Evaluation of the Labour Funding Program

Official title: Evaluation of the Labour Funding Program: International Trade and Labour stream and Occupational Health and Safety stream - Interim report

On this page

Alternate formats

  • Large print, braille, MP3 (audio), e-text and DAISY formats are available on demand by ordering online or calling 1 800 O-Canada (1-800-622-6232). If you use a teletypewriter (TTY), call 1-800-926-9105.

Executive summary

This interim report presents findings from the evaluation of two streams of the Labour Funding Program (LFP): International Trade and Labour (ITL) and Occupational Health and Safety grants code (OHS-G). The evaluation covers the period from April 2012 to March 2016 and focuses on the extent to which the projects funded through the program’s grants align with stakeholders’ needs, achieve project-specific outputs and immediate outcomes, and contribute to the program’s expected outcomes. Preliminary results from a review of ITL documents and project files demonstrate that the grants are producing most, if not all, of their expected outputs and are generally achieving their immediate outcomes. Final results are presented for OHS-G, based on a document and file review and key informant interviews. OHS-G projects are also generally producing their expected outputs and immediate outcomes.

The Labour Funding Program is expected to contribute to safe, fair and productive workplaces and cooperative workplace relations in Canada and internationally. Specifically, the International Trade and Labour stream is expected to help Canada meet its commitments under international labour agreements and to assist Canada’s partner countries to meet internationally-recognized labour rights and principles. The Occupational Health and Safety-G stream is expected to help build knowledge and capacity to address occupational health and safety issues and to harmonize standards across Canada. The average annual grant spending of the program, from 2011 to 2012 through 2015 to 2016, was about $1.25 million for ITL and $64,250 for OHS-G.

This evaluation is being completed in accordance with requirements in the Financial Administration Act, which stipulates that this assessment is to be completed by April 2017. Additional results on the International Trade and Labour stream’s role in supporting Canada’s Labour Provisions of Free Trade Agreements will be presented in a more comprehensive evaluation of Bilateral and Regional Labour Affairs in spring 2017.

Preliminary findings, International Trade and Labour stream

Seventeen projects have been funded between April 2012 and March 2016. In terms of relevance, the grants are generally well aligned with the priorities and expected outcomes of the program and the overall department, as well as international labour standards, rights and principles. The grants also continue to be relevant to the needs of partner countries. Sixteen of the seventeen grants funded capacity-building activities to help partner countries with specific labour-related issues, and all were aligned with at least one international labour right or principle. One project funded research on international labour agreements, which is relevant to the stream’s outcomes.

Regarding performance, all eleven projects completed by December 2016 achieved most or all expected outputs, and outcomes. In the medium- to long-run, all completed projects are reported to have established conditions that could lead to improvements in partner countries’ labour situations, but as is common with development projects, it is difficult to attribute broad impacts directly back to such small grants. The scope and expected outcomes of the projects sometimes evolve due to changing context or difficulties engaging stakeholders in partner countries. Tracking the evolution of expected and achieved outcomes by projects is something of a challenge because the program lacks a database to systematically gather project updates and results in one place. Outcome sustainability is a challenge for technical assistance projects in general; however, six of eleven completed projects have reported or demonstrated a strong likelihood for sustainable results, and the other five reported producing at least one project component that is likely to be sustainable.

Findings, Occupational Health and Safety stream

Two projects were provided with funding through this stream between April 2012 and March 2016. Evidence gathered from program documents and key informant interviews ‎demonstrates the grants have delivered or are delivering on expected results. As of the 2014 to 2015 fiscal year, the first project had contributed to building and sharing knowledge and harmonizing occupational health and safety standards by producing twelve standards through a development process involving multiple stakeholders, including the provinces and territories. Six of these labour standards were also published on a website administered by the recipient. The remaining standards are expected to be published by 2019. The other grant provided funds for a research project.The project built knowledge on the different factors that should be considered to increase health and safety for all new workers and young workers in particular. This information was shared with representatives from federally-regulated employee and employer groups in high risk industries (for example transport, communications, and shipping).

1.0 Introduction

In April 2012, all grants and contributions of the Labour Program were integrated under one set of terms and conditions into a single program: the Labour Funding Program (LFP). The program is a mechanism for the Government of Canada to meet its commitments to address domestic and international labour issues in the context of trade and globalizationFootnote 1. Ultimately, the program is expected to contribute to safe, fair and productive workplaces and cooperative workplace relations in Canada and internationally (see Annex 1 for the program’s logic model).

This report presents the findings from the evaluation of two of the program’s funding streams: International Trade and Labour (ITL) and Occupational Health and Safety Grants (OHS-G). It fulfills the requirement to review the relevance and performance of the program, focusing on the seventeen ITL grants and two OHS grants disbursed from the program’s inception in April 2012 through March 2016. In accordance with the low dollar value of the programFootnote 2, the evaluation team focused on the relevance of the grant-funded projects to program, department and government priorities; the alignment between projects, expected outcomes of the funding streams, and responsibilities of the parent programsFootnote 3; and the achievement of project-specific outputs and outcomes. Attempts were made to assess medium- and long-run impacts of the ITL stream to the extent possible; however, the grants were too small to determine with certainty their contributions to Canada’s competitiveness on the international stage or to the overall labour situations of partner countries. The report presents preliminary findings based on a review of program documents and project files. Final results will be part of the evaluation of the Bilateral and Regional Labour Affairs program to be completed in spring 2017.

OHS-G, as a smaller stream, was evaluated based on the achievement of project activities, outputs, and immediate outcomes. The report presents final results from both a document and file review, and key informant interviews.

1.1 Labour Funding Program background

The Labour Funding Program (LFP) is a grants and contributions program created to centralize the management of all the Labour Program’s grants and contributions under a single set of terms and conditions. Originally, the program had three funding streams: the Labour-Management Partnerships, International Trade and Labour (ITL), and Occupational Health and Safety and Fire PreventionFootnote 4. However, the Labour-Management Partnerships stream and the Fire Prevention Grants were defunded soon after the creation of the program. In 2014 to 2015, the Employment Equity Program introduced the Workplace Opportunities: Removing Barriers to Equity streamFootnote 5. The new stream will be evaluated with its parent program, leaving two streams to be covered in this evaluation. Expected outcomes differ by stream, but both are intended to contribute to safe, fair, and productive workplaces and cooperative workplace relations in Canada and internationally. Annex 1 presents the program’s logic model.

International Trade and Labour stream (ITL)

Grants and contributions to support the negotiation and implementation of trade-related labour agreements initially constituted one stream of the International Trade and Labour Program, which was created in 2004 to 2005. As the Labour Program moved to centralize the management of all its grants and contributions, the International Trade and Labour Program was scaled down, and the remaining grants were then integrated within the Labour Funding Program as the International Trade and Labour stream. From 2012 to 2013, to 2015 to 2016, the average annual budget for the stream was $1,253,291Footnote 6.

Bilateral and Regional Labour Affairs is responsible for negotiating and monitoring the Labour Provisions of Free Trade Agreements. As part of its work, it uses the grants to either facilitate negotiations, or to help Canada’s partners comply with the commitments made under Labour Cooperation Agreements or Labour Chapters of Free Trade Agreements. These agreements include a section that specifies the modes and areas for technical cooperation between the parties. These sections regulate the kind of projects that can be supported and, therefore, determine the type of technical assistance the grants fund. Bilateral and Regional Labour Affairs was responsible for fourteen grants as of March 2016. The other three grants fell under the responsibility of Multilateral Labour Affairs, which used the grants to fund cooperative labour activities under two labour-related Memoranda of Understanding with China.

Occupational Health and Safety Stream (OHS-G)

The Occupational Health and Safety stream is intended to contribute to the federal workplace health and safety objectives, which are linked to the purpose of the Canada Labour Code (Part II). Two annual grants were originally approved in 1959 and modified in 1986: the Occupational Health and Safety grant ($15,000), and the Standards Writing Organization grant ($12,000). These grants were not adjusted for inflation. Upon the inception of the Labour Funding Program in April 2012, the Terms and Conditions for the occupational health and safety-related grants were replaced with the new Labour Funding Program Terms and Conditions, and the two grants ceased to exist under their previous names. Starting in 2013 to 2014, the Canadian Standards Association signed an agreement with Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC) to receive grants for a five year period ($135,000 in total). The grants were to support the organization’s ongoing projects to share knowledge and to harmonize occupational health and safety systems across Canadian jurisdictions. It is important to note, though, that ESDC’s contribution to the projects only constitutes a small part of their total funding (about 8.6% from March 2013 to March 2018). Final results from the five-year agreement are not yet available because the project is ongoing.

In addition to these long-standing grants, the stream’s budget for 2015 to 2016 included a one-time only grant in the amount of $174,102 to support a collaborative project undertaken by Parachute Leaders in Injury Prevention. The goal of this project was to identify and address occupational health and safety issues specific to young workers. The one-time only agreement with Parachute Leaders provided research on factors that could lead to accidents and illnesses. The present evaluation examined the outputs of this project.

2.0 Findings

Findings are presented in two parts (one for each stream) and according to the evaluation questions approved by the Departmental Evaluation Committee (now the Performance Measurement and Evaluation Committee) in December 2015.

2.1 International Trade and Labour stream

Are International Trade and Labour projects aligned with government priorities related to the maintenance of international labour rights and principles?

Individual project approvals and planning documents for all projects demonstrate alignment between the projects’ expected results, expected outcomes, and ESDC’s mandate. The International Trade and Labour stream supports the Labour Program’s priority to provide technical assistance to countries with which Canada has negotiated or is negotiating a labour agreement, as well as broader government priorities for international relations and trade, including the progressive trade agenda.

In order of priority, projects are funded, first, in partner countries; second, in countries with active or concluded negotiations; and third, in countries of national interest or importance. Sixteen projects have contributed to Canada meeting its commitments under its agreements with partner countries, as demonstrated in Annex 2. Eight projects supported technical assistance projects in countries with existing agreements; four projects were undertaken in countries with which negotiations were active or had concludedFootnote 7; and one project had activities in two countries, one of which already had an agreement in place with Canada (the other had recently concluded negotiations). The other three projects supported cooperative activities with China. The only project that did not fulfill a specific commitment to a partner country was a research project on the effectiveness of labour agreements conducted by the International Labour Organization.

Each of the sixteen country-specific projects pursued outcomes that aligned with the International Labour Organization's international labour standards and with the Decent Work agenda. Of those, fourteen projects included outcomes that aligned with the organization’s 1998 Declaration on Fundamental Rights and Principles at Work and three were also part of the organization’s Better Work program. This evidence indicates that projects are generally well aligned with government priorities related to the maintenance of internationally-recognized labour rights and principles.

Did the projects funded through the International Trade and Labour stream deliver the expected project results?

Out of seventeen projects, six have made strong progress toward achieving not just some, but all outcomes. ESDC’s 2016 to 2017 Report on Plans and Priorities defines International Trade and Labour project success as 85% of project objectives met in full or in part. All eleven projects completed as of December 2016 delivered partial or full results and, overall, meet this definition of success. Similarly, four of six ongoing projects are reported to have already achieved or are on track to implement activities, outputs and outcomes. Reports for the other two projects note that the projects have been facing delays. Based on reports by implementation agencies, major challenges to project implementation such as incomplete activities, outputs, outcomes or objectives often result from a lack of engagement with key stakeholders and/or a changing political context.

To what extent has the International Trade and Labour stream supported Canada's partners in addressing labour-related issues?

Projects usually support capacity building activities to address labour issues and/or improvements in labour legislation and policies, so that partners can fulfill their commitments under their agreements with CanadaFootnote 8. In general, these projects respond to partner countries’ labour-related needs. The labour conditions and technical assistance needs of partner countries are always articulated in project approval documents and funding arrangements based on research, discussions, and, when possible, meetings with partner countries. However, the process to assess partners’ needs is not always clearly articulated in the project files. In 2015, Bilateral and Regional Labour Affairs undertook a pilot project to produce compliance reports for five partner countries. These compliance reports highlight labour-related areas of need for technical assistance in partner countries, which can be used as formal needs assessments for technical assistance through the Labour Funding Program.

Direct consultation exchanges were documented between Canada and partner countries for ten of seventeen projects. Some program and project files also reference more informal exchanges about technical assistance needs during bilateral meetings, missions to partner countries, and meetings of multilateral labour forums such as the International Labour OrganizationFootnote 9.

Approval documents also sometimes note linkages to previous projects, describing how the new project aligns with and/or leverages completed and ongoing labour technical assistance. The extent of coordination between donors is sometimes articulated in project files or implicit in the project design (for example, projects funded through large technical assistance frameworks such as the Better Work Vietnam program), but this type of coordination is not clearly documented for every project. Coordination with other donors has increased in recent years through such means as visits to fellow donor countries for the purpose of coordination and meetings with representatives from other donor countries during missions to beneficiary countries. Project implementation agencies also undertake some of the coordination work between beneficiary countries and donors and between various donors.

Except for one research project, the projects were designed to support some form of capacity building in partner countries. This encompassed activities such as training of inspectors, knowledge sharing, and development of inspections tools. The activities vary according to the stakeholders groups involved (in other words employers, employees, and government officials) and the specific labour standards to be addressed (occupational health and safety, child labour, protection of migrant workers, etc.). Progress reports and final reports for the eleven projects completed by December 2016 indicate that ten of the projects had made significant progress toward completing capacity-building activities and outputs. The remaining project, which covered two countries, completed capacity-building activities in one beneficiary country, but had less success in the other. Most activities were undertaken in the second country, but changing political priorities in the partner country posed a challenge to full implementation of all activities.

In addition to capacity building, four of the eleven completed projects also incorporated activities to help partner countries maintain or improve their labour legislation and policies. Progress was made on legislative and/or policy changes in three of those projects. The fourth responded to a specific request by the partner country, but received insufficient political and bureaucratic support from the partner during implementation to achieve any legislative or policy changes.

Time-only extensions had been granted to eight of seventeen projects as of January 2017. These extensions have helped projects complete their intended activities (or add activities) when there were delays in obtaining approvals in partner countries, key domestic stakeholders were not engaged (for instance, due to changing political conditions), or activities proved more difficult to complete than expected. Although documents and files suggest that completed projects have had a positive effect on specific labour issues in partner countries, the sustainability of project results is not always clear. Measurability of long-term impacts and sustainability of results are common issues with development funding and technical assistance projects for a number of reasons, including changing political situations and ministerial priorities in partner countries. Approval documents for ten projects explicitly discussed potential sustainability of project activities and outcomes. There is no evidence of data collection to measure medium- to long-run project effects past the final progress report provided by the implementation agency, which is usually provided six months post-project.

For evaluation purposes, project sustainability was considered based on project progress and final reports. Of eleven projects completed by December 2016, six had reported strong likelihood of sustainability in most project components. The other five were reported to have set conditions for sustainability in at least component, but noted potential areas of concern regarding the sustainability of other aspects of the project.

To what extent has the International Trade and Labour stream allowed Canada to fulfill its obligations under international labour agreements?

The stream has allowed Canada to fulfill its commitments to partner countries by funding technical assistance projects in eight partner countries since April 2012. The projects are an avenue for Canada to support the mission and goals of international organizations and some grants have funded specific projects implemented by the International Labour Organization. Still, none of the projects directly support the general operations of international labour-related forums or organizations.

Are there more efficient ways of achieving the expected outcomes?

This particular stream is relatively small compared with other labour-related technical assistance programs (for example, the United Sates Department of Labour’s technical assistance fund; the International Program for Professional Labour Administration, which was a temporary initiative funded jointly by Global Affairs Canada and the Labour Program). The equivalent of less than one Labour Program FTE is used per year on the projects. Direct program spending is low compared to the grant amounts disbursed (please see Annex 3 for financial information). The stream has used its maximum grant amount every year since it began. To help ensure efficiency and responsible use of funds, implementation agencies selected to deliver the projects have to meet certain criteria for labour expertise, financial administration, reporting on results, and field presence. Any funds unused at the end of a project implemented by the International Labour Organization in particular can be held by the implementation agency for use in future projects funded by Canada, with Canada’s agreement. Of twelve projects implemented by this organization, two were partially financed by unused funds from previous grants.

Lessons learned from completed projects are identified in briefing notes on an ad hoc basis and in project close out reports. Most progress and final reports include lessons learned for the same or future projects. At the stream level, program officials have adopted a best practice to solicit projects rather than issuing regular calls for proposals, in an effort to ensure projects are aligned with the stream’s objectives. One grant was provided to the International Labour Organization’s research division for a project that investigated the design, implementation, and impacts of international labour agreements in general. This project contributed to improving international understanding of labour agreements and technical assistance, yielding multiple papers and conferences, as well as a final research report.

In regards to program monitoring and performance measurement to improve efficiency, useful data is available in the project reports, site visit and mission reports, and informal status updates regarding project alignment with expected International Trade and Labour stream outcomes and individual project achievements. Sometimes, the outputs and outcomes of the projects do not always match across different reporting documents as projects evolve over time. The lack of a formal performance information database limits the ability to extract, organize, and measure performance data from project reports against the International Trade and Labour performance measurement framework and to report on program-level results. Program financial data indicates a low level of resources (less than one FTE) to administer the program.

Officials do, however, monitor project progress on an ongoing basis, either through formal or informal mechanisms. Evidence of formal and/or informal monitoring by program officials was available for all projects. These monitoring activities have allowed the program to provide guidance and, if necessary, correct course throughout the life of the projects. For some projects, this allowed the implementing agency to focus on delivering some key intended results, or to shift to delivering alternative results that still fit within the project scope and objectives.

Regarding formal monitoring, each funding arrangement requires the project implementation agency to submit project performance measurement and implementation plans shortly after the project begins, followed by periodic progress reports on set dates or intervals and final reports within six months of the project’s completion. For sixteen of the projects, all expected progress reports have been provided. The remaining project has not yet provided its expected formal progress reports; however, briefing notes have been provided with short updates about delays. Final reports expected to have been produced by the implementation agencies upon project completion are available for all projects completed by March 2016. Regarding more informal monitoring, the program collects information through email and telephone updates, as well as through occasional site visits when program officials participate in missions to partner countries.

In fall 2016, program officials began preparing analyses of project progress reports sent by implementation agencies. These analyses align better with the project reports than the standard grants and contributions monitoring templates. They summarize the project reports from a critical perspective against the project’s own performance indicators and expected outcomes, and provide space for the analyst to reflect on follow up questions and issues for further monitoring.

Conclusion

This report presents initial findings on the relevance and performance of the International Trade and Labour stream, based on a review of program documents and project files. Additional findings from key informant interviews will be incorporated in a final report, to be presented with the findings of the Bilateral and Regional Labour Affairs evaluation. The stream continues to be relevant to government and departmental priorities and contributes to the implementation of Canada’s international labour agreements. The projects respond to demonstrated needs of partner countries and are generally having a positive effect on the trade-related labour issues they are intended to address. All projects contribute to the stream’s expected outcomes, and all completed projects have achieved partial-to-full results on project-specific activities, outputs and outcomes. The stream does, however, lack a database of project performance information. Measuring long-term impacts and the sustainability of project results are challenges faced by all development and technical assistance programs, including this one. In the absence of long-term performance data from the projects, a database that tracks the expected and completed results of each project could help paint the picture of the stream’s contributions over time and the progress made across projects within each country.

2.2 Occupational Health and Safety Stream (OHS-G)

Did the projects funded through the Occupational Health and Safety-Grants deliver the expected projects results?

Although the funding agreement with the Canadian Standards Association continues until March 2018, the interview and document review suggests that the projects are on track to achieve the expected activities and short-term outcomes. As per their funding agreement, the Canadian Standards Association developed and maintained Occupational Health and Safety standards covering such topics as ergonomics, management systems, elevating work platforms, and protective headwear/footwear. In addition, the Canadian Standards Association supported the accessibility of standards through the View Access website which allows users to view Canadian Standards Association Occupational Health and Safety standards online at no cost.

As of February 20, 2015, ten of the twelve labour standards projects identified in the 2012 to 2014 Work Plan had been completed and made available for public review. Five of the completed projects had been published on the View Access website and it was expected that the remaining labour standards would be published by summer 2016. Moreover, of the sixteen labour standards projects identified in the 2014 to 2016 Work Plan, two had been completed and one had been published. The remaining projects are expected to be published by 2019.

The goal of the “Young Workers’ Injury Prevention Interventions in Canada” project was to develop appropriate metrics for evaluating youth injury prevention initiatives, and to present an evidence-based strategy to leverage these metrics for optimal use and effectiveness. The project produced an analysis of the factors that may impact youth injuries in workplaces (in other words environment, training and experience), an environmental scan of youth injury prevention strategies, and a literature review of metrics that could be used to measure youth injury prevention strategies.

Has the Occupation Health and Safety-Grants stream contributed to the building and sharing of knowledge on the provisions of employees' accidents and illnesses?

The program has contributed to the building and sharing of knowledge on the provisions of employee’s accidents and illness through the Canadian Standards Association standards development process. According to key informants, the process allows professional workers from various backgrounds to be part of the advisory committee and to participate in the publishing standards process. There is a public review period before it is published that allows stakeholders to provide input as the standards are developed. The funding was also used to support the View Access Project, which allows users such as workers and employers to view occupational health and safety standards online at no cost. There is also a public forum called Community, which is a platform for standard-based discussion that includes a specific section on Occupational Health and Safety.

The young workers project provided research on what factors could lead to accident and illness, and it found that those same factors can contribute to safety, security, and wellness in the work place. This research was also found to apply to new immigrants in Canada and all new workers. It was mentioned in the key informant interviews that the young workers’ prevention project was shared with members of an Occupational Health and Safety advisory committee with representatives from federally-regulated employee and employer groups in high risk industries (for example transport, communications, and shipping). The committee was asked to share this information widely with their groups so they could reach as many employees and employers as possible.

To what extent has the Occupational Health and Safety-Grants stream contributed to the harmonization of occupational health and safety standards across jurisdictions within Canada?

The Canadian Standards Association project has contributed to the harmonization of occupational health and safety standards across jurisdictions within Canada through the use of a committee with members from the national, provincial, and territorial governments and regulators, as well as groups from various sectors that creates and reviews the standards. The committee is structured and governed in order to harmonize and ensure that the standards they develop are relevant and applicable to the various occupational health and safety jurisdictions across the country.

Conclusion

Although the evaluation could not assess the medium and long term impacts of the projects, evidence gathered from program documents as well as key informant interviews shows that the grants have delivered, or are in the process of delivering, their expected results.

By the end of fiscal year 2014 to 2015, the Canadian Standards Association project had contributed to the building and sharing of knowledge and the harmonization of occupational health and safety standards by completing twelve standards through a development process involving multiple stakeholders, including the provinces and territories. Six of these labour standards were also published on the association’s View Access website. It is expected that the remaining labour standards will be published by 2019.

The grant for young workers has built knowledge on the different factors that should be considered to increase health and safety not only for young workers but for all new workers. This information was shared with representatives from federally-regulated employee and employer groups in high risk industries (for example transport, communications, and shipping).

Annex 1 - The Labour Funding Program logic model

Image description

Annex 1 presents the Labour Funding Program’s logic model, which outlines the program’s activities, its expected outputs, and the outcomes it intends to achieve or to which it intends to contribute. The logic model covers all three funding streams that existed at the program’s launch: international trade and labour, labour management partnerships, and occupational health and safety and fire prevention.

Activities 

The logic model organizes the program activities into two groups based on the party responsible for a given activity:

  1. Recipients: Activities that support the labour dimension of globalization or support labour-management dialogue or support occupational health and safety and fire prevention.
  2. Departmental: Application and assessment; where applicable, establishing and implementing a review committee; approval; agreement development; payments; financial and performance monitoring and reporting; amendments; and close-out.

Outputs

The two groups of activities are intended to produce the following three outputs:

  1. Planning and reporting
  2. Tools and information
  3. Signed funding agreements

Immediate outcomes

The three outputs are intended to produce four immediate outcomes:

  1. International Trade and Labour Stream: Social dialogue occurs to address labour issues, including labour issues related to labour cooperation agreements.
  2. International Trade and Labour Stream: Capacity developed to address labour issues, including labour issues related to labour cooperation agreements. This outcome is also expected to contribute to immediate outcome 1.
  3. Labour Management Partnerships Stream: Knowledge developed on the capacity of dispute resolution to address labour management issues.
  4. Occupational Health and Safety and Fire Prevention Stream: Contributes to the building and sharing of knowledge on prevention of accidents and illness for workers as well as fire protection, fire prevention and safety.

Intermediate outcomes

The four immediate outcomes contribute to three intermediate outcomes. Each immediate outcome is expected to contribute to the intermediate outcome of the same funding stream.

  1. International Trade and Labour: Labour issues, including issues related to labour cooperation agreements, are being addressed
  2. Labour Management Partnerships: Dispute resolution used to address labour management issues
  3. Occupational Health and Safety and Fire Prevention: The new and updated knowledge is expected to increase capacity to address occupational health and safety as well as fire protection and fire prevention issues. The knowledge developed is also expected to support the harmonization of occupational health and safety and fire protection/prevention standards across jurisdictions through collaboration and cooperation.

Ultimate outcomes

The three intermediate outcomes contribute to three ultimate outcomes. Each intermediate outcome is expected to contribute to the ultimate outcome of the same funding stream.

  1. International Trade and Labour: Contributes to increased partner countries’ enforcement of internationally accepted labour legislation.
  2. Labour Management Partnerships: Contributes to reduced labour disruption.
  3. Occupational Health and Safety and Fire Prevention: The capacity to address occupational health and safety and fire protection and fire prevention issues, as well as the development, updating and harmonization of occupational health and safety and fire protection/prevention standards and practices will contribute to a reduction in work-related accidents and illnesses and injury and death due to fire.

Strategic Outcome

The Labour Funding Program aligns with one strategic outcome: Safe, fair and productive workplaces and cooperative workplace relations in Canada and internationally.

Annex 2 - International Trade and Labour stream

Project title Partner country Implementation agency Start date End date Program Funding amount Support
Canada-China Joint Seminar on Labour Dispute Resolution China Université de Montréal Mar. 2013 Dec. 2013 Multilateral Labour Affairs $116,984 Memoranda of understanding
Occupational Health and Safety and Social Dialogue in the Mining Sector Colombia International Labour Organization Mar. 2013 Dec. 2015 Bilateral and Regional Labour Affairs $300,000 Agreement implementation
Increasing Compliance with International Labour Standards in the Tourism Industry Dominican Republic International Labour Organization Mar. 2013 Mar. 2015 Bilateral and Regional Labour Affairs $200,000 Agreement negotiations
Improving the Protection of Labour Rights Jordan International Labour Organization Mar. 2013 Sep. 2014 Bilateral and Regional Labour Affairs $180,000 Agreement implementation
Assessment of Existing Labour Provisions in Trade and Investment Arrangements n/a International Labour Organization Mar. 2013 Dec. 2016 Bilateral and Regional Labour Affairs $498,248 Research
Occupational Health and Safety in the Non-Traditional Agro-Export Sector Peru International Labour Organization Mar. 2013 Mar. 2015 Bilateral and Regional Labour Affairs $300,000 Agreement implementation
Strengthening the Capacities of Tripartite Constituents to Address Labour Issues Vietnam International Labour Organization Mar. 2013 June 2015 Bilateral and Regional Labour Affairs $300,000 Cooperation framework
Canada-China Joint Seminar on Collective Bargaining and Labour Dispute Resolution China Université de Montréal Mar. 2014 Jan. 2015 Multilateral Labour Affairs $100,000 Memoranda of understanding
DIALOGANDO II - Building Labour Law Compliance Capacity Honduras and Panama FUNPADEM Mar. 2014 Aug. 2016 Bilateral and Regional Labour Affairs $700,000 Agreement negotiation and implementation
Promoting Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work Jordan International Labour Organization Mar. 2014 May 2016 Bilateral and Regional Labour Affairs $315,000 Agreement implementation
Labour Mediator and Arbitrator Capacity Building Project China Université de Montréal Mar. 2015 July 2017 Multilateral Labour Affairs $600,180 Memoranda of understanding
National Strategy for the Prevention and Elimination of the Worst Forms of Child Labour Colombia International Labour Organization Mar. 2015 Jun. 2017 Bilateral and Regional Labour Affairs $318,395 Agreement implementation
Integrated System for the Identification and Registration of Child Labour Peru International Labour Organization Mar. 2015 Dec. 2017 Bilateral and Regional Labour Affairs $338,556 Agreement implementation
Promoting Gender Rights and Tackling Child Labour in the Garment and Footwear Sector Vietnam International Labour Organization Mar. 2015 Jun. 2016 Bilateral and Regional Labour Affairs $46,000 Cooperation framework
Strengthening Occupational Health and Safety Compliance and Inspection Honduras FUNPADEM Mar. 2016 June 2017 Bilateral and Regional Labour Affairs $200,000 Agreement implementation
Promoting Core International Labour Standards and Compliance in the Garment Sector Vietnam International Labour Organization Mar. 2016 Oct. 2017 Bilateral and Regional Labour Affairs $250,898 Cooperation framework
Pilot Project for the Elimination of Child Labour Among Refugees and Host Communities Jordan International Labour Organization Mar. 2016 Dec. 2017 Bilateral and Regional Labour Affairs $251,000 Agreement implementation

Annex 3 - Financial Information, International Trade and Labour stream

Details 2012-2013 2013-2014 2014-2015 2015-2016 Average per fiscal year Total
Grants (forecasted) $1,900,000 $1,150,000 $1,000,000 $1,000,000 $1,262,500 $5,050,000
Grants (actuals) $1,895,232 $1,114,981.91 $1,002,951 $1,000,000 $1,253,291.23 $5,013,164.91
Direct program spending $65,515.52 $50,810.69 $65,339.25 $22,835.11 $51,125.14 $204,500.57
Operations and maintenance $0.00 $0.00 $154,149.93 $203,173.47 $89,330.85 $357,323.40
Full time equivalents 0.71 0.54 0.68 0.24 0.54 n/a

Page details

Date modified: