Departmental Evaluation Plan, fiscal years 2024 to 2025 until 2028 to 2029
On this page
- List of acronyms
- Deputy Head Departmental Evaluation Plan confirmation note
- Executive summary
- Introduction
- Accomplishments in fiscal year 2023 to 2024
- Evaluation coverage in fiscal year 2023 to 2024
- Evaluation operating environment
- Evaluation resources
- Going forward
- Annex 1 – Evaluation planning process
- Annex 2 – Evaluation governance
- Annex 3 – Planned evaluation coverage from fiscal years 2024 to 2025 until 2028 to 2029
Alternate formats
Departmental Evaluation Plan, fiscal years 2024 to 2025 until 2028 to 2029 [PDF - 683 KB]
Large print, braille, MP3 (audio), e-text and DAISY formats are available on demand by ordering online or calling 1 800 O-Canada (1-800-622-6232). If you use a teletypewriter (TTY), call 1-800-926-9105.
List of acronyms
- EI
- Employment Insurance
- ESDC
- Employment and Social Development Canada
- FAA
- Financial Administration Act
- GBA Plus
- Gender-Based Analysis Plus
- LMDA
- Labour Market Development Agreement
- PMEC
- Performance Measurement and Evaluation Committee
- TBS
- Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat
- WAGE
- Women and Gender Equality Canada
Deputy Head Departmental Evaluation Plan confirmation note
I approve the Departmental Evaluation Plan of Employment and Social Development Canada for 2024 to 2029. I submit it to the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat as required by the Policy on Results.
I confirm that this 5-year rolling Departmental Evaluation Plan:
- plans for evaluation of all ongoing programs of grants and contributions with 5-year average actual expenditures of $5 million or greater per year at least once every 5 years, in fulfillment of the requirements of subsection 42.1 of the Financial Administration Act
- meets the requirements of the Mandatory Procedures for Evaluation
- supports the requirements of the expenditure management system including, as applicable, Memoranda to Cabinet, Treasury Board Submissions, and resource alignment reviews
I will ensure that this Plan is updated annually. I will provide information about its implementation to the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat, as required.
Paul Thompson
Deputy Minister of Employment and Social Development
Executive summary
As per the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat (TBS) Policy on Results, Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC) must develop and publish an annual 5-year departmental evaluation plan. Informed by an annual consultative planning exercise and building on last year’s accomplishments, this plan targets the evaluation coverage of ESDC’s program spending for fiscal years 2024 to 2025 until 2028 to 2029, with a focus on departmental needs, risks, and priorities.
In fiscal year 2023 to 2024, ESDC evaluations continued to play an important role in the results agenda by examining the relevance and performance of departmental programs, policies, and services. The Department also continued to develop innovative approaches, including those that support the Government of Canada’s commitments to Gender-based Analysis (GBA) Plus, reconciliation with Indigenous peoples, and the assessment of programs’ effectiveness.
Key accomplishments in fiscal year 2023 to 2024
Several key achievements were realized over the course of the fiscal year 2023 to 2024:
- 8 evaluation reports and 39 technical reports were completed to support programs and the Employment Insurance (EI) Commissioners for Employers and Workers at the Canada Employment Insurance Commission
- 8 evaluation reports completed in collaboration with provinces and territories on Labour Market Development Agreements (LMDAs)
- 5 program evaluations were formally initiated
- collaboration with the Head of Performance Measurement on the drafting and the implementation of the ESDC Performance Measurement Improvement Plan
- reviewed Treasury Board Submissions and Memoranda to Cabinet and input was provided to program officials
- conduced the second neutral assessment of ESDC Evaluation function
Going forward
The Department tentatively plans to complete 8 evaluations in fiscal year 2024 to 2025. In the years ahead, the evaluation function will continue to:
- rely on a collaborative approach with policy and program officials to provide timely evidence to inform decisions
- apply state-of-art econometric techniques and improve the use of causal machine learning methods to better capture program impacts across various socio-economic sub-groups in support of GBA Plus
- support the Head of Performance Measurement towards improving performance measurement information and providing advice to internal stakeholders
- engage with Indigenous organizations and communities to co-develop culturally appropriate evaluation approaches of Indigenous programs in support of reconciliation
- engage experts to stay informed and adopt best practices from other jurisdictions, departments, and disciplines
- collaborate with evaluation practitioners to strengthen the evaluation function across government
- look for opportunities for data integration and use of innovative methods (quantitative and qualitative) to inform the impact of programs on specific sub-groups in support of the Department’s ongoing implementation of GBA Plus
Introduction
Purpose of the Plan
This rolling 5-year Plan, required under the TBS Policy on Results, describes all planned evaluations to be undertaken by ESDC from April 2024 to March 2029. In addition to addressing the requirements of the Policy on Results, the Plan is designed to assist the Deputy Head by ensuring the availability of factual, neutral, and timely information on the ongoing relevance and performance of the Department’s programs and services. The information obtained through evaluations supports evidence-based decision-making and helps inform Canadians of departmental results. The Plan also helps ensure transparency in the decision-making process for the evaluation function, highlighting priorities and coverage decisions.
The Plan is informed by an annual planning exercise that identifies the timing of individual evaluations based on the requirements of the Policy on Results, departmental needs, risks, and priorities. The development and implementation of the Departmental Evaluation Plan includes:
- reviewing various sources of information to identify all mandatory evaluations and assess coverage of the programs
- consulting with program officials, key internal committees, and TBS
- assessing risk when determining the timing and order of future evaluations, prioritizing mandatory evaluations and evaluations that are most likely to inform major policy and program decisions
- validating prioritization and securing final approval from the Deputy Head
- leaving some flexibilities for changing departmental context and environment, and co-development, where applicable
Annex 1 provides more information about the Evaluation Planning Process.
Departmental context
The mandate of ESDC is to build a stronger and more inclusive Canada, to support Canadians in helping them live productive and rewarding lives and improving Canadians’ quality of life. To that end, the Department delivers a range of over 50 programs and services that affect Canadians throughout their lives and across the country. Programs include transfer payments to provinces and territories and to third-party organizations via grants and contributions, transfer payments to individuals via statutory programs, and the administration and enforcement of workplace legislation as well as service delivery.
The Department’s portfolio includes: (1) ESDC, (2) the Labour Program, and (3) Service Canada:
- ESDC delivers a range of programs and services that assist Canadians throughout their life. For instance, it provides seniors with basic income security, supports unemployed workers while helping them return to employment, assists parents who are raising young children, helps students to finance their post-secondary education, and help youth overcome barriers to employment. The Department also assists persons with disabilities and their families
- The Labour Program fosters safe, healthy, fair, and inclusive work environments and cooperative workplace relations in the federal jurisdiction
- Service Canada serves as the point of access for some of the Government’s largest and most well-known programs and services. This includes EI, Old Age Security, Canada Pension Plan, Canadian Dental Care Plan, Social Insurance Number, and Passport Program
ESDC expenditures on programs and services totalled $173.5 billion in fiscal year 2022 to 2023. Of that amount, $153.2 billion will directly benefit Canadians through statutory transfer payment programs. These include the Employment Insurance, the Canada Pension Plan, the Old Age Security, and other transfer payments in support students, apprentices, and persons with disabilities. The Department also delivered various measures to support early learning and childcare, youth and helped Canadians gain the foundational skills needed to succeed in today’s economy.Footnote 1
Evaluation Directorate mandate
The Evaluation Directorate is mandated to evaluate the relevance and performance of departmental programs, policies, initiatives, and services. The Directorate influences policy and program design and service delivery through rigorous analysis and evidence presented in evaluation reports, as well as via technical reports, syntheses, and supplemental studies. In that context, the Directorate works with program officials and senior management on the evaluation process through an inclusive approach to governance (Annex 2).
The ESDC Head of Evaluation is responsible for leading the evaluation function within the Department. Pursuant to the 2016 Policy on Results, ESDC Head of Evaluation has direct and unimpeded access to the ESDC Deputy Head, when required, for the performance of his/her responsibilities.
The Evaluation Directorate supports program officials at all stages of the program and policy lifecycle:
- at the initial stage, officials use evaluations to help inform the development of new programs and policies, including their delivery and approach to service, and to support the elaboration of data collection strategy
- during implementation, officials use evaluation findings and recommendations to guide adjustments or program renewal
- as a program or policy matures or winds down, officials can use evaluations to inform lessons learned for future programs or policies
Lastly, the Directorate reports on the implementation of management response action plans. This approach promotes a system of continuous improvement throughout the program and policy cycle.
Working Horizontally within Government
ESDC frequently collaborates on joint evaluations with other departments and agencies on government priorities, horizontal initiatives, and where departmental responsibilities, results or program outcomes are shared or related. For example, ESDC recently collaborated with Public Safety Canada on the Horizontal Evaluation of the National Strategy to Combat Human Trafficking. In addition, ESDC is leading the horizontal evaluation of the Youth Employment and Skills StrategyFootnote 2 with the participation of 11 federal partner organizations as well as the horizontal evaluation of the Indigenous Early Learning and Child Care Transformation Initiative with 3 federal partner organizations.
ESDC also frequently engages with Statistics Canada to facilitate data linkages for evaluation purposes. Furthermore, in fiscal year 2023 to 2024, the Canada Revenue Agency supported ESDC in carrying-out specific evaluation activities to ensure responsible stewardship of Canadian citizens' information.
Women and Gender Equality Canada
Since November 2021, the responsibility for 3 youth programs (Canada Service Corps, Student Work Placement Program, and the Youth Employment and Skills Strategy) has been delegated to the Minister for Women and Gender Equality (WAGE) and Youth. Responsibility for these programs remains with ESDC and they are part of ESDC’s Program Inventory. Evaluation deliverables are presented to the WAGE Performance Measurement and Evaluation Committee (PMEC) for discussion and approval by the WAGE Deputy Minister.
Accomplishments in fiscal year 2023 to 2024
From April 2023 to March 2024, the ESDC PMEC reviewed and approved various evaluation products, including evaluation reports and evaluation plans. Evaluation products and services addressed information needs, responded to key priorities in the Department and contributed to the improvement of programs and services.
Supporting evidence-based decisions
Evaluation products and services influenced and supported evidence-based decision-making. These include:
- 8 evaluation reports that cover diverse program and policy areas, in addition to 8 evaluation reports on the impact and effectiveness of the LMDAs in Alberta, Manitoba, Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, the Yukon, the Northwest Territories, and Nunavut
- 33 recommendations contributing to improvements of the evaluated programs and 51 actions that seek to address these recommendations
- 39 technical reports covering 9 different programs to support program officials
- the review of Treasury Board Submissions and Memoranda to Cabinet to inform policies and programs
- innovative approaches and state-of-the-art techniques (for example, machine learning) in impact evaluation and cost-benefit analysis methodologies to address policy-relevant questions
- peer reviews for select evaluation results and evaluation methodologiesFootnote 3
Sharing knowledge through dissemination and engagement
In fiscal year 2023 to 2024, the Department continued to disseminate evaluation findings and engage with partners inside and outside of the federal government. These activities included sharing evaluation-related knowledge through publications, presentations, and engagement activities, through several presentations at conferences, including the Canadian Economics Association Conference, the Canadian Evaluation Society Conference, and the congress of la Société Canadienne de science économique.
The Department also:
- participated in a workshop co-hosted between the European Commission and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development in October 2023 on leveraging administrative data for impact evaluations for labour market programs
- strengthened and broadened its network with the academic community to explore new avenues of knowledge dissemination and collaboration
- shared experience in the area of methodology and net impact assessment, including the use of machine learning, in the context of TBS-hosted learning activities for federal analysts and researchers
- engaged in Federal/Provincial/Territorial discussions on the results of various studies and best practices to design and deliver programs (for example, Labour Market Partnerships, Research, and Innovation)
Efforts to support the implementation of Gender-Based Analysis Plus
GBA Plus is an analytical process that assesses the potential impacts of policies, programs, services, and other initiatives on diverse groups of people, considering gender and other intersecting identify factors such as, age, education, language, and disability. The Department strives to include GBA Plus considerations when it designs, develops, implements, and evaluate programs and services. ESDC will continue to look for opportunities for data integration and use of innovative quantitative and qualitative evaluation methods to inform the impact of programs on specific sub-groups in support of the Department’s implementation of GBA Plus.
Quality of Life Framework
The Quality of Life Framework aims to unify several new analytical lenses (for example, GBA Plus, Official Languages, Reconciliation, Sustainability) and measure Canada’s progress through both material and non-material factors (for example, health, social connections, and nature). By focusing on 5 key domains — Prosperity, Health, Good Governance, Society, and Environment — the Framework provides a holistic perspective on well-being in Canada. The Framework provides evidence to support government decisions, helps ensure that policy and programs enhance the lives of people in Canada, and offers a holistic evidence base with a structured framework for analyzing complex policy problems to provide more comprehensive, consistent, and coherent policy advice while making trade-offs more explicit. ESDC is working towards including this framework as part of its departmental reporting, including, to the extent possible, as part of its evaluations.
Evaluation coverage in fiscal year 2023 to 2024
The Department uses a consultative process to inform decisions on priorities, evidentiary needs, and timing of future evaluations. This approach prioritizes mandatory evaluations and evaluations that are most likely to inform major policy and program decisions.
In fiscal year 2023 to 2024, 8 planned evaluations were completed (see Table 1), including those required under the Financial Administration Act as well as the Policy on ResultsFootnote 4. ESDC met the public release timeliness standards set by the TBS in fiscal year 2023 to 2024.
In collaboration with program officials, 5 evaluation plans were developed in fiscal year 2023 to 2024. These documents outline options for evaluating a given program or service and contain information on the scope, methodology and timing of an evaluation project. The PMEC is responsible for reviewing and approving these documents.
| Evaluation reports | Completion date |
|---|---|
| Evaluation of the Future Skills Program - 2018 to 2023 | June 2023 |
| Evaluation of the Canada Education Savings Program (part 2) | June 2023 |
| Evaluation of the Supports for Student Learning Program | June 2023 |
| Mid-cycle assessment of the Youth Employment and Skills Strategy Footnote 5 | August 2023 |
| Evaluation of the Canada Student Financial Assistance Program -Canada Student Loan Forgiveness for Family Doctors and Nurses Benefit | October 2023 |
| Evaluation of the Social Development Partnerships Program | February 2024 |
| Evaluation of the Canada Student Financial Assistance Program: Loan Repayment | February 2024 |
| Evaluation of the Canada Service Corps | March 2024Footnote 6 |
| Labour Market Development Agreements - Provincial/Territorial Reports | Completion date |
|
May 2023 |
|
August 2023 |
|
December 2023 |
Evaluation products continued to support the Commissioners for Employers and Workers at the Canada Employment Insurance Commission by examining labour market issues and supporting the work of the Monitoring Report and Advisory Committee. In collaboration with ESDC’s EI Policy Directorate, the Evaluation Directorate carried out supplemental studies to inform the annual EI Monitoring and Assessment Report.
Consultations
The annual consultation process for this Plan was conducted in November 2023 to identify key evaluation priorities, evidentiary needs, and timing of future evaluations. Consultation participants included program officials and stakeholders with specialized expertise (for example, the Head of Performance Measurement, departmental research divisions, the Chief Data Officer Branch, and Internal Audit Services). The 2023 consultations re-emphasized the need to:
- carefully review the timing and scope of proposed evaluations to optimize their usefulness and value
- ensure the complementarity of oversight activities (for example, audits)
- inform recently introduced measures, and policy priorities
- take into consideration the capacity of programs and reduce the burden of the evaluation process
- leverage linkages between evaluation and research activities to inform evaluation projects, particularly in the area of the service delivery
Using information obtained through the consultations, the Evaluation Directorate determined the priorities, evidentiary needs, and the timing of future evaluations.
In addition, the consultation sessions facilitated collaboration among different groups within the Department who are involved with data management to increase the availability and integration of data within the Department. The evaluation planning process also included consultations with Treasury Board Secretariat officials.
Once mandatory evaluations have been scheduled, the Department considers additional discretionary evaluations using an analysis of risk, needs and priorities as well as internal capacity to carry out evaluation activities. Through this analysis evaluators consider the perspectives of key partners and stakeholders as well as internal risks. The Department considers key departmental risks, including the Risk-Based Audit Plan. In situations where audit and evaluation schedules overlap for the same program, the Evaluation Directorate collaborates with Internal Audit Services to ensure the complementarity of internal audit/evaluation activities. This provides a means of efficiently examining performance and outcomes.
Neutral Assessment
The 2016 Policy on Results requires Deputy Heads to be responsible for ensuring that a neutral assessment of the evaluation function is conducted at least once every 5 years. The last neutral assessment of the ESDC evaluation function was conducted in April 2018. It found overall conformance of ESDC’s evaluation function with the Policy on Results.
In 2023, BDO Canada LLP was contracted to conduct the second neutral assessment of the ESDC Evaluation function. The neutral assessment covered the period from 2018 to 2019 until 2022 to 2023. The main findings from the neutral assessment include:
- the evaluation function at ESDC generally conforms (highest rating) with the requirements of the 2016 Policy on Results
- the Head of Evaluation is fulfilling its mandated responsibilities as set out in the 2016 Policy on Results
- the evaluation function has delivered valued information and advice about important departmental programs and the risks and challenges associated with these programs
The neutral assessment put forward 4 recommendations:
- Reinforce the perceived neutrality of the evaluation function
- Facilitate proactive responses to evolving departmental priorities
- Make consistent use of a quality assurance process
- Enhance corporate knowledge transfer processes
ESDC agrees with the recommendations and has outlined actions to address them.
Evaluation operating environment
The Plan includes an overview of the environment in which the Evaluation Directorate is operating. This includes the quality and availability of program data and the impact of the operating context.
The importance of data to evaluation
Evaluations rely on performance measurement information and other quantitative and qualitative data to determine the relevance of programs and services, and whether they deliver value for money.
The Department Head of Evaluation supports the Department Head of Performance Measurement in the development of performance measurement and data collection plans for ESDC’s portfolio of programs. The Evaluation Directorate is also a key stakeholder in the development and the implementation of the ESDC Performance Measurement Improvement Plan, which includes a transition to a thematic approach to Performance Information Profiles.
The Evaluation Directorate works closely with ESDC’s Chief Data Officer Branch to ensure alignment with the ESDC Data Strategy, including the advancement of a joint ESDC-Statistics Canada Data Strategy and to encourage programs to engage with the Chief Data Officer Branch early on data collection plans. This collaboration helps improve the ability to leverage data and analytics for policy analysis, research, and evaluation purposes, including from a GBA+ and Quality of Life Framework lenses.
ESDC is collaborating with Statistics Canada to explore the feasibility of establishing a labour market data platform. Hosted under the umbrella of Statistics Canada, this platform would bring together data from ESDC, Statistics Canada, and participating provinces and territories, to facilitate the integration of data for the purpose of conducting analysis on the effectiveness of ESDC’s labour market programs.
Evaluation resources
Resource allocation
To support the evaluation function in fiscal year 2023 to 2024, the Department allocated the equivalent to 57 full-time staff for a total salary cost of about $6.43 million. Note that these figures are limited to the ESDC Evaluation Directorate and do not account for resources allocated by other branches in the Department associated with the conduct of evaluations. To meet short-term capacity demands, the Department uses flexible staffing approaches, including hiring students, casual employees, and external experts to fill specific capacity gaps.
In fiscal year 2024 to 2025, the total Evaluation budget is forecasted to increase slightly from fiscal year 2023 to 2024. The forecasted amount for salary expenditures for fiscal year 2024 to 2025 is $6.61 million, and forecasted operations and maintenance is $0.75 million. The Department will continue to plan evaluations with a focus on new and modified programs and services in addition to undertaking previously planned evaluations (with priority given to evaluations having a Financial Administration Act (FAA) requirement).
Descriptive Text for Figure 1:
| Year | Salaries | Operations and Maintenance | Total | Full-Time Equivalent Employees** |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 to 2017 | $4.68 | $0.90 | $5.58 | 49 |
| 2017 to 2018 | $5.69 | $1.01 | $6.70 | 59 |
| 2018 to 2019 | $5.26 | $0.79 | $6.05 | 58 |
| 2019 to 2020 | $6.62 | $1.18 | $7.80 | 71 |
| 2020 to 2021 | $6.53 | $1.32 | $7.85 | 69 |
| 2021 to 2022 | $6.60 | $1.19 | $7.79 | 69 |
| 2022 to 2023 | $6.29 | $0.74 | $7.03 | 66 |
| 2023 to 2024 | $6.43 | $0.59 | $7.02 | 57 |
| 2024 to 2025* | $6.61 | $0.75 | $7.36 | 60 |
- * Figures in fiscal year 2024 to 2025 are projected figures
- ** FTEs do not include students or planned hiring
Going forward
The Department tentatively plans to complete 8 evaluations in fiscal year 2024 to 2025. In the years ahead, evaluations will continue to:
- rely on a collaborative approach with policy and program officials to provide timely evidence to inform decisions
- apply state-of-art econometric techniques and improve the use of causal machine learning methods to better capture program impacts across various socio-economic sub-groups in support of GBA Plus
- support the Head of Performance Measurement towards improving performance measurement information and providing advice to internal stakeholders
- engage with Indigenous organizations and communities to co-develop culturally appropriate evaluation approaches of Indigenous programs in support of reconciliation
- engage experts to stay informed and adopt best practices from other jurisdictions, departments, and disciplines
- collaborate with evaluation practitioners to strengthen the evaluation function across government
- look for opportunities for data integration and use of innovative methods (quantitative and qualitative) to inform the impact of programs on specific sub-groups in support of the Department’s ongoing implementation of GBA Plus
This document provides a planned evaluation coverage table in Annex 3. The table demonstrates that the Department will meet coverage requirements mandated by the TBS, the Policy on Results, and the Financial Administration Act. This is in addition to completing discretionary evaluations designated as a priority by the Department. Given the scale and unique objectives of each EI benefit, the EI program will be subject to more than 1 evaluation from fiscal years 2024 to 2025 until 2028 to 2029. Planned evaluation coverage from fiscal year 2024 to 2025 to fiscal year 2028 to 2029 may be subject to change, given funding and operational considerations.
Programs of grants and contributions that do not have a 5-year average actual expenditure of $5 million or greater per year are not required to be evaluated every 5 years. These programs include:
- Accessible Canada Initiative
- Canadian Benefit for Parents of Young Victims of Crime
- Sustainable Development Goals Funding Program
- Strategic Engagement and Research Program
Programs that are temporary are not required to be evaluated but may be subject to other reviews. These programs include:
- Canada Emergency Response Benefit
- Canada Recovery Benefits
- Canada Worker Lockdown Benefit
The following programs from ESDC’s program inventory do not currently have planned evaluation dates but will be considered for inclusion in future evaluation plans:
- International Labour Affairs ProgramFootnote 7
- Job bank
- Citizen Service Network
- Canadian Digital Service
- Government of Canada Internet Presence
- Government of Canada Telephone General Enquiries Services
As per the Directive on Transfer Payments, the Black-led Philanthropic Endowment Fund is required to conduct an independent evaluation.
Annex 1 – Evaluation planning process
Overview of the ESDC Evaluation Planning Cycle
The ESDC evaluation planning cycle is an inclusive approach to planning and governance that is compliant with Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat (TBS) requirements.
The ESDC Evaluation Directorate constantly collects and analyzes facts informing the Department Evaluation Plan while collaborating and sharing knowledge with key internal/external partners to reflect the continuous planning. This cycle composes of 5 areas, which are outlined below.
1. Gather information to understand the evaluation environment
Factors include:
- departmental mandate, program spending and priorities
- mandate Letters
- most recent Budget
- Departmental Results Framework
- Departmental Risk Profile
- Financial Administration Act and TBS submission requirements
- available evaluation resources
- challenges and opportunities (for example, data availability/quality, Audit Services Plan)
2. Consult/engage to understand partners’ needs and concerns
Key partners include:
- Department’s senior management
- program management staff
- Central Agencies
- ESDC Internal Audit Services
- Chief Data Officer Branch
- Head of Performance Measurement
- Department’s Research Divisions
- other departments/agencies
- working/oversight committees
3. Analyze to balance the needs, resources, and mandatory requirements
Prioritization of evaluation projects that keep in mind:
- mandatory requirements according to the Financial Administration Act and the Policy on Results
- submissions to the TBS, Memoranda to Cabinet, and other legislative requirements
- departmental risks, priorities, needs and concerns
- program-specific risks
- Audit Services projects (and other oversight functions)
- balance of efforts and available resources
4. Get approval* to validate prioritization
Key partners include:
- Departmental senior management
- ESDC Internal Audit Services
- Chief Data Officer Branch
- Head of Performance Measurement
- Department’s research functions
- Performance Measurement and Evaluation Committee
*Deputy Head provides final approval
5. Communicate, implement and monitor to ensure transparency
Necessary actions to communicate and adapt to the changing environment include:
- share the plan with TBS
- make the plan publicly available
- monitor progress and adjust priorities, scope, and timing, if necessary
- administer a questionnaire to program officials following evaluations to measure the performance of the Evaluation Directorate
- report on completed evaluations in the subsequent plan
Annex 2 – Evaluation governance
Performance Measurement and Evaluation Committee
Composed of senior-level ESDC partners, including the Head of Evaluation.
- approves the Departmental Evaluation Plan
- reviews evaluation reports, including management responses
- approves Evaluation Plans and Evaluation Strategies
- discusses follow-up on action plans
Evaluation Advisory Committee
Composed of stakeholders from across ESDC and/or other departments and agencies such as TBS Program Sector and Finance Canada (Director-General level and below).
- identifies options for evaluation scope
- discusses preliminary findings
- provides input for the final report
Evaluation working group
Composed of partners from across ESDC (Director-level and below).
- focuses on technical aspects
- performs data collection and analysis
- provides input for the preliminary report
Annex 3 – Planned evaluation coverage from fiscal years 2024 to 2025 until 2028 to 2029
| # | Planned fiscal year of Deputy Head approval | Planned evaluation name | Last program evaluation | Reason for evaluation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2024 to 2025 (first quarter) | Horizontal Evaluation of Indigenous Early Learning and Child Care Transformation InitiativeFootnote 8 | This is the first planned evaluation | FAA requirement |
| 2 | 2024 to 2025 (first quarter) | Evaluation of the Skills and Partnership Fund | February 2020 | FAA requirement |
| 3 | 2024 to 2025 (first quarter) | Evaluation of the Apprenticeship Grants | July 2019 | FAA requirement |
| 4 | 2024 to 2025 (second quarter) | Evaluation of the Work-Sharing Program | March 2016 | Departmental needs/risks |
| 5 | 2024 to 2025 (fourth quarter) | Horizontal Evaluation of Youth Employment and Skills Strategy | August 2023Footnote 9 | FAA requirement |
| 6 | 2024 to 2025 (fourth quarter) | Evaluation of Indigenous Skills and Employment Training ProgramFootnote 10 | February 2020 | FAA requirement |
| 7 | 2024 to 2025 (fourth quarter) | Evaluation of the Canada Disability Savings Program | December 2018 | Departmental needs/risks |
| 8 | 2024 to 2025 (fourth quarter) | Evaluation of the Foreign Credential Recognition Program | July 2020 | FAA requirement |
| 9 | 2025 to 2026 | Evaluation of Employment Insurance Fishing Benefits | June 2006Footnote 11 | Departmental needs/risks |
| 10 | 2025 to 2026 | Evaluation of the Opportunities Fund for Persons with Disabilities | December 2020 | FAA requirement |
| 11 | 2025 to 2026 | Evaluation of the New Horizons for Seniors Program | December 2020 | FAA requirement |
| 12 | 2025 to 2026 | Evaluation of the Labour Standards Program | February 2019 | Departmental needs/risks |
| 13 | 2025 to 2026 | Evaluation of the Occupational Health and Safety Program | February 2019 | Departmental needs/risks |
| 14 | 2025 to 2026 | Evaluation of the Workplace Equity Program | December 2018 | Departmental needs/risks |
| 15 | 2026 to 2027 | Evaluation of Employment Insurance Caregiving Benefits | April 2019Footnote 12 | Departmental needs/risks |
| 16 | 2026 to 2027 | Evaluation of the Passport ProgramFootnote 13 | March 2020 | Departmental needs/risks |
| 17 | 2026 to 2027 | Evaluation of the Enabling Fund for Official Language Minority CommunitiesFootnote 14 | March 2022 | FAA requirement |
| 18 | 2026 to 2027 | Evaluation of the Wage Earner Protection Program | March 2022 | Departmental needs/risks |
| 19 | 2026 to 2027 | Evaluation of the Canadian Apprenticeship Strategy | February 2023Footnote 15 | FAA requirement |
| 20 | 2026 to 2027 | Evaluation of the Early Learning and Child Care Innovation Funding | This is the first planned evaluation | FAA requirement |
| 21 | 2026 to 2027 | Evaluation of Student Work Placement Program | January 2022 | FAA requirement |
| 22 | 2026 to 2027 | Evaluation of the Migrant Workers Support ProgramFootnote 16 | June 2021 | Departmental needs/risks |
| 23 | 2027 to 2028 | Evaluation of the Service Delivery Partnerships program | This is the first planned evaluation | Departmental needs/risks |
| 24 | 2027 to 2028 | Evaluation of the Federal Workers’ Compensation Service | July 2018 | Departmental needs/risks |
| 25 | 2027 to 2028 | Evaluation of the Guaranteed Income Supplement | December 2020 | Departmental needs/risks |
| 26 | 2027 to 2028 | Evaluation of the Old Age Security Program | January 2020 | Departmental needs/risks |
| 27 | 2027 to 2028 | Evaluation of the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Program | June 2021 | Departmental needs/risks |
| 28 | 2027 to 2028 | Evaluation of the Social Finance Fund | This is the first planned evaluation | FAA requirement |
| 29 | 2027 to 2028 | Evaluation of the Canada Apprentice Loan | October 2020 | Departmental needs/risks |
| 30 | 2027 to 2028 | Evaluation of the Enabling Accessibility Fund | December 2022 | FAA requirement |
| 31 | 2027 to 2028 | Evaluation of the Skills for Success Program | October 2022 | FAA requirement |
| 32 | 2027 to 2028 | Evaluation of the Sectoral Workforce Solutions Program | March 2023 | FAA requirement |
| 33 | 2027 to 2028 | Evaluation of Employment Insurance Extended Parental Benefits | November 2022 | Departmental needs/risks |
| 34 | 2027 to 2028 | Horizontal Evaluation of Indigenous Early Learning and Child Care Transformation InitiativeFootnote 17 | First Quarter of fiscal year 2024 to 2025 (Planned) | Commitment in Treasury Board submission |
| 35 | 2028 to 2029 | Evaluation of the Labour Market Development Agreements (fourth cycle)Footnote 18 | November 2022 | Commitment in Treasury Board submission |
| 36 | 2028 to 2029 | Evaluation of the Workforce Development AgreementsFootnote 19 | March 2022 | Commitment in Treasury Board submission |
| 37 | 2028 to 2029 | Employment Insurance Sickness Benefits: Eligibility Period Extension | June 2020Footnote 20 | Departmental needs/risks |
| 38 | 2028 to 2029 | Supports for Students Learning Program Evaluation | June 2023 | FAA requirement |
| 39 | 2028 to 2029 | Evaluation of the Future Skills Program | June 2023 | FAA requirement |
| 40 | 2028 to 2029 | Evaluation of the Social Development Partnerships Program | February 2024 | FAA requirement |
| 41 | 2028 to 2029 | Canada Service Corps Evaluation | March 2024 | FAA requirement |
| 42 | 2028 to 2029 | Evaluation of the Canada Student Financial Assistance Program | February 2024 | Departmental needs/risks |
Page details
- Date modified: