About | Major Initiatives | Past Work

Public Service: A vital institution

Canada’s professional, non-partisan and permanent public service is a cornerstone element of governance in our country. All Canadians have a stake in the effective operation and renewal of the public service at all levels of government. Today, we find ourselves in an era of great change within public service, as governments seek to become more imaginative and collaborative in policy development, while generational change brings about a new focus on the next generation of public service leaders.

At the Public Policy Forum our work is closely linked to the federal public service and to provincial, territorial and municipal governments across the country. Public servants are essential leaders and practitioners of many of the policy outcomes of Forum dialogues, and we strive to ensure that, through our work, the public service is able to collaborate with representatives across all sectors in the formation of timely and effective public policy.

The Forum has, as its raison d’être, the goal of building better governments. While almost all Public Policy Forum work involves public service to some extent, much of our work focuses directly on the paramount importance of the public service to our country.

Major Initiatives

	Workplace Innovation in Canada’s Public Service This discussion paper explores how better work practices including collaborative approaches, dynamic workspaces, and enabling technology can help manage cost pressures and deliver greater value to Canadians at a time of fiscal restraint. The short paper is based on consultations with over 100 public servants and private sector leaders. Please click here to read the report.
	Innovation in Government: Conversations with Canada's public service leaders The Forum, in partnership with Deloitte engaged more than 100 public service leaders in all three levels of government across Canada in one-on-one conversations about the challenges they face and the efforts they have taken to bring about innovation in their government. Please click here for the report.
	10 Tough Jobs 2010 A report outlining the challenges faced and skills required by incumbents in 10 of the Federal public service's most demanding positions. Please click here to read the report. Ten Tough Jobs 2010 is an update of a publication first done in 2002 that explores the changing nature of leadership within the Government of Canada.
	Gordon Osbaldeston Lecture This prestigious lecture, hosted in Ottawa, honours Mr. Osbaldeston's distinguished 35-year career as a public servant by raising awareness about the challenges, issues and opportunities facing Canada's Public Service. Recent lecturers include Vancouver Olympic Organizing Committee (VANOC) CEO John Furlong, and former UBC President Martha Piper. Please click here for more information on this important annual event in Ottawa.
	Public Sector Executive Development The Public Sector Executive Development Program is designed to prepare senior public sector leaders at the Assistant Deputy Minister and Associate Deputy Minister levels at the provincial and territorial levels of government as well as senior municipal executives for the challenges posed in managing and leading in the public sector. The session runs twice yearly, with the next session scheduled for October 11 – 14, 2011, in Gatineau, Quebec.

Past work

The recent work of the Forum in the area of public service builds on a strong tradition of study seeking to explore new and creative ways to understand how to make public service institutions more effective and efficient.
 
Past PPF work includes:

Destination: Excellence (2008) which articulates a set of principles to guide the public service and puts forward 10 recommendations based on a national series of consultations. Please click here to read.

A Vital National Institution: What a Cross-Section of Canadians Think About Canada's Public Service (2007).

Leading by Example: 50 Prominent Canadians Talk to us About the Federal Public Service and why Leadership Matters (2007).