Assistant! Deputy! Ministers!



Assistant

Deputy

Ministers

in the Canadian Public Service

Ensuring Canada will have the public--sector leadership it needs

James Lahey and Mark Goldenberg

Centre on Public Management and Policy

University of Ottawa

EZth ,

2014

The authors would like to acknowledge the assistance provided by officials of the Treasury Board Secretariat, the Privy Council Office, and the Public Service Commission in the course of this study. They would also like to thank Kaveh Afshar and Aengus Bridgman for their work and diligence as research assistants for the study.

Table of contents

Summary

INTRODUCTION

Why study the ADMs?

Objectives, scope, and methodology

KEY FINDINGS

I.

WHO ARE THE ADMS. PROFILE AND EVOLUTION OF CANADA'S ADM COMMUNITY

II.

EMERGING TRENDS AND KEY ISSUES

III.

HOW CANADA'S ADMS COMPARE WITH EXECUTIVES IN OTHER JURISDICTIONS AND SECTORS

CONCLUSIONS AND AREAS FOR ACTION

End Notes

References

Summary

Assistant Deputy Ministers (ADMs) are the most senior public servants appointed under the Public Service Employment Act, and the principal feeder group for appointment to Deputy Minister. As such, ADMs will be critical to the Canadian Public Service as it seeks to adapt and transform itself to help Canada meet future social and economic challenges. Yet relatively little is known (at least outside the Public Service) about this important senior-- executive cadre.

The Centre on Public Management and Policy at the University of Ottawa has undertaken an in--depth study of the ADM community, how it has evolved over time, and the key issues that need to be addressed for the future. The methodology for the study included the analysis of quantitative data on ADMs over the last quarter--century and on the current ADM community; the development and application of a `taxonomy' of types of ADM positions; qualitative input obtained through key--informant interviews and roundtables; and the review of current literature and research on public administration in Canada and internationally.

The key findings of the study are that the ADM community has been marked by both significant growth in size and remarkable stability in its composition over the last quarter--century; however, the nature of ADMs' work and their roles and responsibilities have changed in important ways in recent years, raising a number of issues. Action is warranted in several areas to ensure the Canadian Public Service will have the future ADM leaders it will need.

Growth in the number of ADMs has been quite significant over the last 25 years (more than 40%) and has outpaced that of the Public Service overall during this period (12%). There has, moreover, been significant growth in all management layers at the senior levels of the Public Service, including DMs and Associate DMs above ADMs and EX 1--3s below them. In today's context of public deficits and Public Service downsizing, the size of the ADM community will inevitably shrink. But the number of ADMs the Public Service will need in the future, and the roles they should play, is linked to the larger structural

issue of the overlapping and multiple levels in the most senior ranks of the Public Service.

The profile of the ADM community that emerges from the University of Ottawa study is one of continuity and stability in terms of its make--up.

The ADM community has changed over the last 25 years through better gender balance and a marked ageing. However, in other respects there has been little change. Recruitment sources and the path to becoming an ADM have remained virtually unaltered: almost all ADMs are appointed from within the Public Service, many (nearly 60%) from within the same department in which they had been working. On average, individuals have had 20+ years in the Public Service and are close to 50 years old when appointed ADM.

ADM career patterns after appointment exhibit significant churn. Most ADMs change jobs every two years; in 2011--2012, 40% of all ADM positions had a new incumbent. At the same time, most ADM movement is within the same department and type of ADM position; over 50% of ADMs, for example, have had three of their last four jobs in the same organization. From 2009 to 2012, the turn--over rate for ADMs was 50%. As of 2012, almost one--half of ADMs (49%) were eligible for retirement without penalty within two years.

The Canadian Public Service has undergone significant changes in recent years, driven by globalisation, technological advances, the increasing complexity and inter--connectedness of public policy issues, rising and changing political and public expectations, and fiscal restraint and downsizing. More and potentially transformational change lies ahead.

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