Operational Bulletin 601 – May 05, 2015

The Introduction of the Grants and Contributions System (GCS)

Summary

The Grants and Contributions System (GCS) is a new Information Technology application. It serves to enhance the abilities of the grants and contributions (Gs&Cs) officers of Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) to complete their work and manage information. The authorities plan to release the Grants and Contributions System (GCS) in multiple stages over the coming years with Release 1.0 launched in January 2015.

Issue

The Grants and Contributions System (GCS) aims to improve the management of Contribution Agreements (CAs) and the information pertaining to these agreements.

Background

The authorities designed the Grants and Contributions System (GCS) to replace the Word and PDF versions of the documents that officers used for creating and managing Contribution Agreements (CAs) for grants and contributions (Gs&Cs) recipients.

The Grants and Contributions System (GCS) enables officers to store correspondence such as e-mails in files associated with each Contribution Agreement (CA).

In addition, officers would use the Grants and Contributions System (GCS) to:

• Create and manage recipient organisation information e.g. contacts, branches and legal history
• Route requests to the Grants and Contributions Financial Management (GCFM) division for conducting the Financial Viability Analysis (FVA) for a recipient
• Complete the Funding Risk Assessment Model (FRAM)
• Create, revise and amend Contribution Agreements (CAs) and automatically generate agreement schedules based on the information specified in the Grants and Contributions System (GCS)
• Create notes to file and add attachments
• Plan and conduct financial and activity monitors, initial consultations, compliance audits etc. and,
• Draft and approve recommendations pertaining to funding

The authorities have specified that Q4 of the 2014-15 fiscal year will serve as a transition period. It would enable officers to verify and enter all the information concerning active Contribution Agreements (CAs) in the Grants and Contributions System (GCS). Therefore, officers would need to enter the information from the original Contribution Agreement (CA) first. Thereafter, they would need to add any amendments or revisions. This would enable them to ensure that the system has captured the history of the file appropriately.

The Business Process Adjustments

The Grants and Contributions System (GCS) enables supervisors to review and approve the Funding Risk Assessment Model (FRAM) and agreement reviews directly in the system. This includes financial and activity monitors, initial consultations and compliance audits. Therefore, officers would now need to complete the Funding Risk Assessment Model (FRAM) and monitoring reports in the Grants and Contributions System (GCS). Following this, they would need to attest to the accuracy of these documents before sending them to their supervisor for approval. Because of this, the documents would no longer require handwritten signatures.

Monitoring reports typically capture the:

• Findings of the monitor
• Recipient promising practices and,
• Follow-up action items

In addition, the Grants and Contributions System (GCS) replaces the National Monitoring Plan (NMP). This is because it stores information about required, planned, scheduled and completed monitors.

The Grants and Contributions System (GCS) enables officers to commence the process of obtaining Expenditure Initiation (or the approval to negotiate) and Transaction Authority (or the final approval) of new Contribution Agreements (CAs) and amendments directly in the system. Therefore, officers would need to:

• Enter all the relevant information for the Contribution Agreement (CA) or the amendment in the system
• Attest to the accuracy of the details entered and,
• Send the Contribution Agreement (CA) to a colleague for independent verification

This includes sending the funding recommendation as well.

At this stage, the officers would be able to send the Contribution Agreement (CA) or amendment to each departmental official. This official would need to review the request for Expenditure Initiation or Transaction Authority. Department officials could typically comprise:

• Supervisors
• Managers
• Directors and,
• Director generals

The Grants and Contributions System (GCS) will also serve as an electronic route slip. This is because it will capture:

• The name of each person who reviewed the Contribution Agreement (CA) and,
• The date of review

It is worth noting that the officers would still need to obtain the original signatures from the recipient and the delegated authority at Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC). This is to facilitate the approval of the Contribution Agreement (CA) or amendment. Thereafter, the managers would still need to sign the commitment request form i.e. the certification under section 32 of the Financial Administration Act (FAA). This will ensure the commitment of funds in SAP. However, the Grants and Contributions System (GCS) would still record the time the approvals took place.

The authorities would need to provide specialised training to departmental managers for conducting approvals in the Grants and Contributions System (GCS). Once they impart the training to the officers, the officers would need to use the Grants and Contributions System (GCS) for approving:

• The Funding Risk Assessment Model (FRAM)
• Monitors and other reviews
• New Contribution Agreements (CAs) and,
• Amendments

At present, the Grants and Contributions System (GCS) does not eliminate the need for maintaining paper files. Therefore, officers would still need to maintain physical files for:

• Any documents that contain an original signature and,
• Any documents related to grants and contributions (Gs&Cs) business processes that are not a part of the Grants and Contributions System (GCS) as yet e.g. payment claims, close-out reports etc.

The authorities envisage that future releases of the Grants and Contributions System (GCS) would replace these paper files.

The Grants and Contributions System (GCS) automatically generates the Contribution Agreement (CA) articles and schedules based on the information keyed in the system. As such, it replaces Word documents and PDF files. However, it does not replace Schedule 2 (Description of Eligible Costs). Therefore, as an interim measure, the officers would need to continue using the PDF version of the Schedule 2 posted on Connexion. They would need to do this until the Grants and Contributions System (GCS) is able to produce this document. In addition, officers would need to continue entering and maintaining the information in the Financial Summary tab on the Agreement screen in the Grants and Contributions System (GCS).

Officers would need to continue printing the articles and schedules produced by the Grants and Contributions System (GCS). This is because they would need to obtain the original signatures for the Contribution Agreement (CA). Therefore, officers would need to continue maintaining the documents in the physical file.

The authorities have scheduled Release 2.0 of the Grants and Contributions System (GCS) for June 2015. They have timed it for the next national Call for Proposals process. The next release will include a Partner Portal that will enable:

• Applicants to submit their proposals to the Grants and Contributions System (GCS) and,
• Officers to conduct their assessments within the system

The Grants and Contributions Information Management System (GCIMS) continues as the system of record for multiculturalism grants. The authorities plan to incorporate multiculturalism grants into the Grants and Contributions System (GCS) in 2015. The Contribution Agreement Management System (CAMS) is no longer in use.

It is worth noting that once the authorities officially decommission the Grants and Contributions Information Management System (GCIMS) and the Contribution Agreement Management System (CAMS), they will save and archive the data contained within those systems.

In addition, officers would not manage the Resettlement Assistance Program (RAP) income support payments in the Grants and Contributions System (GCS) at present. However, the Department would be incorporating Resettlement Assistance Program (RAP) income support functionality in the Grants and Contributions System (GCS) in a future release.

Source: Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC)