About the evaluation
- The Office of Audit and Evaluation of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada undertook the evaluation of the AgriRecovery Framework to assess its relevance, efficiency and effectiveness.
- The evaluation assessed AgriRecovery activities from 2015-16 to 2021-22 using a variety of methods including: a review of Program documents, files and literature; analysis of administrative and secondary data; interviews with internal and external stakeholders; and case studies.
What we found
AgriRecovery summary
- The AgriRecovery Framework is a disaster relief framework setting out a process for federal, provincial and territorial governments to follow when a natural disaster occurs to determine whether additional federal support (outside of the core BRM programs) is necessary.
- Twenty-seven initiatives received $540.6 million in federal contributions between 2015-16 and 2021-22.
- Provincial governments administer AgriRecovery initiatives and cost-share with AAFC on a 40:60 (provincial:federal) basis.
Relevance
- AgriRecovery is relevant as it is aligned with federal and departmental priorities. The potential for overlap with the other parts of the Business Risk Management (BRM) suite is actively mitigated through the assessment process.
- There is increasing demand for support to mitigate the impacts of climate change on producers, which AgriRecovery may not be prepared to respond to. However, the Framework is not designed to promote climate change mitigation or to increase resilience.
Efficiency and effectiveness
- Federal and provincial officials generally understand AgriRecovery's processes but a lack of clarity persists for producers and industry associations.
- Processes for the implementation of the federal components of AgriRecovery are not currently outlined in a comprehensive procedure manual.
- AgriRecovery is well-integrated in the BRM suite of programs but a limited understanding of the suite and how programs interact may result in gaps in coverage.
Performance
- There are challenges in meeting timeliness targets, often as a result of data availability.
- The absence of participant-level Program data and standardization in data collection across the various jurisdictions impedes the assessment of Framework impact, including reach to underrepresented groups.
Recommendations
Recommendation 1: The Assistant Deputy Minister, Programs Branch, in collaboration with the ADM, Strategic Policy and ADM, Public Affairs and in consultation with provincial and territorial partners, should develop a plan to increase producer participation in other federal, provincial and territorial programs that address business risk management and increase producer resilience to natural disasters.
Recommendation 2: The Assistant Deputy Minister, Programs Branch should develop a comprehensive and evergreen procedure manual for the federal component of AgriRecovery to ensure consistency in processes.
Recommendation 3: The Assistant Deputy Minister, Programs Branch, in consultation with the provinces and territories, should develop performance metrics to assess the reach and impact of AgriRecovery Initiatives.
Management response
Management agrees with the evaluation recommendations and has developed an action plan to address the majority of them by May 2024.