Council of Canadian Academies providing important policy value for Canada, finds External Evaluation Panel

A three-member External Evaluation Panel has concluded an independent review of the Council of Canadian Academies and determined that the organization provides important policy value for Canada. Completion of an external evaluation, focused on relevance and impact, was a requirement of the Council’s funding agreement with the Government of Canada.

The Evaluation Panel was chaired by Richard Dicerni, Adjunct Research Professor, Lawrence Centre, Ivey Business School, Western University. The other two members were Stephen Toope, President and Vice-Chancellor, University of British Columbia, and James Reisa, Senior Board Director, U.S. National Research Council, National Academy of Sciences, and National Academy of Engineering.

After reviewing the available evidence and conducting an extensive set of interviews, the Panel came to a number of conclusions, including:

• There is no readily available alternative to the work performed by the Council.
• The Council has had substantial impact on a number of policy and program areas and, given its rigorous, methodological approach, will continue to have impact beneficial to the government of Canada, opinion leaders, and Canadian society.
• The Council functions in an efficient, effective, and economical manner.

The evaluation was conducted based on requirements set out by the Treasury Board of Canada, and took place over the spring and summer of 2013. The final evaluation report was presented to the Council’s Board of Governors in the fall and was subsequently submitted to the federal government.

“We welcome this report, and believe it contains many important insights that will help set our future course, particularly as we now have a clear understanding the value our work is having on Canadian policy discussions and directions,” said Elizabeth Dowdeswell, President of the Council. “I would like to extend our sincere thanks to the Panel for their volunteer efforts and commitment to conducting a robust and thorough examination.”

Read the full External Evaluation here.

For more information, please contact:

Sam Rae Ayoub

Senior Manager, Communications

Council of Canadian Academies

613 698-6765

samantha.rae@scienceadvice.ca