The Canadian M&E System

In Canada, the concept of monitoring and evaluation (M&E) is interpreted such that evaluation has a distinct identity from monitoring. The Canadian M&E system is one that has invested heavily in both evaluation and performance monitoring as key tools to support accountability and results-based management. Section two of the paper traces the evolution of the formalized use of M&E in Canada's public sector from its origins in the 1960s to the present day. Section three outlines the organization of M&E, identifying the key players at a government-wide level, as well as M&E organization within an individual government department. Section four highlights the key features that define the Canadian M&E system, characterizing the system on the basis of eight distinguishing elements. Section 5 provides information on the ways that M&E information has been used in the Canadian public sector, including recent efforts to strengthen the link to decision-making. Lessons learned from the Canadian experience with public sector M&E are summarized in section six under three broad categories: lessons regarding drivers for M&E; lessons pertaining to the implementation of the M&E system and; key elements associated with M&E capacity building.