CSPS (Canada School of Public Service) Video Summaries

Welcome! Below you will find concise summaries of the highlights and insights from long videos from the Canada School of Public Service. Designed for busy public servants, the summaries generated by NotebookLM allow you to quickly capture key insights from the School’s fantastic educational content. Whether you’re looking to enhance your skills or stay updated with the latest public service trends without spending hours watching videos, this page ensures you get the information you need, fast and efficiently.

Although I am a public servant myself, please note that I am not affiliated with the School, and the summaries are independently created and not officially sanctioned by the Canada School of Public Service.

2025-12-08 – Democracy in Practice Series: Measuring Democracy
An academic presentation examining different methods and indexes used to measure democracy globally, comparing expert-based measurements with public opinion data to understand how democratic trends are assessed and perceived.
2025-12-05 – International Day of Persons with Disabilities 2025
Public servants with disabilities share their journeys and insights on workplace accessibility, accommodations, and creating truly inclusive government environments.
2025-12-02 – Beyond Good Intentions: Making Work Fair
This video presents a framework for achieving workplace equity through systematic changes to everyday processes, moving beyond good intentions to implement fair, data-driven approaches that create equal opportunities for all employees.
2025-11-27 – National Day for Truth and Reconciliation 2025
A Canadian government event commemorating the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation focuses on advancing economic reconciliation through Indigenous innovation, featuring speakers discussing Indigenous data sovereignty, digital inclusion, and meaningful employment opportunities.
2025-11-06 – Lessons in Leadership and Foresight with Dr. Theresa Tam
Canada's Chief Public Health Officer Dr. Theresa Tam discusses her career journey, approach to public health leadership, report development processes, pandemic response lessons, and advice for public servants on intersectoral collaboration and building trust.
2025-10-31 – Enhancing Environmental Stewardship and Policy Development Through Indigenous Science
A presentation by Dr. Myrle Ballard discussing Three-Eyed Seeing framework that combines Indigenous science, Western science, and the voice of the land itself to enhance environmental stewardship and policy development.
2025-10-09 – Reflections by Yoshua Bengio
An interview with Professor Yoshua Bengio discussing artificial intelligence, its potential applications in Canadian government service, and the skills civil servants need to develop for responsible AI adoption.
2025-10-08 – Navigating Strategic Policy Decisions
A Canadian government official explains the formal and informal aspects of policy decision-making in government, emphasizing how policy analysts at all levels can influence outcomes through quality advice and collaborative teamwork.
2025-10-08 – Canada's Policy Ecosystem and the Factors that Influence It
A Canadian government official explains the policy ecosystem concept, discussing the complex network of actors and processes involved in policy-making, and provides advice on essential skills and approaches for effective policy analysis.
2025-10-08 – Innovative Approaches to Policy Development
A Canadian government policy leader discusses navigating polycrises in public service, emphasizing the need for long-term thinking, fostering innovation through allowing mistakes, and adapting quickly to rapidly changing circumstances.
2025-10-08 – Fostering Federal, Provincial and Territorial Relations in Health Policy Development
A Health Canada Assistant Deputy Minister shares insights on policy development, federal-provincial collaboration, and building consensus in health policy through expert consultation and relationship building.
2025-10-08 – Communicating Persuasively in Policy Making
Isabella Chan, Senior Assistant Deputy Minister at Natural Resources Canada, shares strategies for effective communication and briefing skills in government roles.
2025-10-06 – Preparing for Negotiations
This video explains the importance of thorough preparation in negotiation and outlines key elements that should be considered before entering any negotiation to increase chances of success.
2025-10-06 – Best Practices for Effective Negotiations
The video explains essential negotiation skills and strategies used by experienced negotiators, including asking good questions, active listening, making strategic proposals, and achieving successful outcomes that benefit all parties.
2025-10-06 – Defining Negotiation
This video explains the broad definition of negotiation beyond simple deal-making, covering its applications in decision-making, problem-solving, and leadership, while introducing a framework for categorizing negotiations based on the number of parties and issues involved.
2025-10-06 – Avoiding Common Mistakes When Negotiating
A negotiation expert explains how to avoid the "mythical fixed pie" fallacy and use collaborative strategies to create win-win outcomes in multi-issue negotiations.
2025-09-18 – Reflections by Nik Nanos
Nik Nanos, one of Canada's foremost pollsters with 30 years of experience, discusses his journey from small-town Ontario to becoming a leading observer of Canadian society, sharing insights about scientific polling methodology and his early career experiences.
2025-09-15 – Navigating the Public Service as a New Public Servant
This video presents two former public servants turned professors discussing the foundational principles and practical guidance for navigating a successful career in Canadian public service, covering concepts like non-partisanship, the public good, and the public service bargain.
2025-09-15 – Looking at Canadian Energy Up Close
A Canadian energy historian explains how Canada has successfully navigated multiple energy transitions throughout its history and discusses the country's current position in transitioning away from fossil fuels.
2025-08-27 – Being Curious as a Public Servant
This presentation by Dr. William Hatcher explores how curiosity drives better decision-making, innovation, and service delivery in public administration, drawing from research on curious public administrators.
2025-08-25 – The Strategic Context, with Janice Stein
This video features a discussion between Canadian government officials about how public servants must adapt their mindset to operate effectively in a dramatically changed global security environment where traditional boundaries between civilian and military spheres have dissolved.
2025-08-25 – The Role of Managers Throughout the Procurement Process
A Canada School of Public Service training session where procurement experts discuss the roles and responsibilities of government managers who become "business owners" when they need to acquire goods and services for their departments.
2025-08-20 – Financial Management Essentials Series: Understanding the Expenditure Management Cycle
This is a foundational financial management learning session for Government of Canada public servants explaining the expenditure management cycle and decision-making processes for managing public funds.
2025-08-14 – Addressing Microaggressions Towards Indigenous Peoples
This educational video uses a workplace scenario to demonstrate how insensitive comments about Indigenous peoples constitute microaggressions and provides guidance on understanding reconciliation and colonial impacts.
2025-08-14 – Reflections by Mel Cappe
This video features former Canadian Clerk of the Privy Council Mel Cappe reflecting on his role in managing Canada's response to the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks and the subsequent crisis management challenges.
2025-07-31 – Reflections by Bob W. Paulson
This video features retired RCMP Commissioner Bob Paulson reflecting on his career path from military pilot to police commissioner and providing a detailed account of the October 22, 2014 Parliament Hill shooting incident, including the jurisdictional complexities that emerged during the crisis.
2025-07-25 – Transfer Procedures for Government Records
This video presents updated procedures and tools for Canadian government institutions to properly prepare and transfer both physical and digital records to Library and Archives Canada (LAC).
2025-07-25 – The Role of the Employer in the Future of Health Care
This video presents a health futurist's analysis of how the employer's role in healthcare has evolved from industrial origins to modern comprehensive benefits and explores future trends toward preventative, personalized care.
2025-07-24 – Reflections by Gary A. Bolles
A futurist and work expert discusses how artificial intelligence and rapid technological change are transforming work, human identity, and the skills needed to remain relevant in an era of unprecedented disruption.
2025-07-24 – Comparing International Energy Contexts
This is a panel discussion comparing international energy contexts across China, Germany, and Cuba, featuring experts discussing each country's energy strategies, clean technology development, and citizen interactions with energy systems.
2025-07-24 – The Future of Aging
This presentation examines the unprecedented demographic shift of global aging, exploring how society must fundamentally reimagine policies, institutions, and attitudes to address the fact that people are living decades longer than previous generations and current systems were designed for.
2025-07-17 – Deputy Minister Leadership Reflections Series: Wisdom for Young Public Servants
Senior Canadian public servants share advice and reflections on the value, impact, and rewards of a career in public service.
2025-07-10 – Reflections by Janice Stein
A conversation between Professor Janice Stein and Taki exploring the historical evolution of international relations, sovereignty, and global institutions from the Treaty of Westphalia in 1648 through the post-World War II era, examining how key events shaped modern geopolitics and the international order.
2025-07-09 – Red Dress Day 2025
This Indigenous learning event discusses Red Dress Day 2025 and Manitoba's groundbreaking initiatives to address violence against Indigenous women, girls, and 2SLGBTQIA+ people, including the establishment of a Matriarch Circle and a healing endowment fund.
2025-07-04 – Deputy Minister Leadership Reflections Series: Defining Leadership, Episode 2
Former government and organizational leaders share their perspectives on what effective leadership means, emphasizing listening, enabling others, leading by example, and creating environments for success.
2025-07-02 – Practical Advice About Evaluations for Program Managers
A panel discussion featuring government leaders discussing the value, practices, and collaborative approaches to program evaluation in the Canadian public service, with emphasis on learning, improvement, and Indigenous perspectives.
2025-06-27 – Empowering Public Servants Through Strong Leadership
A webinar presentation by Professor Tim Mau exploring the foundations, evolution, and importance of leadership in the public sector, examining how public servants at all organizational levels can and should provide leadership beyond traditional hierarchical assumptions.
2025-06-24 – A Conversation with Valerie Gideon About the Inuit Nunangat Policy
A Canadian Deputy Minister discusses the implementation of the Inuit Nunangat Policy, which aims to improve federal government relations with Inuit peoples and address their distinct needs across their homeland in Canada.
2025-06-24 – Deputy Minister Leadership Reflections Series: David Dodge
A Canadian economist and civil servant reflects on his decades-long career working through major economic policy challenges including inflation control, tax reform, deficit reduction, and healthcare reform under multiple Prime Ministers from the 1960s through the 1990s.
2025-06-19 – Facing Forward: Canada's Adaptability in a Changing World
A scholar discusses his book about Canada's need to maintain adaptability and sovereignty in the 21st century by improving anticipation, strategy development, political agreement, and execution capabilities that have eroded over recent decades.
2025-06-18 – The Manion Lecture: Serving Canada in 2025
A former Clerk of the Privy Council discusses how Canada must navigate unprecedented geopolitical realignment and economic challenges while the post-WWII international system breaks down, particularly as the United States abandons its role as architect of the rules-based order.
2025-06-12 – Deputy Minister Leadership Reflections Series: Susan Cartwright
A retired Canadian diplomat and public servant reflects on her career spanning the Foreign Service, Treasury Board Secretariat, leading the Federal Accountability Act implementation, and serving as a Public Service Commissioner.
2025-06-11 – Indigenous Inclusion and Well-Being in the Federal Public Service
This Indigenous learning event features a panel discussion on Indigenous inclusion, retention, and well-being in the Federal Public Service, exploring how to create culturally competent workplaces that reflect Indigenous values.
2025-06-05 – Reflections by Munir Sheikh
Former Chief Statistician of Canada Munir Sheikh explains why he resigned in 2010 when the government falsely attributed its decision to cancel the long-form census to his advice, and discusses his subsequent career as a fiction author addressing governmental harm to citizens.
2025-05-27 – Focusing on Ethical Practices in a Modern Public Service
A public service ethics scholar discusses the balance between values-based guidance and compliance-focused rules in the federal public service, emphasizing the need for flexibility, accountability, and meaningful integration of ethics into organizational culture.
2025-05-26 – Reflections by Margaret MacMillan
A historian discusses the nature, history, and complexities of war, exploring its definitions, relationship to human civilization, and enduring themes from ancient texts to modern contexts.
2025-05-26 – Insights on Exploring a Career in the FPS
The video features representatives from the GC Students Network and IPAC discussing resources, networking opportunities, and career development support available to students aspiring to become federal public servants in Canada.
2025-05-05 – Call to Action on Anti-Racism, Equity and Inclusion: The Way Forward
This video presents a Canadian government session connecting public service values and ethics with the Call to Action on Anti-racism, Equity, and Inclusion, featuring speakers Caroline Xavier (CSE Chief) and Gaveen Cadotte (PCO Assistant Secretary) discussing accountability and systemic change in the federal public service.
2025-04-16 – Understanding Deliberative Public Engagement
Dr. Margot Hurlbert, a Canada Research Chair in Climate Change, Energy and Sustainability, explains the concept of deliberative public engagement in policy-making, introducing the "split ladder of participation" framework to guide when and how to engage citizens in complex policy decisions.
2025-03-03 – What It Means to Be a Public Servant
A senior government official addresses public servants at a symposium about values, ethics, and the essential role of the public service in supporting democracy and serving Canadians.
2025-03-03 – Upholding Democracy, Serving Canadians - Understanding Our Role as Public Servants
This video captures a symposium focused on the core values and ethics of the Canadian public service, featuring discussions on navigating contemporary challenges such as AI and evolving societal expectations, with insights from senior leaders and public servants at various levels.
2025-03-03 – Our Journey to Date, Our Journey Ahead
A Canadian federal public service symposium on values and ethics featuring opening remarks from an Indigenous Elder and the Clerk of the Privy Council discussing the importance of ethical leadership and collective responsibility in public service.
2025-03-03 – Exploring the Use of Artificial Intelligence in the Public Service
A Canadian federal government symposium discussion on the role of artificial intelligence in public service, emphasizing the importance of values, ethics, and responsible AI adoption across government departments.
2025-02-17 – Walter Natynczyk
A former Canadian Armed Forces general shares his personal journey from childhood in Winnipeg through military college, combat deployments, and leadership roles, discussing the importance of service, enabling others' success, and maintaining humility throughout career progression.
2025-02-14 – Reconciling Personal Values with Public Service Ethics
A federal government presentation by Dr. Ian Stedman discussing the evolution of public service values and ethics, current challenges including technology and accountability, and the ongoing tensions between personal values and professional expectations in the Canadian public service.
2025-01-28 – Deputy Minister Leadership Reflections Series: Margaret Bloodworth
This video features a former Canadian civil servant sharing their career journey from growing up in Winnipeg to working in various government positions, culminating in their role as Deputy Minister of Transport.
2016-05-26 – Sir Michael Barber: Results and Delivery Unit: Lessons for Canada
Sir Michael Barber discusses the motivation, challenges, and methods of establishing the Results and Delivery Unit in the UK government and reflects on its potential application within Canada's federal system