2018–19 Departmental Plan—Supplementary information

Short term outcomes: 210 youth interns will benefit from this program annually, with a target of at least 20% female youth interns; an annual target of 72,000 distributed refurbished computers; and a target of 160,000 computers donated annually.

Medium term outcomes: An annual target of 1300 tons of computers, laptops, monitors, printers and other equipment to be reused in the refurbishment process; a target of 90% of youth interns who report that participating in the program improved their soft skills, digital skills and work experience.

Long term outcomes: 60% of youth interns will find employment requiring digital skills by the end of March 2022; 60% of youth interns will find employment, including self-employment.

The execution of negotiated contribution agreements and monitoring of executed projects (households targeted by projects are connected).

Rural Component: Number of households with access to affordable broadband service at a minimum speed of 5.0 Mbps download and 1.0 Mbps upload in underserved rural and remote areas across Canada.

Northern Component: Extend and augment satellite capacity in Nunavut and Nunavik region of Northern Québec to provide households with access to affordable broadband service at speeds of a target 3.0 to 5.0 Mbps download.

DS4Y is a program under the Career Focus stream of the Youth Employment Strategy, intended to support recent underemployed post-secondary graduates with valuable and practical work experience and additional training that will help them improve their employability and use their talent to their full potential so that they can succeed in the digital economy.

The program will support non-repayable contributions, and will start in fiscal year 2018-19.

Short term outcomes: At least 630 participants each year, with a target of 50% female participants; an equal proportion of small businesses and not-for-profit organizations hosting interns; a target of 80% of internships involving digital activities.

Medium term outcomes: Target of 90% of participants having acquired new soft skills and enhanced digital skills; 25% of participants furthering their education after the internship due to upskilling opportunities offered by the program; at least 90% of intern host organizations recommend this program to other organizations.

Long term outcomes: At least 75% of participants will find career-orientated employment over a three-year period; the program will help 60% of participants obtain employment in professional, science or technology related fields.

Contributions provided by AIF are expected to encourage recipients to undertake R&D activities in innovative technologies that would develop and build greener, more fuel-efficient vehicles and invest in state-of-the-art, energy-efficient assembly and powertrain facilities.

These investments will help maintain a strong, competitive Canadian automotive industry that contributes to economic growth and job creation.

• New and innovative products, services and processes are commercialized by Canadian Businesses;
• Investment in leading-edge R&D in the Canadian aerospace and defence sector; and
• Collaboration between private sector and universities, colleges and affiliated research institutes.

• Ensure a concentration of technology development in priority areas with significant potential for broad based and long-term economic benefits;
• Be the basis for the next-generation of manufacturing, technical capabilities and services in Canada; and,
• Generate material economic benefits for Canada in the longer term.

• Strengthened collaboration within private sector, as well as between private sector and academia.
• Development of new products, processes and services that increase competitiveness and productivity.
• Enhancing regional innovation ecosystems through initiatives and activities that address cluster gaps and produce broad benefits.

The expected results and outcomes of funding to Futurpreneur Canada is the creation of viable businesses by young entrepreneurs, which supports Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada's core responsibilities to ensure that Canada's entrepreneurs represent all segments of Canadian society.

Futurpreneur Canada will collect the following performance indicators:

• Number of loans;
• Total value of all loans;
• Number and value of loans in arrears;
• Number and value of loans which have been written off;
• Number of jobs created;
• Number of applications received by Futurpreneur Canada;
• Number of young entrepreneurs accessing mentorship;
• 5-year survival rate of Futurpreneur Canada businesses;
• Number and percentage of young entrepreneurs offered growth information and/or support services; and
• Number and percentage of Futurpreneur Canada businesses exporting.

To seek out applicants for Futurpreneur's loans and mentoring programs, Futurpreneur has a website, blog, electronic newsletter, LinkedIn group (Entrepeer Hub) and toll-free telephone number. Futurpreneur is active on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Pinterest.

Futurpreneur holds events for young entrepreneurs (e.g., Action Entrepreneurship Canadian Summit and mentoring meetups) and it is the coordinator for Global Entrepreneurship Week events across Canada.

Futurpreneur partners with a range of organizations and institutions, including accelerators, universities, entrepreneurship organizations and small business organizations. A few of Futurpreneur's partners include MaRS, BDC, CFIB, Enactus, StartUp Canada, Communitech, and the National Angel Capital Association. Futurpreneur gets financial and/or in-kind support from and has relationships with organizations such as RBC, CIBC, TD, Scotiabank, Accenture, Deloitte, Ernst and Young, Microsoft, ClearChannel, National Post, universities and business schools, FedDev, ACOA, CanNor and NRC-IRAP.

• Provide access to financing to approximately 5,300 small businesses;
• Continue to facilitate access to roughly $900 million in debt financing;
• Continue communicating with financial institutions to improve program delivery.

• Enhanced opportunities for collaborative knowledge creation and innovation within Canada's research and education communities through the maintenance and development of the CANARIE Network and related tools and services.
• Expansion of the research and education community's access to and utilization of the CANARIE Network and the availability of tools and programming that increase the effectiveness of its use.
• Enabling the creation of innovative ICT products and services and the acceleration of their commercialization in Canada.

Renewed funding of $105 million for CANARIE was announced in Budget 2015.

Evaluation's main findings:

• There is a continued need for the funding of CANARIE. CANARIE helps to address Canada's innovation gap and more specifically its large-scale research collaboration gap;
• Federal support of CANARIE is consistent with the roles and responsibilities of ISED and is similar to support provided in other countries around the world;
• CANARIE has generally been successful in achieving its objectives and related short-term outcomes. Over the evaluation period, it expanded and upgraded its network capabilities, increased and improved access to the network and kept up with network demand;
• CANARIE has demonstrated continuing efforts to achieve efficiencies, has kept overhead costs within the maximum amount allowed, and is generally on track to meet its cost-recovery targets; and
• ISED's relatively small investment in CANARIE is efficient in that it provides the necessary infrastructure to support the significantly larger total government investments in R&D.

Overall, the evaluation did not find any major issues. The evaluation provided one recommendation:

• ISED should continue to monitor the implementation of CANARIE's performance measurement system to ensure that long-term outcomes are appropriately tracked to support public reporting, departmental decision-making and future evaluations.

• Expand the CDRD's reach to health researchers and entrepreneurs across Canada to accelerate drug development and commercialization.
• Expand the commercial benefits gained from investments in basic health research.
• Create a robust pipeline of health technologies capable of achieving commercial success.

• Attract and retain the world's top research talent.
• Train the next generation of researchers.
• Enable researchers to undertake world-class research and technology development that lead to social, economic and environmental benefits for Canada.
• Support private-sector innovation and commercialization.

Renewed funding of the CFI was announced in Budget 2015 for 1.33 billion, starting in 2017–18.

The 2014-15 third-party evaluation noted the following findings:

• The CFI clearly met a continued need, and its mandate, role and approach to doing so are appreciated by stakeholders;
• The CFI should continue to remain attuned and responsive to the needs and expectations of its range of stakeholders, as well as to any shifts or changes in the landscape of the research support ecosystem;
• The CFI continued to build upon its earlier successes and had strong performance for each of the outcomes in its logic model and for each of the Expected Results in the 2010 Funding Agreement;
• The CFI has a proven track record of efficiency and economy over many years, and its design and delivery, and overall business model, were strongly endorsed by stakeholders; and
• The CFI's advocacy agenda is important and the CFI should continue to advocate for long-term stable funding.

Overall, the evaluation did not find any major issues and made one recommendation:

• The CFI should consider adding outcomes to its logic model that more directly align with the Expected Results in its funding agreements and that reflects what the CFI achieves for other stakeholders, not just for recipient institutions.

• Highly qualified personnel, including post-doctoral fellows, develop and broaden their Research capabilities through their participation on international, interdisciplinary Research teams.
• Research is strengthened with the use of interdisciplinary models.
• Increased national and international Research interactions and collaboration.
• Research knowledge is promoted, and disseminated.
• Federal investment enables the Recipient to leverage Research funding from other sources.

Budget 2017 provided renewed and enhanced funding for CIFAR of $35 million over the next five years.

While the overall CIFAR evaluation was quite positive, the evaluators did suggest that in order to draw more meaningful conclusions about the economy and efficiency of CIFAR's operations, ISED should work with CIFAR to update its Performance Measurement Strategy to include additional efficiency indicators. Consideration could be given to identifying efficiency-related comparable (i.e. benchmarking) and targets to further assess CIFAR's operations.

Increased breadth and depth of knowledge in genomics, including knowledge related to the ethical, environmental, economic, legal and social issues of genomics.

Canada has a solid base of researchers who are trained to undertake future genomics research.

The translation of research discoveries into applications in the public and private sectors leads to socio-economic benefits either directly or through development toward, for example, commercialization.

Canadian genomics research is enabled through the provision of leading-edge genomics, proteomics, metabolomics and bioinformatics technologies.

Canada's international profile and visibility in genomics research is enhanced.

Budget 2016 proposed to provide $237.2 million to Genome Canada to the end of 2019–20.

The evaluation findings were positive overall with regard to the achievement of Genome Canada's expected outcomes over the five-year period (2009-10 to 2013-14).

Findings showed that Genome Canada had clearly contributed to enhancing support and capacity for genomics research in Canada in accordance with its national strategy, more specifically by focusing on priority strategic sectors and on increasing coordination, as well as through the development of highly qualified personnel (HQP) in genomics.

• Increased collaboration and knowledge transfer between academia and industry.
• Increased participation of students in international research and educational opportunities.
• Innovative solutions to industry challenges needs and issues.
• Enhanced skills amongst participating interns, postdoctoral fellows and researchers.

Renewed and expanded funding of $221 million in funding over five years for Mitacs was announced in Budget 2017.

Overall, the evaluation was positive, stating the program has contributed to investments in industrial research and development by industry partners during and after the conclusion of their Mitacs projects and that Mitacs has improved the employment prospects of its interns by providing on-the-job experience and networking opportunities. The evaluation also concluded that Mitacs responds to the ongoing need to increase Canadian innovation by using internships to facilitate linkages between academia and industry and increase international collaboration. An area for improvement was to enhance the measurement of the organization's impact on overall industry-academia collaboration in Canada.

CanCode is expected to achieve the following results:

1. Students across Canada will have access to coding and digital skills education opportunities;
2. Canadian teachers will have access to tools and training to give them the confidence and knowledge to engage K-12 youth in developing coding and digital skills training;
3. There will be more of a balance between the sexes in STEM fields in Canadian post-secondary institutions;
4. There will be an increase in the proportion of the employed Canadian population with a post-secondary credential in STEM (bachelor degrees, diplomas, and;
5. Canadians will develop the talent and digital skills required for the workforce of tomorrow.

• National and international collaborations are formed and maintained.
• High-calibre students are attracted to and participate in the Institute's graduate training programs.
• Teachers are attracted to and participate in the Institute's educator training opportunities.
• The Canadian public becomes more informed about the benefits of science and of theoretical physics research.
• High quality and novel research is published and disseminated.
• Alumni of the Institute's postdoctoral training program are actively recruited by employers.
• Canada is ranked as a world leader in physics research.

Budget 2016 announced renewal of $50 million over five years for Perimeter. The last completed ISED evaluation of Perimeter in 2010-11 was highly positive, finding that PI:

• Has made a sizeable impact on the Canadian physics landscape;
• Produces research that develops highly innovative and challenging advances in theoretical physics;
• Created a unique research environment that fosters cutting-edge research;
• Attracts top talent from around the world, with a low turnover ratio;
• Maintains a high quality training environment; and
• Engages with high impact outreach that is vibrant, influencing the awareness, interest and desire of target audiences.

The only recommendations were minor and potentially improved upon since 2011: larger, more senior core groups in certain research areas; making connections to activity beyond physics; and more interactivity with other institutions.

Expected results are:

• Direct economic activity in local economies across Canada;
• Improved research and innovation-related post-secondary infrastructure;
• Improved college infrastructure for industry-relevant training; and
• Improved environmental sustainability of research and innovation related infrastructure at post-secondary institutions, and college training infrastructure.

Performance Indicators include:

• Total funds expended by April 30, 2018, by province/territory;
• Number of infrastructure jobs created (such as contractors, engineers and architects);
• Level of impact funded infrastructure had on the research, innovation and specialized training environments including the number of spaces constructed and/or renewed;
• Number of additional researchers, including instructors, maintenance and support staff that can be accommodated as a result of the funded infrastructure;
• Number of additional students to perform research or be trained annually as a result of funded infrastructure; and
• Improved Energy Efficiency and Reduced Greenhouse Gas Emissions.

• Canada's international profile and visibility in stem cell research and clinical trials is enhanced.
• Translation of stem cell research into clinical applications and commercial products.
• Increase networking and collaboration among researchers from Canada and abroad.
• Canada has a solid base of researchers that are trained to undertake future stem cell research.
• Increased breadth and depth of knowledge related to the ethical, environmental, economic, legal and social issues of stem cells.

• Increase knowledge in quantum information science and technology;
• Support and create opportunities for students to learn and apply new knowledge;
• Brand Canada as a place to conduct research in quantum information technologies;
• Increased awareness and knowledge of quantum information science and technology and IQC in both the scientific community and amongst Canadians more generally; and
• Position Canada to take advantage of economic and social benefits of research through seizing opportunities to commercialize breakthrough research.

Renewed funding of IQC of $15 million over three years was announced in Budget 2014.

Evaluation's Main Findings:

• There is continued need to increase Canada's research and innovation capacity and IQC is uniquely positioned, within Canada and internationally, to contribute to the development of quantum sciences and its related technologies;
• Support for IQC is consistent with federal government priorities related to science and technology as set out in the 2007 S&T Strategy and subsequent Federal Budgets;
• Support for IQC is consistent with federal roles and responsibilities to encourage the development of science and technology and aligns with Industry Canada's mandate;
• Overall, IQC is achieving the majority of its immediate outcomes;
• IQC's research has increased in intensity and excellence as demonstrated by improved collaboration networks, increased publication and citation rates, as well as its reputation in the scientific community; and
• IQC's current delivery structure has demonstrated efficiency and economy by leveraging additional resources, minimizing transaction costs and using existing University of Waterloo management processes.
• Overall, the evaluation did not find any major issues and made no recommendations.

• Annual reductions of greenhouse gases resulting from environmental technologies funded under the SD Tech Fund.
• Other environmental impacts of SD Tech Fund-supported technologies.
• Dollars leveraged by private and other public funders.

Following the last evaluation, Budget 2013, 2016 and 2017 made available $325 million, $50 million and $400 million respectively to SDTC for the SD Tech Fund.

Broadly, the last evaluation found that SDTC is meeting the mandated purpose and objectives, as set out for the SD Tech Fund.

In addition, Report 3 (Funding Clean Energy Technologies) of the 2017 Fall Reports of the Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development found that SDTC had rigorous and objective processes in place to assess, approve, and monitor projects but identified some shortcomings on the documentation of their assessments. SDTC has indicated that it accepts the audit recommendation and as such will document its assessment of environmental benefits when approving projects.

Expected Results:

• Communities and businesses in Northern Ontario acquire the skills and capacity to respond to economic development opportunities
• Communities and businesses in Northern Ontario have access to financial resources to respond to economic development opportunities

Performance Measures / Indicators:

• Number of jobs created and maintained in Northern Ontario as a result of CFDC lending activities
• Dollars leveraged per dollar invested by CFDCs

Expected Results:

• Communities and businesses in Northern Ontario acquire the skills and capacity to respond to economic development opportunities
• Communities and businesses in Northern Ontario have access to financial resources to respond to economic development opportunities

Performance Measures/Indicators:

• Number of jobs created or maintained in Northern Ontario as a direct result of FedNor projects
• Dollars leveraged per dollar invested in community projects in Northern Ontario

ISED provides a grant to the Internal Trade Secretariat Corporation (ITSC) to cover 50% of its operating costs, up to a maximum of $550,000, in accordance with Canada's obligations under the Canadian Free Trade Agreement (CFTA). The remaining 50% of the ITSC's operating costs are covered by the Provinces and Territories, which contribute in proportion to their respective populations. The budget of the ITSC is controlled by a Board of Directors composed of one seat for the federal government and each of the Provinces and Territories.

In early 2015, ISED's annual grant to the ITSC was renewed for another 5 years from 2015–2016 until 2019–2020. The specific amounts required by the ITSC vary from year to year depending on the activities in a given year. In previous years, the ITSC often underspent its available budget, rebating or refunding any unspent funds to the contributing Parties in the following fiscal year. Any rebate is likely to be minimal in 2017–18 in view of the elevated costs to support the implementation of the new CFTA and its associated new working groups.

The ITSC provides operational and administrative support to the Committee on Internal Trade (CIT), the Internal Trade Representatives (ITRs), all other CFTA committees and working groups, as well as the Agreement's dispute settlement processes.

The objectives of the program are to:

• Fuel the development and adoption of technological innovation in Canada.
• Grow Canadian companies through direct funding to support early stage, pre-commercial research and development, late stage prototypes, and to accelerate commercialization.
• Encourage procurement from companies led by under-represented groups, such as women, Indigenous, youth, disabled individuals, LGBTQ+ and others.
• Foster greater industry-research collaboration through the release of challenges for solutions that address key Government of Canada priorities.
• Provide federal departments and agencies with opportunities to develop new capabilities to meet their research and development needs and thereby advance government priorities.

The program is open to small businesses that:

• are for profit
• are incorporated in Canada (federally or provincially)
• have 499 or fewer full-time equivalent (FTE) employees
• have research and development activities that take place in Canada
• have 50% or more of its annual wages, salaries and fees are currently paid to employees and contractors who spend the majority of their time working in Canada
• have 50% or more of its FTE employees have Canada as their ordinary place of work
• have 50% or more of its senior executives (Vice President and above) have Canada as their principal residence

Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED) recognizes the value that gender-based analysis plus (GBA+) provides in the development and implementation of effective policies and programs that meet the needs of diverse groups of men and women according to their socio-economic and demographic considerations.

At ISED, we consider GBA+ as a policy innovation tool that supports innovation in policy development and program design as it helps identify opportunities to do new and creative activities that address needs across various population groups and regions.  At ISED we recognize that GBA+ makes just good policy sense and supports good due diligence practices.

ISED has a departmental GBA+ advisor, housed with the Strategy and Innovation Policy Sector, to review and approve all GBAs completed with the department and portfolio. Since the launch of a new GBA+ questionnaire at ISED in February 2015, it has become mandatory for the GBA+ advisor to review and approve all GBA+ questionnaires completed at the department and portfolio. Responsible programs must also attest that the GBA+ is complete and the results have been integrated into the proposal, as well as monitor implementation.  In addition, the Director General responsible for the proposal must attest that the GBA+ is complete and the results have been integrated in the proposal prior to delivery to the Minister.

The Cabinet Affairs unit at ISED also serves as a check point to ensure that all required steps are completed before a document is sent to PCO. ISED also has a GBA+ sector advisors network to help increase awareness about the value of GBA+ at the departmental sector level.

Together, this governance system ensures:

• GBA+ systems and processes are fully integrated into policy development and decision making processes at ISED, and GBA analysis must be conducted for all MCs and Treasury Board Submissions. 
• GBA+ indicators consider results and delivery to facilitate monitoring and reporting to ensure that policies and programs are assessed; and,
• The GBA+ Champion plays a role in providing leadership and coordination in the implementation and monitoring of GBA+ activities at ISED.

ISED has a Director General level GBA Champion who is responsible for leading many GBA activities across the portfolio. ISED's Champion is also active in the GBA Champions community to share best practices and set common goals.

ISED launched a GBA+ sector advisors network to help increase awareness about the value of GBA+ at the departmental sector level.There are 20 GBA+ sector advisors who are responsible for providing guidance on the GBA process.

The Gender Focal Point in the Strategy and Innovation Policy Sector is dedicated to reviewing and approving all GBA+ documents as well as training and supporting ISED members.

Advanced GBA+ training: ISED is looking to continue to carry out advanced GBA+ training to ensure that the best practices are incorporated in GBA+ at ISED, as well as engage at external events to promote GBA (for example, in May 2017 during GBA+ Awareness Week, ISED's GBA+ Champion gave a presentation on the Innovation and Skills Plan at a cross-Canada webinar hosted by the Canada School of Public Service).

GBA+ Tools: In November 2017, ISED launched a new GBA+ wiki site which includes a new GBA+ databank. ISED is in the process of developing new GBA+ tools for site, as well as other tools to strengthen early integration of GBA into policy development.

The tracking and monitoring of GBA implications goes hand in hand with the overall tracking of results, both within the department and across Government. Under the Government's Results and Delivery approach, programs are looking to strengthen data coverage, including data which tracks the environmental impacts as outlined in GBAs.

The Trudeau Foundation supports research and disseminates research findings in the following humanities and social sciences: Canadian studies, history, international relations, journalism, law, peace and conflict studies, philosophy, political economy, political science, sociology, and urban and community studies.

Using a peer review process, the Trudeau Foundation offers three types of awards: scholarships awarded to doctoral candidates, fellowships awarded to established researchers at Canadian universities, and mentorships awarded to seasoned professionals who are able to counsel the scholars. The Foundation also administers the Public Interaction Program (PIP), which communicates the work of the Foundation through conferences, lectures and symposia.

• The Foundation intends to select fifteen new Trudeau scholars in 2018.
• The Foundation will name ten Trudeau mentors in 2017-2018 and will match them to the 2015 cohort of Trudeau scholars.
• The Foundation intends to appoint five new Trudeau fellows in 2018.