2017-18
Departmental Plan - Key Risks: Things That Could Affect Our Ability to Achieve Our Plans and Results


Infrastructure Canada applies a comprehensive approach to identify, assess and manage risks at the strategic, operational, program and project levels. This involves conducting regular environmental scans and an annual risk identification and assessment process with direct participation of senior management. The table below provides an overview of four key corporate risks that could affect the Department's ability to achieve its Strategic Outcome, priorities and mandate letter commitments. In 2017-18, the Department will monitor and report on its risk responses, and will update risks based on emerging environmental risk factors and progress made by implementing risk responses.

Key Risks
Risks Risk response strategy Link to the department's Programs Link to mandate letter commitments or to government-wide and departmental priorities

Ability to deliver new programs under "Investing in Canada", the government's new long term infrastructure plan, in a timely fashion, and collect quality data that will allow us to report meaningful investment results to Canadians

The Department will continue to collaborate with provinces, territories, municipalities and other partners in order to deliver effectively the long-term plan and to improve the process for collecting infrastructure data in order to communicate meaningful investment results to Canadians. It will also make sure to have the right strategies and internal resources in place to deliver the plan.

  • Program 1.3: Investments in National Infrastructure Priorities
  • Priority 1
  • Mandate letter and subsequent federal commitments related to the development of a long-term plan to deliver significant new infrastructure funding, as well as to increase data collection capacity and promoting better asset management of infrastructure in Canada.

Timely delivery of the New Champlain Bridge Corridor project in Montréal, Quebec

The Department will continue to oversee the implementation of the public-private partnership contract. Specific measures include:

  • Close monitoring of the project to ensure that the private partner conducts the work as agreed under the terms of the Project Agreement including delivering the New Champlain Bridge by December 2018 and the rest of the Corridor in 2019
  • A strong federal governance structure to ensure that issues are discussed and decisions taken in a timely manner.
  • Program 1.6: New Bridge for the St. Lawrence Corridor Project (commonly known as the New Champlain Bridge Corridor project)
  • Priority 2
  • Mandate letter commitment to move forward on a toll-free replacement for the Champlain Bridge

Complexities in the delivery of the Gordie Howe International Bridge Project, a new international crossing between Windsor, Ontario and Detroit, Michigan

A project of this scope has many complexities and the Department will continue to work with the Windsor-Detroit Bridge Authority, the State of Michigan, the U.S. Government, and other Canadian federal partners to support ongoing management and mitigation of project risks and advance the Gordie Howe International Bridge.

  • Program 1.4: Large-Scale Infrastructure Investments
  • Priority 3

Timely delivery of services and solutions within the Department to support increased internal business pressures while contributing to current and future large-scale, whole-of-government initiatives

The Department will ensure that it has adequate resources to deliver timely Information Management/Information Technology, Human Resources, Finance and other services to support new and ongoing business requirements. Specific measures include: maintaining a strong relationship with Shared Services Canada and Public Services and Procurement Canada, timely communication with employees to manage change, and ensuring effective governance, planning and reporting mechanisms.

  • Internal Services
  • Priority 4

The first organizational risk relates to challenges that might affect the ability of the Department to deliver the new programs under the Investing in Canada plan in a timely fashion, and the ability to report meaningful investment results to Canadians. These challenges include internal factors, such as increased demand on staff to implement new programs, as well as external factors, such as the varying capacity of provinces, territories, municipalities and other funding partners to identify and share costs for new projects, which may delay project submission and implementation, and the varying quality of project-level reporting data. The focus of the risk response is to maintain strong partnerships with funding partners and to ensure that the Department has strategies, plans and resources in place to effectively deliver its new funding programs while collaborating with its partners to develop their capacity in infrastructure data collection and performance reporting.

The second organizational risk relates to the timely delivery of the New Champlain Bridge Corridor project in Montréal, Quebec, one of the largest infrastructure projects in North America. In 2011, the Government of Canada announced that the Champlain Bridge would be replaced by a new crossing by the end of 2018. Decades of heavy traffic, climate exposure, and corrosion from road salts have significantly affected the current Champlain Bridge, which is one of the busiest crossings in Canada and a crucial corridor for the regional economy and for Canada as a whole. In June 2015, a Project Agreement was signed between the Government of Canada and the Signature on the Saint Lawrence Group for the design, construction, financing, operation, maintenance and rehabilitation of the Corridor over 35 years. To ensure effective management of the project, Infrastructure Canada established a governance framework to manage the contract with the private partners in collaboration with Public Services and Procurement Canada.

The third risk is related to advancing the Gordie Howe International Bridge Project, a new international crossing between Windsor, Ontario and Detroit, Michigan. A new Windsor-Detroit crossing remains a top infrastructure priority for Canada, and the Government of Canada is committed to completing the new crossing as early as possible. A project of this scope has many complexities and Infrastructure Canada is working diligently with the Windsor-Detroit Bridge Authority to support ongoing management and mitigation of project risks.

The fourth risk refers to the large portion of Infrastructure Canada's corporate priorities such as data centre consolidation, migration of websites to Canada.ca, and financial management transformation that are being set by government-wide transformation initiatives. The number of current and future large-scale, whole-of-government initiatives may impact the Department's ability to respond quickly to increased internal business pressures driven by new programs that require timely services and solutions, and ongoing service availability. The focus of the risk responses will be to ensure that the Department is ready for new infrastructure programs as it continues to deliver timely Information Management/Information Technology, Human Resources, Finance and other services.


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