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1.1 Purpose and Context of the Evaluation

This report presents the results of the evaluation of the Official Language Minority Communities Support Fund administered by the Secretariat, Official Language Minority Communities (SOLMC) of Human Resources and Skills Development Canada (HRSDC).

The Support Fund is provided as a Labour Market Partnership (LMP) initiative under the Part II Employment Benefits and Support Measures (EBSM) of the Employment Insurance (EI) Act. The Fund was launched on June 12, 1999 and allocated $21 million over a three-year period. On March 19, 2002, HRSDC announced a two-year extension of the Fund with a budget of $12 million per year for that period.

The evaluation was conducted during the winter and spring of 2002 and covers the period from June 12, 1999 until January 2002.⁴ The evaluation's mandate was focused on three main areas:

• determine the relevance of the Support Fund in light of the needs of Official Language Minority Communities, the mandate and the responsibilities of HRSDC;
• examine the design, delivery and implementation of the Support Fund; and
• examine the achievement of the short and medium-term objectives and determine the key results.

This formative evaluation did not cover the long-term impacts of the Fund. These impacts include, among others, economic development, job creation and community capacity building.

It should also be noted that the evaluation was intended to examine the Support Fund, and was not intended to be an evaluation per se of the delegated organizations that are partners with the SOLMC under this initiative. The delegated organizations are responsible for conducting their own evaluation. The evaluation did, however, examine the implementation by the delegated organizations of the contribution agreements and the degree to which they comply with the objectives of the Support Fund.

This report includes the following:

• an introduction highlighting the purpose and context of the evaluation and the main features of the Support Fund;
• a discussion of the evaluation methodology;
• the main findings regarding relevance and design;
• the main findings regarding the preliminary results and the enabling effects of the Support Fund; and
• a summary of the general conclusions.

A variety of appendices are attached to provide additional details and more of the context for the evaluation report. Also, to assist readers who are not already familiar with the Support Fund, Appendix K provides a summary of key concepts, designations, and expressions that cover the main elements of the Support Fund environment.

1.2 Profile of the Support Fund

Under section 41, Part VII of the Official Languages Act, which came into force on September 15, 1988, the federal government is committed to:

"Enhancing the vitality of the English and French linguistic minority communities in Canada and supporting their development as well as fostering full recognition and use of both English and French in Canadian society"

In response to this commitment, HRSDC established the SOLMC and directed it to coordinate the Department's efforts in implementing section 41. One of the methods used by HRSDC to fulfil its commitments under section 41 was to launch the Support Fund on June 12, 1999.

The Support Fund is administered by the SOLMC and works through two national committees:

• the National Committee for Canadian Francophonie Human Resources Development (referred to in this report as the Francophone Committee); and
• the National Human Resources Development Committee for the English Linguistic Minority (referred to in this report as the Anglophone Committee).

The Support Fund is the result of consultation, analysis and strategic planning by the Comité d'adaptation des ressources humaines de la francophonie canadienne (CARHFC), the predecessor organization to the Francophone Committee. The Francophone Committee was established in 1996 and the Support Fund was one of the key results of the Committee's first strategic plan. The Anglophone minority community in Quebec joined the process in 1998. Appendix G provides a summary of the history and evolution of the Support Fund from 1993 to May 2002.

When the Support Fund was originally established on June 12, 1999, it was given the following objective.⁵

Through the Labour Market Partnerships (LMP), HRSDC will work closely with the Francophone Committee and the Anglophone Committee to enable them to implement their strategic plans for fostering economic development, employability and capacity building within Canada's Official Language Minority Communities. This new funding complements existing program funds at HRSDC and other federal departments.

The federal government has signed a memorandum of understanding with each national committee. The national committees are comprised of representatives of HRSDC, the SOLMC, Official Language Minority Communities (the community side or table) and representatives of federal departments and agencies (the government side or table).

The two national committees implement their strategic plans with the help of the two sets of organizations:

• Regroupements de développement économique et d'employabilité (RDÉEs): The 12 RDÉEs (one for each province and territory with a Francophone minority community) are for the Francophone Committee. The RDÉEs are responsible for achieving the Support Fund's objectives through contribution agreements signed under the Support Fund. Each RDÉE is operated by a delegated organization or is constituted as a non-profit organization.⁶
• The Community Economic Development and Employability Committees (CEDECs): Eight CEDECs have been created throughout Quebec and are for the Anglophone Committee. The CEDECs work to motivate Anglophone minority communities in the areas of community capacity building and community economic development. The CEDECs are not delegated organizations under the Support Fund but are provided with resources through the Anglophone Committee.

Recently, HRSDC clarified the objectives of the Support Fund as follows:

"The Support Fund supports the two national committees, the RDÉEs and the CEDECs in their efforts to:

• lever community capacity building potential and partnership resources;
• strengthen local decision-making and economic priority-setting; and
• create an environment that supports economic development leading eventually to job creation.

The Support Fund complements existing program funds at HRSDC and other federal departments. It plays a facilitating role by enabling Official Language Minority Communities to access and use existing programs. The Fund also allows them to diversify their sources of funding and partnership."

The Support Fund provides financial assistance through contribution agreements. Funding applications for contribution agreements must meet a number of criteria, including the following:

• meet the economic needs of the Anglophone and Francophone Official Language Minority Communities in the four priority sectors identified by the Anglophone Committee or the Francophone Committee, as the case may be;
• have a visible economic impact on job creation and economic diversification in the community;
• aim to achieve quantifiable objectives and measurable results, and to ensure a transfer of knowledge and abilities in areas in which they have been successful; and
• take into account the community and government missions of the Francophone Committee and the Anglophone Committee, and make use of lasting partnerships in the public or private sector.

Footnotes

4	Some events that took place after January were examined to ensure continuity in the analysis of the data covered by the evaluation.
5	A complete description of the Support Fund's mandate is provided in Appendix F.
6	See Appendix J for the list of RDÉEs and corresponding delegated organizations. 7