At a Glance – Evaluation of the Canadian Centre for Climate Services

November 2025

1. Program Overview

In 2016, the Canadian government published the Pan-Canadian Framework on Clean Growth and Climate Change. This framework outlines a plan to address climate change and grow the economy. Adaptation and climate resilience are one of the four pillars of this framework. One of the measures in the 2017 federal budget, in support of this pillar, was the creation of the Canadian Centre for Climate Services.

The CCCS is made up of a dedicated multi-disciplinary team with a broad range of climate-related expertise. Its goal is to help the Canadian population increase resilience to climate change by improving their understanding of the extent to which the climate is changing, what impacts these changes may have, and how to incorporate this information in their daily decision-making. The CCCS is currently funded until 2028.

The CCCS’ activities are centered around the following goals:

• Developing and delivering climate services driven by user needs
• Providing access to climate information
• Building local capacity by partnering with regional climate organizations and with other partners
• Offering training and support to help the Canadian population make sense of climate information and integrate this information into their decision-making frameworks

2. Scope and Methodology

2.1. Scope

The evaluation of the Canadian Centre for Climate Services (CCCS) covers the 8-year period from the program’s inception in 2017-2018 to 2024-2025. The evaluation examines the following themes:

• Relevance and responsiveness
• Governance
• Results and Efficiency

2.2. Methodology

Multiple lines of evidence were used in conducting the evaluation, including:

• Survey: A survey of internal and external partners, collaborators, users, and other CCCS contacts
• Analysis of administrative, performance, and financial data: This data provided information on CCCS’ achievement of results and on the availability, use, and quality of performance information
• Case Studies: 5 CCCS-related projects were selected to better understand the full breadth of CCCS activities
• Interviews: 20 interviews were conducted with ECCC program representatives, as well as representatives from ECCC’s partners, including other federal government departments
• Document review: The document review covered CCCS-specific documents; Government of Canada policy documents; and research from third parties. A media scan of articles from April 2023 to April 2025 was also conducted

3. Findings

3.1. Relevance and Responsiveness

The evaluation noted that the demand for CCCS services is steadily increasing, reflecting the Canadian populations growing awareness and ambition regarding climate change adaptation. The Climate Services Support Desk is responsive, with high satisfaction rates among users. The evaluation found evidence of established robust processes aimed at prioritizing the Centre’s work effectiveness. Despite challenges in managing demand and the need for increased collaboration with other federal initiatives, the CCCS continues to improve its processes and to explore potential products and services to support its mandate.

3.2. Results and Efficiency

The Canadian Centre for Climate Services (CCCS) has delivered results on its original three main pillars. While it has created the Northern and Indigenous Service Delivery team to address unique northern needs, gaps in the North still exist and require attention. Overall, the CCCS has made a significant difference in the area of adaptation by leveraging existing data, providing user-friendly tools, and fostering cooperation with partners. The financial data shows stable expenditures over the first six years, with increases in the last two years due to Budget 2023 funding, totaling $65.2M over eight years. The difference between planned spending and actual spending has been significant, averaging $1.4M over the eight-year period.

3.3. Governance

The CCCS adopted a horizontal structure comprising three core teams. Despite challenges such as staff turnover and the need for specialized staff, the CCCS has demonstrated agility and adaptability to emerging needs.

The CCCS works closely with other ECCC branches, such as the Meteorological Service of Canada (MSC) and the Science and Technology Branch (STB), utilizing formal and informal structures which support efficient delivery of climate services and optimize roles and responsibilities. However, there are opportunities to improve information exchange, data management, and coordinated engagement with other government departments (OGDs).

4. Recommendations

Recommendation 1: The Assistant Deputy Minister of the Strategic Policy and International Affairs Branch should map out what palatable options would be available for CCCS to increase its products and services in the North. The options should be based on approaches that would integrate territorial perspectives and voices in the process, taking learnings from its experiences with regional hubs establishment.

Recommendation 2: The Assistant Deputy Minister of the Strategic Policy and International Affairs Branch should work on reducing departmental silos between ECCC branches to further strengthen/harmonize/streamline ECCC’s climate data engagement and service delivery to partners and the wider public. This includes increased coordination in areas where climate and meteorological modelling converge and coordination around data and information management and related IT investments.

5. Management Action Plan

Management Response to Recommendation 1: The Assistant Deputy Minister of the Strategic Policy and International Affairs Branch agrees with the recommendation.

Action 1: Show leadership by implementing a northern focused workplan that expands the offerings of new northern products and services.

Action 2: Engaging with and listening to northern partners about their preferred service model and providing input that reflects CCCS’ vision for enhanced northern services in a national context.

Management Response to Recommendation 2: The Assistant Deputy Minister of the Strategic Policy and International Affairs Branch agrees with the recommendation

Action 1: Establish accountability at a senior executive level to limit work in silos within ECCC by soliciting key ADMs and DGs support in facilitating the establishment of a more formal framework involving climate change-related research, data development, modelling, services, engagement with ODGs and IT/data governance and management.

Action 2: Increase coordination across MSC, STB and SPIAB to support the delivery of seasonal-to-decadal (S2D) climate data and services by leveraging the existing S2D working group and by sharing key outcomes with ADMs.

Action 3: Review the recommendations of the 2025 audit report on IT governance, assess applicability to climate data and services at ECCC and, if so, the possibility of leveraging outcome(s) to further clarify roles and responsibilities regarding ECCC data governance, management, and related IT investments as it relates to climate data and services.