Commission on the Reform of Ontario's Public Services

Chapter 16: Operating and Back-Office Expenditures
As an example, Ontario health cards are now renewed every five years. Extending that
renewal cycle to seven or 10 years could avoid significant costs without compromising
security. Expanded electronic infrastructure might also lead to additional revenue through bulk
data sales; it is also more compatible with transparency goals, such as “open government”
initiatives. Moving from paper to digital records can save time, is environmentally friendly, and
results in higher-quality services.
C. Investment in Growth
Recommendation 16-4: The government needs to increase ServiceOntario’s current annual
$2 million capital budget.
This shift would allow ServiceOntario to make the necessary changes to more effectively
deliver its service. As ServiceOntario expands, a small capital budget increasingly limits its
ability to secure efficiency gains, particularly where investment in new technology is
necessary for additional savings in the future. Most capital, in particular information
technology, is antiquated and denies the possibility of automation and amalgamations of
information systems.
Recommendation 16-5: Savings from efficiency gains in ServiceOntario operations should be
used to generate a fiscal dividend.
ServiceOntario has generated efficiency gains on a number of fronts, and our proposed
recommendations are designed to create more. To date, most of these efficiency gains have
been put towards service improvements. In the current fiscal context, savings from further
efficiency gains should be used to generate a fiscal dividend and make ServiceOntario an
important contributor to fiscal sustainability. Further gains must come from capital, but there
could — and likely will — be separate sources.
Recommendation 16-6: Where possible, private-sector participation should be used to move
ServiceOntario further towards a full cost recovery model.
A significant opportunity exists for ServiceOntario to find new capital and expand services by
leveraging private-sector investment and participation through competition. Partnerships with
the private sector can provide better value for taxpayer money, as private-sector investments
and expertise can drive expansion while still delivering a fiscal dividend. In these cases,
private-sector delivery must meet the standards expected of public service delivery, such as
the provision of service in both official languages.
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