About the evaluation
- The Office of Audit and Evaluation of Agriculture and Agri-food Canada (AAFC) conducted an evaluation of the Youth Employment and Skills Program (YESP) to assess its relevance, effectiveness and efficiency.
- Program activities for fiscal years 2019-20 to 2023-24 were evaluated using multiple lines of evidence including a review of program documents, project files and literature, key informant interviews as well as analyses of administrative and financial data.
Youth Employment And Skills Program Summary
- AAFC delivers YESP under the federal Youth Employment and Skills Strategy, led by ESDC.
- AAFC’s YESP provides financial assistance to employers who offer employment and skills development opportunities in the agricultural sector to youth interns aged 15 to 30.
- Employers are eligible for up to $14,000 in matching funding for youth intern wages.
- The Program extends additional support to youth facing barriers.
- The evaluation covers $48 million in non-repayable contributions.
What we found
Relevance
- YESP is relevant as it aligns with AAFC core responsibilities and contributes to departmental and government-wide job creation priorities.
Design and delivery
- YESP was delivered efficiently and effectively, with increasing automation of program application and reporting processes mitigating somewhat the large year-to-year variations in top-up funding the Program received in federal budgets.
- The program lacks a department-specific performance measurement strategy that clearly maps outcomes, indicators and data being collected.
Performance
- YESP exceeded its targets for overall youth employment and employment of youth facing barriers.
- The program achieved its immediate outcomes as youth gained work experience in the agricultural sector with the vast majority of interns and employers saying the interns had gained new employment skills.
- The program made progress toward its intermediate outcomes as about a third of interns gained employment beyond their participation in the Program, while another third returned to school.
Recommendation
Recommendation 1: The Assistant Deputy Minister, Programs Branch, in consultation with Corporate Management Branch, should create a program-level Performance Information Profile for YESP that aligns with the overall horizontal performance measurement strategy for the Youth Employment and Skills Strategy and includes department-specific results and targets.
Management response
Management agrees with the evaluation recommendation and has developed an action plan to address them by March 31, 2025.