Ontario Building Smarter Government Through Transfer Payment Consolidation

Province empowering service partners and making it easier to apply for and report on funding

News.ontario.ca
November 22, 2019

The Government of Ontario is helping non-profits, municipalities and other service providers focus more time on delivering programs and services that matter to the people of Ontario by simplifying how they receive government funding.

Today, President of the Treasury Board Peter Bethlenfalvy announced how the government is putting people back at the centre of public services through the Transfer Payment Consolidation Smart Initiative, which will reduce administrative costs, increase value for money, enhance the client experience and improve service outcomes.

Speaking at the Ontario Investment and Trade Centre, and joined by the Ontario Nonprofit Network (ONN), Bethlenfalvy announced how smarter transfer payments are already making a positive difference and highlighted some of the improvements.

“Smarter, more efficient transfer payments will allow the thousands of partners who deliver programs and services on behalf of government to focus their efforts on what they do best -- delivering vital services to Ontarians in communities across our province,” said Minister Bethlenfalvy. “This is part of our plan to build a smarter government that focuses on outcomes and delivers better results.”

About 90 per cent of government program spending is transferred to service partners who deliver vital programs. Currently, many different ministries, systems and processes are used to administer this funding, resulting in duplicated effort and wasted time.

“ONN has been actively working alongside the non-profit sector to reform the way transfer payment agreements are done. We are pleased to hear that the Ontario government will make transfer payment reform a priority through its Transfer Payment Consolidation initiative,” said Cathy Taylor, Executive Director of the Ontario Nonprofit Network. “This is an important opportunity to modernize funding agreements so that both non-profits and government spend less time on paperwork, and more time delivering services that support Ontarians.”

The Transfer Payment Consolidation Smart Initiative will reduce the complexity and administrative burden of transfer payment management. Early achievements include:

• Merged three locally administered business support programs--Starter Company Plus, Summer Company and Small Business Enterprise Centres core program--into a single transfer payment program. This will reduce the total number of transfer payment agreements by approximately 65 per cent, streamlining reporting requirements for each support program by the same number over a three-year period.
• Consolidated early years and child care transfer payment agreements, decreasing the number of agreements with municipalities by 50 per cent and streamlining program requirements.
• Reduced child care reporting requirements for municipalities, including decreasing the number of financial submissions required per year from three to two and eliminating the ministry application process for wage enhancement funding.
• Streamlined reporting requirements for the Employment Service, Youth Job Connection, Literacy and Basic Skills and Canada-Ontario Job Grant programs, resulting in over 1,000 fewer reports in 2019-20.
• Reduced administrative burdens by streamlining annual reporting under the Community Homelessness Prevention Initiative and reducing the number of performance indicators by 66 per cent.
• Reduced citizenship and immigration transfer payment program reporting requirements by 10 per cent.
• Transfer payment consolidation is part of Ontario’s plan to build smarter government and protect our core programs and services. Our goal is to ensure sustainability, now and for future generations.

Quick Facts

• According to the EY Canada Line-by-Line Review, Ontario manages almost 35,000 transfer payment agreements with the thousands of recipients that deliver services and programs on behalf of the government.
• The Smart Initiatives, including Transfer Payment Consolidation, put into action recommendations of the EY Canada Line-by-Line Review and the Planning for Prosperity consultations.