of public service in Canada. After reading their stories, we’re sure you will be, too.

Passport Canada (Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada) Response to the 2007 Passport Surge in Demand Federal/Provincial – Gold winner

When incoming applications for passports in 2006-07 overwhelmed Passport Canada’s ability to meet demand, the agency knew something had to change. Its business model, designed to issue about 2.5 million passports per year, was challenged when demand skyrocketed, almost overnight, to 3.6 million per year after the implementation of tighter North American travel requirements. Lineups snaked around the block and headlines blared as the agency found itself unable to keep up with new applications. To meet this elevated need, the agency reinvented itself by introducing a new, more flexible and accelerated customer service model, simplifying back-end processing, reducing turnaround times and refining forecasting to improve its ability to allocate resources ahead of demand. The result is nothing short of revolutionary, as the agency issued 4.8 million passports in 2007-08 – with no lineups – and is on track to issue 5 million in 2009-10.

“We realized that none of us would succeed unless we all did. For Passport Canada, that represented an important culture change. We got rid of the silos, we stopped dissecting issues. We worked as one, we got it done.” — Jody Thomas, Chief Operating Officer, Passport Canada

Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care Leading the Transformation in Stewardship Federal/Provincial – Silver winner

Ontario’s health care system was facing an impossible two-faceted trend: Stakeholder needs for its services were growing just as costs were escalating as well. This was not sustainable for any period of time, and signaled that the traditional model of direct service delivery needed to change. To keep the $40 billion health system from imploding, the ministry embarked on the largest restructuring effort ever seen in an Ontario ministry. Leadership engaged staff at all levels of the system to drive an all encompassing, five-phase process that resulted in a complete reengineering of the ministry’s business. As a result, the ministry is now out of the business of direct service delivery, and instead assumes strategic oversight of the health system with Local Health Integration Networks as key partners. This structurally streamlined partnership uses collaborative decision-making and resource management processes to deliver service in an efficient, innovative, adaptable way. The impact on citizens is profound, as they’ll continue to have access to cutting edge care despite the ongoing budgetary and resourcing pressures. Moreover, those services will be delivered at a local level, by health care professionals who truly understand the needs of the communities they serve.

“Now that the transformation is done, the most important job we have is to deliver on the ministry’s stewardship promise. Our promise is to preserve the health care system for Ontarians, use it wisely to serve current needs and renew it for a sustainable future.” — Ron Sapsford, Deputy Minister, Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care

Quebec Ministry of Employment and Social Solidarity Pacte pour l’emploi Federal/Provincial – Bronze winner

An innovative program announced in March 2008 to combat poverty by improving worker training efforts and more closely matching workforce skills to employer needs became even more relevant later in the year. As the U.S. financial crisis began to seriously affect the Quebec economy, the ministry saw an opportunity to do more. Its Employment Pact Plus initiative, a complementary program, was launched in March 2009 to support the unemployed and help vulnerable businesses. The combined program, which was designed to leverage regional resources to ensure the best possible fit with local needs, was intended from the start to target the root causes of poverty. While other shorter-term initiatives may mask the problem, this longer-term approach helps those who would otherwise be disconnected from society to build viable lives for themselves. The program, which prepares the province for the eventual economic recovery and aligns its job creation effort with the International Labour Organization’s proposed Global Jobs Pact, is already being studied carefully by a broad range of Canadian partners and large international organizations.

“This program is more than a simple statement of public policy. It has become a pivotal social project involving efforts by the driving forces of Québec society, including government departments, partners from the worlds of labour and education, businesses, workers, community organizations and job-seekers. This level of partnership has allowed us to not only combat poverty, but to re-engage citizens and help them become contributing members of society over the long-term.” — Marie-Renée Roy, Assistant Deputy Minister of Policy and Strategic Analysis, Quebec Ministry of Employment and Social Solidarity

City of Toronto – Shelter, Support & Housing Administration Streets to Homes Municipal – Gold winner

First approved in 2005, the mandate of Toronto’s Streets to Homes initiative was bold: to end homelessness. Not manage it, but end it. The program recognized that traditional approaches to thinking about and responding to homelessness were due for a complete re-think. Streets to Homes takes the service directly to the streets, where resources are brought to bear to help citizens navigate the system and overcome hurdles that, in an earlier era, might have prompted them to fall through the cracks. This client-focused approach has allowed 2,600 homeless individuals to move into homes since the program’s launch. More importantly, over 90% of them are still housed, an important metric for an initiative whose focus on monitored performance has been key to building and maintaining strong support at all levels of government.

“The city hasn't done this alone. It’s all about partnerships, and a lot of community agencies have come together as a complete team, and with complete focus, to manage expectations and get things done. If an individual community agency had faced obstacles in the past, as a team we busted through some of the structural barriers that made it difficult for people to navigate these incredibly complex systems.” — Phil Brown, General Manager of Shelter, Support and Housing Administration, City of Toronto

Vancouver Police Department, City of Vancouver Reclaiming the Street of Shame Municipal – Silver winner

Vancouver’s Granville Entertainment District is home to a large number of bars and restaurants, and has long been a key draw for tourists and residents alike. Unfortunately, by 2007, rising levels of violence, gang involvement and street disorder were threatening the area’s viability and tarnishing the broader city’s reputation. The area became known as the “Street of Shame” as headlines blared and citizens demanded action from city council. The Vancouver Police Department had tried to implement stricter controls over the area, but when this more traditional approach to policing failed to quell the violence, the department turned to innovative, often radical approaches to policing. It rebuilt a close partnership with BarWatch, a business association for licensed establishments and used this relationship to facilitate innovative new methods of intervention. These included actively removing gang members from bars, turning entire blocks into pedestrian venues and shutting down lineups two hours before their scheduled 4 a.m. closing time to minimize the potential for violence. Officers accustomed to law-and-order were instead coached to be more welcoming and customer service-focused. Even the police barricades were repainted to project a softer, more welcoming tone. The results are nothing short of dramatic. Assaults fell 17% in 2008 and another 17% in 2009. Alcohol-related arrests dropped by almost half in 2008, and by a further 25% through 2009. As the city prepares to welcome the world to the 2010 Winter Olympics, it’s exactly the kind of message of success and innovation that needs to be told.

“Leadership means you can’t be afraid of driving a total change in philosophy. You must be prepared to listen to somebody else and try things that may seem completely radical. Sometimes it'll work and sometimes it won’t, but you need the courage to try, because that's what change and innovation are about.” — Warren Lemke, Superintendent, Vancouver Police Department

City of Edmonton, Neighbourhood and Community Development Leading Change – Neighbourhood Revitalization Municipal – Bronze winner

What started out as a simple request to a city councillor for improved street lighting in an area notorious for crime and prostitution soon became the basis for a unique approach to urban renewal. Instead of simply approving the request, the City of Edmonton challenged its Community Services division to reach out to citizens, business owners and other community stakeholders. The goal: Empower the community to drive its own revitalization by forming the vision, setting priorities and pursuing specific actions to make the vision a reality. The original neighbourhood got a lot more than lights. Its radically altered streetscape helped build a new sense of community that completely reversed the area’s fortunes. More importantly, it served as the basis for a repeatable process, known as Neighbourhood Revitalization. This sustainable initiative identifies areas in need of quality of life improvement and applies consistent community member-driven input – along with fundamental and ongoing support from the city itself – to make it happen. Similar projects are already underway in at least three other areas of the city.

“Most Canadians live, work or play in cities. By sharing this success story, I believe we can help improve the quality of life in Canada, neighbourhood by neighbourhood.” — Kathy Barnhart, Branch Manager, Neighbourhood and Community Development, City of Edmonton

Simon Fraser University Coming down from the mountain Education – Gold winner

Soon after it opened on a mountaintop campus in 1965, Simon Fraser University realized its long term growth depended on breaking through the isolation imposed by its remote location. In founding its two satellite campuses in Vancouver (1985) and Surrey (2002), the university built a template for institutionally-driven urban renewal that schools across the country are now studying. Its Vancouver campus is the centrepiece of a multifaceted effort to restore economic and social health to a community – the downtown east side – wracked by decades of decline. In choosing to expand to Surrey, the university responded to a particularly pressing need in an area long recognized as being among the province’s most underserved in terms of post-secondary education. In both cases, SFU’s arrival has turned around the fortunes of struggling communities and set the stage for new levels of university-stakeholder partnerships that enhance the region’s ability to support growing knowledge-based economies with a highly trained workforce.

“Transformational change requires bold thinking and courage. When you create a clear vision of improving your community and reach out to influential stakeholders, big things can happen.” — Cathy Daminato, Vice-President, Advancement, Simon Fraser University

The Michener Institute for Applied Health Sciences Innovation Strategy: Transforming Education in the Applied Health Sciences Education – Silver winner

The Michener Institute for Applied Health Sciences has been preparing health care professionals for careers in respiratory therapy, medical laboratory science, ultrasound, nuclear medicine and radiation therapy, among others, for 50 years. Challenged by the growing complexity and interdependence of health care delivery and the need to deliver improved health care to citizens within this more intense context, the institute recognized an opportunity to transform itself into a centre of excellence. The Academic Innovation Strategy was launched in 2006 to enhance learning via state-of-the-art curricula design and delivery. This approach addresses the new reality of today’s health care practitioners, and prepares them optimally for these fields. Among other improvements, the strategy integrates significantly more simulations to raise clinical readiness and maximize student potential to succeed once they’re placed in a given role. The strategy was also expressly designed to be portable to health care organizations across the country, and indeed in other areas of the public sector.

“I think there's a real message here in terms of knowledge translation to the broader community. What we did is replicable in similar programs across the country and, in any field, helps us all move into the 21st century. It’s good for our professions, of course, but ultimately it’s good for health care delivery and for all Canadian citizens.” — Dr. Paul Gamble, President and CEO, The Michener Institute for Applied Health

Ryerson University Leadership for Student Success Education – Bronze winner

With 24,000 undergraduate students and 64,000 yearly continuing education registrations, Ryerson University has become a leading Canadian institution in delivering career-focused education. In a competitive educational environment, Ryerson’s leaders knew that standing still was not an option. Their Leadership for Student Success initiative, which revamped the institution’s governance process, is already contributing to the success of all of its undergraduate, graduate and continuing education students. Its ten-point governance plan, visible to all stakeholders, sets strategic priorities, connects performance indicators to those priorities and ensures a clear linkage between these priorities and all board-level decisions. Student involvement at the board level is also significantly higher than at competing institutions, which makes it easier for the university to demonstrate the advantages of this more proactive and transparent governance structure to students, board members and the broader community.

“We all want our youth to succeed. If we can demonstrate the responsible and the strategic way that we’re using public dollars to achieve objectives that are important to all Canadians, then we will have succeeded in this regard.” — Julia Hanigsberg, General Counsel and Secretary of the Board of Governors, Ryerson University

Canadian Pediatric Surgical Wait Times Project – 24 participating hospitals Health – Gold winner

It’s hard enough when a child needs surgery. Uncertainty over wait times can make a difficult situation even more so. When leaders at The Hospital for Sick Children decided to challenge the status quo and build a framework for benchmarking wait times for patients across the country, they were shedding light on a process that previously saw individual institutions struggle with allocating resources to surgical wait list cases. The new methodology, the result of a partnership of surgical chiefs and CEOs from 24 hospitals across Canada, allows all participating institutions to leverage common tools to more effectively manage wait lists and reallocate resources based on need. The outcome is concrete and valuable to patients and their families. The project uses objective criteria to assign the same waiting times, based on diagnosis, regardless of geography. The pan-Canadian wait time measurement framework’s reporting structure also allows participating hospitals to benchmark themselves against their peers.

“This recognition is a statement of the commitment, dedication and valuable contribution of our participating hospitals and hundreds of healthcare professionals over the last two years. This award acknowledges the value of innovation and the importance of responding more proactively to the health care needs of all Canadians.” — Cathy Seguin, Vice President, SickKids International Affairs, The Hospital for Sick Children

BC Provincial Health Services Authority imPROVE – PHSA’s Program Focusing on Patients and Empowering Staff Health – Silver winner

Can lessons learned on an automotive production line be applied in a health care scenario? BC’s Provincial Health Services Authority believed so, and its imPROVE project is now revolutionizing how decisions are made in the public sector. Based on the lean principles of the Toyota Production System, imPROVE empowers employees to redesign their work processes to reduce waste and variability. This enhances patient safety, as well as system effectiveness and efficiency. Beyond its roots as a business process redesign initiative, imPROVE has also been a significant catalyst in creating the kind of long term cultural change that will see medical and non-medical personnel proactively question the status quo, suggest and implement improved processes and continually work with stakeholders at all levels of the organization. It has turned traditional public sector service delivery practices and management structures on their collective ear. More importantly, it’s allowed the PHSA to improve service to patients without driving increased costs.

“People in the public sector are there for a reason – to service the community and make the world a better place for us all. Leadership’s role, then, is to create the environment to make extraordinary things happen. This requires creating and articulating a vision, passionately committing to it and inspiring and empowering others towards it.” — Jennifer MacKenzie, Vice President Strategic Planning, Transformation and Infrastructure, BC Provincial Health Services Authority

Saint Elizabeth Health Care Partners for Aboriginal Health Health – Bronze winner

For a number of reasons including income, access to education, housing, running water and health care services, the health status of Canada’s Aboriginal people consistently ranks below the national average. Life expectancy is 10 years less than non-Aboriginal people, infant mortality runs three times the Canadian average and the suicide rate is six times higher. Delivery of high quality health care services to remote First Nations communities is further challenged by geography, staff shortages and cost. To overcome these obstacles, Saint Elizabeth Health Care has spent over a decade partnering with First Nations communities to look for and implement innovative ways to support health care at the local level. Its @YourSide Colleague secure Web-based service facilitates 24/7 access to updated learning content, and allows communication with peers and experts within online communities of learning. The program, which is provided through dedicated fundraising efforts at no cost to the community, is evidence-based, culturally appropriate and accessible anytime and from anywhere. It supports nearly 600 health providers in over 200 First Nations communities and organizations across British Columbia, Saskatchewan and Manitoba. Future evolution of this critical resource will be driven by these communities themselves as feedback from First Nations reviewers and health service providers work to ensure it continues to meet community needs.

“A fundamental attribute of leadership is the recognition that organizations can achieve greater results by working together and cultivating partnerships that are built on mutual values, trust, respect and a diversity of perspectives. Through our work with First Nations, we know there is incredible knowledge and skills within these communities and supporting the people, even in small ways, can bring significant benefits.” — Shirlee Sharkey, President and CEO, Saint Elizabeth Health Care

Public Bike System Company, City of Montreal BIXI: Société de vélo en libre service (SVLS) Not-for-profit – Gold winner

Bicycle sharing systems have been launched in other cities, but most eventually fell victim to vandalism or misuse, and were ultimately abandoned. Not so in Montreal. Barely 19 months after the city’s administration mandated its Stationnement de Montreal parking authority to design, develop and operate a public bike system, BIXI was up and running with 3,000 bikes spread out over 300 solar-powered stations. The service was so immediately successful following its May 2009 launch that by mid-summer, a second phase was approved to increase the fleet to 5,000 bikes and 400 stations. The Public Bike System Company was free to work closely with a wide range of stakeholders – from retailers to parking lot operators and venue owners. These streamlined partnerships cut through the usual civic bureaucracy and contributed significantly to the project’s speedy success. BIXI, which was carefully designed to adapt to Montreal’s challenging geography and climate, is now the fifth largest such system in the world, and has been sold to London, England. Negotiations with Boston, Toronto and a number of other cities are also underway.

“Our success in expanding BIXI to other communities shows how important initiatives like ours can be to citizens everywhere. It’s a wonderful way of creating unity across Canada: With BIXI systems in many cities, what better way to have Canadians experience new places and learn about their fellow citizens? In some ways, it could connect us just like the train system did over a century ago.” — Alain Ayotte, President, Public Bike System Company

Children’s Treatment Network of Simcoe York From Vision to Reality Not-for-profit – Silver winner

Multi-need children and their families often have difficulty navigating the complex landscape of health, education, recreation, community and social services. The Children’s Treatment Network of Simcoe York, first conceived by parents and service providers over a decade ago, provides a single point of access to drive improved outcomes for children and their families. This unique program brings integrated, coordinated care to a formerly underserved audience. To make it happen, multiple stakeholders, including, families, government and professionals from education, healthcare, recreation and community services, collaborated to develop a range of innovative tools and processes. From a centralized electronic record and inter-professional child and family teams to specialty rehabilitation services and a highly collaborative infrastructure, CTN is setting new standards in integrated service delivery.

“Systems change like this does not happen with the push of a button. Transforming how we work together across multiple sectors is a journey. It takes courage, commitment and a lot of hard work to stay the course. The recognition an award like this brings not only acknowledges everyone’s leadership and efforts, it also helps to fuel energy and keep everyone’s focus on the dream and the road ahead.” — Louise Paul, Chief Executive Officer, Children's Treatment Network of Simcoe York

  

Canadian Partnership Against Cancer Cancer View Canada – CPAC Partnership Portal Not-for-profit – Bronze winner

A cancer diagnosis often throws patients and their families into a world of overwhelming information. Caregivers and medical professionals are challenged to leverage knowledge management techniques, to reduce duplication of effort and to maximize their ability to deliver successful treatments and state-of-the-art care. Cancer View Canada grew out of the need to share best practices in cancer prevention, screening, care and support, to collaborate across geographies and to provide a window for patients looking for answers. This innovative knowledge management platform – built following extensive consultation with partners and stakeholders across the country – incorporates a range of tools and resources that broadens the availability of trusted content to stakeholders who might otherwise have been out of the loop. From searchable databases of cancer and chronic disease prevention policies and legislation, to collaborative group spaces and updated guides, to in-progress and planned clinical trials, Cancer View Canada is revolutionizing the distribution and availability of timely, complete and trusted information to the widest possible audience. In doing so, it’s ensured that ideas that work in one milieu are quickly shared elsewhere – a critical victory in the fight against cancer.

“In the public sector, leaders carry a special responsibility in that our funding is provided by Canadians, through their tax dollars. As a result, we owe it to Canadians to look for ways we can innovate. One way of innovating in the public sector is to open our eyes to what our colleagues are doing across the country. Rather than starting from scratch, we can identify how we can deploy those ideas in our domain.” — Lee Fairclough, Vice President Knowledge Management, Canadian Partnership Against Cancer