Department of Public Works and Government Services Act (S.C. 1996, c. 16)

Short Title

Marginal note:Short title

1 This Act may be cited as the Department of Public Works and Government Services Act.

Interpretation

Marginal note:Definitions

2 In this Act,

appropriate minister

appropriate minister has the same meaning as in section 2 of the Financial Administration Act; (ministre compétent)

Crown corporation

Crown corporation has the same meaning as in section 2 of the Financial Administration Act; (société d’État)

department

department has the same meaning as in section 2 of the Financial Administration Act; (ministère)

federal immovable

federal immovable has the same meaning as in section 2 of the Federal Real Property and Federal Immovables Act; (immeuble fédéral)

federal real property

federal real property has the same meaning as in section 2 of the Federal Real Property and Federal Immovables Act; (bien réel fédéral)

Minister

Minister means the Minister of Public Works and Government Services; (Version anglaise seulement)

public work

public work means any work or property under the management or control of the Minister. (ouvrage public ou travaux publics)

Establishment of the Department

Marginal note:Department established

• 3 (1) There is hereby established a department of the Government of Canada called the Department of Public Works and Government Services over which the Minister of Public Works and Government Services appointed by commission under the Great Seal shall preside.

• Marginal note:Minister

  (2) The Minister holds office during pleasure and has the management and direction of the Department.

• Marginal note:Receiver General

  (3) The Minister is the Receiver General for Canada.

Marginal note:Deputy head

• 4 (1) The Governor in Council may appoint an officer called the Deputy Minister of Public Works and Government Services to hold office during pleasure and to be the deputy head of the Department.

• Marginal note:Deputy Receiver General

  (2) The Deputy Minister of Public Works and Government Services is the Deputy Receiver General.

Activities of the Department

Marginal note:Common service agency

5 The Department shall operate as a common service agency for the Government of Canada, and its activities as a common service agency shall be directed mainly toward providing the departments, boards and agencies of the Government of Canada with services in support of their programs.

Powers, Duties and Functions of the Minister

Marginal note:Minister’s powers, duties and functions

6 The powers, duties and functions of the Minister extend to and include all matters over which Parliament has jurisdiction, not by law assigned to any other department, board or agency of the Government of Canada, relating to

• (a) the acquisition and provision of articles, supplies, machinery, equipment and other materiel for departments;

• (b) the acquisition and provision of services for departments;

• (c) the planning and organizing of the provision of materiel and services required by departments;

• (d) the acquisition and provision of printing and publishing services for departments;

• (e) the construction, maintenance and repair of public works, federal real property and federal immovables;

• (f) the provision of accommodation and other facilities for departments;

• (g) the planning and coordination of telecommunications services for departments, boards and agencies of the Government of Canada;

• (h) the provision to departments of advice on or services related to architectural or engineering matters affecting any public work, federal real property or federal immovable; and

• (i) the provision to departments, boards and agencies of the Government of Canada of translation and related services.

Marginal note:Exercise of powers, etc.

• 7 (1) In exercising the powers or performing the duties or functions assigned to the Minister under this or any other Act of Parliament, the Minister shall

  • (a) investigate and develop services for increasing the efficiency and economy of the federal public administration and for enhancing integrity and efficiency in the contracting process;

  • (b) acquire materiel and services in accordance with any applicable regulations relating to government contracts;

  • (c) plan and organize the provision of materiel and related services to departments including the preparation of specifications and standards, the cataloguing of materiel, the determination of aggregate requirements for materiel, the assuring of quality of materiel, and the maintenance, distribution, storage and disposal of materiel and other activities associated with the management of materiel; and

  • (d) provide such other services as the Governor in Council may direct.

• Marginal note:Use of wood

  (1.1) In developing requirements with respect to the construction, maintenance and repair of public works, federal real property and federal immovables, the Minister shall consider any potential reduction in greenhouse gas emissions and any other environmental benefits and may allow the use of wood or any other thing — including a material, product or sustainable resource — that achieves such benefits.

• Marginal note:Limitation

  (2) Notwithstanding paragraph (1)(c), the Minister’s power to manage materiel, as distinct from its acquisition, does not extend to the management, in an exclusively military supply system, of materiel essential for the conduct of military missions.

Marginal note:Delegation

• 8 (1) The Minister may delegate any of the Minister’s powers, duties or functions under this Act to an appropriate minister for any period and under any terms and conditions that the Minister considers suitable.

• Marginal note:Delegation

  (2) The Minister may, with respect to a department over which the Minister does not preside but for which the Minister is the appropriate minister, delegate any of the Minister’s powers, duties or functions under this Act, for any period and under any terms and conditions that the Minister considers suitable, to the chief executive of that department.

• Marginal note:Subdelegation

  (3) The appropriate minister for a department may, subject to and in accordance with the delegation under subsection (1), subdelegate to the chief executive of that department, for any period and under any terms and conditions that the appropriate minister considers suitable, any of the powers, duties or functions that were delegated to the appropriate minister under that subsection.

• Marginal note:Subdelegation

  (4) The chief executive of a department may, subject to and in accordance with the delegation under subsection (2) or the subdelegation under subsection (3), subdelegate to any person under his or her jurisdiction, for any period and under any terms and conditions that the chief executive considers suitable, any of the powers, duties or functions that were delegated or subdelegated to him or her under that subsection.

• Definition of chief executive

  (5) In this section, chief executive

  • (a) with respect to a department named in Part I of Schedule VI to the Financial Administration Act, means its deputy minister;

  • (b) with respect to a department named in Part II or III of that Schedule, means the person occupying the position set out opposite that name; and

  • (c) with respect to a department that is not named in that Schedule, means the chief executive officer, deputy head or the person who occupies any other similar position, however called, in that department.

Marginal note:Other authorities

9 The Minister shall exercise the powers in relation to the acquisition and provision of materiel for the use of any department that are conferred on any minister or other authority under any Act of Parliament, except to the extent that those powers have been delegated by the Minister.

Marginal note:Exception

9.1 Section 9 does not apply to

• (a) a department within the meaning of paragraph (c) of the definition department in section 2 of the Financial Administration Act; or

• (b) the department that is established under section 4 of the Shared Services Canada Act.

Marginal note:Exemption

9.2 The Minister may, by order, exempt the following from the application of section 9:

• (a) a department that is not named in Schedule VI to the Financial Administration Act; and

• (b) a department over which the Minister does not preside but for which the Minister is the appropriate minister.

Marginal note:Federal real property and federal immovables

• 10 (1) The Minister has the administration of all federal real property and federal immovables not situated in Yukon, the Northwest Territories or Nunavut except those under the administration of any other minister, board or agency of the Government of Canada or any corporation.

• Marginal note:Other properties

  (2) The Minister may incur expenditures or perform, or have performed, services or work in relation to

  • (a) any federal real property or federal immovable;

  • (b) any work or other property belonging to Her Majesty in right of Canada; and

  • (c) any real or immovable property, any work or any other property not belonging to Her Majesty in right of Canada, with the consent of its owner.

• Marginal note:Seized Property Management Act

  (3) Nothing in paragraph (2)(c) affects the operation of the Seized Property Management Act.

Marginal note:Powers, duties and functions as Receiver General

11 In the Minister’s capacity as Receiver General, the Minister shall exercise all the powers and perform all the duties and functions assigned to the Receiver General by law.

Marginal note:Disbursement of pay

12 The Minister shall provide such administrative and other services required for the disbursement of pay to persons employed in or by any department, and to persons employed in or by other portions of the federal public administration, as the Governor in Council may direct.

Marginal note:Employee benefits

13 The Minister shall provide such administrative and other services in relation to employee benefit plans and superannuation or pension plans as the Governor in Council may direct.

Marginal note:Production, processing and distribution of films, etc.

• 14 (1) Subject to subsection (2), the Minister may provide departments, boards and agencies of the Government of Canada with production, processing and distribution services for film, within the meaning of the National Film Act, videos and any other cinematographic works that the Governor in Council may designate.

• Marginal note:Production, processing and distribution of films, etc.

  (2) Except with the approval of the Governor in Council, no department shall initiate the production or processing of a motion picture film without the authority of the Minister, and the production and processing, by or for departments, of all motion picture films shall be undertaken by the Minister unless the Minister is of the opinion that it is in the public interest that it be otherwise undertaken and authorizes it to be so undertaken.

Marginal note:Administrative and other services

15 The Minister may, on request of a department, board or agency of the Government of Canada, provide it with

• (a) management consulting services;

• (b) information management and information technology systems and services;

• (c) accounting services;

• (d) auditing services;

• (e) financial services;

• (f) services and advice in relation to the acquisition, management or disposition of real or immovable property;

• (g) architectural and engineering services, including services in respect of the adoption and application of related codes, standards, procedures, guidelines and technologies; and

• (h) services of any other kind that are within the ambit of the Minister’s powers, duties and functions.

Marginal note:Services to governments and other bodies

16 If the Minister is authorized to do a thing under this or any other Act of Parliament for or on behalf of any department, board or agency of the Government of Canada, the Minister may do that thing for or on behalf of

• (a) any department, board or agency of the Government of Canada or Crown corporation, or

• (b) with the Governor in Council’s approval — given on a general or a specific basis — any government, body or person in Canada or elsewhere.

Marginal note:Fees and charges in respect of products, services, etc.

17 The Minister may, subject to any regulations that the Treasury Board may make for the purposes of this section, charge for services provided by the Department pursuant to this Act or any other Act in force at the time this section comes into force.

Marginal note:Use of electronic and other media

• 18 (1) The Minister may use any electronic or other means to create, collect, store, transfer, receive or otherwise handle documents or information.

• Marginal note:Standards

  (2) The Minister may fix the terms and conditions, formats and other requirements for the use of any electronic or other means that must be met by persons who use that means in their dealings with the Minister.

• Marginal note:Regulations

  (3) The Minister may, by regulation, prescribe the electronic or other means by which a requirement referred to in subsection (2) shall be published.