What we examined (see Focus of the audit)

Since the early 1990s, Employment and Social Development Canada has funded programs to help Indigenous people (First Nations, Métis, and Inuit) improve their skills and find employment. Successive programs have maintained the same focus. In 2010, the Department launched its two current programs: the Aboriginal Skills and Employment Training Strategy and the Skills and Partnership Fund.

This audit focused on whether Employment and Social Development Canada managed the Aboriginal Skills and Employment Training Strategy and the Skills and Partnership Fund to increase the number of Indigenous people getting jobs and staying employed.

Why we did this audit

This audit is important because many Indigenous people face barriers to sustained employment, such as living in isolated communities and having low levels of education. They experience high unemployment rates and low average earnings, and often lack job stability. In 2007, the unemployment rate for Indigenous people was just under 11%. In comparison, it was just under 6% among non-Indigenous Canadians. By 2017, these unemployment rates had increased to just over 11% and just over 6%, respectively. Many Indigenous people need training and support to build the skills they need to find and keep jobs.

What we concluded

We concluded that Employment and Social Development Canada’s management of the Aboriginal Skills and Employment Training Strategy and the Skills and Partnership Fund was not sufficient to demonstrate that these programs increased the number of Indigenous people getting jobs and staying employed.

What we found about…

Program results

Overall, we found that Employment and Social Development Canada did not collect the data or define the performance indicators necessary to demonstrate whether the Aboriginal Skills and Employment Training Strategy and the Skills and Partnership Fund were meeting their common overall objective of increasing the number of Indigenous people who had sustainable and meaningful employment. This is despite the fact that the Department has been delivering programs to support Indigenous employment for almost 30 years.

We also found that the Department allocated funding to agreement holders under the Strategy primarily on the basis of data from 1996 that did not reflect the current needs of the populations served. Moreover, the Department did not reallocate funding to the individual agreement holders who had been more consistently successful in training clients and helping them get jobs.

These findings matter because unemployment rates for Indigenous people are markedly higher than for the general Canadian population. The Department has allocated significant funds to the programs. Collecting adequate data and defining performance indicators would allow the Department to determine whether the programs are leading to meaningful and sustainable employment and whether changes are needed.

• Employment and Social Development Canada did not collect the necessary data or define performance Indicators as needed to determine whether its training programs met their overall objective

  Recommendation. Employment and Social Development Canada should, in collaboration with Indigenous organizations, measure and report on whether the Aboriginal Skills and Employment Training Strategy and the Skills and Partnership Fund increase the number of Indigenous people who have sustainable and meaningful employment. It should do so by fully implementing its performance measurement strategies for the programs, including clearly defining performance indicators and targets.

• The Department did not use the data it collected to improve its programs

  Recommendation. Employment and Social Development Canada should ensure that it has the information it needs to improve the Aboriginal Skills and Employment Training Strategy and the Skills and Partnership Fund, where necessary, by working in collaboration with agreement holders to identify, collect, confirm, and analyze program data.

• The Department did not allocate the Aboriginal Skills and Employment Training Strategy funding on the basis of current needs

  Recommendation. Employment and Social Development Canada should allocate funding under the Aboriginal Skills and Employment Training Strategy in accordance with current needs and the capacities of individual agreement holders to achieve results. This should include

  • updating the funding formula,
  • using up-to-date population and socioeconomic data, and
  • considering past performance of individual agreement holders.

  Recommendation. Employment and Social Development Canada should conduct the analysis necessary to determine whether its Indigenous labour market programs overlap with each other. The Department should also complete work to determine whether its labour market programs overlap with those offered by other federal, provincial, and territorial organizations. The Department should also take the necessary steps to address any identified areas of overlap.

Program management

Overall, we found that Employment and Social Development Canada supported agreement holders by providing them with guidance, information sessions, and administrative direction. It also worked with agreement holders to reduce their administrative burden. However, the Department did not provide agreement holders with sufficient labour market information to help them determine which services they should provide to clients to help them prepare for and find available jobs.

We also found that the Department did not consistently monitor agreement holders to know whether they fulfilled their obligations under contribution agreements. In particular, the Department did not ensure that agreement holders adequately monitored the other Indigenous organizations with which they had sub-agreements to provide services to clients on their behalf.

These findings matter because agreement holders need good labour market information to help them determine which services to provide to clients. Moreover, consistent monitoring of agreement holders can help the Department understand how it could further support agreement holders to deliver services.

• The Department supported agreement holders to deliver services but did not provide sufficient labour market information

  Recommendation. Employment and Social Development Canada, in collaboration with Indigenous organizations, should identify and provide labour market information that individual agreement holders need to align their services with demand in the labour market for their particular regions.

  Recommendation. Employment and Social Development Canada, in collaboration with Indigenous organizations, should assess how the changes it has made to reporting requirements have affected the agreement holders’ administrative burden and the Department’s ability to manage the programs. It should also make any required adjustments.

• The Department did not consistently monitor agreement holders

  Recommendation. Employment and Social Development Canada should complete all required monitoring of agreement holders within the required timelines and use the resulting information to adjust the contribution agreements and overall programs as necessary.

  Recommendation. Employment and Social Development Canada should more fully assess the risks related to sub-agreement holders, identify a strategy to address any identified risks, and implement the required changes.

Entity Responses to Recommendations

The entity agrees with our recommendation(s) and has responded (see List of Recommendations).

Related Information

Report of the	Auditor General of Canada
Type of product	Performance audit
Topics	Aboriginal Affairs Economic Development Education and Training Employment
Entities	Employment and Social Development Canada
Completion date	27 March 2018
Tabling date	29 May 2018
Related audits	Chapter 4—Programs for First Nations on Reserves, 2011 June Status Report of the Auditor General of Canada

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