Corporate Secretariat

The Corporate Secretariat provides a broad array of services that support the Minister of International Cooperation, the President, and the Executive Vice-President in their mandate. The Corporate Secretariat comprises four divisions, namely:

Table of Contents

• Ministerial Services
  • Briefing Unit
  • Memoranda Unit
  • Parliamentary Affairs Unit
  • Executive and Ministerial Correspondence Unit
• Access to Information and Privacy
• Secretariat to Corporate Committees and Leadership Council
• Administrative Services

The services performed by the four divisions include:

• Facilitating the flow of information to the Minister's Office
• Providing a lead role in Parliamentary Affairs
• Coordinating ministerial and senior executive correspondence
• Coordinating all matters within CIDA related to the Access to Information Act and the Privacy Act
• Ensuring the preparation of appropriate briefing materials for ministerial and senior executive meetings with partners, as well as for public events and internal briefings
• Providing supporting information and tools for ministerial planning
• Providing administrative support services to the Minister's, the President's, and the Executive Vice-President's offices
• Ensuring secretariat services to the Management Board, the Corporate Management Committee, and the Resource, Planning and Allocation Committee
• Ensuring secretariat services to the Leadership Council

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Ministerial Services

The Ministerial Services Division consists of four units that provide services and products to the Minister's Office and CIDA's senior executive. The division is also responsible for the coordination and production of strategic planning calendars that allow the synchronization of CIDA's, the Minister's, and the President's agendas, decision processes, and communication activities. The four units that make up the division are as follows:

Briefing Unit

The Briefing Unit coordinates the preparation of briefing notes for the Minister, CIDA's senior executive, and the Parliamentary Secretary for non-public meetings with CIDA's partners and for all public events, including Parliamentary Committee appearances, international conferences, and visits of international dignitaries. The Briefing Unit coordinates the material for internal briefings, for follow-up reports related to the Minister's, the President's, and the Executive Vice-President's bilateral meetings, and for the tracking database of all meetings attended by the Minister, the President, and the Executive Vice-President. The Briefing Unit is also responsible for the coordination and distribution of the Minister's calendar of significant events used at senior management planning meetings.

Memoranda Unit

The Memoranda Unit coordinates and tracks all memoranda for the Minister, the President, and the Executive Vice President for information and decision.

The Memoranda Unit's main objective is to ensure that reliable, efficient, and quality memoranda services are provided to senior management and CIDA at all times. Memoranda services include:

• Electronic and hardcopy file maintenance
• Quality control
• Monitoring
• Notification and distribution
• Advice on established processes

The Memoranda Unit also coordinates the preparation of a memo pipeline that provides information on memos to management for planning purposes.

Parliamentary Affairs Unit

The Parliamentary Affairs Unit supports the Minister in all activities related to Parliament. The Parliamentary Affairs Unit prepares the Minister for question period and coordinates the preparation of material for Parliamentary Committee hearings, for responses to written questions from Parliamentarians, and for interventions for parliamentary debates or statements for the House. The Parliamentary Affairs Unit also monitors parliamentary activities and works with Communications Branch to organize events for Parliamentarians.

Executive and Ministerial Correspondence Unit

The Executive and Ministerial Correspondence Unit provides language expertise and coordination, writing, editing, tracking, and printing services for the Minister's, President's and CIDA's senior executive's correspondence. In addition, the Executive and Ministerial Correspondence Unit carries out quality control on the translations of various documents such as treasury board submissions, the Report on Plans and Priorities and the Departmental Performance Report.

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Access to Information and Privacy

The Access to Information and Privacy (ATIP) group promotes the interests of citizens and ensures CIDA meets its obligations on transparent governance.

The ATIP coordinator is responsible for developing, coordinating, and implementing policies, guidelines, and procedures to ensure compliance with the Access to Information Act and the Privacy Act.

Among other activities, the ATIP group:

• Processes requests made under both Acts
• Speaks for CIDA in its dealings with Treasury Board Secretariat, information and privacy commissioners, and other government departments and agencies regarding the application of both Acts at CIDA
• Responds to consultations from other federal institutions regarding CIDA documents in their custody
• Prepares annual reports to Parliament and other statutory reports and documents requested by the central agencies
• Develops policies, procedures, and guidelines for the orderly implementation of both Acts at CIDA
• Promotes awareness of both Acts to ensure that CIDA flexibly meets the government's obligation
• Ensures CIDA's compliance with both Acts, as well as related regulations, procedures, and policies

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Secretariat to Corporate Committees and Leadership Council

The Secretariat to Corporate Committees and Leadership Council provides services to the Management Board, the Corporate Management Committee, and the Resource Planning and Allocation Committee. Those services include:

• Agenda planning
• Meeting and retreat organization
• Drafting of minutes
• Meeting logistics
• Ongoing communications

The Secretariat to Corporate Committees and Leadership Council also provides secretariat support to the Leadership Council.

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Administrative Services

The Administrative Services Division provides administrative support to the Minister's and the President's offices in the areas of:

• Finance
• Human resources
• Material management
• Information management and technology support
• Accommodations
• Reception services