Justice Federal Victims Strategy Evaluation

1. Introduction

The Justice Federal Victim Strategy (Justice FVS) is based on the premise that although many significant advances have been made in services, legislation, policies and programs for victims of crime, many challenges remain. There are also varying approaches across the country in victim services, programs and policies and an ongoing need for federal leadership in this area.

1.1. Purpose of the Evaluation

In accordance with the 2009 Treasury Board Policy on Evaluation, the primary purpose of this evaluation was to assess the relevance and performance of the Justice FVS. In terms of relevance, the evaluation considered the continued need for the Justice FVS and the alignment of its priorities and activities with those of the Government of Canada, departmental strategic outcomes, and federal roles and responsibilities. With regard to performance, the evaluation considered both effectiveness (e.g., the extent to which the Justice FVS has achieved its objectives), and efficiency and economy (e.g., the degree to which appropriate and efficient means are being employed to achieve the desired outcomes).

The evaluation covers the Justice FVS activities, undertaken between fiscal years 2010-11 and 2014-15Footnote 2.

1.2. Structure of the Report

The report contains five sections including this Introduction. Section 2 provides the background of the Justice FVS, describing its governance, resources, stakeholders and beneficiaries, and presents the program logic model including activities, outputs and outcomes. Section 3 describes the methodology and multiple lines of evidence used in the evaluation. Section 4 summarizes the key findings, while Section 5 presents the conclusions, recommendations and the management response.