ISED Departmental Evaluation Plan 2024-25 to 2028-29

Audit and Evaluation Branch, June 2024

ISED Departmental Evaluation Plan 2024-25 to 2028-29 PDF - 566 KB

Table of Contents

1.0 Departmental Head confirmation note

Note to the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat:

I approve the Departmental Evaluation Plan for Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED) for fiscal years 2024-25 to 2028-29, which I submit to the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat as required by the Treasury Board Policy on Results.

I confirm that this Departmental Evaluation Plan:

  • Plans for evaluations of all ongoing grants and contributions programs with five-year average actual expenditures of $5 million or greater per year at least once every five years, in fulfillment of the requirements of subsection 42.1 of the Financial Administration Act (FAA)
  • 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, and I will provide information about its implementation to the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat, as required.

Simon Kennedy
Deputy Minister
Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada

2.0 Departmental context

2.1 Government and departmental priorities

The Department will continue working with the ISED portfolio and other federal partners to bolster Canadian innovation by fostering competitive, sustainable and inclusive economic growth. ISED's efforts focus on improving conditions for investment, supporting science, helping small and medium-sized businesses grow, building capacity for clean and sustainable technologies and processes, increasing Canada's share of global trade, promoting tourism, and building an efficient and competitive marketplace. ISED will support these efforts by continuing to work with partners on the following areas:

  • Develop a sustainable battery innovation and industrial ecosystem, establishing Canada as a leader in battery manufacturing, recycling and reuse
  • Advance Biomanufacturing and Life Sciences Strategy through strategic investments to strengthen Canada's domestic biomanufacturing capacity
  • Advance broadband delivery by connecting more households, including those in rural and remote regions across Canada, to achieve Canada's target of connecting 98% of Canadians to high-speed internet by 2026 and 100% by 2030
  • Help Canadians improve digital literacy skills, and support Canadian businesses in adopting digital technologies to ensure all Canadians can thrive in the digital economy
  • Advance recovery measures to support tourism businesses and help them position themselves for future growth
  • Make Canada's entrepreneurial ecosystem more accessible by providing opportunities and support for individuals from under-represented groups to start, scale, grow and maintain their businesses

2.2 Role of evaluation and governance

The evaluation function at ISED contributes to corporate reporting exercises such as:

  • the Departmental Plan and Departmental Results Report
  • informs decisions around program resources, improvements and renewal by conducting objective, evidence-based assessments of departmental program spending
  • supports Treasury Board submissions and Memoranda to Cabinet

The Senior Management Committee (SMC) is the advisory body to oversee ISED's performance measurement and evaluation function. The Deputy Minister is ultimately responsible for the approval of evaluations.

The Head of Evaluation (also the Director General of Audit and Evaluation Branch) is responsible for the evaluation function and reports directly to the Deputy Minister.

The Director of Evaluation supports the Head of Evaluation by leading the evaluation function.

3.0 Evaluations and activities in 2023-24

3.1 Evaluations from 2023-24

The Evaluation Directorate completed six ISED-led evaluations for seven programs in 2023-24, with one to be approved this summer:

Thematic evaluations

Digital Research Infrastructure Strategy

  • Canadian Network for the Advancement of Research, Industry and Education (CANARIE)
  • Digital Research Alliance of Canada (DRAC)

Traditional evaluations

  1. Futurpreneur
  2. CanCode
  3. Business + Higher Education Roundtable
  4. Communications Research Centre
  5. Canada Small Business Financing Program
  6. Women Entrepreneurship Strategy (RDA-delivered initiatives)
    • (to be approved in Summer 2024)

19 recommendations were produced from evaluations completed in 2023-24.

Common themes reported in evaluation

  • Data collection requirements included in ISED contribution agreements improve data availability and quality.
  • Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) requirements and clear definitions promote robust EDI program practices and delivery.
  • Information sharing and collaboration with stakeholders improve data management and program delivery.

The evaluation directorate achieved the following results in 2023-24

Data
  • 67% or 4 of 6 completed evaluations completed in 2023-24 led to recommendations to improve the quality and availability of performance data
  • 83% or 5 of 6 completed evaluations in 2023-24 incorporated a COVID-19 lens. As ISED's priorities evolve, evaluations may include a smaller focus on COVID-19 impacts
GBA Plus
  • 100% of evaluations completed in 2023-24 integrated GBA Plus and EDI considerations into the evaluation scope, design, conduct and reporting
  • 100% of evaluations completed in 2023-24 included findings and/or recommendations related to GBA Plus and EDI

Best practices observed in evaluated programs

In 2023-24, the evaluation directorate highlighted 4 best practices, which other ISED programs could benefit from in their design and/or delivery:

  1. Community of practices among recipient organizations are an effective means to exchange ideas, collaborate and address common challenges
  2. The "lived experience" approach to the development, management and delivery of programming supports successful engagement with underrepresented Canadians
  3. Co-op programming that attracts top students and leads to bridging promotes knowledge transfer and succession planning, which contributes to organizational excellence
  4. Non-traditional methods of credit adjudication lower credit barriers to underrepresented entrepreneurs which enable them to acquire and manage loans

4.0 Departmental Evaluation Plan 2024-25 to 2028-29

The Departmental Evaluation Plan (DEP) is an information and management tool that reflects the results of ISED's annual evaluation planning exercise. The Policy on Results requires that Deputy Heads annually approve a five-year DEP and submit it to the Treasury Board Secretariat (TBS). The DEP also provides opportunities to support the Deputy Head to ensure that information on the Department's programs is available to inform policy and program development and decision-making. It includes 100% coverage of all evaluations required under the Financial Administration Act and in TB submissions.

ISED's Audit and Evaluation Branch (AEB) implements the following approach to its annual evaluation planning exercise to determine its overall evaluation coverage of departmental spending:

  1. Gathering information on the evaluation universe: The universe of all possible programs and spending areas that could be considered for evaluation over the next five fiscal years is gathered from the Departmental Results Framework (DRF) and Program Inventory to determine evaluation coverage. The evaluation universe considers all departmental spending
  2. Identifying all mandatory and discretionary evaluations: Mandatory evaluations are identified in accordance with the evaluation requirements in the Policy on Results. Risk factors such as departmental priorities, program materiality, the information needs of stakeholders, and optimal timing of evaluations are also considered in annual evaluation planning
  3. Conducting annual departmental consultations: Consultations are held at the Director General level to discuss needs, timing, and innovative approaches such as thematic evaluations. They are also held with sector heads to validate risks and priorities, as well as the planned evaluations. The Internal Audit Directorate is also consulted to assess overall program coverage

Five-year evaluation plan

The directorate has 22 program evaluations planned from 2024-25 to 2028-29 across 7 of 14 DRF Programs. The full five-year evaluation schedule can be found in Appendix A.

The five-year evaluation schedule includes 19 mandatory evaluations to satisfy requirements in the Financial Administration Act (FAA) or Treasury Board (TB) submissions and 3 discretionary evaluations that are exempt from evaluation requirements as per the Policy on Results. Of the 22 evaluations planned from 2024-25 to 2028-29, departmental consultations identified 4 thematic evaluations which involve incorporating either a clustering of programs approach or targeted approach that focuses on key program areas.

81% of ISED's total planned spending is covered in the evaluations planned from 2024-25 to 2028-29.

Appendix A: Five-year evaluation schedule
Year Evaluation Mandatory
(FAA or TB submission)		 Discretionary
(program-requested)		 Horizontal evaluation
2024-25 1. Universal Broadband Fund and
2. Connect to Innovate *Thematic evaluation		 yes X    
3. Canada Foundation for Innovation yes X    
4. Digital Skills for Youth – led by ESDC under the Youth Employment and Skills Strategy yes X   yes X
5. Women Entrepreneurship Strategy (ISED-delivered initiatives) yes X    
6. Black Entrepreneurship Program   yes X  
7. Canada Digital Adoption Program – Streams 1 & 2 yes X    
2025-26 8. Pan-Canadian Artificial Intelligence Strategy 2.0 *Thematic evaluation yes X    
9. Small Business and Entrepreneurship Development Program yes X    
10. Clean Fuels Fund Program- led by NRCan yes X   yes X
2026-27 11. Canada Biomedical Research Fund and Biosciences Research Infrastructure Fund – led by ISED yes X   yes X
12. Strategic Innovation Fund yes X    
13. Global Innovation Clusters Initiative yes X    
14. Low Earth Orbit yes X    
15. Cyber Security Innovation Network yes X    
2027-28 16. Computers for Schools and 17. Computers for Schools Intern Program *Thematic evaluation yes X yes X  
18. Strategic Science FundFootnote * yes X    
2028-29 19. Futurpreneur yes X    
20. Horizon Europe   yes X  
21. CANARIE and
22. Digital Research Alliance of Canada *Thematic evaluation		 yes X    
Footnote *

Programs previously on the DEP that were incorporated into the Strategic Science Fund (SSF):

  • AdMare BioInnovations
  • Canadian Institute for Advanced Research (CIFAR)
  • Genome Canada
  • Institute for Quantum Computing
  • Let's Talk Science
  • Mitacs
  • Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics
  • Stem Cell Network

Return to footnote * referrer
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