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2. How is governance defined in the context of the Government of Alberta’s agencies?

Governance is defined by the processes and practices through which an entity achieves its mandate, including the structures and procedures for decision-making, accountability, control and codes of conduct.  It includes legislation, board of director policies and by-laws and informal norms.

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3. What are the governance principles for the province’s agencies?

As ministries and agencies pursue good governance, it is important they share a common vision of what good governance is and what it will help them achieve.

Adopting governance principles will ensure governance practices are interpreted and implemented in a sound manner that do not become burdensome or restrictive.  The principles will help reduce potential conflict and promote creative and innovative work. 

Governance Principles for Agencies

1. Strategic Vision and Leadership – clear understanding of the purpose of the organization, and effective leadership to implement this purpose.  Ability to stay true to organizational mandates while adapting to changing circumstances. Participants agree on the division of roles and responsibilities in support of organizational goals. 
2. Accountability – individuals take responsibility for their actions and operate in a transparent manner.  A clear chain of responsibility is integrated into the government’s accountability structures and agencies are given those powers needed to deliver their mandate.
3. Ethics – all members of the organization behave ethically and work to ensure that the organization as a whole behaves responsibly.  As a public sector organization, agencies are accountable to the public. 
4. Effectiveness – ministers and agencies participate in regular evaluation processes and inspire changes that lead to excellence in service, purpose and process.  The organization has appropriate processes and sufficient authority, and successfully achieves it objectives.
5. Communications and Transparency – clear communication between all parties and stakeholders.  Sufficient information to understand and evaluate organizational processes, aims and actions is readily available.  Balance is achieved between the broad mandate of the agencies, boards or commission and specific needs of the community.

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4.  What is the Government of Alberta’s definition of an agency?

For the purposes of this framework, an agency is a board, commission, tribunal or other organization:

• established by government but not part of a government department;
• that has been given responsibility to perform a public function;
• that is accountable to government;
• that has some degree of autonomy from government; and
• for which the government holds the primary power of appointment.

See Agency Definition

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5.  How does an agency differ from a unit within a department?

Agencies deliver their goods or services outside of the traditional government organizational reporting, staffing and accountability structures.  As per the government’s definition, agencies are accountable directly to the responsible minister and have a level of autonomy in decision making, service delivery, budgets, reporting, etc.

A government department is a part of a larger ministry, which is assigned specific governmental responsibilities.  The minister is responsible for the department along with the other parts of the ministry, including agencies.  The deputy minister of the department reports to the minister regarding the actions of the department and the chairs of the agencies report to the minister regarding the actions of their agencies.

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6. What does autonomy mean in relationship to the minister and department?

Autonomy is not the same as independence in the context of Alberta’s agencies.  Each of the province’s agencies is responsible to their specific minister.  Agencies are expected to work within their mandate, which details how they will help deliver and advance particular government policies.  The minister has the right to create, adapt or dissolve an agency.

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7.  What categories of agencies are there in Alberta?

Every agency falls into one of the five functional categories below, based on their primary purpose:

• Regulatory/adjudicative agencies – Regulatory agencies license, make rules and/or oversee a sector (e.g. the Automobile Insurance Rate Board).  Adjudicative agencies make independent, quasi-judicial decisions (e.g. the Métis Settlements Appeals Tribunal).  Some agencies may perform both regulatory and adjudicative functions (e.g. the Natural Resources Conservation Board). 
• Public trust agencies – administer provincial financial and/or other assets in the public interest (e.g. the Alberta Investment Management Corporation or the Alberta Foundation for the Arts).
• Corporate enterprise agencies - provide or sell goods or services to the public in a commercial manner (e.g. Alberta Treasury Branches).
• Service delivery agencies - provide and/or direct government services (e.g. Regional Health Authorities or Child and Family Service Authority Boards).
• Advisory agencies  - provide advice to government (e.g. the Seniors Advisory Council for Alberta).

The classification of an agency depends on its primary purpose.  For example, the primary purpose of the Alberta Order of Excellence Council is to provide advice to the minister.  As such, it is clearly an advisory agency.  On the other hand, an agency such as the Natural Resources Conservation Board (NRCB) may also provide advice to a minister.  However, its primary purpose is to review project proposals for and to regulate Alberta’s confined feeding operations.  As such, the NRCB is placed in the regulatory/adjudicative category.

See Agency Classification

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8. Will there be a 'master' list of all governance agencies in Alberta?

Yes, the Agency Governance Secretariat will maintain the government’s consolidated of the agencies in the province.

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9. What is the approval process for creating a new agency?

Formal government approval is required to establish any new agency, including subsidiaries of existing agencies or moving exisiting government services out of a department into a new or exisiting agency.

See Agency Creation
See Agency Review

Approval processes for agencies will vary depending on the classification of the agency. 

A proposal by a ministry to establish or revise an agency must include a business case.

Download: Business Case template

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10. What is the process for dissolving an agency?

In many cases, existing legislation prescribes the process.  Where that is not the case, an appropriate team and charter will be established to carefully wind-down the operations, financial and human resource components of the agency.  The exact dissolution process will differ with each situation.

See Dissolution

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11. What governance committees are required for an agency?

Leading practice has shown that board committees are a necessary governance tool for agencies.  As many agencies are unique, the number and type of these committees need to reflect the circumstances of the individual organization.  For example, only those agencies with direct budgetary responsibilities will need an audit committee.  The objective of tailoring the types of committees within a governing body of agencies is to have systems in place to ensure that key responsibilities are executed in a consistent, diligent and timely manner.  Due to the particular need for diligence regarding finances, human resources, risk management and governance, all agencies that have related functions must give consideration to using the appropriate committees to deal with these issues.

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12. Who should be appointed to the governance body of an agency?

The government uses a competence-based recruiting and appointment process for its agencies.  Recruiting people to agencies through a timely, transparent and competence-based process will increase public confidence in agencies and reinforce the government’s commitment to good governance.

The following principles define this process:

Transparency & Openness: The appointment process is open, transparent, announced publicly, and communicated to stakeholders.  Specific openings are advertised publicly and reasonable steps are taken to reach a large number of diverse and eligible candidates. 

Competence:  Selection is based on finding people with competencies the board needs in order to implement good governance practices and meet the agency’s mandate. 

Consistency: The appointment process is applied consistently for all directors appointed to agencies by the government.

Diversity:  The appointment process recognizes the importance of reflecting the diversity of Alberta.

Timeliness:  Recruitment and appointment of directors takes place in a timely manner. 

Agency engagement:  The board helps identify the needs of the agency, and reviews and recommends candidates.  While the minister (or Cabinet) is responsible for appointing agency directors, this must be balanced with the skills and qualities the board requires. 

See Recruitment/Appoinment

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13. How are people appointed to the governance body of an agency?

Agencies should include the following elements in their appointment process.

• Each agency should have a competence matrix outlining the skills and knowledge required from the board as a whole and how each director contributes to meeting these needs.  When vacancies arise, the matrix will allow the board to identify the competencies on which the recruitment process should focus.  The matrix should be developed by the board and endorsed by the minister. 
• Vacancies should be anticipated so recruitment and appointments can be completed in a timely manner. 
• Effort should be made to develop a pool of potential candidates in order to facilitate recruitment, especially to lesser-known boards and those located in rural and remote areas.   
• Vacancies should be posted publicly and reach a diverse group of potential candidates through newspaper advertisements, the Government of Alberta website, professional recruiters or inviting recommendations from local MLAs. 
• The process should identify who will review the applications, develop the list of interviewees, conduct the interviews, and determine the top candidates.  It should detail at what point candidates will be required to undergo criminal, conflict of interest and financial screening (where applicable).  The participants in this process will vary from agency to agency.  In some instances, the process will be largely carried out by the agency.  In others, the government will play a larger role.  This part of the recruitment process should be set out in the mandate and role documents of each agency and should be made available to the public.
• A recommendation of the top candidates will be submitted to the minister. The minister makes the final decision from this recommendation, obtains any final approvals (e.g.  Cabinet approval) and then announces the appointment publicly in a timely manner. 

The role of the board chair is critical to effective governance, and it is especially important that recruitment to this position aligns the needs of the agency and minister.  Given the outgoing chair’s experience in building relationships with the government, his or her advice on recruitment for a successor should be considered by the minister whenever practical.

See Recruitment/Appointment, and Evaluation

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14. What planning and reporting requirements are related to an agency?

A clear understanding of how roles and responsibilities are assigned between the government and the agency is essential to agency effectiveness and accountability.  Once responsibility has been assigned to an agency, the agency should be free to exercise this responsibility within the bounds of its mandate, and should also be held accountable for how it exercises this responsibility.

Three primary tools will be used for agency accountability:

• business plans that lay out how the agency intends to meet its mandate;
• annual reports that indicate what the agency has done to advance its mandate; whether it has met its targets, and progress towards intended outcomes; and
• audit processes.

These elements will allow not just the board to know how the agency is doing, but also provide the minister and the public with key indicators of agency performance.  The minister can hold the agency to account for how it has exercised its responsibilities.

See Accountability

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15. When and how are agencies reviewed against their mandate?

Regular Review

Each agency will periodically undergo a thorough review every five years, which will cover the following matters (although the review may not be limited to these):

• agency mandate;
• goals and objectives;
• performance measurement system;
• impact on clients, stakeholders and / or public ;
• organizational structure;
• management, information and reporting systems;
• corporate planning;
• budgeting and financial systems; and
• human resources and human resource systems.

Periodic review

A periodic review may be initiated at the discretion and direction of either Cabinet or the minister.  In requiring a review, Cabinet or the minister will determine the timing and responsibility for conducting the review, the roles of the chair and deputy minister, and how any others should be involved.  The review criteria can include all or a portion of the regular review matters, along with any additional points deemed necessary by cabinet or the minister.

Review results

The results of the regular and periodic review may include option(s) for mandate changes, consolidation, privatization and termination. The review will be submitted for further action and decision to cabinet or the minister depending on who directed the review to occur. For any review requested by the minister, the minister will submit to cabinet for approval any recommendations which the minister may make in respect of the agency.

See Review

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16.  How are individuals appointed to agencies compensated?

While there is no requirement that appointees be paid (as this is at the discretion of the minister), in most cases, individuals appointed by the government to serve on the governance bodies of agencies are compensated under Order in Council 103/2006, created under the authority of the Public Service Act, which outlines the remuneration schedule. In other cases, remuneration rates are at the discretion of the board.  The primary consideration of the guidelines is that directors are not incurring expenses in order to provide a public service.

The specific qualifications of individual appointees are not a factor in determining an appropriate rate of remuneration, and appointees to agencies within functional categories are to be remunerated in a consistent manner.

See Remuneration

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