Aboriginal Economic Development Strategic Partnerships Initiative (Close-Out Report)
In January 2018, the Treasury Board Secretariat released a new Guide to Departments on the Management and Reporting of Horizontal Initiatives. This new guide contained new requirements for horizontal initiatives, a horizontal framework, and the creation of a governance structure comprising of senior-level officialsEndnote 1. As part of the new release, TBS also went through an exercise identifying those horizontal initiatives that are mature and could submit close-out reporting rather than comply with the new requirements.
In the case of the Aboriginal Economic Development Strategic Partnerships Initiative (SPI), a program with a relatively small funding envelope ($14.5 Million per year), the decision was made for this horizontal initiative to submit a close-out report in the 2018–19 Departmental Results Report.
While the program activities are ongoing, there is no longer a need to report on the horizontal initiative because it does not meet the new guide’s definition of a horizontal initiativeEndnote 2.
Lead department: Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada (CIRNAC)
Federal partner organizations: CIRNAC; ISC; Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada; Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency; Economic Development Agency of Canada for the Regions of Quebec; Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario; Fisheries and Oceans Canada; Employment and Social Development Canada; Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada, including FedNor; Natural Resources Canada; Parks Canada; Status of Women Canada; Western Economic Diversification Canada; Environment and Climate Change Canada; Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency.
Non-federal and non-governmental partner(s): Not applicable
Start date: June 17, 2011
End date: March 31, 2019
Number of times renewed: Ongoing
| Federal organizations | Horizontal initiative activities | Program Authorities (according to the TB submission) (1) | Internal Services Authorities (according to the TB submission) (2) | Actual program spending (dollars total) (3) | Actual Internal Services spending (dollars total) (4) | Variance(s) (5) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CIRNAC | SPI | $190,200,000 | $1,756,668 | $204,723,187 | $1,756,668 | $14,523,187 |
| Totals | $190,200,000 | $1,756,668 | $204,723,187 | $1,756,668 | $14,523,187 | |
| Note: Figures cover the period from 2010–11 to 2018–19. Program authorities figure (1), includes an amount of $61,000,000 for West Coast Energy Development and Actual program spending figure (3), includes an amount of $60,075,036 for West Coast Energy Development. Program authorities and Actual program spending relate strictly to contribution funding. Internal services figures include salary, other operating costs and employee benefit plans. | ||||||
| Expected Results | Performance indicators | Trend data |
|---|---|---|
| Regional economic opportunities and large resource development projects impacting Indigenous communities are pursued in partnership with public and private sectors | Value of federal and non-federal investments leveraged under the community readiness phase of the SPIa | 2018–19: 1:4.1 2017–18: 1:3.2 2016–17: 1:≈ 2.3 2015–16: 1:1.97 2014–15: 1:1.54 2013–14: 1.2.10 2012–13: 1:1.66 2011–12: 1:2.37 2010–11: 1:0.58 |
| a This performance indicator has been used since the implementation of the SPI, however, it has only been available online since 2016–17. | ||
Brief explanation of performance: The SPI is an innovative, horizontal program intended to align federal efforts to support Indigenous participation in complex economic opportunities, particularly large regional opportunities and major resource developments. The SPI provided a mechanism for federal partners to collectively identify emerging opportunities, target investment decisions and streamline program application and approval processes to support Indigenous communities at the early stages of large and complex economic opportunities.
Between the fiscal years 2010–11 and 2018–19, the SPI has invested more than $123 million over 43 large-scale initiatives, leveraged $324 million, and fostered the creation of more than 175 partnerships. These efforts have benefitted over 400 Indigenous communities and organizations across the country in various sectors of the economy such as tourism, clean energy and fisheries.
The value of investments was gauged by what the SPI funding generated from other partners — 1:1.5. For every $1 of SPI investment, $1.50 is leveraged from other sources, including private and other public sectors. The SPI’s historical leveraging from inception to the present is that the 1:2.5 target was exceeded, a direct impact of participation by other government departments, provincial ministries, and the private sector, in initiatives that focused on opportunities in the natural resources sectors, and also in growing sectors of the economy such as those mentioned above.
Lessons learned: A clear and common direction should be established by partnering departments to ensure the SPI is on the right track and can continue to achieve its goals. A Visioning Exercise is being developed to further focus on key result areas in communications, new and existing partnerships, relationship building and path finding. In addition to the Visioning Exercise, a collaborative framework for strategic investment and business creation is currently being shaped.
The SPI governance body is focused on how SPI success stories can be shared to wider audiences — a collective effort to publicize and transfer the knowledge and the lessons learned is needed. There is also a need to:
- increase focus on building clearly defined partnerships and relationships
- develop other leveraging indicators for strategic investments
- show concrete results and capturing relevant data related to the creation of jobs and businesses — an outcome not captured in the SPI’s current data collection.
It is crucial to show clearly how Indigenous communities have benefited from the SPI initiatives.
| Federal organization | Program | Ongoing funding | Purpose |
|---|---|---|---|
| CIRNAC | Economic Development Capacity and Readiness | $14,500,000 (annually*) | Support Indigenous communities in building economic prosperity |
| Total | $14,500,000 | ||
| *Other government departments do not have an on-going budget for SPI. The partnerships established with other government departments through inter-departmental agreements have a fixed amount of funding for a fixed period of time. | |||
Fiscal year of planned completion of next evaluation: No evaluation is currently planned for this program.