Human Resources Committee charter

1. Mandate

1.1 The mandate of the Human Resources Committee is to assist the Board of Management in fulfilling its oversight responsibilities by reviewing the management of human resources within the Agency and providing recommendations and advice on the Agency's human resources management strategies, risks, initiatives, and policies.

2. Composition

2.1 The Committee will be comprised of a minimum of at least three directors from the Board, including a Chair, and a Vice-Chair.

2.2 Based upon changes in Board membership throughout the year, the Chair of the Board, in consultation with the Chair of the Committee, will review the composition of the Committee and recommend to the Board any changes in Committee membership. All changes in Committee membership will be approved by resolution of the Board at the earliest opportunity.

2.3 The Chief Human Resources Officer and Assistant Commissioner of the Human Resources Branch shall attend as an observer in regular closed sessions of the Committee. Any other person not having business before the Committee (i.e. not on the agenda for a particular meeting) may attend the meeting if approved by the Chair of the Committee twenty-four (24) hours prior to the meeting. Any request to attend the meeting shall be submitted in writing to the Corporate Secretary no less than forty-eight (48) hours prior to the meeting.

3. Responsibilities and duties

3.1 To fulfill the mandate bestowed upon it by the Board, the Committee will:

1. review and monitor the development of the Agency's human resources management strategy to determine whether human resources plans and initiatives will enable the Agency to achieve its strategic objectives;
2. review and monitor the processes in place for succession planning within the Agency;
3. review and, when appropriate, recommend to the Board approval of the Agency's human resources policies;
4. manage the involvement of the Board in collective bargaining processes and approve, on the Board’s behalf, collective bargaining mandates for the Agency during negotiations (pursuant to Resolution # 2010-2011-09);
5. review the terms and conditions of employment for executives and non-represented employees, and may recommend the approval of same to the Board;
6. review and make recommendations to the Board on the Agency's compliance with legislative requirements in areas dealing with human resources management such as the Canada Labour Code, the Official Languages Act, the Employment Equity Act, and the Accessible Canada Act;
7. review investments and strategies for employee training, education, and development;
8. review the Agency culture initiatives, survey results, data, and progress indicators and report to the Board on the extent to which the Agency culture is aligned with its business strategy, organizational structure and practices;
9. monitor employee engagement plans and results, and provide related advice to the Agency as appropriate and report to the Board any implications on the achievement of Agency priorities;
10. develop a Human Resources Committee work plan on an annual basis, identifying priorities and objectives;
11. review and approve annual performance objectives for the Commissioner-CEO;
12.  undertake an annual performance evaluation for the Commissioner-CEO to complement the federal government’s performance assessment process for deputy heads, for transmittal to the Clerk of the Privy Council; and
13. undertake any other duties the Board may delegate to the Committee.

3.2 In discharging their duties under this mandate, each member of the Committee shall be obliged to exercise the care, diligence and skill a reasonable person would exercise in comparable circumstances.

3.3 In discharging its duties under this mandate, the Committee may seek and rely in good faith upon any report of a lawyer, accountant, an officer of the Agency or any other person whose profession provides credibility to the statement made by such person.

4. Operating procedures

4.1 Meetings

Meetings of the Committee will take place in accordance with the procedures set out in sections 9, 17, and 18 of Board of Management by-law #1. All meetings of the Committee are closed meetings. At the start and at the end of each meeting of the Committee, there may be an in camera session for independent members scheduled on the agenda. There may also be an in camera session with the Commissioner scheduled on the agenda, at the beginning and/or the end of each meeting of the Committee.

Directors, who are not members of the Committee, may attend the regular and/or in camera sessions as observers, upon consent of the Committee Chair.

The Chair of the Committee may adopt any combination of in camera sessions as they may deem appropriate.

Section 7.1 of the Board of Management Governance Manual, "Meeting Modalities", defines and describes the procedures for closed and in camera meetings / sessions.

4.2 Absence of Committee Chair

In the absence of the Committee Chair, the Committee Vice-Chair will act as Chair.

4.3 Secretary

Unless the Committee specifies otherwise, the Corporate Secretary will act as Secretary for all meetings of the Committee.

4.4 Reporting to the Board

The Committee, through its Chair, will report to the Board, in an abridged manner, at the next regular Board meeting while ensuring the following elements are included in the report:

• Giving an overview of items discussed;
• Inviting comments or questions from other Board members; and
• Bringing any recommendations and/or decisions for the Board.

4.5 Minutes

Minutes of each meeting of the Committee will be prepared by the Secretary or their staff, and provided to members for review and approval at the next meeting of the Committee.

4.6 Reading material

Reading material for each Committee meeting will be available in both official languages and provided to Committee members by the Corporate Secretary. Every effort is to be made to allow Committee members at least two weekends for review of the material before the meetings. Committee members will be expected to have read the material prior to the meeting and thus will be expected to participate fully in Committee discussions on the subject matter contained within the reading material.

4.7 Legal Advice

At any time, Committee members may seek legal advice from the legal counsel assigned to the Board of Management by the CRA. All requests for advice will be made in writing to the Agency's legal counsel, with a copy provided to the Corporate Secretary.