Insofar as the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency (ACOA) is concerned, a number of steps have been undertaken to respond to the concerns expressed by the Auditor General (AG) in his November 1995 report to Parliament.
-ACOA's multi-year plan emphasizes results measurement in response to the AG report. This will be reflected in the Agency's second five-year report to Parliament. The plan incorporates improvements in the Agency's program information and reporting structure;
-ACOA has commenced the development and application of intermediary indicators which link mandated objectives of jobs and earned incomes to the Agency's program and project activity. The Agency is also evaluating its non-commercial activities to improve knowledge regarding their economic impact. These indicators relate to several key economic criteria which will guide the measurement of Agency programming success;
-ACOA continues to undertake periodic surveys as a means of identifying trends in employment and commercial achievement. The establishment of Economic Benefits Monitoring Policy and Procedures will become a guideline for all of ACOA's program activities;
-ACOA is laying the ground work for successful monitoring and evaluation by developing and implementing evaluation frameworks for all of the Agency's major program activities and by assigning responsibilities and accountability for evaluation and monitoring;
-Quality Assurance Reviews, which are being done annually, will help ensure that monitoring efforts take place and results measurement indicators are applied consistently, and;
-A statistical sampling approach to monitoring projects is also being developed. A pilot project is underway and full application is anticipated for the near future.