Recipients of the 2019 Deputy Ministers' Awards of Excellence

Poverty Reduction Strategy

Rodney Wesley, Jamila Bourgeois, Thomas Glen, Mausumi Banerjee, Michel Royer, William Macminn, Lenka Djukic, Eric Dugas, Kaitlin Blackhall, Danielle Zietsma, Lyn Miller, Charlaine Charron, Marie-Rose Nyandwi, Anna Maria Luponio, Marriam Qazi

According to the nominator, once upon a time, there was a Government priority with lofty stakeholder expectations that also happened to be a Minister's personal priority — Canada's first Poverty Reduction Strategy (or PRS). This multidisciplinary team of dedicated, self-sacrificing, earnest public servants accomplished something truly historical. In designing the Strategy, they walked the tightrope between stakeholder expectations and pragmatism, supporting the Ministerial Advisory Committee on Poverty and working with Indigenous partners to ensure representation of their views. They established Canada's first official poverty line. In addition to securing all necessary authorities, they wrote and developed the PRS document itself and supported its public release. Finally, the team supported the introduction of poverty reduction legislation to ensure that key elements of the Strategy were entrenched in law.

Improvements to the Wage Earner Protection Program

Alex Duff, Mélissa Lyonnais, Rosalie Vézina, Wathira Kamoji, Chanelle Galipeau, Adam Seddon, Tammy Kenney, James Zarull, Sarah Gray, Nikyla Scheel, Anne Tessier, Charlotte Charlotte, Sarah Irwin, Steven Carrière, Julie Matte

The Wage Earner Protection Program (WEPP) provides financial support for eligible wages owed to workers when their employer files for bankruptcy or becomes subject to receivership. Since its inception in summer 2008, it has provided more than $337 million in financial support to nearly 129,000 workers. This team was tasked with improving the WEPP Act to support additional Government priorities, while ensuring ongoing service excellence. This required the development of innovative policy proposals, consultations with stakeholders and consideration of operational perspectives during the drafting and implementation of the legislative changes. It is thanks to the determination, dedication and collaboration of the team and stakeholders that these complicated amendments were completed within a short period of time and during one of the busiest years in Program history.

Social Innovation and Social Finance Matrix Team

Kirsty Jackson, Jonathan Wells, Francis Nolan Poupart, Brittany Fritsch, Herbert de Graaf, Xenia Menzies, Osvaldo Sandoval Serna, Katrine Scott, Tara Story, Mike Bulthuis, Jessica Slade, Jacob Krolczyk, Aaron Boyes, Justin Fortin

Budget 2019 provided additional details on the Social Finance Fund, announcing a $50 million investment through the Social Finance Fund in a new Indigenous Growth Fund and a minimum $100 million to projects that support greater gender equality. This team developed the readiness program for social purpose organizations to improve their ability to build capacity so they can successfully participate in the social finance market.

Design of Indigenous Early Learning and Childcare Program

Martin Simard, Sasha Koba, Andrew Meerveld, Glenda Restoule, Dominik Marchand, Stephanie Rempel, Andrea Norquay, Marianna Connors, Nadine Solomon, Mercedes Morin, Sue Miller-Svettini, Gabriela Arriola, Danny Tran, Rebecca Wagar, Alexander Wall

The Indigenous Early Learning and Child Care (or IELCC) Team combines expertise in Indigenous partnerships, early learning, policy design and program management. Following an extensive national engagement, the Team and their Indigenous partners co-developed a framework to establish principles and a path to self-determination in this area, as well as national and regional partnership tables to provide forums for discussions and decisions on priorities and funding allocations. As a result of their concerted efforts, $100M in new investments flowed to Indigenous communities in 2018-19.

Reducing the Gender Wage Gap

Gertrude Zagler, Kevin Church, Sharmin Choudhury, Anjali Srivastava, Emily Jacobs, Ghislain Cadieux, Héloïse Levesque-Guitard, Bruce Kennedy, Natalya Avakova, Aaron Gordon, Justin Nevills, Bridget Beswick-Escanlar, Eden Gifawossen, Anca Corneau, Melissa Elliot

The Labour Program team responsible for designing the pay transparency and proactive pay equity programs faced number of challenges, which they overcame by developing innovative and practical programs that serve their clientele. Rather than create new delivery mechanisms, they adapted existing ones, avoiding duplication and making the best use of existing pools of expertise. They simplified and streamlined reporting requirements for smaller employers, and they developed helpful on-line tools. These programs will move the needle on the gender wage gap, and the team's focus on innovative program design will ensure that the initiatives are delivered in an innovative, balanced, efficient and effective way.

Toronto North York Flagship Service Canada Centre

Mary Ann Triggs, Mary Crescenzi, Carly Brisbane, Janice Gilchrist, John Chua, Megan Fitzgerald, Lisa Jeffers, Carlos Rodrigues, Steven Risseeuw, Jason Choueiri, Joanne Sangiuliano, Michael Delaney, Benoit Gagnon, Anna Ananiadis, Andrew Namiesniowski

Shifting timelines? Check. Complex environment with multiple stakeholders with competing interests? Check. Challenging the status quo at every turn? Check. Influencing a paradigm shift by completely redesigning the client service experience? Check. The Toronto North York Flagship Service Canada Centre, the first in Canada, set a new standard for service and inclusivity when it opened on October 25, 2018, but the journey was not without challenges. Despite all, the Flagship, as a testing ground for client-centric design using high-tech, high-touch and inclusive service delivery methodologies, is revolutionizing the service experience. To ensure a responsive and inclusive service redesign, the Flagship was co-created with stakeholders and persons with disabilities through the establishment of the first ever Inclusive Service Advisory Network (or ISAN). Through ISAN engagement, former dissatisfied clients have become our greatest champions. Flagship has made a significant impact on the client service experience and embodies transformation from the ordinary to the extraordinary.

MyAlberta Digital Identity Project

Aaron Paice, Rochelle York, Jenipher Rossall, Anne Josee Moreau, Rachel Snow, Monica Vella, Don Legare, Marc Ballard, Martin Cote, Steeve Grand Maison, Janice Brisebois, Jonathan Gallant, Max Richer, Patrick Seguin, Marc-Andre Desjardins Beauchamp

The MyAlberta Digital ID (or MADI) project team successfully demonstrated how ESDC is a leader in embracing Innovation & Service Delivery Excellence, while continuing to protect core integrity values. Through the MADI pilot, ESDC advanced service transformation by focusing on client-centric, digital and collaborative initiatives, aligned with the scope of the Deputy Minister's Committee on Service & Federating Identity. The MADI Pilot has demonstrated the business value of Trusted Digital Identities through efficient cross-jurisdictional sharing of identity information; and the informing and testing of the TBS draft Pan-Canadian Trust Framework (PCTF).

Additionally, the MADI team completed extensive consultations with internal and external partners, such as client experience and quality assurance testing, to ensure seamless client delivery.

Implementation of Indigenous Skills, Employement and Training (ISET) Program

Damon Rourke, Melanie Regimbald, Cody Francis, Stephen McGregor, Robbie Dell, Nina Ramful, Julie Laghi, Shannon Flynn, Gerald Gosselin, Darren Walsh, Chantal Matte, Perly Constant, Shane Reoch, Jeff Scott, Stephanie Tempest

This year saw a transformative change in the delivery of Indigenous Labour Market programming with a collaborative effort across ESDC/Service Canada to implement the Indigenous Skills and Employment Training (ISET) Program. The ISET Program has a unique service delivery approach for contributions, with training and employment supports designed and delivered by local Indigenous service delivery organizations. Significant enhancements to this approach were implemented, including:

• A distinctions-based approach;
• Increased funding levels and duration of the agreement;
• Reduced administrative burden;
• New risk assessment approach focused on assessing capacity; and
• A new process to expand the network to First Nations who wish to become agreement holders.

Significantly, key tools were co-developed with National Indigenous Organizations and the agreement recipients, and a new Capacity Assessment process is more effectively capturing the situations in many Indigenous communities.

Journey Mapping the Experience of First Nations with Canada Child Benefits in collaboration with CRA

Debbie Guenette, Ussa Seang, Farhana Islam, Hong Tuyet Thi Nguyen

The journey mapping team within Service Canada's Citizen Service Branch (CSB)established a first of its kind partnership with the Canada Revenue Agency to i`dentify ways to increase uptake of the Canada Child Benefit among First Nations. CSB lent its journey mapping expertise to visualize various situations and barriers faced by CCB First Nation applicants and recipients. The team established and maintained sensitive and respectful relationships with the clients and experts. Some results of their work are:

• a guide to conduct field interviews with First Nations clients and community support workers;
• five journey maps;
• a gap analysis of the current state; and,
• a list of policy and program improvement opportunities.

This pioneering work allowed First Nations to play a key role in inputting into the delivery of services to Indigenous Peoples; moved the First Nations experience from anecdotal to evidence-based; and supported reconciliation with Indigenous people and poverty reduction, two key governmental priorities.

Implementation of the Hosted Contact Centre Solution (HCCS) for the Employer Contact Centre (ECC)

Paul Blondin, Houda Tahan, Taylor Davidson, Fred Gillis, Cynthia James, Christine Comeau, Pamela Ross, Amy McMurray, Nadine Fares, Andrea Nantel, Dawn Keras, Roxanne Préseault, Wendy O'Brien Melanson, Emilie Duguay, Alicja Pirozynska, Shan Shan Zhao, Michel Bisaillon, Pierrette Lahaie

This team worked with Shared Services Canada and other government departments and agencies on the implementation of the HCCS to replace the aging information technology for the Employer Contact Centre(ECC) to deliver improved contact centre services to Canadians. This significant technology improvement was successfully put in place in October 2018 in the Employer Contact Centre Network, which impacts500,000 callers every year, who are seeking support and assistance. The ECC is the first public facing call centre in the Government of Canada that was migrated to the new HCCS platform. Over the last year, the team was responsible for:

• The design of the new platform and functionality;
• Testing of the platform;
• Development and delivery of training for a network of 100 employees;
• Strategic deployment and post-migration support of a network of 60 phone officers; and,
• Ongoing management of services, ensuring client service outcomes are met.

Alberta Child in Care Pilot Project

Lisa Gibbins, Paul Burrell, Dina Dexter, Aileen Pangilinan, Christine Nagy, Gregory Veevers, Craig Atkinson

Within Canada, there is an over-representation of Indigenous children in care, which compounds obstacles to education and employment. Recognizing the need to ensure the most vulnerable of Canadians are provided every opportunity to succeed, a strong partnership has been founded with the Province of Alberta to expand Registered Education Savings Plans (RESP) and Canada Learning Bonds (CLB) to over 2000children in care, who would not otherwise be beneficiaries. The Project is comprised of employees from both the national and regional levels. The W-T Region's Citizen Services Branch (CSB) and ESDC's Learning Branch worked closely with the Province to identify a method to process requests seamlessly to provide documentation for over 600 children in care. The development of a workload management tool allowed CSB to leverage capacity throughout the Service Canada Centre network in the Region. CSB is continuing to deliver this service to ensure our Provincial partner has documentation for all children brought into care.

Temporary Foreign Worker Program – National Delivery Network

Julien Hakim, Ian Beardsworth, Alison Crawford, Beatrice Gemmel, Eliane Viegras, Caroline Albert, Nathan Comeau, Maggie Charmant, Sam Ray, Marlene Chaussé, Stéphane Coutlée, Tami Steele, Kyle Riesterer, Caroline Harès, Sarah Touchie

The Temporary Foreign Worker (TFW) Program allows Canadian employers to hire foreign nationals to fill temporary labour and skill shortages when qualified Canadian citizens or permanent residents are not available. Throughout fiscal year 2018–19, demand steadily increased, resulting in a total increase in applications of 23 % (over 9,000 more applications) over the year before. The increase created a significant backlog and longer than usual processing times. To address these service delivery challenges, the regions and NHQ worked closely and collaboratively to support program clients, including initiatives such as:

• developing a national weekly dashboard to closely monitor and report on volumetric and program performance and ensure optimal service delivery;
• significantly improving the quality of client service by reducing the administrative burden for Seasonal Agriculture Worker Program employers; and
• introducing and implementing a series of innovative national streamlining measures, including the National Quality Monitoring Program, which enabled savings in regional processing time of approximately 60-90 minutes per file.

Emergency Management : Tornado in Gatineau September 2018

Stephane Michaud, Elodie Lacroix-Langlois, HuynhTran, Maude Grenier, Smith Latry, Christiane Paquette, Lianne Morin, Wesley Lewis, Mélina Therrien, Lyne Brisson, Elodie Lacroix-Langlois, Suzie Bélanger, Guy Genest, Jesus-Yann Langlais, Claudio Modica

In September 2018, after a tornado touched down in Gatineau and damaged the Service Canada Centre (SCC), the CFOB's Accommodation Unit and IITB worked with the regional branches (Integrity - Internal Security and Citizen Services) to set up a temporary site in less than a week. Accommodation worked closely with National Headquarters to identify a site that could host employees and clients. IITB installed the necessary equipment and kept an IT employee on call at all times, while Regional Internal Security ensured the site was compliant. The quick set-up of the temporary site allowed employees to continue to serve the public. The contributions of all parties involved throughout the process made this set up possible and demonstrated the Department's capacity to respond to an emergency.

Thanks to their professionalism, commitment and spirit of collaboration, the group members were able to relocate nearly 20 employees and set up a citizen service centre in less than 24 hours.

TISMB-PASRB Communications & Engagement Team

Carolyn Bissett, Xander Conn, Frances Palaschuk, Becky Rynor, Laura Teed, Melissa Consorti, Nicholas Savage, Karla Palmer, Kari-Lyn Danyluk, Jennifer Macinnis, Colleen Reid, Carolyne Therien, Bryce Montgomery, Darlene Messervey, Isabelle Ethier

In February, the PASRB service transformation communications team received the Government of Canada Community Communications Office (CCO) Insider Award of Communications Excellence. Some of its work was also highlighted in the Blueprint 2020 Twenty-Fifth Annual Report to the Prime Minister on the Public Service of Canada.

Achievements include:

• A new Intersection series on frontline staff that highlights the work of employees who deal directly with Canadians every day.
• A series of blogs and a podcast series to hear first-hand from staff about their experiences working on transformation projects.
• A new Twitter account for staff to promote the work of employees.
• Creating a Hub to get transformation updates to all employees at any time.
• The launch of a WebEx series targeting all employees to provide a forum for information sharing and discussion.
• The launch of Transformation Thursdays, a series of monthly activities for managers and team leaders to carry out with their teams.

Treasury Board Submission Control Unit (SCU)

Walter Raschkowan, Christine Denault, Alexander Bucko, Burke Murphy, Anik Gibeault, Eliane Pagé, Julie Glinz, Isabelle Rollin, Richard Lafontaine

2018–19 was an unprecedented year for ESDC in the development and delivery of Treasury Board submissions. Overseen by CFOB's TB Submission Control Unit (or SCU), ESDC successfully secured over $3.4B in additional funding through 36 submissions presented to Treasury Board. This record-breaking volume of submissions presented SCU with many challenges, which they overcame through innovation and amending processes in real time. Challenges included Treasury Board analysts who were not familiar with the size and complexity of ESDC, program areas unfamiliar with the submissions drafting process, additional information requirements to address evolving needs of TB Ministers, and ensuring senior management and Ministers' Offices were kept up to date to ensure timely sign-off. To name a few, actions included:

• Saving time by providing advance drafts to internal/external stakeholders;
• Increasing the number of senior management briefings to ensure issues were resolved efficiently and effectively;
• Bundling low-risk submissions into a single submission, to save significant time and effort.

Christine Miyata

In 2018, Christine dreamed of a restructure. Soon others jumped feet first into that dream with her. Christine engaged all employees in the decision-making process over six months, leading her team to become a troop of highly motivated and creative employees, working in synergy to provide a service of excellence to Canadians. In fall 2018, when one of her three Managers began to prepare for retirement, Christine immediately put a plan in motion to look at talent within Automation & Client Services, for employees to be coached and mentored over a 10-month period to ensure positive succession planning. This has not only benefitted the Directorate and the employees chosen, but has given management a remarkable opportunity to smoothly transfer knowledge and expertise. When Christine assumed responsibility for the Employers Services team, her first reaction was to reach out to them and make them feel welcome. Next, she set up a buddy system to build relationships and establish knowledge transfer opportunities, so that all involved could learn from one other. These are just a few examples of the projects, tasks and events that Christine has coordinated and coached individuals for since January 2018.

Danièle sets an example through her outstanding commitment to the Department's objectives and priorities, as well as those of the Human Resources Services Branch. Danièle took on the role of Director General, Workplace Management, in the Human Resources Services Branch in November 2017. Taking over the newly created branch, right away she established a clear vision and direction that aligned with the mandates of the various business lines and with her own values: respect, integrity, stewardship and excellence. Danièle's positive, down to earth and caring attitude made the transition easier for her management team and employees. Danièle promotes synergy, teamwork, skills development and improved efficiency in the workplace by establishing multidisciplinary teams, meeting with each of her 201 employees individually, encouraging the integration of case management and committing to communicating clear expectations to her management team.

Her accomplishments over the past year reflect her hard work, passion and steadfast dedication to her day to day work. Danièle stands out through her determination to create a healthy, respectful and safe workplace for her own employees and for all employees of the Department.

Doug Johnson

Doug consistently demonstrates excellence in leadership and models the behaviours of a strong federal public service leader. Doug has established high standards for himself and his staff, challenging his team in a constructive and positive fashion. Doug understands that ESDC's success rests with its employees, so he continuously focusses on developing and nurturing this talent. He's brings out the best in employees and develops collective strategies that achieve results. Doug mentors those around him, providing constructive feedback and coaching. His commitment to, and respect for, employment equity, diversity and inclusion within the Region has been significant. He is Co-champion of the Atlantic Employment Equity and Diversity Committee (AEEDC) and a member of the National Steering Committee for Diversity and Inclusion at ESDC among others. As themed Co-champion, he has spearheaded several initiatives to foster awareness and promote an inclusive workplace culture. He is also a national co-chair of the National Operations Committee and a significant contributor toe constructive relationship with the Region's unions. Doug is recognized for his profound understanding of the role of the public service and the Department in improving the quality of life of Canadians, and he translates this understanding into actions and outcomes.

Marcia Lee

Throughout 37 years of service, Marcia Lee has demonstrated commitment to the Department's goals and priorities. She exemplified leadership by volunteering to fulfill the role of Area Director for Nunavut(NU) after the sudden passing of colleague. Marcia provided more than stability and continuity; she led the NU directorate to improved service standards, inspired teamwork, and improved work force skill sets, and exemplary community partnership. Some the results she achieved are:

• The NU team achieved all key performance indicators, and service outreach was expanded to remote communities— exceeding all Budget 2018 community liaison objectives.
• Respecting Article 23 of the Nunavut Agreement, requiring a representative number of employees should be land claim beneficiaries, Marcia successfully hired and retained Inuit employees, including an Inuit Manager.
• Successfully implemented the NU Passport Pilot, assuring equal access to passport photo services across remote northern communities.
• Engaged IITB to improve network connectivity in the region, alleviate the frustration of staff and clients trying to access services, and reduce the feelings of isolation. Integrated with Canada Revenue Agency for 'one-stop' service delivery through co-location at the Iqaluit Service Canada Centre.
• Increased service access to communities by providing services in Indigenous dialects.

Innovation Recruitment for Veterans & Persons with Disabilities

Lisa Czajkowski, Stephanie Deschenes, Chantal Gauthier

The Corporate Staffing and Recruitment team focused on innovative and targeted recruitment to address the staffing needs within ESDC with Canadian Veterans, CAF members and/or their partners and Persons with Disabilities. They developed and enhanced partnerships with numerous departments, organizations and individuals. Some examples of the significant and innovative progress the team achieved during the past year include:

• Organized successfully a "5 to 7" type recruitment event in which several veterans, CAF members and/or their partners who participated have found employment at ESDC;
• Established relationships with representatives of the Ontario Disability Employment Network, which has helped to promote ESDC as an employer of choice;
• Established a partnership with the Employment Accessibility Resource Network (EARN), a community initiative of the United Way of Eastern Ontario, which has increased employment opportunities for people with disabilities, while promoting accessible and inclusive workplaces in ESDC.

Community Outreach and Liaison Services - Service Transformation Plan Pod (COLS STP)

Lino Cugini, Leila Ghobril, Jane Billington, Bill Gregory, Bobbi-Jo Thompson, Laura Teed, James Ferris, Philip Escott, Marc Giardino, Mouhamed Elmasry, Nancy Desjardins, Kurt Niessen, Matt Howsam, Kevin Herman

The COLS-STP team is a multi-disciplinary team comprised of employees from various branches, regions and experience that came together to design and develop a solution that would improve services and connectivity for clients in remote areas and areas that experience poor connectivity to digital services. Embracing Design Thinking and Agile methodologies, they successfully built an effective virtual team that spanned all 4regions, as well as IITB and CSB-IPOS. They collaborated with the existing Community Outreach Liaison Service group to learn from their experiences and knowledge in working with the target groups to better understand the challenges and issues, then based the design and development of the solution on the principles of Client Centric Design, resulting in a solution that helped clients feel like they were receiving the same service as if they were in a physical SCC.

IT Accessibility Extended Management Team

André Demers, Asha Natraj, Gillis Langlois, Heather Brousseau, Angèle Charlebois, Patrick Gibson, Pierre Larochelle, Anne Simard, Cressida Dass, Byatris Kattacka

This team actively promotes diversity, employment equity, use of both official languages and a healthy and balanced workplace. The team can probably claim being the most diverse team of the branch:77 % are bilingual, 45 % are women, 30 % belong to a visible minority, employee's age ranges from 19 to 63, 11 % are self-declared Indigenous, and 35 % have a disability. The team's hiring practices support diversity by reaching out to various hiring vehicles such as the Federal Internship Program, the IITB Indigenous hiring initiative and the hiring of students with disabilities program. The team engages in creating a healthy and balanced workplace by ensuring mental health activities are a standing item at the quarterlyall-staff meetings. All meetings and documentation are bilingual.

Gender, Inclusivity and Accessibility Awareness Training

Angela Pizzimenti, Drew Nunn, Debbie Tsiaras, Merja Kerov-Rodas

While we are eager to embrace inclusivity, it takes more than good intentions to achieve a diverse and inclusive workplace. With Bill C-81 and changes to the Human Rights Act, Ontario Region mobilized to ensure staff have a strong foundation in inclusivity as it relates to gender diversity and people with disabilities. The first of their kind, the Inclusivity and Accessibility Learning Circle (IALC) and Gender-Inclusive Language Learning Circle (GILLC) are interactive WebEx sessions that proactively ensure readiness for recent legislative changes and ensure staff have the skills to provide inclusive client service. Aligning to the axiom "Nothing for us without us", significant consultation took place with stakeholders, employees and experts. Delivered first to employees of the Flagship Service Canada Centre, these circles were complemented by training delivered by stakeholders with lived experience. The results speak for themselves–sessions were delivered to all Ontario Region Management teams to great accolades.

Learning Branch Mental Health Committee

Agata Frankowicz, Apila Srishantharajah, Aiden Peck, Olivia Pochopsky, Korin Marrisett, Justina Esau, Felix Blanchette, Peter Shannon, Deen Arif, Katrina Mackay, Sophie Hunter-Racicot, Juliana Skarecky Colwell, Ashley Trudeau, Sophie Villeneuve, Simoneta (Nina) Azoug Boneault

The Learning Branch Mental Health Committee has demonstrated a commitment to building a healthy workplace and has positively impacted the culture of the Branch. The committee has successfully planned and executed many unique activities on Mental Health. Notable highlights include:

• regular Ted Talk and Tea sessions, where employees watch a Ted Talk on a mental health related topic and have a facilitated discussion;
• weekly yoga in the park during the summer;
• international women's day event on managing and coping with stress and work-life balance;
• week-long activities for Brain Week; and
• anti-bullying awareness.

The 2018 Public Service Employee Survey highlights the achievement of the committee. In 2018, 84 %of Learning Branch indicated that their branch does a good job of raising awareness of mental health. These statistics speak to the successful and sustained efforts of the Mental Health Committee.

Rachel Chennette

Rachel played a pivotal role in the 2018 Employment and Social Development Canada Charitable Campaign. She took the lead on organizing a number of events and encouraged participation with her consistent enthusiasm and positive attitude. She helped to create memorable events that had great attendance and generated a substantial amount of the proceeds that got our branch closer to our overall goal. She also demonstrated exemplary service as the Public Affairs and Stakeholder Relations Branch lead for the Deputy Minister's corporate exercise for medium-term planning. She worked with colleagues across the department to develop presentations and briefing material to share ideas generated through the process.

ESDC-G7 Task Team

Ravi Singh, Jacinthe Arsenault, Francoise L'Abbé, Isabelle Laroche, Barbara Hahn, Elena Chernikova, Jasmyne Bois, Mani Rashidpour, Sara Jiwani, Émilie Fleury Larocque, Frédéric Laforge, Julie St-Amour, Alexander McClellan, Laura Kosmaci, Jeremy Meloche

The outstanding work in an inordinately short timeframe of the ESDC G7 Task team merits a formal recognition. Canada officially assumed the G7 Presidency between January 1, 2018 and December 31, 2018, and hosted the Leaders' Summit on in June 2018 in Charlevoix, Québec. Leading up to this event, a number of Ministerial meetings took place in Canada. ESDC hosted ministerial meeting jointly with the Department of Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED) in March 2018, but learned of its vital role in organizing and planning only in November 2017. This tight timeline was compounded by a preceding employment G7 preparatory meeting with officials that took place in January 2018.These types of events are usually planned a year in advance. With in very limited timelines, a team of devoted ESDC employees was mobilized. Their dedication and commitment in delivering such a successful international event was remarkable. Minister Hajdu was well supported, allowing Canada to deepen the dialogue with G7 partners and generating some very positive feedback and reactions.

Values & Ethics: Engagement in Action

Kathy Garvey, Graham Culverhouse

Values and ethics are part of our daily decisions and actions at work, yet, how often do we take the time to consider these in a meaningful way? Studies show that a strong ethical workplace culture creates a high performing organization, where employees are motivated and engaged, and where leadership is clear and aligned. The Values and Ethics Campaign explored the connection between individual and organizational values, and employee engagement levels within the workplace, in order to nurture an extended community of individuals dedicated to providing service excellence at all levels. The Campaign invited employees to consider their own and their organizational values, in the broader global context of a dynamically changing world. By making linkages between workplace contributions and its impact in their own communities, life challenges, and history, the Campaign inspired active participation in 'human' engagement–whether through mentoring a colleague, contributing in the Employment and Social Development Canada Charitable Campaign or volunteering in their communities. It led the charge in employees becoming leaders themselves in the mobilization of engagement and excellence.

IITB Indigenous Engagement Plan of Action

James Heffernan, Tracy McClellan, Glenn Hall, Noodloo Pishuktie, Christa-Lynn Maracle, Forest Maracle

In response to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission's Calls to Action 57 and 92, the IITB Indigenous Engagement and Recruitment Team, comprised of Indigenous and non-Indigenous team members, created an Indigenous recruitment, engagement, and awareness strategy called the IITB Indigenous Engagement Plan of Action. From January 2018 to March 2019, the IITB Team hired a total of 30 First Nations, Inuit, and Métis people. The team has developed an innovative hiring model that sees IITB work directly with Indigenous organizations. The model, and its true spirit of cooperation, is opening doors of opportunity to people who, and it is opening minds of people within the department that there are new and different ways to recruit Indigenous talent. The IITB team's success is the result of its ability to form mutually beneficial and respectful partnerships with Indigenous partners. The team also launched an Indigenous Employees Network within IITB, to provide a forum for Indigenous employees to learn about opportunities for personal and career development within the IT field. The team is also focussed on awareness; they have opened two Indigenous cultural resources rooms in ESDC offices, organized 13 different Indigenous learning events, and published over 20 articles on Indigenous topics in departmental newsletters.

Lisa McHaffie

With over 40 years of service with the Department, Lisa is an inspiring and respected leader, within her team and across the organization.

Among many other successes, Lisa led the work-sharing agreements file during the 2013 floods in High River, Alberta and the 2016 Fort McMurray wildfires. She was awarded a National Deputy Minister's Award of Excellence for her role in assisting affected citizens.

Mary Crescenzi

With over 30 years of service, she has achieved success in many areas, including pioneering the Canada Quay Service Canada Centre in the heart of downtown Toronto, which was a hallmark of service delivery.

Leadership and Innovation in Official Languages (Special 50th Anniversary of the Act)

Johanne Bourgeois

This award celebrates her leadership, creativity and collaboration in promoting and supporting the development of Official Languages. This includes how she used the ESDC/Service Canada's Network for Official Languages to share best practices and innovative approaches.

Youth Digital Gateway

David Todd, Michael Gagliano, Terry Grace, Genevieve Couillard, James Ferris, Divya Sharma, Tamara Krygier-Baum, Luc-Rock Paquin, Emilie Bonnier, Alisha Chew, Love Kevin, Frederick Stoltz, Gabrielle Patenaude-Couture

The team is a unique partnership between the Skills and Employment Branch the Transformation Integrated Service Management Branch that saw the leveraging of innovative service design methods and service transformation approaches to support delivery of the Modernized Youth Employment Strategy (YES).

This included a specific focus on improving the YES program's digital presence and offering client-centric services, information, and supports tailored to youth, employers, and service delivery organizations.