Public Safety, Defence, and Immigration Portfolio Evaluation

1. Introduction

This document constitutes the final report for the evaluation of the Public Safety, Defence, and Immigration (PSDI) Portfolio, whose mandate is to support the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada in the provision of high-quality legal services to the Minister of Public Safety, the Minister of National Defence, and the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration. In so doing, PSDI assists these Ministers in fulfilling the mandates and responsibilities of the departments and agencies under their authority.

1.1. Scope and Objectives of the Evaluation

This is the first time that the PSDI Portfolio has been formally evaluated. This evaluation was completed in accordance with the Policy on Evaluation, which requires departments to evaluate all direct program spending, on a five year cycle. Footnote 4 The evaluation has covered both the relevance of the services offered by the Portfolio, and the extent to which the Portfolio has efficiently and effectively achieved its expected results. A detailed evaluation matrix is included in Appendix A.

The scope of the evaluation includes all activities undertaken by the PSDI Portfolio between 2008/09 and 2013/14, which includes those activities carried out by the departmental legal services units (DLSUs) included in the Portfolio, activities that regional offices of Justice Canada carry out for PSDI client departments and agencies, as well as activities undertaken by the Office of the Assistant Deputy Attorney General (ADAG). It should be noted that, while the Crimes Against Humanity and War Crime Section is part of the PSDI Portfolio, its activities are being evaluated separately. Similarly, the horizontal evaluation of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act Division 9 is currently being led by the Department of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness (also known as Public Safety Canada). Footnote 5 As a result, neither of their activities are discussed in this report.

The evaluation was conducted between September 2013 and February 2015. The Department of Justice Canada’s Evaluation Division directed the evaluation, with the support of a working group composed of representatives from the Portfolio’s DLSUs and regional offices.

1.2. Structure of the Report

This report contains five sections, including this introduction. Section 2 provides a description of the Portfolio. Section 3 describes the methodology used to address the set of evaluation issues and questions. Section 4 summarizes the key findings that have emerged from the data collection process, while section 5 provides the overall evaluation conclusions and recommendations.

1.3. Acknowledgement

The contribution and collaboration of many individuals have made this evaluation possible. We wish to thank all of those who participated in data collection, provided information, and responded to inquiries.