2013 Spring report of the Auditor General of Canada: Chapter 1—Status report on evaluating the effectiveness of programs

This report presents the results of a performance audit conducted by the Office of the Auditor General of Canada.

Following the issue by the Treasury Board of a new Policy on Evaluation in 2009, which had the purpose of strengthening the evaluation function in departments and agencies, this Chapter 1 of this report looks at the progress in implementing these recommendations that has been made by Agricultural and Agri-Food Canada, Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Human Resources and Skills Development Canada, and the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat.

Contents

Chapter 1 - Status Report on Evaluating the Effectiveness of Programs

• Main Points
• Introduction
  • What we found in our 2009 audit
  • Focus of the audit
• Observations and Recommendations
  • Meeting evaluation requirements
    • Two departments did not evaluate all ongoing grant and contribution programs, as required
    • Departments are making progress in evaluating other departmental programs
    • A third of evaluation reports are incomplete
    • Gaps remain in how the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat monitors evaluation coverage in the departments
    • While progress has been made, the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat still needs to provide more guidance to departments
    • Departments have major concerns about the evaluation requirements
  • Generating ongoing performance information
• Departments are making progress in generating ongoing performance information
• The Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat provided adequate support to help departments generate ongoing performance information
• Weaknesses in ongoing performance measurement continue to limit evaluation
• Using evaluation findings
• Departments use evaluation findings to support improvement
• Evaluation findings are not always available to support spending decisions
• Improving the evaluation function
• Departments have established evaluation committees
• Departments obtain feedback from evaluation users
• Capacity in departments has remained stable or increased
• The Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat has increased its capacity
• Conclusion
• Summary of progress
• About the Audit
• Appendix—List of recommendations
• Exhibits:
• 1.1—Lack of ongoing performance data affected evaluators’ ability to assess the performance of Canada’s maritime search and rescue program
• 1.2—Human Resources and Skills Development Canada considered evaluation when seeking funding for a new program