Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada Service Standards Annual Report: Fiscal Year 2020-2021

July 2021

Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada's commitment to serve you better

At Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC), we take pride in what we do. We are an organization that is dedicated to serving the public. AAFC continues to be committed to developing and delivering client-focused, results based programs and services. We are continuously working to provide high quality service because we understand the importance of agriculture to our economy, communities, environment and health.

AAFC publishes service standards to highlight its commitment to transparent management, accountability for results, and citizen-centered service delivery. The Department continues to strive to ensure that published information is transparent, meaningful and relevant to clients.

Service standards are a statement to the level of performance that Canadians can expect from AAFC. These service standards include turnaround times for telephone calls and email responses, making funding decisions, processing recipient claims, and providing sector analysis reports. AAFC is committed to achieving its posted target for each service standard under normal circumstances. AAFC's 44 programs and services have their service standards published on each program web page. Performance data is collected throughout each fiscal year and reported publicly on the AAFC website each quarter and summarized in our Service Standards Annual Report.

Continuous improvement

AAFC met or exceeded targets for 140 out of 156(1) service standards, covering 44 programs and services. In an effort to improve the service standards, AAFC is dedicated to continuously strengthening service objectives by using client input to improve service delivery and program design.

In 2020-2021, AAFC received client feedback on the relevance of its service standards and solicited suggestions on how to make them more applicable to a client's business decisions. Client feedback indicated that 53% of respondents would like to see the service standard notification for the approval or rejection of an application shortened.

AAFC also conducted a review of its service standards to ensure they continue to be relevant to clients. As a result of this review, in 2021-2022 programs and services will review and assess the number of days currently used in their services to determine if they are timely, reasonable, and ambitious.

Similar to 2019-2020 the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic affected the way AAFC delivered programs and services and our ability to meet service standards target in 2020-2021. The first quarter of the 2020-2021 fiscal year saw AAFC continue its transition to virtual service delivery in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Throughout 2020-2021 AAFC continued to build on the processes and technology put in place in 2019-2020 to allow clients to access programs online. These changes were implemented swiftly and with little disruption to AAFC clients. During 2020-2021, the Department developed and launched programs and services to lessen the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on stakeholders. The 2020-2021 fiscal year was a monumental and challenging year resulting in the addition of five new COVID-19 emergency programs. Despite the unprecedented challenges of the 2020-2021 fiscal year, AAFC continued to improve upon on the number of service standards meeting or exceeding targets.

Your feedback

Please share your comments, suggestions or complaints to AAFC's Service and Program Excellence Directorate at:

aafc.voc-vdc.aac@agr.gc.ca
Service and Program Excellence Directorate
Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada
1341 Baseline Road, Tower 7, Floor 7, Room 150
Ottawa, Ontario, K1A 0C6

Where there are no transactions registered related to a service standard, the result is indicated as "N/A" (Not Applicable) and not used in the calculation of the Department's overall service standard performance.

Access to Information and Privacy

Service standard

Target (%)

Results for April 2020 to March 2021 (%)

Response is provided within 30 days following receipt of request

100

100

Advance Payment Program

Service standard

Target (%)

Results for April 2020 to March 2021 (%)

Respond to general inquiries made to our phone number and email address before the end of the next business day

80

97

AgriAssurance Program: National Industry Association Component

Service standard

Target (%)

Results for April 2020 to March 2021 (%)

Respond to general inquiries made to our phone number and email address before the end of the next business day

80

100

Acknowledge receipt of your application within 1 business day

80

100

Send you an approval or a rejection notification letter within 100 business days of receiving a fully complete applicant package

80

86

Send you a payment within 30 business days of receipt of a duly completed and documented claim

80

98

AgriAssurance Program: Small and Medium-sized Enterprise

Service standard

Target (%)

Results for April 2020 to March 2021 (%)

Respond to general inquiries made to our phone number or email address before the end of the next business day

80

100

Acknowledge receipt of your application within 1 business day

80

100

Send you an approval or a rejection notification letter within 75 business days of receiving a fully complete applicant package

80

83

Send you a payment within 30 business days of receipt of a duly completed and documented claim

80

92

AgriCompetitiveness

Service standard

Target (%)

Results for April 2020 to March 2021 (%)

Respond to general inquiries made to our phone number and email address before the end of the next business day

80

94

Acknowledge receipt of your application within 1 business day

80

100

Send you an approval or a rejection notification letter within 100 business days of receiving a fully complete applicant package

80

86

Send you a payment within 30 business days of receipt of a duly completed and documented claim

80

100

Agricultural Clean Technology Program

Service standard

Target (%)

Results for April 2020 to March 2021 (%)

Respond to general inquiries made to our phone number or email address before the end of the next business day

80

100

Acknowledge receipt of your application within 1 business day

80

92

Send you an approval or a rejection notification letter within 100 business days of receiving a fully complete applicant package

80

83

Send you a payment within 30 business days of receipt of a duly completed and documented claim

80

100

Agricultural Greenhouse Gases

Service standard

Target (%)

Results for April 2020 to March 2021 (%)

Respond to general inquiries made to our phone number or email address before the end of the next business day

80

No data available

Acknowledge receipt of your application within 1 business day

80

No data available

Send you an approval or a rejection notification letter within 100 business days of receiving a fully complete applicant package

80

No data available

Send you a payment within 30 business days of receipt of a duly completed and documented claim

80

91

AgriDiversity

Service standard

Target (%)

Results for April 2020 to March 2021 (%)

Respond to general inquiries made to our phone number and email address before the end of the next business day

80

96

Acknowledge receipt of your application within 1 business day

80

100

Send you an approval or a rejection notification letter within 100 business days of receiving a fully complete applicant package

80

100

Send you a payment within 30 business days of receipt of a duly completed and documented claim

80

75

AgriInnovate

Service standard

Target (%)

Results for April 2020 to March 2021 (%)

Respond to general inquiries made to our phone number or email address before the end of the next business day

80

90

Acknowledge receipt of your application within 1 business day

80

96

Send you an approval or a rejection notification letter within 100 business days of receiving a fully complete applicant package

80

67

Send you a payment within 30 business days of receipt of a duly completed and documented claim

80

76

AgriInvest

Service standard

Target (%)

Results for April 2020 to March 2021 (%)

Percentage of applications processed to issuance of the deposit notice in 45 days or less

85

99

AgriMarketing: National Industry Association

Service standard

Target (%)

Results for April 2020 to March 2021 (%)

Respond to general inquiries made to our phone number or email address before the end of the next business day

80

95

Acknowledge receipt of your application within 1 business day

80

100

Send you an approval or a rejection notification letter within 100 business days of receiving a fully complete applicant package

80

No data available

Send you a payment within 30 business days of receipt of a duly completed and documented claim

80

95

AgriMarketing: Small and Medium-sized Enterprise

Service standard

Target (%)

Results for April 2020 to March 2021 (%)

Respond to general inquiries made to our phone number or email address before the end of the next business day

80

100

Acknowledge receipt of your application within 1 business day

80

No data available

Send you an approval or a rejection notification letter within 100 business days of receiving a fully complete applicant package

80

No data available

Send you a payment within 30 business days of receipt of a duly completed and documented claim

80

90

AgriRisk Initiatives: Administrative Capacity Stream

Service standard

Target (%)

Results for April 2020 to March 2021 (%)

Respond to general inquiries made to our phone number and email address before the end of the next business day

80

100

Acknowledge receipt of your application within 1 business day

80

100

Send you an approval or a rejection notification letter within 100 business days of receiving a fully complete applicant package

80

67

Send you a payment within 30 business days of receipt of a duly completed and documented claim

80

No data available

AgriRisk Initiatives: Research and Development Contribution Funding Stream

Service standard

Target (%)

Results for April 2020 to March 2021 (%)

Respond to general inquiries made to our phone number or email address before the end of the next business day

80

93

Acknowledge receipt of your application within 1 business day

80

100

Send you an approval or a rejection notification letter within 100 business days of receiving a fully complete applicant package

80

80

Send you a payment within 30 business days of receipt of a duly completed and documented claim

80

76

AgriRisk Initiatives: Microgrants

Service standard

Target (%)

Results for April 2020 to March 2021 (%)

Respond to general inquiries made to our phone number or email address before the end of the next business day

80

93

Acknowledge receipt of your application within 1 business days

80

100

Send you an approval or a rejection notification letter within 100 business days of receiving a fully complete applicant package

80

20

Send you a payment within 30 business days of receipt of a duly completed and documented claim

80

100

AgriScience: Projects

Service standard

Target (%)

Results for April 2020 to March 2021 (%)

Respond to general inquiries made to our phone number or email address before the end of the next business day

80

96

Acknowledge receipt of your application within 1 business day

80

93

Send you an approval or a rejection notification letter within 100 business days of receiving a fully complete applicant package

80

87

Send you a payment within 30 business days of receipt of a duly completed and documented claim

80

94

AgriStability

Service standard

Target (%)

Results for April 2020 to March 2021 (%)

Percentage of applications processed to the issuance of a Calculation of Program Benefits statement in 75 days or less

75

88

Canada Brand

Service standard

Target (%)

Results for April 2020 to March 2021 (%)

Respond to general inquiries made to our phone number or email address before the end of the next business day

80

98

Acknowledge receipt of your application within 1 business day

80

100

Send you a final approval or rejection notification within 10 business days following receipt of a fully documented application

80

100

Canada Pavilion Program

Service standard

Target (%)

Results for April 2020 to March 2021 (%)

Respond to inquiries before the end of the next business day

80

100

Acknowledge receipt of your application within 1 business day

80

100

Send a final approval or rejection notification within 48 hours of receiving the fully documented application

80

100

Canadian Agricultural Strategic Priorities Program

Service standard

Target (%)

Results for April 2020 to March 2021 (%)

Respond to general inquiries made to our phone number or email address before the end of the next business day

80

86

Acknowledge receipt of your application within 1 business day

80

65

Assess your application and send you an approval or a rejection notification letter within 100 business days of receiving a fully complete applicant package

80

63

Send you a payment within 30 business days of receipt of a duly completed and documented claim

80

91

Canadian Loans Act Program

Service standard

Target (%)

Results for April 2020 to March 2021 (%)

Respond to general inquiries made to our phone number or email address before the end of the next business day

80

100

Register loans received from lenders within fifteen (15) business days

80

100

Canadian Soil Information System

Service standard

Target (%)

Results for April 2020 to March 2021 (%)

Provide an estimated delivery date for information products within 3 business days

80

98

Dairy Direct Payment Program

Service standard

Target (%)

Results for April 2020 to March 2021 (%)

Respond to general inquiries made to our phone number or email address before the end of the next business day

80

100

Dairy Farm Investment Program

Service standard

Target (%)

Results for April 2020 to March 2021 (%)

Respond to general inquiries made to our phone number or email address before the end of the next business day

80

95

Acknowledge receipt of your application within 1 business day

80

99

Assess your application and send you an approval or a rejection notification letter within 100 business days of receiving a fully complete applicant package

80

83

Send you a payment within 30 business days of receipt of a duly completed and documented claim

80

89

Dairy Processing Investment Fund

Service standard

Target (%)

Results for April 2020 to March 2021 (%)

Respond to general inquiries made to our phone number or email address before the end of the next business day

80

100

Acknowledge receipt of your application within 1 business day

80

93

Assess your application and send you an approval or a rejection notification letter within 100 business days of receiving a fully complete applicant package

80

100

Send you a payment within 30 business days of receipt of a duly completed and documented claim

80

76

Domestic Statistics and Market Information – Horticulture

Service standard

Target (%)

Results for April 2020 to March 2021 (%)

Reports: Daily Update Frequency

80

95

Reports: Weekly Update Frequency

80

73

Reports: Monthly Update Frequency

80

100

Reports: Annual Update Frequency

80

100

Domestic Statistics and Market Information – Poultry and Egg

Service standard

Target (%)

Results for April 2020 to March 2021 (%)

Reports: Daily Update Frequency

80

No data available

Reports: Weekly Update Frequency

80

91

Reports: Monthly Update Frequency

80

93

Reports: Annual Update Frequency

80

89

Domestic Statistics and Market Information – Red Meat and Livestock

Service standard

Target (%)

Results for April 2020 to March 2021 (%)

Reports: Daily Update Frequency

80

No data available

Reports: Weekly Update Frequency

80

96

Reports: Monthly Update Frequency

80

93

Reports: Annual Update Frequency

80

83

Emergency Processing Fund

Service standard

Target (%)

Results for April 2020 to March 2021 (%)

Respond to general inquiries made to the program's phone number or email address within two (2) business days

80

100

Acknowledge receipt of applications within one (1) business day

80

100

Assess applications and send approval or rejection notification letters within 50 business days of receiving a complete application package

80

93

Emergency On-Farm Support Fund

Service standard

Target (%)

Results for April 2020 to March 2021 (%)

Respond to general inquiries made to our phone number and email address before the end of the next business day

80

93

Acknowledge receipt of applications within one (1) business day (if you submit your application by mail or fax it may take longer to receive an acknowledgement)

80

99

Process your application within 50 business days

80

89

Process the payment within 30 business days upon receipt of a completed claim form and signed Contribution Agreement

80

85

Farm Debt Mediation Service

Service standard

Target (%)

Results for April 2020 to March 2021 (%)

Respond to general inquiries made to our phone number and email address before the end of the next business day

80

98

Notify you if your application has been accepted or not by the end of the next business day

80

97

Have all necessary documentation sent to creditors and producers 7 business days prior to the mediation meeting

80

84

Schedule the first meeting within 70 calendar days after acceptance of your application

80

89

Geospatial Products

Service standard

Target (%)

Results for April 2020 to March 2021 (%)

Provide an estimated delivery date for information products within 3 business days

80

100

Global Analysis

Service standard

Target (%)

Results for April 2020 to March 2021 (%)

Respond to general inquiries made to our phone number or email address before the end of the next business day

80

100

Provide an estimated delivery date for information products within 3 business days

80

100

Indigenous Agriculture and Food Systems

Service standard

Target (%)

Results for April 2020 to March 2021 (%)

Respond to general inquiries made to our phone number or email address before the end of the next business day

80

94

Acknowledge receipt of your application within 1 business day

80

91

Send you an approval or a rejection notification letter within 100 business days of receiving a fully complete applicant package

80

36

Send you a payment within 30 business days of receipt of a duly completed and documented claim

80

82

Living Laboratories Initaitive: Collaborative Program

Service standard

Target (%)

Results for April 2020 to March 2021 (%)

Respond to general inquiries made to our phone number or email address before the end of the next business day

80

100

Acknowledge receipt of your application within 1 business day

80

No data available

Send you an approval or a rejection notification letter within 100 business days of receiving a fully complete applicant package

80

No data available

Send you a payment within 30 business days of receipt of a duly completed and documented claim

80

100

Local Food Infrastructure Fund: Infrastructure and Equipment Improvement Projects

Service standard

Target (%)

Results for April 2020 to March 2021 (%)

Respond to general inquiries made to our phone number or email address before the end of the next business day

80

89

Acknowledge receipt of your application within 1 business day

80

99

Send you an approval or a rejection notification letter within 100 business days of receiving a fully complete applicant package

80

93

Send you a payment within 30 business days of receipt of a duly completed and documented claim

80

95

Mandatory Isolation Support for Temporary Foreign Workers Program

Service standard

Target (%)

Results for April 2020 to March 2021 (%)

Respond to general inquiries made to our phone number or email address before the end of the next business day

80

94

Acknowledge receipt of the application within 3 business days

80

91

Process the application within 30 business days

80

60

Process the payment within 30 business days upon receipt of a completed claim form and signed Contribution Agreement

80

69

Market Access Services

Service standard

Target (%)

Results for April 2020 to March 2021 (%)

Single Window requests will receive an acknowledgement on the same business day

80

99

Response to your inquiry will follow within 5 business days

80

94

National Agro Climate Information Services (Drought Watch)

Service standard

Target (%)

Results for April 2020 to March 2021 (%)

Respond to general inquiries before the end of the next business day

80

100

Provide an estimated delivery date for information products within 3 business days

80

100

Office of Intellectual Property and Commercialization

Service standard

Target (%)

Results for April 2020 to March 2021 (%)

Respond to general inquiries made to our phone number or email address before the end of the next business day

80

100

Issue a draft co-operative research and development agreement for review 20 days following receipt of all required documentation (work plan, budget, Science Director recommendation, completed risk assessment)

80

100

Respond to a client's enquiry regarding posted licensing opportunities within 5 business days

80

95

Notify successful proponents 20 business days after the close of the RFP. (reported annually in Q4)

80

100

Price Pooling Program

Service standard

Target (%)

Results for April 2020 to March 2021 (%)

Respond to general inquiries made to our phone number or email address before the end of the next business day

80

100

Send an agreement to the approved applicants for review and signature within 8 weeks following receipt of a duly completed application

80

No data available

Saint-Hyacinthe Research and Development Centre

Service standard

Target (%)

Results for April 2020 to March 2021 (%)

Respond to general inquiries made to our phone number or email address before the end of the next business day

80

97

Acknowledge receipt of application within 1 business day

80

100

Assess your application and send you an approval or a rejection decision notification within 10 business days

80

100

Surplus Food Rescue Program

Service standard

Target (%)

Results for April 2020 to March 2021 (%)

Respond to general inquiries made to our phone number or email address before the end of the next business day

80

95

Acknowledge receipt of applications within one business day

80

97

Assess applications and send approval or a rejection notification letter within 30 business days or less of receiving a complete application package

80

96

Send you a payment within 30 business days of a duly completed and documented claim

80

100

Youth Employment and Skills Program

Service standard

Target (%)

Results for April 2020 to March 2021 (%)

Respond to general inquiries made to our phone number or email address before the end of the next business day

80

99

Acknowledge receipt of application within 1 business day

80

96

Assess your application and send you an approval or a rejection notification letter within 50 business days of receiving a fully complete applicant package

80

100

Send you a payment within 30 business days of a duly completed and documented claim

80

80