Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada Five-Year Evaluation Plan 2020-2021 to 2024-2025

2.1 Roles and Responsibilities

Across the Government of Canada, evaluation is understood as the systematic and neutral collection and analysis of evidence to judge merit, worth or value. This is done to provide an assessment of, and allow for the judgement of, the relevance, performance, and efficiency with which resources are utilized. It helps to identify possible alternative ways to contribute to or achieve the same results in a more effective and efficient manner. The information evaluation provides is used to inform decision-making and make improvements.

The purpose of the evaluation function is to contribute to the Department's comprehensive, timely and reliable base of evidence to support policy and program improvement, expenditure management exercises, senior management and Cabinet decision-making and public reporting. Evaluations are playing an increasingly important role in decision-making, improvements, innovation and accountability across government. They are intended to provide transparent, clear and useful information on the results that departments have achieved and the resources used to do so, in order to manage and improve programs, policies and services as well as to allocate resources based on performance to optimize results.

2.2 Purpose of the Evaluation Plan

The primary purpose of the Evaluation Plan is to help the Deputy Minister ensure that credible, timely and neutral information on the ongoing relevance and performance of direct program spending and ongoing programs of Grants and Contributions (Gs&Cs) is available to support evidence-based decision making. The Plan also:

• Provides an opportunity to align evaluations to ensure that the information needs of the Department and other evaluation users (e.g., other government departments) are being met;
• Helps ensure that evaluations supporting program redesign are planned and completed in advance of program renewal;
• Allows departmental units responsible for the development of the Departmental Plan and the Departmental Results Report, as well as other groups engaged in strategic planning and reporting activities, to identify when evaluations will be available to inform their work;
• Initiates regular communication and consensus-building on evaluation needs and priorities across the Department; and
• Provides central agencies with advanced notice of when evaluations will be available to inform their work (e.g., in support of Memoranda to Cabinet, Treasury Board Submissions, etc.).

Moreover, the Plan serves as an important tool for the Department's Head of Evaluation and the Evaluation Branch to manage project workflow and plan the activities of its human resources.

2.3 Policy Framework and Guidance

CIRNAC is subject to the Treasury Board Policy on Results (2016) and Directive on Results (2016). The Policy on Results allows departments to establish a results framework that identifies core responsibilities, associated results and appropriate indicators. It also limits requirements so that departments will collect performance information while remitting only some of it to Treasury Board. It allows departments to prioritize evaluation coverage and issues, while professionalizing the evaluation function.

The Policy continues to require departments to report on both direct program spending and ongoing programs of Gs&Cs evaluation coverage, but permits greater flexibility by allowing for risk-based planning for direct program spending coverage, and the option to defer evaluations beyond five years where average yearly expenditures are less than $5 million (over the preceding five year period). The Policy on Results further recognizes that various types of evaluation are possible and essential to meeting the information needs of decision makers.

The Directive on Results requires evaluations to focus on relevance, effectiveness and efficiency. It also clarifies many of the requirements in support of the Policy on Results, including roles and responsibilities of individuals and the Performance Measurement and Evaluation Committee (PMEC) as well as the expectations around planning departmental evaluation coverage.    

2.4 Evaluation Planning Methodology

CIRNAC updated its Departmental Results Framework – which sets out its Core Responsibilities, Departmental Results and Departmental Results Indicators – and program inventory for 2020-2021 and evaluation planning was conducted to reflect the changes to the framework. The Evaluation Branch has taken the approach to plan for evaluations based on the core responsibilities and program inventory. This has resulted in the amalgamation of some previously distinct programs into larger programs, reflecting the streamlining efforts that have been undertaken in response to the Policy on Results. Appendix A presents the Program Inventory for CIRNAC by Core Responsibility.

In addition, there is the requirement under the Financial Administration Act (Section 42.1) to evaluate all ongoing programs of Gs&Cs every five years. Credit for evaluation coverage is granted upon deputy head approval of an evaluation report, under the premise that approval allows for the sharing of information in support of management action and the sharing of results with the public. Evaluation planning is conducted with those requirements in mind, reviewing the last fiscal year in which a program was evaluated, and scheduling completion and approval of the program evaluation five years later.  

The planning timeframe for the Department's evaluations has typically been 12 months (e.g. the date of approval for the Terms of Reference – the start of the evaluation – is generally 12 months before the planned approval date).

This Evaluation Plan is also developed in consultation with the Department's Internal Audit team, considering the Risk-Based Audit Plan. While the Evaluation Branch and the Internal Audit team are part of the Audit and Evaluation Sector, the Audit Branch continues to serve both CIRNAC and ISC while the Evaluation Branch serves CIRNAC. Consideration has been given to timing audits and evaluations in a way that does not over burden programs.

When developing the Evaluation Plan, a planning exercise is conducted in consultation with senior management and the Treasury Board Secretariat. Planned evaluation projects, scheduling and resources are discussed with senior management and recommended for approval by the Deputy Minister. 

Each evaluation on the Plan has been further assessed based on the review of Financial Administration Act or Treasury Board requirements, as well as noting whether it is a horizontal or non-horizontal evaluation.

3.1 Departmental Core Responsibilities

3.2 Program Structures

Departmental activities are largely structured by funding arrangements or formal agreements with Indigenous partners and/or provincial or territorial governments. Most departmental programs, representing a majority of spending, are delivered through partnerships with Indigenous organizations or communities, and through federal-provincial or federal-territorial agreements.

Currently, CIRNAC has 24 authorities (Gs&Cs) to support the 18 programs in its program inventory. Therefore, a one-to-one relationship does not exist in all cases between the authorities listed in the Main Estimates and the Program Inventory of ongoing programs of Gs&Cs deemed a 'program' by the Department.

A number of programs draw on multiple Gs&Cs; and conversely, there are Gs&Cs that contribute to multiple programs. This plan has been developed using the Treasury Board's Interim Guide on Results, which was updated most recently in August 2018, where there is the recognition that a 'program' of Gs&Cs can cut across two or more programs in the Program Inventory and the relationship is not always one-to-one.  

3.3 Exemptions from Section 42.1 of the Financial Administration Act

According to Section 42.1 of the Financial Administration Act, government departments and agencies must review, at least once every five years, the relevance and effectiveness of each ongoing Gs&Cs program. Note that programs that are not funded through voted Gs&Cs are not subject to the Financial Administration Act requirements. However, as per the Policy on Results (Section 2.5), programs with five-year average actual expenditures of less than $5 million per year can be exempted from Section 42.1 and do not need to be evaluated every five-year. Guidance from Treasury Board Secretariat states the five-year average is to be calculated on three years of actuals (Public Accounts) and two years of planned spending (Main Estimates). Based on these parameters, the following programs are not scheduled for evaluation:

There have been instances where a program has moved above the threshold. This most recently occurred with Northern and Arctic Environmental Sustainability, which will now be the subject of an evaluation in 2023-2024.

3.4  Planned Expenditures and Transfer Payments

According to the 2020-2021 Main Estimates, total planned spending for 2020-2021 is outlined in the table two according to the Department's core responsibilities.

4.1 Status of Evaluation Completion in 2019-20

From August 2017 to July 2019, the evaluation needs of CIRNAC and ISC were served through a common evaluation function. In July 2019, the Branch was formally divided so that each department would have its own dedicated evaluation function. The CIRNAC evaluation function continues to report through CIRNAC's Chief Audit and Evaluation Executive; however, some resources were transferred to the new ISC evaluation function, now reporting to ISC's Strategic Policy and Partnerships Sector. Looking back on the previous year, two evaluation reports addressing direct program spending were completed. These evaluations were:

• Evaluation of Nutrition North Canada (Horizontal – CIRNAC-led)
• Horizontal Evaluation of the Major Projects Management Office Initiative (led by Natural Resources Canada)

The following evaluations were conducted in 2019-20 and are planned to be completed and approved in 2020-2021:

• Evaluation of Specific Claims
• Evaluation of the Cabinet Directive on the Federal Approach to Modern Treaty Implementation (formerly "Whole of Government Approach to Modern Treaty Implementation")
• Evaluation of Engagement and Capacity Support (Federal Interlocutor's Contribution Program, Basic Organizational Capacity, and Consultation and Policy Development)
• Evaluation of Northern Contaminated Sites

4.2 Implementing the Plan

Evaluations conducted by the Evaluation Branch are used to inform decision-making and reporting (such as within the Departmental Plan, Departmental Results Report), to assess progress made by programs in achieving expected results and to incorporate lessons learned in order to improve program design and delivery. The Branch also posts approved evaluation reports on its website, after sharing reports with Treasury Board. 

The Evaluation Branch's evaluators work collaboratively with partners and stakeholders to tailor evaluation projects to meet the needs of decision makers, as well as perhaps experimenting with new and novel methodologies and approaches for use in the next generation of federal evaluation. The Policy on Results provides for more flexibility in the various types of evaluations and the identification of issues, allowing the Evaluation Branch more flexibility in scoping and calibrating its work.

The Evaluation Branch plans to move towards developing and implementing protocols for engagement with Indigenous representative organizations so that First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples can contribute their knowledge and experience throughout the evaluation process. The Department is working to build capacity in collaboration with Indigenous partners to improve the design and implementation of programming.  

4.3 Planned Evaluation Coverage

As per Table 3 below, CIRNAC plans for 16 evaluations covering 75 percent of direct program spending from 2020-2021 to 2024-25. Programs that average less than $5 million per year over the preceding five years, and are thus exempt from Section 42.1 of the Financial Administration Act, represent 0.03 percent direct program spending. However, the Evaluation Branch is taking the opportunity to evaluate two programs that are exempt from the five-year requirement. The Evaluation of Northern and Regulatory Legislative Frameworks and the Evaluation of Consultation and Accommodation are planned for 2024-25.

The remaining areas that are not subject to evaluation activities include: Internal Services (three percent); Loans ($56,303,000 – one percent), and programs and other spending that is not funded through grants and contributions (22 percent).

Planned evaluations cover 100 percent of CIRNAC's voted Gs&Cs amounts.

4.4 Other Evaluation Branch Activities

In addition to conducting evaluations, the Evaluation Branch undertakes a wide range of activities to support and strengthen evaluation and performance measurement work. These include providing advice and support on performance measurement, corporate planning and reporting at the departmental level, supporting capacity building and outreach activities, and developing research and special studies on evaluation and performance measurement issues.

4.5 Challenges