Ms. Deborah Oakley
Chair
Provincial Judges Pension Board
2200 - 200 King Street West
Toronto ON M5H 3X6

Dear Ms. Oakley:

As the Board plans for the upcoming year, I am pleased to write to you in your capacity as Chair of the Provincial Judges Pension Board (PJPB or Board). Pursuant to the requirements under the Agencies and Appointments Directive, this letter sets out my expectations for the PJPB for the 2024 year.

Ontario’s board-governed agencies are vital partners in ensuring the delivery of high-quality services to Ontarians. The work that you and your fellow board members undertake to support effective oversight of the Provincial Judges Pension Plan is greatly appreciated. This work will ensure the viability and security of the pension plan and I thank you for your willingness to serve in this role.

For 2024, I expect the PJPB to continue its focus on enhancing effective oversight of the operational (including cyber security), strategic, legal, and financial risks encountered by PJPB and the PJPP.

To achieve this, there is an expectation for effective governance and operations structure and processes that support and measure effective administration and performance of the PJPP and its funds.

To this end, the PJPB will provide strong oversight of both the Investment Management Corporation of Ontario’s (IMCO), in its role in managing assets the PJPB is accountable for, and the Ontario Pension Board’s (OPB), in its roles as management and third-party administrator of the PJPP.

Further, this should support the delivery of superior client service, effective communications, and stakeholder relations, to help all beneficiaries of the Plan understand their pension entitlements, rights, and responsibilities under the PJPP.

There are seven government priorities that are applicable to all agencies; these may be found in the Appendix to this letter. It is expected that the PJPB will comply with those priorities that are applicable.

Through these measures, we can continue to ensure that PJPB is continuing to fulfill its mandate.

I thank you and your fellow board members for your continued support, and for your valuable contributions.

Should you have any questions/concerns, please feel free to contact Marc Rondeau, Associate Deputy Minister, Centre for Public Sector Labour Relations and Compensation, Treasury Board Secretariat at 416-669-9431 or at Marc.Rondeau@ontario.ca.

Sincerely,
 

Originally signed by:

Prabmeet Singh Sarkari
President of the Treasury Board

c.c:

Deborah Richardson, Deputy Minister, Treasury Board Secretariat, Secretary of the Treasury Board and Management Board of Cabinet

Marc Rondeau, Associate Deputy Minister, Centre for Public Sector Labour Relations and Compensation, Treasury Board Secretariat

Peter Shena, Executive Vice President and Chief Pension Officer, Ontario Pension Board

Mark Henry, Director, Managed Plans, Ontario Pension Board

Appendix – Government-Wide Priorities:

  1. Competitiveness, Sustainability and Expenditure Management 
    • Identifying and pursuing opportunities for revenue generation through partnerships, where appropriate.
    • Identifying efficiencies and savings through innovative practices, and/or improved program sustainability.
    • Operating within your agency’s financial allocations.
    • Complying with applicable direction related to supply chain centralization, including contract harmonization for planned and pending procurements, accounting practices and realty interim measures for agency office space.
    • Leveraging and meeting benchmarked outcomes for compensation strategies and directives.
  2. Transparency and Accountability 
    • Abiding by applicable government directives and policies and ensuring transparency and accountability in reporting.
    • Adhering to accounting standards and practices, and responding to audit findings, where applicable.
    • Identifying appropriate skills, knowledge and experience needed to effectively support the board’s role in agency governance and accountability.
  3. Risk Management
    • Developing and implementing an effective process for the identification, assessment and mitigation of agency risks, including COVID-19 impacts and any future emergency risks.
  4. Workforce Management
    • Optimizing your organizational capacity to support the best possible public service delivery, including redeploying resources to priority areas, where needed.
    • Supporting the implementation of the Community Jobs Initiative (CJI) by identifying opportunities to relocate new or existing agencies to lower cost communities.
  5. Diversity and Inclusion
    • Developing and encouraging diversity and inclusion initiatives by promoting an equitable, inclusive, accessible, anti-racist and diverse workplace.
    • Adopting an inclusion engagement process to ensure all voices are heard to inform policies and decision-making.
  6. Data Collection
    • Improving how the agency uses data in decision-making, information sharing and reporting, to inform outcome-based reporting and improve service delivery.
    • Increasing data sharing with Supply Ontario when applicable regarding procurement spending and planning, contract arrangements and vendor relations to support data-driven decision-making.
  7. Digital Delivery and Customer Service
    • Exploring and implementing digitization for online service delivery to ensure customer service standards are met.
    • Using a variety of approaches or tools to ensure service delivery in all situations, including pursuing delivery methods that have evolved since COVID-19.