5. EVALUATION AND REPORTING
Data
collection and analysis
Accountability
and reporting
There
are two main components to any evaluation and reporting process. The first
concerns data collection and analysis. The second involves lines of
accountability and reporting mechanisms.
Data
collection and analysis
The HRMAF establishes mechanisms
for the collection of information related to performance measures at the
immediate, intermediate and ultimate results levels. This is important because
information on activities and investments together with their impact in
communities provides the basis of the evaluation process. This information
allows senior officials and elected government representatives to base their
decisions on facts.
The government-wide evaluation
and performance measurement process will use, to the greatest extent possible,
information already collected by a variety of processes. The Official Languages
Branch of the Intergovernmental Affairs Secretariat in the Privy Council Office
will continue to act as the central agency for the Official Languages Program as
a whole, compiling selected departmental data, coordinating horizontal data
collection initiatives, setting research priorities, analyzing information and
drawing conclusions from the input of individual federal institutions. Treasury
Board Secretariat already requires that federal institutions submit
Results-based Management and Accountability Frameworks (RMAFs) before funding is
approved. Future RMAFs will have to include information on performance
indicators and measures relating specifically to the Official Languages Program.
Other key information-gathering organizations include Canadian Heritage, the
Public Service Human Resources Management Agency (PSHRMA) and Statistics Canada
(through census data). Federal institutions have their own data-collection
mechanisms that contribute to the government-wide process.
Information from
beneficiaries, stakeholders and other partners, such as provincial and
territorial governments, will be collected on an ongoing basis so that
comparisons will be possible and will help to identify gaps and trends. Other
important sources of data include special studies, audits, program evaluations,
targeted research initiatives, general social surveys and the Post-Censal
Survey. Data collection initiatives can be conducted by departments,
individually or collaboratively.
Accountability
and reporting
Canadian Heritage and PSHRMA are required by virtue of specific
sections of the Official Languages Act to assume certain coordination and
monitoring functions. They prepare annual reports to Parliament based on
information provided them by designated federal institutions. The Official
Languages Program goes beyond the application of simple legal obligations. The
oversight role of PSHRMA and of Canadian Heritage will facilitate integrated
evaluation and reporting cycles, coordinated by the Privy Council Office.
Numerous performance reports on the Official Languages Program are
scheduled to be produced between 2005 and 2008. They include:
·
midterm (2005) and final (2008)
reports on the implementation of the Action Plan and the Official Languages
Program in general prepared by Official Languages Branch of the
Intergovernmental Affairs Secretariat in the Privy Council Office);
·
annual reports
by Canadian Heritage, PSHRMA and the Commissioner of Official Languages that
will provide aggregated information related to the Official Languages Program
and the Action Plan based on input from individual federal institutions;
·
a formative evaluation report on the Privy Council Office’s
coordination function; and
·
formative and summative evaluation reports on individual
elements and the general implementation of the Action Plan.
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