The Management Board of Cabinet has issued a Broader Public Sector Compensation Information Directive under the Broader Public Sector Executive Compensation Act, 2014, effective April 1, 2015.
Broader Public Sector Executive Compensation Act, 2014
The Broader Public Sector Executive Compensation Act, 2014 came into force on March 16, 2015. The Act applies to "designated employers", which includes public hospitals and a broad range of other entities in the broader public sector, such as community care access corporations, entities that are prescribed as "public bodies" under the Public Service of Ontario Act, 2006 (other than Commissions) and others.[1]
The Act gives the government the broad power to establish "compensation frameworks" relating to the compensation of executives of designated employers from time to time. At this time, no compensation frameworks have yet been issued.
The Act also gives Management Board of Cabinet the power to issue directives to designated employers requiring the employer to provide information relating to compensation and any other payments that designated executives and other employees and office holders of the employer are or could be entitled to. The Act deems disclosures of personal information under such a directive to be in compliance with, as applicable, the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act and the Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act.
We previously provided commentary on the Act in Broader Public Sector Compensation Restraint and Accountability Remain Top of Mind in Ontario and Public Sector and MPP Accountability and Transparency Act, 2014.
Broader Public Sector Compensation Information Directive
The Broader Public Sector Compensation Information Directive, effective as of April 1, 2015, does not itself require designated employers to submit compensation information. Instead, it requires that information be provided if the designated employer receives a written request from:
- the Minister whose ministry funds, oversees or otherwise usually deals with the relevant designated employer; or
- the Minister to whom the administration of the Act is assigned (currently this is the President of the Treasury Board).
The Directive specifies that, where requested, compensation information must be provided in a specific template, a form of which is directly appended to the Directive. Where requested, the designated employer may also be required to submit copies of: (i) agreements with employees or office holders, (ii) compensation policies, plans, guidelines, and programs, or (iii) compensation studies.
The stated aims of the Directive are to facilitate research and analysis (including to inform the development of appropriate benchmarks in the near team), as well as to enable long-term compensation management. We expect that, among other things, information collected under the authority of the Directive will be used to inform the development of the compensation frameworks referenced above.
You can read the full Directive here.
[1] The following is the full list of "designated employers" under the Act: (1) Every hospital within the meaning of the Public Hospitals Act and the University of Ottawa Heart Institute/Institut de cardiologie de l'Université d'Ottawa; (2) Every board within the meaning of the Education Act; (3) Every university in Ontario and every college of applied arts and technology and post-secondary institution in Ontario whether or not affiliated with a university, the enrolments of which are counted for purposes of calculating annual operating grants and entitlements. (4) Hydro One Inc. and each of its subsidiaries; (5) Independent Electricity System Operator, (6) Ontario Power Generation Inc. and each of its subsidiaries. (7) Every community care access corporation within the meaning of the Community Care Access Corporations Act, 2001. (8) Every body prescribed as a public body under the Public Service of Ontario Act, 2006 that is not also prescribed as a Commission public body under that Act. (9) The corporation known as Ornge, incorporated under the Canada Corporations Act on October 8, 2004 as Ontario Air Ambulance Services Co. (10) Subject to subsection (2), every other authority, board, commission, committee, corporation, council, foundation or organization that may be prescribed for the purposes of this section.