Evaluation of the Protected Areas Program: chapter 4

1.0 Introduction

This report presents the results of the evaluation of the Protected Areas Sub-sub Program (PA program) 1.1.4.2 of the departmental Program Alignment Architecture (PAA), the fieldwork for which was undertaken from January 2013 to October 2013. This evaluation was part of Environment Canada’s (EC’s) 2012 Risk-Based Audit and Evaluation Plan. The intent of this evaluation is to inform management in EC of the continuing relevance and performance of the sub-sub program that may inform future program strategic directions.

This report summarizes the evaluation process, findings, conclusions and recommendations. The report is organized into five sections:

• Section 2 provides background information on the Protected Areas Sub-sub Program, including the governance structure, allocated resources and expected outcomes;
• Section 3 indicates the evaluation objectives, scope, issues and approach taken;
• Section 4 documents the evaluation findings;
• Section 5 provides a summary of the evaluation conclusions; and
• Section 6 presents the evaluation recommendations and management response.

The report also includes a number of annexes that form the information base for the evaluation’s key findings and conclusions, including a logic model, document list, a list of file review sites, and a summary findings table.