Summary: Evaluation of the Enabling Fund for Official Language Minority Communities – 2022
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Program objectives
The Enabling Fund aims to enhance the development and vitality of Official Language Minority Communities by strengthening their capacity in the areas of human resources and community economic development, and by promoting partnerships at all levels, including federal partners.
The Enabling Fund is a component of the Government of Canada’s strategy for official languages as expressed in the Action Plan for Official Languages – 2018 to 2023: Investing in Our Future.
The Enabling Fund investment
The Enabling Fund represents a total investment of $80.4M over 5 years. An annual budget of $13M is allocated through contribution agreements to 14 non-profit organizations (one national organization and one organization in each province and territory).
Evaluation methodology
A limited scope evaluation carried out with 5 of the 14 funded organizations, and based on 2 main lines of evidence:
- key informant interviews with 17 leaders and staff members of the 5 organizations; and
- a review of 80 documents (contribution agreements, quarterly reports, and annual reports) provided by 5 organizations between April 2018 and March 2020
Key findings
- The objectives of the 5 contribution agreement signatories and the activities that they implemented continue to be aligned with Enabling Fund objectives and eligible activities
- The 5 organizations implemented most planned activities
- The 5 organizations contributed to the development and vitality of official language minority communities by:
- building collaborative partnerships with a broad variety of partners
- leveraging an additional $16.8M in funding, revenue, and in-kind resources
- leading and supporting collaborative initiatives to enhance community economic and human resources development
- providing services to support community economic and human resources development
Recommendation
The program is encouraged to explore approaches to improve the program’s ability to consistently capture results from funded projects.