The Art and Science of Evaluating Programs

In April 2009, the new TBS Evaluation Policy went into effect. Departments have until 2013 to fully implement the policy. Under the new policy, all ongoing programs of grants and contributions are to be evaluated every five years, as well as direct program spending. Relevance and performance are the core issues to be addressed in evaluation. The new evaluation policy works in concert with the new Directive on the Evaluation Function, which outlines specific responsibilities of program managers. Both instruments include a new section on consequences.Although evaluation is discussed in this workshop in the context of the federal public service, the core material is applicable in other public sectors, the profit, and not-for-profit sector.