Summary of the ECCC Departmental Evaluation Plan, 2019-2020 to 2023-2024

About the Departmental Evaluation Plan

Environment and Climate Change Canada’s (ECCC) Audit and Evaluation Branch (AEB) produces a five-year rolling departmental evaluation plan that is informed by an annual planning exercise and approved by the Deputy Ministers. The plan follows the Mandatory Procedure for Evaluation outlined in the Directive on Results. It is a result of discussions at each ECCC branch executive management table. As well, the ADM Corporate Operations Committee reviewed the document and provided comments. The Executive Management Committee recommended the plan for deputy ministerial approval. The Deputy Minister and the Associate Deputy Minister approved the Departmental Evaluation Plan (DEP) on June 21, 2019.

The primary purpose of the plan is to help the Deputy Ministers and senior management ensure that credible, timely and neutral information on the ongoing relevance and performance of direct program spending and ongoing programs of grants and contributions is available to support evidence‐based decision making and provide results for Canadians.

The plan serves as a resource to:

• assess the Department’s compliance with the Financial Administration Act (FAA) and the Policy on Results
• ensure that evaluation commitments in submissions approved by the Treasury Board are respected
• confirm evaluation coverage of the areas of highest risk for the Department
• assess the adequacy of resourcing for the evaluation function

Project selection

The AEB uses the previous year's risk assessments and plans as a starting point for the annual planning exercise. The approach to planning considers the following key elements and principles:

• consult with senior executives, relevant ECCC governance committees and the Treasury Board Secretariat
• review ECCC's programs and priorities and certain key documents, including the Departmental Plan and the Departmental Corporate Risk Profile
• develop a list of all mandatory evaluation requirements, including fulfilling commitments specified in Treasury Board submissions and addressing the statutory requirements of the FAA (section 42.1)
• take into account similar risks and projects identified by key partner departments (for example, science-based departments and agencies), and consider opportunities for collaboration and joint evaluations.

The final plan reflects an adequate resource allocation. It factors in the AEB’s available resources, capacity and expertise, as well as the capacity of ECCC branch and program areas to accommodate multiple projects.

Evaluation resources and capacity

The Evaluation Division shares resources with the Internal Audit Division for branch administration, the provision of support to committees, the publication of reports and follow-up on recommendations.

For FY 2019 to 2020, the Evaluation Division forecasts:

• a budget of $2.07 million
• 16.9 full-time equivalents

ECCC’s five-year evaluation plan

A total of 28 evaluation projects are planned for FY 2019 to 2020 to FY 2023 to 2024.

• 22 of the 28 projects are being conducted to meet mandatory evaluation requirements
• 6 of the 28 projects are discretionary evaluations identified during consultations with senior management and the Deputy Ministers as being of particular value to support decision making
• ECCC is the lead department on 6 horizontal evaluations and a participant in 9 horizontal evaluation projects

Overview of planned ECCC evaluation projects, by fiscal year of approval by the Deputy Ministers

Fiscal year 2019 to 2020

• Major Projects Management Office Initiative (horizontal evaluation ECCC participant)
• West Coast Energy Infrastructure Initiative (horizontal evaluation, ECCC participant)
• Management of Second Language Training at ECCC (ECCC internal evaluation)
• Chemicals Management Plan (horizontal evaluation, ECCC participant)
• Joint Audit-Evaluation of the Management of the Pan-Canadian Framework (ECCC internal evaluation)
• Youth Employment Strategy (horizontal evaluation, ECCC participant)
• Oceans Protection Plan (ECCC internal evaluation)

Fiscal year 2020 to 2021

• Weather Observations, Forecasts and Warnings (ECCC internal evaluation)
• Single Window Initiative (horizontal evaluation, ECCC participant)
• Air Pollution Mitigation (horizontal evaluation, ECCC lead)
• International Climate Change Cooperation (horizontal evaluation, ECCC lead)
• Canada Nature Fund – Protected Areas and Species at Risk (ECCC internal formative evaluation)
• Low Carbon Economy Fund (ECCC internal evaluation)
• Freshwater – Great Lakes, Lake Winnipeg, St. Lawrence (ECCC internal evaluation)
• Core Climate Change Mitigation (ECCC internal evaluation)

Fiscal year 2021 to 2022

• Climate Change Adaptation – Horizontal Roll-up (horizontal evaluation, ECCC lead)
• Pan-Canadian Carbon Pricing (horizontal evaluation, ECCC lead)
• World Class Tanker Safety (horizontal evaluation, ECCC participant)
• Adaptation – Canadian Centre for Climate Services (ECCC internal evaluation)
• Hydrological Services (ECCC internal evaluation)
• Green Municipal Fund (horizontal evaluation, ECCC lead)

Fiscal year 2022 to 2023

• Oceans Protection Plan (horizontal evaluation, ECCC participant)
• Impact Assessment and Regulatory Processes Initiative (horizontal evaluation, ECCC participant)
• Species at Risk Program, including SAR components of the Canadian Nature Fund (horizontal evaluation, ECCC lead)
• Protected Areas Program, including the Canadian Nature Fund (ECCC internal evaluation)
• St. Lawrence Program (ECCC internal evaluation to support long-term renewal)
• Genomics Research and Development Initiative (horizontal evaluation, ECCC participant)

Fiscal year 2022 to 2023

• Habitat Conservation Partnerships Program (ECCC internal evaluation)