Evaluation of the International Migration Capacity Building Program – Funded projects component

Evaluation and Performance Measurement Division
December 2021
Project reference number: E2-2020

Executive Summary

The purpose of this evaluation was to assess the relevance, influence, and results of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada’s (IRCC) International Migration Capacity Building Program (IMCBP)-Funded Projects Component. As per the Directive on Results and the Financial Administration Act, this evaluation was conducted to fulfil the requirement to evaluate ongoing grants and contributions (G&C) with five-year average actual expenditures of less than $5 million per year. The scope of the evaluation covered the period since the last evaluation in 2013, with an emphasis on recent years.

Brief overview of IMCBP-Funded Projects

The International Migration Capacity Building Program (IMCBP)-Funded Projects Component is a grant program that seeks to advance migration policy development and research to further advance Canada’s goals of promoting international protection and managed migration. Approximately $700K CAD annually is provided through individual IMCBP-Funded Projects to eligible beneficiaries, with the objectives of supporting the development of well-managed migration systems that facilitate safe, orderly and regular migration through an advancement of capacity building efforts, and increasing in the development and exchange of migration-related information and expertise.

Evaluation Findings and Recommendations

The IMCBP-Funded Projects Component has evolved overtime, and include participation in events, information sharing and capacity building. These projects are being used as a tool to support activities that contribute to IRCC’s bilateral and multilateral relationships, and the program is being administered with the necessary mechanisms and processes in place to support the program’s management and oversight.

In response to the evaluation findings and in support of continued improvement of the IMCBP-Funded Projects Component, this report concludes by proposing four recommendations for the program area to consider.

Despite the successes, challenges exist for the IMCBP-Funded Project Component. Primarily, the broad purpose and objectives of the program have made it difficult to ascertain the role and position the program has within IRCC. In addition, there is a misalignment between the IMCBP expected outcomes and the more specific small-scale nature of the individual IMCBP-Funded Projects, making it difficult to determine the level and impact of the program, and if the program is achieving its expected outcomes.

Recommendation 1: IRCC should review the purpose and program theory for the IMCBP-Funded Projects Component to ensure that the program resources are being used strategically.

Recommendation 2: Based on the results from recommendation 1, IRCC should develop a performance measurement framework for the IMCBP-Funded Projects Component which better defines their expected outcomes and identifies corresponding indicators and measurement tools.

Given the relatively low materiality of the program, the Department undertakes many processes and steps to administer and oversee the IMCBP-Funded Projects Component application process. The application process and requirements were found to be clear and easy to understand, though describing project deliverables and expected results was somewhat less understood, and there were mixed views among interviewees and survey respondents regarding the neutrality of the program’s selection process.

Recommendation 3: IRCC should recalibrate the IMCBP-Funded Projects Component proposal process to better align the level of effort with the scope of the program and the amount of money being administered, while ensuring transparency within the selection process.

Individual IMCBP-Funded Projects were seen as useful to individuals within the Department. Knowledge disseminated and gained through the IMCBP-Funded Projects Component to a broader audience was dependent on relationships between the sponsors and the partner organizations.

Recommendation 4: In support of strengthening the dissemination of results of the individual IMCBP-Funded Projects, IRCC should:

1. Implement a central repository of information accessible to all IRCC employees; and
2. Create and implement a communication strategy to share and promote information.