Module 1 Evaluation of Canadian Citizenship Program

MODULE 1

EVALUATION OF THE CITIZENSHIP AWARENESS PROGRAM – CITIZENSHIP AND IMMIGRATION CANADA

http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/resources/evaluation/cap/index.asp

                The Citizenship Awareness Program (CIP) was evaluated with an outcomes based evaluation.  It was designed to ask whether the Federal Citizenship program was relevant to new and existing Canadians and what the performance of the organization was in reaching this population (effectiveness, efficiency, and economy). 

                This program evaluation was done with a variety of data collection tools including interviews, site visits, ceremony exit surveys, new citizen surveys, administrative data review, and a literature review.  Within this data collection, the questions the evaluators sought to answer were based on relevance and performance goals such as:

·         Is citizenship promoted among all Canadians?

·         Is the value of citizenship promoted in citizenship and Immigration Canada policies?

·         Is the promotion of citizenship shared equally between federal, provincial and local governments?

·         Is citizenship literature distributed equitably and widely among new and existing Canadians with language barriers removed?

·         Are citizenship ceremonies promoted among all Canadians and reaching a wide audience?

·         What is the value placed on citizenship in Canada?

·         Do promotional activities increase a sense of belonging among Canadians?

The outcomes were prioritized in this study based on these questions.

                In determining whether the outcomes of this program were reached, the evaluators turned to a variety of data collection tools.  In their final report, it was determined that there was a need to promote citizenship to maintain the value of becoming a Canadian citizen.  This study also indicated that very little is known about how promotional activities to draw attention to the benefits of citizenship in Canada are viewed in the Canadian public.  The value of ceremonies was highlighted in the conclusion of this report. 

                The flow chart (Figure 2-1) on page 23 of this document effectively highlights the steps of this model.  There were “Activities” such as set direction, a plan, monitoring of the plan and a report. “Output” sources were the priorities of the Citizenship Program, research, strategic policies, performance measurement, and performance data.  “Outcomes” were immediate such as recommendations for citizenship promotion, and staff training and intermediate such as the knowledge that the clients have knowledge of the responsibilities and privileges associated with Canadian citizenship.

                Data was gathered in interview format with five groups including citizenship representatives at NHQ and Regional and Local offices, citizenship judges, partners and stakeholders, and representatives from other government departments.  Documentation was collected either by telephone or in person and was qualitative (value responses) and quantitative (all, most, many, some, few) in nature.  Academic and technical literature was reviewed to determine the actual need for a citizenship program in Canada and the federal government’s role in the program once established.  There were bar graphs to display information like the Citizenship Take-up Rates over a 25 year period in Canada (Figure 3-1; p. 31) as well as Reasons for Becoming Canadian Citizens (Figure 3-2; p. 56).  Clients were all new Canadian citizens.

                The final analysis of the data was divided into four categories: 

·         Participation in CIC promotional activities

·         Knowledge of citizenship rights and responsibilities

·         Impacts related to applying for Canadian citizenship

·         Program Management

·         Resource utilization

The last section briefly describes the recommendations for the Citizenship Awareness Program. 

 

                I think that this was a very effective model for evaluating this program.  There was an indented outcome of this program: Is Canadian citizenship valued, recognized and promoted among federal, provincial, and local governments?  Strengths of this outcomes based model for evaluation were that there was a clear government directive at a federal level to ascertain the effectiveness of a program and a large gathering of data to support the need for such programming.   Potential areas of weakness in using this model could be that a cost measure could be overlooked in the effectiveness of this program as no cost measures were determined.  Also as a process, were there personnel that were hired on the basis of providing citizenship services that were not under scrutiny?