Audit of Alternative Program Administration

Long Text Descriptions

Figure 1 – Time required by Project Approval Stream

Figure 1 shows a comparison of the average time in calendar days required for each project approval stream at Infrastructure Canada, measured from receiving the application for funding to obtaining the approval in principle letter. It takes an average of 218 calendar days for approving projects (25) within the Minister's delegation of authority, 331 calendar days for projects (12) approved through a streamlined Treasury Board submission and 349 calendar days for projects (13) approved through a full Treasury Board submission.

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Figure 2 – Level of Effort by Project Approval Stream

Figure 2 shows the level of effort for approving projects by comparing the average number of business days required for each project approval stream at Infrastructure Canada. The level of effort is 13 business days for projects approved within the Minister's delegation, 20 business days for projects approved through a streamlined Treasury Board submission and 47.5 business days for projects approved through a full Treasury Board submission.

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Figure 3 (Annex B) – Average Time Elapsed by Phase (Ministerial vs Streamlined Approval)

Figure 3, found in Annex B, shows the average time elapsed, in calendar days, by phase for the project approval process at Infrastructure Canada.

For projects approved within the Minister's delegation, 218 calendar days had elapsed between the time an application was received and approved, broken down by phase as follows:

• 95 calendar days elapsed between the application being received and receipt of the business case;
• 1 calendar day elapsed between the date a business case was received and the date it was acknowledged by program delivery staff;
• 100 calendar days elapsed between the date a business case was acknowledged and was recommended for approval by the Project Review Panel (PRP);
• 22 calendar days elapsed between the date a business case was recommended for approval by PRP and approved by the Minister with an approval in principle letter.

For projects approved by Treasury Board through the streamlined process, 331 calendar days elapsed between the time an application was received and approved, broken down by phase as follows:

• 170 calendar days elapsed between the application being received and receipt of the business case;
• 3 calendar days elapsed between the date a business case was received and the date it was acknowledged by program delivery staff;
• 114 calendar days elapsed between the date a business case was acknowledged and was recommended for approval by the Project Review Panel (PRP);
• 44 calendar days elapsed between the date a business case was recommended for approval by PRP and approved by the Minister with an approval in principle letter.
• 20 calendar days had elapsed between the date a business case was recommended for approval by PRP and subsequently approved by the Treasury Board;
• 18 calendar days had elapsed between obtaining Treasury Board approval and the Treasury Board decision date; and
• 6 calendar days between the Treasury Board decision date and the approval by the Minister through an approval-in-principle letter.

The difference between the two approval streams was 113 calendar days in average elapsed time for the full project approval process.

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Figure 4 – Variance between forecasted and actual expenditures

Figure 4 shows the variance (in percentage) between the forecasted and actual expenditures for milestone vs invoice-based payments in fiscal years 2014-15, 2015-16 and 2016-17.

Fiscal Year	Variance for Milestone	Variance for Other
2014-15	5.6%	-13.7%
2015-16	-2.1%	-11.4%
2016-17	-38.9%	-71.1%

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