Summary of the Evaluation of the Clean Growth Hub (Hub)

About the Program

The Hub serves as a whole-of-government service model and focal point to help clean technology proponents navigate the federal clean technology innovation ecosystem. It has three core functions:

• Provide advisory services to clean technology proponents.
• Enhance the coordination of GC supports and programming for clean technology.
• Strengthen federal capacity to track and report on results related to clean technology investment.

NRCan and ISED were each allocated $4.5 million over the evaluation period (fiscal year (FY) 2017-18 to FY 2019-20). Actual expenditures over that period were $3.45 million for NRCan and $3.25 million for ISED.

The Hub advances the “Clean Technology, Innovation, and Jobs” pillar of the Pan-Canadian Framework on Clean Growth and Climate Change.

What the Evaluation found

Relevance

All lines of evidence suggest that the Hub is relevant to meet the needs of stakeholders. The Hub helps clean technology proponents navigate the federal ecosystem. It also breaks down inter-departmental silos amongst federal organizations that have policies and programs that support clean technology.

There is an ongoing demand for the Hub. More than half of the clients surveyed were satisfied. For those who were dissatisfied, the reasons were in part related to their misunderstanding about the Hub’s scope of activities. The Hub also attracts clients who are not ready for clean technology programs. The Hub could benefit from a more strategic and proactive focus on outreach and communications to better attract “program-ready” clients. The Hub aligns with federal and departmental priorities, frameworks, strategies, and legislated roles related to clean growth, climate action, as well as clean technology and innovation. The Hub is successful because of its horizontal structure and collaborative model.

Effectiveness

All lines of evidence suggest that the Hub is effective in achieving its intended outcomes. The Hub has made progress towards the immediate outcomes:

Clean technology advisory services, opportunities and knowledge products are provided to help navigate government programming.	Demonstrated
Inter-departmental collaboration is strengthened with clean technology programs and stakeholders.	Mostly demonstrated
Data collection guidance is provided to programs that fund clean technology projects.	Partially demonstrated with opportunity for improvement

Progress towards the immediate outcomes may facilitate progress towards the intermediate outcomes and ultimate outcome. There are limitations in inter-departmental collaboration. The Hub could improve its inter-departmental collaboration to enhance the coordination of federal supports and programming.

The Hub is on track to be implemented as planned. The Hub’s delivery is effective, including its success in addressing early delivery challenges. The Hub is responsive to factors that affect its ability to achieve the intended outcome. The evaluation also found that the federal Information Technology system is not designed for horizontal initiatives, which contributed to some IT issues for the Hub.

Efficiency

All lines of evidence suggest that the Hub has attained operational efficiency. The Hub is efficient and economical. The Hub has clear roles, responsibilities, protocols, and accountability at the governance- and working- level. During the evaluation period, NRCan spent $3.52 million and ISED $3.99 million relative to their planned budget.

Interviewees generally perceived that the Hub is an efficient model such that it could be replicated in other federal initiatives.

Although the Hub has updated the program logic model and indicators to better reflect its scope of activities and collect meaningful performance information, it has not created or implemented a performance measurement strategy. Current performance information is not the best to measure and indicate progress and accomplishment. The Hub needs to implement a performance measurement strategy tailored to its design.

GBA+: A Future Direction for the Hub

The evaluation found that the Hub has future opportunities to serve underrepresented groups, including women and Indigenous peoples, in the clean technology sector. The Hub has pursued several efforts to meet diverse groups’ needs. The Hub’s focal point design makes it an efficient entity to contribute to the Government of Canada’s priorities on reconciliation, equity, diversity, and inclusivity in the clean technology sector.

The current design and delivery have several limitations. The Hub could benefit from an equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) strategy.

About the Evaluation

The evaluation period covered FY 2017-18 to 2019-20. The objective was to examine the Hub’s relevance, effectiveness, and efficiency with an emphasis on program design and delivery. The evaluation also examined the Hub’s potential role to help address equality and diversity as they relate to relevance and performance.

This evaluation is consistent with the requirements of the Treasury Board Policy on Results (2016) and Directive on Results (2016). NRCan’s Audit and Evaluation Branch conducted the evaluation in consultation with its ISED counterpart.

Recommendations, and Management Response and Action Plan (MRAP)

Based on the areas for improvement, the evaluation provided the following recommendations. Given that the Hub is co-led by NRCan and ISED, both departments were engaged in the development of the evaluation and the MRAP (the detailed actions of the MRAP are included in the evaluation report). The actions outlined in the MRAP will be delivered jointly by both departments:

Recommendations	MRAP
1. The Hub should develop and implement a plan that enhances its outreach and communications approach to ensure activities are more proactive, targeted and tailored based on an understanding of client needs and concerns, as well as opportunities to advance government priorities.	Agreed. The Hub will develop and implement an outreach strategy with more proactive, targeted and tailored messaging, with a view to maximizing client satisfaction and advancing government priorities related to clean tech. Position responsible: ADM, Strategic Policy and Innovation, NRCan Due date: April 1, 2022
2. Building on measures introduced to date, the Hub should work with its member organizations to focus its client service approach and strengthen inter-departmental collaboration, in order to maximize outcomes for clients and partners within existing resources. In doing so, the Hub should work to improve how it leverages the knowledge, expertise, and networks of federal organizations.	Agreed. The Hub will develop an action plan, in close collaboration with member departments and agencies, to ensure a more systematic and collaborative approach to client service activities. Position responsible: ADM, Strategic Policy and Innovation, NRCan Due date: April 1, 2022
3. The Hub should update its performance measurement strategy to collect the performance information that best informs progress and accomplishment of its expected results with clear definitions, targets, and data strategies.	Agreed. The Hub will develop and implement a new performance measurement strategy that better reflects its role in creating an enabling environment for clean technology stakeholders. Position responsible: ADM, Strategic Policy and Innovation, NRCan Due date: April 1, 2022
4. To support the GC’s priorities on reconciliation, gender equality and fighting discrimination, the Hub should develop and implement an equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) strategy to better understand and meet the needs of diverse groups.	Agreed. The Hub will develop and implement an EDI Plan to better meet the needs of diverse groups and support government priorities in this area. Position responsible: ADM, Strategic Policy and Innovation, NRCan Due date: April 1, 2022