Learning Tools

Learning Roadmaps

Finance - Functional Specialists  

Your Partner in Learning

The Canada School of Public Service provides learning products and training opportunities to advance Public Service Renewal and to enhance your job performance now and in the future.

If you are a public service employee working in the field of finance this learning roadmap is for you.

It will guide the creation of your personal learning plan and help you to achieve your learning goals. It outlines required training and professional development courses available from the School. This roadmap will get you started on the right path and point you in a clear direction throughout your career in the public service.

• link to theKey Leadership Competencies
• Learning Continuum From Entry Level to Executive
• Checklist to Develop Your Personal Learning Plan
• Language Acquisition and Maintenance
• Online Learning
• Required Training for Federal Government Employees
• Required Training for Financial Management Specialists
• Recommended Learning for Financial Management Officers (FI)
• Recommended Learning for Public Servants with Financial Responsibilities

---

Key Leadership Competencies

The Public Service of Canada has developed and adopted a Key Leadership Competencies Profile that reflects the skills, abilities and characteristics that all public service employees require in order to meet the challenges of today and tomorrow. In support of this initiative, the learning activities found in this roadmap have been mapped against these competencies.

• Values and Ethics
  Serving through integrity and respect
• Strategic Thinking
  Innovating through analysis and ideas
• Engagement
  Mobilizing people, organizations and partners
• Management Excellence
  Delivering through action management, people management and financial management

These competencies can help you identify the effective behaviours that leaders at all levels must adopt, as well as ineffective behaviours to be avoided. They will help focus discussions on performance, learning needs and career plans. For more information on these leadership behaviours, please visit the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat External link.

The School is being praised by Finance Specialists for providing training and tools specifically tailored for the finance community of the federal public service.

Learning Continuum From Entry Level to Executive

For financial management officers and public servants with financial responsibilities, the School provides learning products in the following areas:

• Required training for new financial management officers (FI) with less than five years' experience.
• Management and professional development, such as finance courses for public service employees at all levels.
• Leadership development courses to assess, maintain or improve your second official language proficiency level.
• Official language acquisition and maintenance courses to assess, maintain or improve your second official language proficiency level.

The School can assist with a variety of classroom and online learning products and services - whether you need to enhance your skills and abilities in your functional specialty by improving your knowledge of policies, legislation and procedures or whether you want to further your career by strengthening your leadership, business and personal-interpersonal abilities.

Getting Started

The Government of Canada's Policy on Learning, Training and Development External link indicates that employees are responsible for acquiring and maintaining the knowledge, skills and competencies related to their position and for developing and pursuing their personal learning plan, which may include measures to strengthen their second official language skills.

Checklist to Develop Your Personal Learning Plan

• Assess your current competencies against the Key Leadership Competencies to identify gaps, determine your learning needs and establish career goals.
• Consult the School's catalogue to select courses that meet your needs.
• Record these activities in your personal learning plan and determine, with your manager, which courses you can take and when.
• Register for these learning activities with the School.

Interested in a Finance Development Program?

Discover the Financial Management Officer Recruitment and Development (FORD) Program External link. It offers access to top-notch training and opportunities for professional development in finance.

Language Acquisition and Maintenance

The School helps you to plan your language training needs, provides you with access to leading-edge online language training products and tools and facilitates access to pre-qualified external providers of language training services across Canada. The Language Maintenance and Acquisition Cycle (C248) is a self-directed online course to help you prepare a language learning plan.

Online Learning

The School offers access to many different learning products and tools in both official languages. They cover an extensive range of subjects that enable you to deepen your knowledge and improve your skills according to your professional needs and interests. Get a MyAccount and start your e-learning today.

Required Training for Federal Government Employees

Orientation to the Public Service
The Orientation to the Public Service (E131) program focuses on equipping new public service employees with a foundational understanding of government and the concepts of the values, ethics and responsibilities that they will draw upon throughout their careers in the Public Service of Canada.

Authority Delegation Training
Newly appointed supervisors, managers and senior managers at all levels can benefit from an overview of the policies and accountabilities governing their activities, roles and responsibilities. The aim of the Authority Delegation Training is to provide leaders with the essentials of human resources, finance, procurement, information management and related fields.

• Essentials of Supervising in the Public Service (G124)
• Essentials of Managing in the Public Service (G110)
• Essentials of Managing in the Public Service for New Executives (EX-01) (G126)
• Essentials of Executive Management (EX-02 and EX-03) (G127)

Required Training for Financial Management Specialists

Financial management officers (FI-01 to FI-04) with less than five years of experience as of September 1, 2010, are required to complete the following courses within a specific timeframe and order as listed below. This timeframe was temporarily extended in fall 2011 to adapt to the current fiscal environment. For new financial management officers, the timeframe for course completion commences the day they join the FI occupational group.

Three years:

• Financial Management Control Frameworks (F111)

Four years:

• Government Planning, Budgeting, Reporting and Evaluation Cycle (F112)
• Financial Management Systems (F113)

Through this curriculum, participants will get an overview of the policies and accountabilities governing their activities. They will gain a better understanding of financial management frameworks, the financial management life cycle in the federal government, as well as departmental and central financial management systems.

For further information on required training programs, please contact your departmental Required Training Coordinator or the School's Client Contact Centre.

Recommended Learning for Financial Management Officers (FI)

Functional

• Preparing Treasury Board Submissions and Cabinet Documents (F708)   

Strategic

• Financial Management Strategic Series: 2- or 3- hour workshops and seminars targeted to senior financial officers and designed to develop critical thinking capabilities and to explore various relevant topics.

Developmental

• Creating Powerful Presentations (T037)  
• Effective Decision Making (T904)   
• Fostering a Culture of High Performance (G215)  
• Mediating Conflict (T905)   
• Negotiating Skills (T006)     
• Productive Teamwork (T413)  
• Project Management (R901)   
• Service Standards Lifecycle Management (T177)     
• Writing Reports Strategically (T015)    

Management and Leadership Courses

• For more information, please consult the Managers Roadmap.

Recommended Learning for Public Servants with Financial Responsibilities

Accounting

As a public service employee with financial responsibilities, you are expected to have basic knowledge of this field as well as a good understanding of all its facets.

• Accounting and Control of Expenditures (F601)  

Resource Stewardship

• Business Analysis (F106)  
• Fundamentals of Budget Formulation and Control (F002)   
• Orientation to Financial Management (F007)   

Planning, Budgeting and Managing Public Funds

• Essentials of Financial Management (C339E)      
• Managing Grants and Contributions (F405)    
• Preparing a Business Case (C220)    
• Preparing Treasury Board Submissions and Cabinet Documents (F708)   

Management and Leadership Courses

• For more information, please consult the Managers Roadmap.

It's Your Future!

The School offers you other tools and practical approaches to enhance your skills and core competencies. It gives you access to flexible learning approaches that go beyond the classroom to accommodate a wide range of learning styles in a variety of settings such as: armchair discussions, events, forums, workshops and seminars.

Some changes may have been made to various learning products listed in this document. For more information, please consult the School's catalogue.

Contact Us

If you have any questions about the School, its products or services, please contact the Client Contact Centre.