5-year priorities of NRC's Evaluation Group
- Deliver evaluation projects that support the NRC in the achievement of results, sound stewardship and effective resource management
- 5-year schedule includes majority of all of the NRC's direct program spending on a 5-year timeframe – only 2 enabling services not covered
- Provide independent and timely insight, advice and challenge to management on a range of issues including new business models, risks and ongoing business operations
- Completion of 2 program reviews (Bio-based Specialty Chemicals and Health Technologies)
- Management of retrospective review of NRC programs
- Share common themes from program reviews and evaluations
- Develop approaches to monitoring and evaluating collaboration centres and enabling services
- Facilitate use in decision making, improve communication of results to NRC executives and other internal stakeholders
- Build expertise in using Slide Docs for evaluation reports and continuing to improve dissemination (i.e., decks) to NRC's Performance Measurement and Evaluation Committee (PMEC)
- Implement communication strategy at the function level and project level (e.g., presentations to research centre advisory committees, articles in internal NRC newsletter)
- Increase efficiency and reduce burden on research centres, branches and IRAP, streamline planning, fieldwork, reporting and quality assurance
- Review all aspects of evaluation processes with a view to streamlining
About the departmental evaluation plan
- Schedule based on:
- FAA-required evaluations: Grant and Contribution programs and Treasury Board Secretariat commitments
- Evaluation of all other direct program spending (timing based on risk, need and priority)
- Aligns with requirements of the Policy on Results and the Departmental Results Framework
- Developed in consultation with members of the NRC's Senior Executive Committee
- Evaluations consider Gender-based Analysis Plus (GBA+)
2019-20 planned resources
| 2019-20 Budget | |
|---|---|
| Salaries (including Employee Benefit Plan) | $1,642,637 |
| Operations and Maintenance (O&M) (from Office of Audit and Evaluation [OAE] Operational Budget) | $113,000 |
| Total (OAE) | $1,755,637 |
| O&M (from other NRC) | $77,807 |
| Total Evaluation Plan Spending | $1,833,444 |
Full Time Equivalent: 13.4 employees
Note:
- Budget figures do not include salary or O&M for peer reviews
- Staffing complement includes 3 positions currently vacant; to be filled in 2019-20
2018-19 highlights
Evaluations completed
- Canada Accelerator and Incubator Program
- Digital Technologies
- Energy, Mining and Environment
- TRIUMF
Program reviews completed
- Bioenergy
- Energy Storage
- Environmental Advances in Mining
- High-efficiency Mining
- High-performance Buildings
- Printable Electronics
Use of evaluations and reviews
- Increased project management skills and practices
- Improved business approaches and processes
Evaluations and program reviews inform decision making
- 100% of NRC respondents agreed that evaluation/program review recommendations should result in significant improvements to the program
- 75% of NRC respondents found that evaluations/program reviews were beneficial to program management
- 96% of evaluation management action plan items due in 2017-18 were actually implemented – the NRC achieved the highest completion rate out of all large-sized Government of Canada departments (Management Accountability Framework 2018-19 Results Management)
Strong expertise in peer reviews
- 91% of peer review committee members agreed documentation contained necessary information to answer review questions
- 91% of peer review committee members would recommend participation to a colleague
"I have chaired many reviews of national laboratories in the US, and I found that this was the best organized that I have encountered in terms of identifying committee participants, providing information before the reviews, and in identifying additional information to be provided during the reviews."
Innovations adopted
- Peer review committee: continued development of guidelines and expertise in the establishment and use of peer review committees
- Slide Docs: piloting the use of Slide Docs for evaluation reports
- Walk your data: developed and used this approach to present and validate program review and evaluation findings and recommendations
- Laid the ground for an upcoming NRC impact assessment to address policy authority commitment (Re-imagined NRC)
- Training on GBA+ and risk: led to the development of approaches piloted in evaluations
- Sharing expertise: multiple outreach within the NRC (peer review, performance measurement) and within the Government of Canada evaluation community (walk your data, follow-up on recommendations, neutral assessment)
Alternative format
PDF version (180 KB)
Related links
Departmental Evaluation Plan 2019-20 to 2023-24 – evaluation schedule