Directorates
·	Director General's Office
·	Data Development
·	Strategic Evaluations
·	Partnership and Continuous Evaluations
Publications
·	Evaluation Reports
·	Evaluation Briefs
·	Labour Market Development Agreement Series
·	Lessons Learned Series
·	Evaluation Tool Kit Series
·	Evaluation Forum Newsletter
·	From Theory To Practice

The LMI Strategic Initiative is one of the series of programs jointly funded through the Canada/BC Strategic Initiatives Agreement. It is designed "to answer the need for the development, production and distribution of high quality job and career related labour market information and, particularly, its integration into career counselling in secondary and post-secondary educational settings, in order to support the school-to-work transition".

In pursuing these objectives, activities undertaken through the Initiative have been directed towards:

• Development of new sources of labour market information relevant to the career and occupational planning and decision making process;

• Production of new, or enhanced information products which use available and new labour market information;

• Utilization of new technologies which improve distribution of, and/or improve access to career-related labour market information in new formats via new media;

• Support for the formation of innovative community information partnerships to enable development and use of career related labour market information at the regional or sectoral level, and,

• Establishment of quality criteria for dissemination of career-related labour market information, and standards and certification for its use by career practitioners.

As stated in the report, objectives of the formative evaluation of the LMI Strategic Initiative were to assess:

• Relevance of activities of the Initiative to its stated purpose and to the needs of the intended audience;

• Effectiveness and efficiency of administration of the Initiative, including communication and coordination, and management and delivery;

• Key features of the Initiative that have contributed to its success, as well as limitations and possible improvements; and

• Processes in place, where warranted, to ensure sustainability of the achievements of the Initiative.

Based on a series of in-depth interviews with personnel directly and indirectly involved in delivery of the Initiative, key findings from the evaluation have included:

• Overall, the activities of the Initiatives are reasonably relevant to the intended audience;

• The Initiative has recognized the need to improve communications to its intended audiences. A marketing plan is currently under development to meet this end;

• The overall management of the Initiative has provided clear direction, ensured effective and efficient use of resources and has been accountable and responsive to changing circumstances;

• Working in partnership has been a key feature of the way the Initiative has operated, and has significantly enhanced projects associated with the Initiative; and

• The achievements of the Initiative will be limited if ongoing work does not continue, at the least, to keep useful resources current and available.

The Management Committee has reviewed the evaluation from the perspective of its objectives and methodology, and accepts its findings and recommendations. In particular:

• The Management Committee is satisfied that the Initiative is working effectively to meet its objectives;

• The Management Committee has noted the degree of relevance of activities, the quality of management and coordination, and the benefits of partnership building exhibited by the Initiative;

• Concerning communications issues, the Management Committee is persuaded that substantial work is underway at present (e.g. the development of a marketing plan) to address shortcomings in this area;

• Of particular significance to the Management Committee has been the demonstrated successes and achievements of the partnership model in planning and implementing the Initiative; and

• With respect to the successes of the partnership model, the Management Committee supports the view that a continuation in these ways of doing business can significantly enhance the long term sustainability of the activities and deliverables of the Initiative.

Based in part of the results of this evaluation, the Management Committee expects to actively pursue appropriate strategies to extend the framework and processes established through the Initiative into the new arena of the federal/provincial labour market development agreements.