Summary of the evaluation of the Aboriginal Skills and Employment Training Strategy and the Skills and Partnership Fund

Alternate formats

About the program

The Aboriginal Skills and Employment Training Strategy (the strategy) and the Skills and Partnership Fund (the fund) were introduced in 2010.

The strategy provided funding to Indigenous service delivery organizations that design and deliver labour market programs, services and other activities to Indigenous people in their communities to increase their participation and integration into the Canadian labour force. In 2017 to 2018, about 57,440 individuals were supported by the strategy, representing $342 million in contributions.

The fund was a demand-driven project-based contribution program that supports partners’ specific employment goals by funding time-limited skills development and training-to-employment projects for Indigenous People. In 2017 to 2018, the fund supported more than 50 projects, representing $50 million in contributions, with about 1,970 individuals participating in that year.

Key findings

Overall, the strategy and the fund had a positive impact on participants’ labour market attachment.

The strategy’s Skills Development intervention was the most effective at improving participants’ labour market attachment. In addition, Employment Assistance Services and Targeted Wage Subsidies interventions showed some positive results particularly with participants with relatively stronger labour market attachment.

The strategy and the fund developed and fostered sustainable relationships with Indigenous partners. Still, some Indigenous Agreement Holders reported concerns about the implications of administrative reporting on their relationship with the Department.

The Aboriginal Human Resources and Development Agreements, predecessors of similar agreements under the Strategy, yielded a positive social return on investment over a 12-year period when taking into account costs and benefits for both the governments and participants.

In particular, from a societal perspective, benefits of interventions outweigh their associated costs in less than 9 years; and, in less than 5 years for participants with stronger attachment to the labour market.

Recommendations

1. It is recommended that the Department better leverage data to collaborate with partners to improve the program
2. It is recommended that the Department continue to seek improvements in the administration of agreements with participating Indigenous organizations

The full Evaluation of the Aboriginal Skills and Employment Training Strategy and the Skills and Partnership Fund is now available.