| Strategic Plan (2005)
Vision
To be recognized as a centre of excellence for the nations vital statistics organizations by providing leadership in the gathering and reporting of quality health and population information as well as leadership for providing security for Canadians through protection of vital event records and documents.
Mission
As a national organization, we strive for the most secure, consumer focussed, innovative system for registering and certifying births, deaths, and marriages in the world: A system that yields public health data that are of the highest quality.
Mandate
· Discuss and make recommendations to the respective governments for the betterment of the Canadian Vital Statistics System in the areas of legislation, administration, operations, statistics, and the use and delivery of services; and
· Establish liaisons with federal, provincial and territorial bodies that use the Canadian Vital Statistics System.
Values
Security : As an organization, VSCC strongly believes in a system that protects against the improper use of data entrusted to vital statistics organization/agencies.
Integrity : As an organization, VSCC demonstrates honesty and sincerity in all of its dealings, upholds the highest ethical principles, and provides open and transparent communications to create informed opinion (Source: City of Hamilton, 2003, Strategic Plan).
Accountability : As a National Council, we take ownership and responsibility for strengthening the system of Vital Statistics in Canada.
Innovation : We think broadly and strategically, encourage proactive and creative ideas from our membership and our stakeholders and promote the development of simple effective solutions.
Quality : To work towards continuous improvement of Vital Statistics data through the development of standards and guidelines to ensure their relevance in meeting health surveillance, policy development and other health information needs.
Excellence : The VSCC strives for excellence in all aspects of Vital Statistics; from the development of the highest quality statistics to meet information needs to the innovation of processes and development of standards and guidelines to better serve Canadians.
Operational Overview
The Vital Statistics Council for Canada (VSCC) is comprised of the heads of all provincial and territorial government vital event registries and the director of the Health Statistics Division of Statistics Canada. VSCCs purpose is to provide leadership in creating, promoting, supporting and maintaining an effective and efficient vital statistics system in Canada that integrates vital record registration and certification with the compilation of health statistics.
Activities of VSCC include (but are not restricted to);
· Developing the Canadian vital statistics system with sensitivity to provincial and territorial systems;
· Identifying, developing and promoting “best practices” relevant to the administration of vital statistics;
· Establishing partnerships between members as well as with clients and other stakeholders;
· Coordinating services and products offered by member organizations;
· Establishing national standards for collection of vital event data and administration of vital records;
· Liaising with other national and international organizations charged with responsibilities for vital event registration, certification and reporting;
· Promoting the adoption of uniform legislation, policies and procedures for the recording, certification and reporting of vital events.
Members meet in person at least once a year to discuss and resolve issues that affect the national system. In addition, teleconference meetings are held quarterly or more often as issues warrant. The Executive Committee of the VSCC carries on the day-to-day work of the VSCC and meets at least once a month by teleconference. Other committees are created as required to handle issues and projects that warrant the concentrated efforts of more than one person.
Statistics Canada, under agreement, provides funding for VSCC activities, staff resources for administrative support, and special projects. The provinces and territories contribute staff resources and in some cases funding for specific projects. VSCC members are appointed, generally, as an adjunct to their employment mandate.
External and Internal Factors
Planning Context
A number of external and internal factors influence VSCC's strategic plan. External factors include the heightened awareness of the need to enhance national security, increased pressure on Canada's health system, advancements in technology, and the Canadian economy. Internal factors pertain to how VSCC is funded and variability in how each province/territories vital statistics organization functions which is a likely a function of where vital statistics is placed in provincial/territorial. These factors are discussed further in this section of VSCC's strategic plan.
External Factors
National Security
The events of September 11 2001established the need to protect western nations from terrorism. One of the protections identified was the need to know who is crossing borders, boarding aircraft, accessing weapons and a myriad of potentially terrorist activities. This need to know brought attention to the problem of identity fraud and identity theft. As producers of foundation identity documents the vital statistics community is significantly affected by decisions regarding individual identity and national/international security.
The Health System
Steadily increasing pressure on Canada's health system has resulted in an increased demand for health information and health statistics. Good information is a requirement for knowledge or results based decision-making. As the vital statistics organizations of Canada are the collectors of both birth and death information, and the Health Statistics Division of Statistics Canada is one of Canada's key compilers of health statistics and information, demands for higher quality data, statistics and information are steadily increasing for VSCC and its members.
Technology
Recent advances in technology have raised expectations of the public, client groups and stakeholders as to what vital statistics organizations are capable of. As more and more technological advances are made, there will be an expectation that national issues can and will be resolved by implementing newly available technology. These advances in technology also present exciting opportunities to enhance services provided and the quality of the data collected by members.
The Economy
Provincial, territorial, and federal governments are dealing with a significant number of competing interests when allocating resources to programs and projects. In the early 21 st century the Canadian economy has proven to be somewhat less than stable. The enhancement of existing programs and the implementation of new programs will very much depend upon the economic performance of the country as a whole as well as in the various regions of the country. As VSCC and its member organizations are primarily dependant on the allocation of resources by governments they will be significantly affected by economic performance in the country as well as the spending priorities of provincial, territorial and the federal government.
Internal Factors
The Nature of VSCC
By its nature the authority of VSCC is limited to the authority granted by its sponsor organizations, the federal, provincial and territorial governments of Canada. VSCC members have different levels of participation and differing expectations of the Role of VSCC. As a result it is sometimes difficult to obtain consensus as to how a specific issue should be addressed and VSCC has no authority to enforce any decisions it does make.
VSCC is funded by the federal government though the Health Statistics Division of Statistics Canada and by “in kind” contributions by its members. The lack of a dedicated source of funds places a substantial restriction on VSCCs ability to control its own destiny.
Operational Sphere
The VSCC is the interface between Statistics Canada, the provincial/territorial vital statistics registries and the international Vital Statistics community. Such a position allows it to promote and co-ordinate the Canadian Vital Statistics System as a national system but also requires that it support and advise its member as they respond to the demands of their distinct environments.
Factors Internal to VSCC
Organizational Variation
A substantial variation in mandate, resources, organizational complexity, and degree of automation exists amongst VSCC members, as does a variation in the vision of what should be the role and purpose of the VSCC. These differences arise from differing priorities in senior government policies that affect the direction of each member organization. Differences in the reporting relationships within governing ministries affect the focus of data collection in each jurisdiction. In addition the level of commitment and support from senior governments of the broad uses of Vital Statistics (e.g., for research and planning) for the benefit of Canadian society affect the priorities of the VSCC.
System Variations
There is considerable variety among individual vital statistics organizations regarding reporting relationships, mandate, size, organizational complexity, available resources, service availability and delivery methods, level of cost recovery, and degree of automation. With such variation any contemplated strategic initiatives will require methodical negotiations and respect for member autonomy.
Technological Variations
Computer technology is recognized as a core component on which other aspects of the national heath and health information systems will depend. This technology has also been identified as a key component for strengthening Canada's methods for identification of individuals. There are a number of key areas of concern, which include the absence of hardware, software, interoperability standards among systems, access to data, data consistency, and use-literacy at the community/service provider level. Additionally, advances have not been evenly implemented in all components of the national system. Technological upgrades are expensive and some jurisdictions are not large enough with sufficient resources to undertake them. As a result, there is a core capacity building requirement associated with technology issues.
Public and Private Information
The Canadian Vital Statistics System has an enviable record regarding the protection of private information. The next few years will witness a considerable increase in demands for more specific information generated by the reformation of freedom of information legislation and the proliferation of information technologies. Requests for local data, an expanded client base, and the demand for marketable output products will require the VSCC's member organizations to find a judicious balance between the need to protect private information and to provide information to clients in the public interest.
Goals, Objectives and Strategie
Goal 1 – To be the National Authority in all matters related to collecting, authenticating and analyzing vital events in Canada.
1.1 Objective: Establish Council as a central focal point for vital statistics at the national level.
1.1.1 Strategy: Maintain a Council website to communicate information about Council and link to Provincial/Territorial websites.
1.1.2 Strategy: Assist in the effective management of relationships between members and stakeholders throught the establishment of Committees of Council as required.
Goal 2 – To advocate for the provision of timely, high quality vital events data that contributes significantly to Canada's network of Health Statistics.
2.1 Objective: Improve the quality and timeliness of data collected by the provinces and territories.
2.1.1 Strategy: Provide jurisdictions with quality measures for birth and death data files and monitor compliance; implementation of a national report card.
2.1.2 Strategy: Establish standards for reporting births at borderline viability.
2.1.3 Strategy: Establish a standard model handbook of medical certification.
2.1.4 Strategy: Improve timeliness of data collection through implementation of the National Routing System.
2.2 Objective: Publish Canadian Statistics on Same-Sex Marriages
2.2.1 Strategy: Establish standards for recording and reporting Same-Sex Marriages.
Goal 3 – To develop and advocate for the Implementation of effective security related to protecting information contained in vital event records.
3.1 Objective: To foster registration and certification processes that ensure appropriate levels of security over vital event records and documents.
3.1.1 Strategy: Development of national standards for the registration and certification of vital events and protection of vital event records.
3.1.2 Strategy: Development of certificate stock incorporating effective security features.
3.1.3 Strategy: Facilitate the joint purchasing of certificate stock to ensure consistency of certificates across jurisdictional boundaries.
3.1.4 Strategy: Improve the timeliness of inter-jurisdictional death and change of name reporting through the implementation of inter-jurisdictional messaging on the National Routing System.
3.1.5 Strategy: Facilitate access to birth registries for birth certificate verification by stakeholders through the National Routing System.
3.1.6 Strategy: Improve the completeness of inter-jurisdictional death reporting through the international exchange of death information with the US through the National Association for Public Health Statistics and Information Systems.
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