National Initiatives

About the Contribution Accountability Framework

Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) is committed to the implementation of the Contribution Accountability Framework (CAF). The development of the framework began in 1999.

CAF will allow CIC to demonstrate accountability for its settlement and re-settlement contribution programs for immigrants and refugees. It will ensure accountability through monitoring of service delivery and evaluation of program effectiveness.

Information collected will be used to identify program changes that will help enhance the capacity of newcomers to integrate into Canadian society.

Performance Measurement

Performance Measurement involves working with service providers and key stakeholders to develop and implement an Internet-based data collection system called the Immigration - Contribution Accountability Measurement System (iCAMS).

Using iCAMS, service provider organizations collect both client and service information on the settlement programs they deliver to eligible newcomers. iCAMS also contains information that was provided to CIC when newcomers applied to come to Canada, such as mother tongue and country of origin.

Current status:

iCAMS has been fully implemented as of January 2004. All service provider organizations who are delivering CIC contribution programs including the Resettlement Assistance Program (RAP), the Language Instruction for Newcomers to Canada (LINC) program, the Immigrant Settlement and Adaptation Program (ISAP) and Host program are required to enter in data into iCAMS. At the end of June 2005, there were over 261,000 clients in iCAMS entered by over 1,200 iCAMS users.

Presently, CIC is focusing on iCAMS report development. iCAMS reports will be used for program evaluation and monitoring purposes. A number of reports will be made available by the beginning of the next fiscal year and efforts will continue to design more reports.

Evaluation

Evaluations of CIC's settlement contribution programs, done in cooperation with service providers and stakeholders, help CIC report to Canadians on the results being attained by its programs, and provide valuable information for improving them. Program evaluations look at performance measurement, client satisfaction and short-term and long-term outcomes.

Current status:

A national evaluation of RAP was finalised in 2003. An evaluation strategy and framework were developed in 2003 to guide the planned evaluations of LINC, ISAP and Host with the collaboration of key stakeholders, including service provider organizations.

The LINC evaluation was conducted from February to June 2004. The ISAP and Host programs were evaluated from July to September 2004. To read the full text of the evaluation reports, click here.

Contribution Agreement Process

The contribution agreement process involves developing and implementing consistent, comparable contribution relationships between CIC and service providers across the country.

Current status:

Standardized and updated national contribution agreement forms are in use by CIC offices across the country. These forms are updated every two years. The next review is expected to take place in 2006.

Management Control Framework

This component of the Contribution Accountability Framework (CAF) aims to develop and implement standard practices and procedures for CIC offices administering contribution programming and to establish and implement standard monitoring and auditing practices and procedures nationally.

Current status:

• A draft management control framework has been produced and implementation is ongoing.
• In 2005-06, new versions of the standard contribution agreement forms were released after a comprehensive review was completed at the end of 2005.
• The Settlement Manual, a tool developed to ensure that necessary resources are available to support the administration and management of CIC contribution agreement programming, was also recently updated. The revised Manual is available in both Official Languages and includes the renewed settlement programs terms and conditions, which were approved by Treasury Board on March 7, 2005.
• CIC has established a policy to guide CIC staff in entering into multi-year agreements with service provider organizations, as opposed to one-year agreements, for the provision of settlement services. The multi-year funding policy came into effect as of fiscal 2005-06 and the granting of multi-year funding agreements remains at the discretion of CIC regional and local offices.

Future activities include the development of tools and training manuals to assist local offices in managing contribution agreements.

Provincial-Territorial Accountability

Provincial-territorial accountability focuses on the accountability of those provinces with settlement services agreements. Currently British Columbia and Manitoba have signed such agreements (funding is provided to Quebec in the form of a grant under the 1991 Canada-Quebec Accord).

Accountability measures are defined in the agreements signed with BC and Manitoba. The purpose of this component of the CAF is to ensure the delivery of reasonably comparable settlement services across the country and that information is made available to contribute to national analysis of program trends and needs.

Current status:

CIC continues to seek information from those provinces that have signed Settlement Services Agreements through their Annual Service Plans and Annual Reports. To read Federal-Provincial/Territorial Agreements, click here.