2023-24 Departmental Plan

National Battlefields Commission

Departmental Plan 2023-2024

The Honourable Pablo Rodriguez, P.C., M.P.
Minister of Canadian Heritage

Table des matières

• From the Minister
• Plans at a glance
• Core responsibilities: planned results and resources, and key risks
  • Conservation
  • Promotion of Heritage
  • Internal services: planned results
• Planned spending and human resources
  • Planned spending
  • Planned human resources
  • Estimates by votes
  • Future-oriented condensed statement of operations
• Corporate information
  • Organizational profile
  • Raison d’être, mandate and role: who we are and what we do
  • Operating context
  • Reporting framework
• Supporting information on the program inventory
• Supplementary information tables
• Federal tax expenditures
• Organizational contact information
• Appendix: definitions

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From the Minister

As Minister of Canadian Heritage, it is my pleasure to present the 2023–24 Departmental Plan for the National Battlefields Commission (NBC). As a society, we are living in a period filled with challenges—and we are facing them with a great deal of resilience, courage, and mutual support. While the organizations in the Canadian Heritage Portfolio plan their year to come, they remain attentive to the needs of Canadians in order to remain in tune with current realities. In this way, they are carrying out their mission in fields as diverse as arts, culture, heritage, and communications.

The NBC—always mindful of providing the best possible experience to visitors of Battlefields Park—will offer access to exceptional sites in the heart of Québec City in addition to interesting activities and exhibitions at the Plains of Abraham Museum. In order to provide something new in 2023–24, the NBC plans to diversify programming at the Edwin-Bélanger Bandstand by adding welcoming and inclusive shows and activities that are inspired by a variety of artistic disciplines.

I invite everyone who wishes to learn more about the activities and responsibilities of the National Battlefields Commission in the coming year to have a look at this report. In it, you will find evidence of the NBC’s commitment to serve the population in a spirit of equity, inclusion, and Reconciliation. I hope you enjoy reading it.

The Honourable Pablo Rodriguez

Plans at a glance

Ensure the maintenance and restoration of the land and infrastructure

The NBC will continue to maintain its land and infrastructure, in particular by carrying out the work required for the consolidation of the cliff and the greenhouse rehabilitation project. Similarly, the NBC will ensure that Bernières Avenue is restored following the underground infrastructure work carried out by the City of Quebec and will take advantage of the opportunity to improve certain aspects of this avenue of the park. The completion of all these plans will be done within the budget available to the NBC

Ensure the conservation and protection of the natural, cultural and heritage assets of Battlefields Park

In its desire to ensure the conservation and protection of the assets on its territory, the NBC plans, among other things, to complete the restoration of the Wolfe monument and to carry out the restoration of the Cross of Sacrifice monument located at one of the main entrances to the Plains of Abraham (the one at the eastern end). In addition, the NBC will continue its repair and maintenance work on the cannons on its territory. To this end, a cannon maintenance plan will be established. To preserve its rich tree heritage, the NBC will continue to apply all necessary measures, such as treating trees against diseases that may affect them and carrying out preventive felling in cases where this is required. The NBC will also develop a canopy landscape plan.

Organize educational and recreational activities, exhibitions, guided tours and shows

The historical mediation provided by the Plains of Abraham Museum makes it possible to create links, cultural and educational transmission, highlighting the history of the Battlefields Park, etc. There will be continuity in the offer of animation activities for school groups, regional visitors and tourists. Starting in the winter of 2023, users of the cross-country ski, snowshoe or sliding trails, or those walking on the pedestrian path, will be able to see the new signage installed on the crosscountry ski trails. The range of winter activities that can be practised in the park once again includes the possibility for users to skate at the Plains of Abraham Ice skating loop and to slide on the dedicated spaces for tobogganing. In January 2023, the NBC will continue its reflection on diversifying the programming and possible uses of the Edwin-Bélanger Bandstand site in order to integrate new elements for the benefit of the communities, as of summer 2023.

Create awareness of the park’s history, heritage and wealth

The Museum will continue to offer access to its rich historical and archaeological content concerning the NBC territory. The desire to make history known will once again manifest itself through a wide range of exhibitions, educational and recreational activities and theme days such as the Great Celebration of Nature or the Battlefields Activity with historical re-enactments.

Maintain a balance between Battlefields Park’s historical and urban missions, and between accessibility, preservation and promotion of heritage

Since it is heavily solicited for the use of its land, the NBC must aim for a certain balance in its decisions regarding land use. In this spirit, the NBC ensures that the park remains accessible to all its users. Approaching a balance is significant for the NBC, as it is linked to its mandate regarding the preservation and enhancement of Battlefields Park for future generations.

For more information on the National Battlefields Commission’s plans, see the “Core responsibilities: planned results and resources, and key risks” section of this plan.

Core responsibilities: planned results and resources, and key risks

This section contains information on the department’s planned results and resources for each of its core responsibilities. It also contains information on key risks related to achieving those results.

Conservation

Description

Ensure the conservation and protection of the natural, cultural and heritage assets of the National Battlefields Park through the maintenance and upkeep of the grounds and infrastructure. Ensure safe public access to the Park.

Planning highlights

The achievement of the targeted result of providing access to a safe and well-maintained park will be possible thanks to all the interventions carried out by the Operations and Sustainable Development Branch. Projects supporting the achievement of this outcome include the rehabilitation of the greenhouses, the restoration of the Wolfe monument and the Cross of Sacrifice monument. The development of a cannon maintenance plan also supports this outcome. With regard to safety on the site, the NBC plans to reduce the use of vehicles in the summer of 2023 in favour of other means of travel. Another action planned in connection with safety is to ensure that the contaminated soil of the former fulminate laboratory is fenced off.

Innovation

The NBC will be coordinating the reorganization of work spaces for its staff to encourage hybrid work. This initiative will make it possible to adapt to new work parameters. Mobility and interchangeability between office spaces will thus be made possible. This will change the work dynamic and encourage the sharing of spaces with other teams.

The NBC will also see to it, in the context of the "May without a lawnmower" movement in which it is already collaborating, that it adapts its maintenance practices for the park's green spaces so as to integrate, as of the 2023 summer season, better practices aimed at reducing the park's ecological footprint.

In addition, the Museum Affairs team will pursue numerous eco-design initiatives in the context of animations and improvements to museum spaces. These initiatives have already been recognized at the National Congress of the Société des musées du Québec, in the fall of 2022.

In addition, the NBC will install a second and third digital terminal at strategic locations in the park so that it can provide continuous information on activities and programming as well as on safety issues in the park.

Key risk(s)

The risk of deterioration of heritage assets in Battlefields Park will be mitigated by establishing a maintenance plan and restoring certain heritage assets. Similarly, the NBC will continue its efforts to minimize the risks related to the safety of users and its staff and to ensure that its facilities comply with safety standards. Safety will be ensured in the park and an approach will be adopted that includes raising awareness among park visitors. In order to prevent the risk arising from the high level of attendance in the area, i.e., the possibility of an incident, the NBC will publish an awareness notice on its winter maps, which will be placed in the park's tripods and bipods.

Complementary information

*The actual result is unavailable because in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, data collection could not be done in 2020-2021.

The financial, human resources and performance information for the National Battlefields Commission’s program inventory is available on GC InfoBaseⁱ.

The $2,200,000 difference between the 2025-26 planned expenditures of $4,758,940 and the 2024- 25 planned expenditures of $6,958,940 is explained by the decrease in spending authorities.

The financial, human resources and performance information for the National Battlefields Commission’s program inventory is available on GC InfoBaseⁱⁱ .

The financial, human resources and performance information for the National Battlefields Commission’s program inventory is available on GC InfoBaseⁱⁱⁱ.

Promotion of Heritage

Description

Showcase the history of the National Battlefields Park and enable the discovery of its heritage and natural resources by organizing, through the visitor centre of the Plains of Abraham Museum, exhibitions, educational and recreational activities, and guided tours.

Planning highlights

The NBC will continue to offer its visitors its most recent exhibition, AERIA, with an innovative and interactive mediation presenting eight sculptures of characters who have marked the history of the Plains of Abraham. The NBC will also return to its regular historical mediation programming, in addition to offering a few additional activities. As of 2023, the NBC wishes to enhance its summer offer at the Edwin-Bélanger Bandstand as described below.

Innovation

In connection with its programming at the Edwin-Bélanger Bandstand, the NBC will attempt to develop its summer offer in a different way and to position this renewed offer in the Quebec City region's cultural milieu. The NBC's goal is to have the communities benefit from a diversification of the use of the Edwin-Bélanger Bandstand site with an approach that favours multidisciplinarity, particularly in the artistic field. This initiative is entirely consistent with the NBC's 2022-25 Strategic Plan.

Key risk(s)

In addition to the various climatic, social and economic risk factors, there is the risk associated with the post-pandemic context. All these risks have a direct influence on tourist numbers and traffic on the NBC site. The NBC is also faced with a labour shortage that may compromise its ability to provide services effectively.

Complementary information

*The target could not be reached because of the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, which forced the cancellation of several cultural, educational and heritage events offered by the NBC.

The financial, human resources and performance information for the National Battlefields Commission’s program inventory is available on GC InfoBase^iv.

The financial, human resources and performance information for the National Battlefields Commission’s program inventory is available on GC InfoBase^v.

The financial, human resources and performance information for the National Battlefields Commission’s program inventory is available on GC InfoBase^vi.

Internal services: planned results

Description

Internal services are the services that are provided within a department so that it can meet its corporate obligations and deliver its programs. There are 10 categories of internal services:

• management and oversight services
• communications services
• legal services
• human resources management services
• financial management services
• information management services
• information technology services
• real property management services
• materiel management services
• acquisition management services

Planning highlights

The office of the General Manager will continue its constant efforts to achieve the objectives of its Strategic Plan through to 2025. Specific actions will be coordinated.

With respect to communications services, the marketing and development branch planned to work on improving the digital customer experience with the implementation of a data management strategy, the development of a social media strategy and the development of a relationship marketing strategy. It is intended to evaluate the number of visitors to the Battlefields Park (all seasons, activities and clienteles combined). Similarly, in order to optimize the client experience, this branch will co-ordinate the migration to the Canada.ca Web site, where the institutional content (reports, plans, policies and forms) will be located, while it will redesign the current Web site so that it is devoted to promoting NBC activities arranged by experience category. The NBC will continue to deploy its brand image, namely the new Plains of Abraham/Plaines d'Abraham signature, in its communications tools (signs at the park entrances, posters, advertisements, photos and videos). Work on developing the employer brand will make it possible to showcase talent and thus contribute to the recruitment of new employees. Efforts are being made to significantly reduce mass printing and to promote digital advertising whenever possible. In this regard, the NBC plans to install two digital screen terminals to modernize traditional signage and reduce the ecological footprint.

In a spirit of co-operation, the NBC will maintain its partnerships with various bodies, which will provide it with a choice positioning that will bring it closer to the communities.

In addition, in its procurement management, the NBC has undertaken a green shift in the purchase of vehicles, favouring the purchase of hybrid and electric vehicles.

For human resources management, the NBC will develop a referral program to encourage NBC members to contribute to recruitment by referring people from their network. The NBC will also develop a framework for monitoring employee training.

Planning for Contracts Awarded to Indigenous Businesses

The NBC is already engaged in the realization of a significant project to be unveiled on the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, as one of the pillars of the 2022-2025 strategic plan.

Planned spending and human resources

This section provides an overview of the department’s planned spending and human resources for the next three fiscal years and compares planned spending for 2023–24 with actual spending for the current year and the previous year.

Planned spending

Departmental spending 2020-21 to 2025-26

The following graph presents planned spending (voted and statutory expenditures) over time.

Departmental Spending Trends (in dollars)

In 2020–21, the global COVID-19 pandemic had an enormous impact on the NBC’s operations, with priority being given to the health and safety of users and employees. This health crisis has had an impact on visitor volumes and on the NBC’s revenue, since throughout almost the entire first and third quarters, government and public health authorities forced it to close the Plains of Abraham Museum, suspend activities offered to the public and cancel events on its sites. Use of parking lots on NBC’s land was reduced and therefore had an impact on revenue. To make up for this reduction in the revenue used to fund the NBC’s operations, one-time emergency assistance through a statutory appropriation of $1.1 million from the budget measure “COVID-19 Emergency Support Fund for Canada’s national museums” was granted to the NBC under the Public Health Events of National Concern Payments Act. In the context of these disruptions, the NBC was able to cover its operating costs by reducing staff on the guided activities team and cancelling the Edwin Bélanger Bandstand’s programming, activities for the general public, advertising campaigns and travel. It was also able to finish the building condition assessment, whose total cost was $735,000.

In 2021–22, the NBC was granted increases of $2,000,000 in its appropriations as one-time assistance to mitigate the financial pressures caused by COVID-19, $3,200,000 in permanent funding for resolving program integrity issues related to salary expenditures and $900,000 for retroactive pay owed to employees, dating back to 2018. These additional funds were also used to carry out emergency work on the land and its infrastructure, to keep users and employees safe and secure and maintain day-to-day operations despite the revenue losses caused by COVID-19. Combined with higher than forecast revenue, these funds also allowed the NBC to improve its offering of winter activities, illuminate the Joan of Arc Garden and install fibre optic cable to meet the needs of users and employees.

Although the financial issues have been remedied in part by the increase in funding for salaries in 2022–23 and 2023-24, the NBC’s financial structure is still compromised by the underfunding of its operations. In 2025-26, the shortfall in parliamentary appropriations granted for operations and used for the park’s conservation will jeopardize the NBC’s ability to assume the responsibilities at the core of to its mission.

In 2023-2024, the NBC will reallocate expenditures from internal services to program expenditures. This change is primarily intended to demonstrate that expenditures for asset maintenance are dedicated to the core responsibility of conservation.

Planned human resources

Estimates by votes

Information on the National Battlefields Commission’s organizational appropriations is available in the 2023–24 Main Estimates..

Future-oriented condensed statement of operations

The future-oriented condensed statement of operations provides an overview of the National Battlefields Commission’s operations for 2022–23 to 2023–24.

The forecast and planned amounts in this statement of operations were prepared on an accrual basis. The forecast and planned amounts presented in other sections of the Departmental Plan were prepared on an expenditure basis. Amounts may therefore differ.

A more detailed future-oriented statement of operations and associated notes, including a reconciliation of the net cost of operations with the requested authorities, are available on the National Battlefields Commission’s website.

*The NBC has had a trust fund since 1984 for receiving donations from individuals, municipal corporations, and provincial and other governments. The fund is managed according to the provisions of section 9.1 of the An Act respecting the National Battlefields at Quebec.

The $2,290,509 difference between the 2023-24 planned expenditures and the 2022-23 forecast expenditures is explained primarily by $2,000,000 in increased program expenditures. In 2022-23, the NBC expects to carry over unused funds for projects that could not be completed due to inflationary pressure on market prices, combined with resource scarcity and increased depreciation on recent acquisitions. This work will instead be completed in 2023-24, including the cliff consolidation project, overseen by the expertise of Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC).

The NBC forecasts its future revenues based on historical experience prior to the pandemic situation, adding an element of uncertainty, since after the resumption of activities in 2022-23, the situation has not yet been fully resolved.

Also, the difference of $94,000 between the projected excess of trust revenues over expenses for 2023-24 and the projected surplus for 2022-23 is explained by the projected revenues exceeding the projected expenses.

Corporate information

Organizational profile

Appropriate minister: The Honourable Pablo Rodriguez, Minister of Canadian Heritage

Institutional head: Annie Talbot, Secretary

Ministerial portfolio: Department of Canadian Heritage

Enabling instrument: An Act respecting the National Battlefield at Quebec

Year of incorporation / commencement: 1908

Other: s/o

Raison d’être, mandate and role: who we are and what we do

Information on the National Battlefields Commission’s raison d’être, mandate and role is available on the National Battlefields Commission’ website.

Information on National Battlefields Commission’s mandate letter commitments is available in the Minister’s mandate letter.

Operating context

Information on the operating context is available on the National Battlefields Commission’s website.

Reporting framework

The National Battlefields Commission’s approved departmental results framework and program inventory for 2023–24 are as follows.

Supporting information on the program inventory

Supporting information on planned expenditures, human resources, and results related to the National Battlefields Commission’s program inventory is available on GC InfoBase.

Supplementary information tables

The following supplementary information tables are available on the National Battlefields Commission’s website.

• Gender-based analysis plus
• United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Sustainable Development Goals

Federal tax expenditures

The National Battlefields Commission’s Departmental Plan does not include information on tax expenditures. Tax expenditures are the responsibility of the Minister of Finance. The Department of Finance Canada publishes cost estimates and projections for government-wide tax expenditures each year in the Report on Federal Tax Expenditures.

This report provides detailed information on tax expenditures, including objectives, historical background and references to related federal spending programs, as well as evaluations, research papers and gender-based analysis plus.

Organizational contact information

Mailing address
835, avenue Wilfrid-Laurier
Québec (Québec) GIR 2L3
Telephone: 418 648-3506
Email: information@ccbn-nbc.gc.ca
Website: https://www.ccbn-nbc.gc.ca/en/

Appendix: definitions

appropriation (crédit)

Any authority of Parliament to pay money out of the Consolidated Revenue Fund.

budgetary expenditures (dépenses budgétaires)

Operating and capital expenditures; transfer payments to other levels of government, organizations or individuals; and payments to Crown corporations.

core responsibility (responsabilité essentielle)

An enduring function or role performed by a department. The intentions of the department with respect to a core responsibility are reflected in one or more related departmental results that the department seeks to contribute to or influence.

Departmental Plan (plan ministériel)

A document that sets out a department’s priorities, programs, expected results and associated resource requirements, covering a three-year period beginning with the year indicated in the title of the report. Departmental Plans are tabled in Parliament each spring.

departmental result (résultat ministériel)

A change that a department seeks to influence. A departmental result is often outside departments’ immediate control, but it should be influenced by program-level outcomes.

departmental result indicator (indicateur de résultat ministériel)

A factor or variable that provides a valid and reliable means to measure or describe progress on a departmental result.

departmental results framework (cadre ministériel des résultats)

A framework that consists of the department’s core responsibilities, departmental results and departmental result indicators.

Departmental Results Report (rapport sur les résultats ministériels)

A report on a department’s actual performance in a fiscal year against its plans, priorities and expected results set out in its Departmental Plan for that year. Departmental Results Reports are usually tabled in Parliament each fall.

full-time equivalent (équivalent temps plein)

A measure of the extent to which an employee represents a full person-year charge against a departmental budget. Full-time equivalents are calculated as a ratio of assigned hours of work to scheduled hours of work. Scheduled hours of work are set out in collective agreements.

gender-based analysis plus (GBA Plus) (analyse comparative entre les sexes plus [ACS Plus])

An analytical tool used to support the development of responsive and inclusive policies, programs and other initiatives. GBA Plus is a process for understanding who is impacted by the issue or opportunity being addressed by the initiative; identifying how the initiative could be tailored to meet diverse needs of the people most impacted; and anticipating and mitigating any barriers to accessing or benefitting from the initiative. GBA Plus is an intersectional analysis that goes beyond biological (sex) and socio-cultural (gender) differences to consider other factors, such as age, disability, education, ethnicity, economic status, geography, language, race, religion, and sexual orientation.

government-wide priorities (priorités pangouvernementales)

For the purpose of the 2023–24 Departmental Plan, government-wide priorities are the high-level themes outlining the Government’s agenda in the 2021 Speech from the Throne: building a healthier today and tomorrow; growing a more resilient economy; bolder climate action; fighter harder for safer communities; standing up for diversity and inclusion; moving faster on the path to reconciliation and fighting for a secure, just, and equitable world.

high impact innovation (innovation à impact élevé)

High impact innovation varies per organizational context. In some cases, it could mean trying something significantly new or different from the status quo. In other cases, it might mean making incremental improvements that relate to a high-spending area or addressing problems faced by a significant number of Canadians or public servants.

horizontal initiative (initiative horizontale)

An initiative in which two or more federal organizations are given funding to pursue a shared outcome, often linked to a government priority.

non-budgetary expenditures (dépenses non budgétaires)

Net outlays and receipts related to loans, investments and advances, which change the composition of the financial assets of the Government of Canada.

performance (rendement)

What an organization did with its resources to achieve its results, how well those results compare to what the organization intended to achieve, and how well lessons learned have been identified.

plan (plan)

The articulation of strategic choices, which provides information on how an organization intends to achieve its priorities and associated results. Generally, a plan will explain the logic behind the strategies chosen and tend to focus on actions that lead up to the expected result.

planned spending (dépenses prévues)

For Departmental Plans and Departmental Results Reports, planned spending refers to those amounts presented in the Main Estimates.

A department is expected to be aware of the authorities that it has sought and received. The determination of planned spending is a departmental responsibility, and departments must be able to defend the expenditure and accrual numbers presented in their Departmental Plans and Departmental Results Reports.

program (programme)

Individual or groups of services, activities or combinations thereof that are managed together within a department and that focus on a specific set of outputs, outcomes or service levels.

program inventory (répertoire des programmes)

An inventory of a department’s programs that describes how resources are organized to carry out the department’s core responsibilities and achieve its planned results.

result (résultat)

An external consequence attributed, in part, to an organization, policy, program or initiative. Results are not within the control of a single organization, policy, program or initiative; instead, they are within the area of the organization’s influence.

statutory expenditures (dépenses législatives)

Expenditures that Parliament has approved through legislation other than appropriation acts. The legislation sets out the purpose of the expenditures and the terms and conditions under which they may be made.

target (cible)

A measurable performance or success level that an organization, program or initiative plans to achieve within a specified time period. Targets can be either quantitative or qualitative.

voted expenditures (dépenses votées)

Expenditures that Parliament approves annually through an Appropriation Act. The vote wording becomes the governing conditions under which these expenditures may be made.