At a Glance: Departmental Evaluation Plan for Health Canada 2021-22 to 2025-26
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Published: 2021-06-28
The Office of Audit and Evaluation (OAE) Departmental Evaluation Plan for Health Canada describes the Program Evaluation Division's scheduled work for the five-year period from 2021-22 to 2025-26. The Plan was developed to meet Health Canada's commitments under the Policy on Results (2016), which requires that each department prepare a five-year plan that is updated annually.
The projects included in this Evaluation Plan were selected to ensure full coverage of all Grant and Contribution spending over $5 million annually over a five-year period, prior commitments in Treasury Board Submissions, the information needs of program management, and program risks, and optimal use of resources. The Departmental Results Framework (DRF), program inventory, and performance information profiles developed by Health Canada have formed the basis for this plan.
The COVID-19 pandemic continues to have a significant impact on the work of Health Canada (HC) as it remains at the forefront of the Government of Canada's response. To be respectful of the need for branches to focus on the response, and to respond to other oversight reviews such as those led by the Office of the Auditor General and the Standing Committee on Health, OAE reprioritized work and, as necessary and where possible, shifted the timing of planned evaluations.
The present Departmental Evaluation Plan (DEP) reflects the response of OAE to these circumstances, by developing a plan that ensures that OAE focuses its efforts and resources on emerging priorities while continuing to meet our reporting commitments under the Financial Administration Act (FAA).
Planning for Evaluation
Over the next five years, the OAE plans to conduct 29 evaluations that involve Health Canada: 19 will focus exclusively on Health Canada activities and two evaluations will examine the activities of both Health Canada and the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC). The remaining eight projects are horizontal evaluations – three of which are led by Health Canada and the remaining five projects are led by other government departments or agencies. A yearly breakdown is provided in Table 1 below. Table 2 outlines the direct program spending (DPS) by core responsibility for all scheduled evaluations for the next five years.
| 2021-22 | 2022-23 | 2023-24 | 2024-25 | 2025-26 | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Health Canada | 2 | 3 | 7 | 4 | 3 | 19 |
| Health Canada and PHAC | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Horizontal (HC-led) | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
| Horizontal (OGD-led) | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 5 |
| Total | 3 | 8 | 8 | 5 | 5 | 29 |
| Program | Evaluations planned in the next five years | Fiscal year of approval | 2021-22 spending covered by evaluation ($)Footnote 1 | Rationale for not evaluating program or spending |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Core Responsibility - Health Care Systems ($2,453,356,027) | ||||
| Health Care Systems Analysis and Policy ($64,329,560) |
Health Care Policy Contribution Program | 2023-24 | $64,329,560 | N/A |
| Access, Affordability, and Appropriate Use of Drugs and Medical Devices ($32,065,919) |
Pan Canadian Health Organizations | 2023-24 | $32,065,919 | N/A |
| Home, Community and Palliative Care ($1,401,959,107) |
Home Care and Mental Health Services Initiative | 2022-23 | $1,401,959,107 | N/A |
| Mental Health ($601,200,000) |
Home Care and Mental Health Services Initiative | 2022-23 | $601,200,000 | N/A |
| Digital Health ($85,774,000) |
Pan-Canadian Health Organizations | 2023-24 | $85,774,000 | N/A |
| Health Information ($102,973,979) |
Pan-Canadian Health Organizations | 2023-24 | $102,973,979 | N/A |
| Canada Health Act ($1,659,838) |
N/A | N/A | $1,659,838 | Low Need: HC's activities have focused on the administration of the Act, such as monitoring for compliance. On an annual basis, the federal Minister of Health is required to report to Parliament on the administration and operation of the Canada Health Act, which provides good oversight on this activity. |
| Medical Assistance in Dying ($500,000) |
N/A | N/A | $500,000 | Low Need: Program has been recently implemented. Furthermore, while the potential for conducting an evaluation will be examined in the future, parliamentary reporting requirements provide good oversight on this activity at this time. |
| Cancer Control ($52,720,000) |
Pan-Canadian Health Organizations | 2023-24 | $52,720,000 | N/A |
| Patient Safety ($26,450,000) |
Pan-Canadian Health Organizations | 2023-24 | $26,450,000 | N/A |
| Blood Systems, Organs, Tissue and Transplantation ($10,080,000) |
Blood Safety (Canadian Blood Services Contribution Programs and PHAC Blood Safety Program) | 2022-23 | $10,080,000 | N/A |
| Promoting Minority Official Languages in the Health Care Systems ($39,018,752) |
Action Plan for Official Languages 2018-2023: Investing in our Future | 2022-23 | $39,018,752 | N/A |
| Brain Research ($20,100,000) |
Canadian Brain Foundation Contribution Program | 2021-22 | $20,100,000 | N/A |
| Thalidomide ($14,524,872) |
Canadian Thalidomide Survivors Support Program | 2024-25 | $14,524,872 | N/A |
| Territorial Health Investment Fund ($0) | Territorial Health Investment Fund | 2023-24 | -Footnote 2 | N/A |
| Core Responsibility - Health Protection and Promotion ($1,019,858,561) | ||||
| Pharmaceutical Drugs ($425,682,882) |
Pharmaceutical Drugs Program - Human and Veterinary Drugs | 2023-24 | $425,682,882 | N/A |
| Biologic and Radiopharmaceutical Drugs ($49,386,200) |
Biologic and Radiopharmaceutical Program | 2024-25 | $49,386,200 | N/A |
| Medical Devices ($25,998,716) |
Medical Devices Program | 2024-25 | $25,998,716 | N/A |
| Natural Health Products ($18,116,628) |
Natural Health Products Program | 2025-26 | $18,116,628 | N/A |
| Food Safety and Nutrition ($67,065,781) |
Food & Nutrition Program - Nutrition Policy | 2022-23 | $51,401,927 | N/A |
| Impact Assessment and Regulatory Processes (IARP) Horizontal Initiative | 2022-23 | $151,030 | N/A | |
| Food and Nutrition Program - Food Safety and Veterinary Drugs | 2023-24 | $15,512,824 | N/A | |
| Air Quality ($20,807,665) |
Addressing Air Pollution Horizontal Initiative | 2025-26 | $20,807,665 | N/A |
| Climate Change ($4,441,714) |
Climate Change and Health Adaptation Program | 2025-26 | $4,441,714 | N/A |
| Water Quality ($2,676,386) |
Chemicals Management Plan | 2024-25 | $2,676,386 | N/A |
| Health Impacts of Chemicals ($33,063,495) |
Impact Assessment and Regulatory Processes (IARP) Horizontal Initiative | 2022-23 | $4,976,246 | N/A |
| Federal Contaminated Sites Action Plan: Phase IV | 2023-24 | $1,657,441 | N/A | |
| Chemicals Management Plan | 2024-25 | $25,636,503 | N/A | |
| Genomics Research and Development Initiative | 2025-26 | $793,305 | N/A | |
| Consumer Product Safety ($28,536,286) |
Consumer Product Safety | 2022-23 | $28,536,286 | N/A |
| Workplace Hazardous Products ($3,864,866) |
Workplace Hazardous Products | 2025-26 | $3,864,866 | N/A |
| Tobacco Control (including vaping) ($31,442,318) |
Health Portfolio's Tobacco and Vaping Activities | 2021-22 | $31,442,318 | N/A |
| Controlled Substances ($136,389,096) |
Canadian Drugs and Substance Strategy (including Opioids and drug overdose crisis in Canada) | 2022-23 | $136,389,096 | N/A |
| Cannabis ($107,688,259) |
Cannabis Program | 2022-23 | $107,688,259 | N/A |
| Radiation Protection ($16,266,655) |
Radiation Protection Activities | 2023-24 | $16,266,655 | N/A |
| Pesticides ($33,171,776) |
Pesticides Program | 2024-25 | $33,171,776 | N/A |
| Specialized Health Services and Internationally Protected Persons Program ($15,259,838) |
N/A | N/A | $15,259,838 | Low Need: No requirement to inform major policy or spending decisions. Low Risk: Low enterprise risk. For one program component, Health Canada is the delivery agent rather than program owner (Employee Assistance Services - EAS). EAS has been accredited with the highest quality standard (gold) of the industry as set out by the Employee Assistance Society of North America (EASNA) as the Council of Accreditation (COA) carries out in-depth assessments of EAS' compliance with best practices in the industry. |
| Other ($0) | National COVID-19 Exposure Notification App | 2021-22 | - | N/A |
| Other ($0) | ROEB Occupational Health and Safety Program for Inspections and Other Field Activities | 2023-24 | - | N/A |
Footnotes
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