Citizenship and Immigration Canada Citoyenneté et Immigration Canada 1 Research and Evaluation in...

Citizenship and Immigration Canada

Citoyenneté et Immigration Canada

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Research and Evaluation in the Domain of Refugees – A CIC

Perspective

RAP ConferenceFebruary 21, 2007

Jessie-Lynn MacDonaldDavid Kurfurst

Research and Evaluation BranchCitizenship and Immigration



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Research and Evaluation Branch Mandate

Ensure Department has adequate evidence to support/direct program and policies.

Develop and maintain statistical information to support program monitoring, analysis, and evaluation.

Provide Department with evidence needed to develop sound policy and programs (research, statistical information).

Assess the effectiveness of existing policies and programs (evaluation).

Liaise with Provinces and Territories, and OGDs to ensure common set of information and understanding of immigration and citizenship.



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Research Division - What We Do

Data development:

Meet departmental policy and program statistical requirements.

Develop data to support government-wide research initiatives (eg. Metropolis, HRSDC, provinces) and research activities (IMDB, LSIC, IALSS, etc.).



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Research Division - What We Do

Research

Strategic research to assess immigrant economic, social and cultural outcomes.

Specific research to meet the needs of other branches within CIC.

Support for policy development.



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Examples of Macro-Level Research Questions

How do we measure successful integration? Socially? Economically? From whose perspective?

Can we improve economic and social outcomes for immigrants and refugees? How?

What are barriers to integration?

What impacts do immigrants / refugees have on shaping Canada?



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Key Policy Research Interests For Refugees

Asylum system and integration challenges of asylum-seekers.

Resettlement and integration challenges of refugees from protracted situations.

Policy challenges associated with the changing characteristics of the refugee population.



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Specific Refugee Research Needs

Need to determine if and how integration needs differ between immigrants and refugees (including different refugee groups).

Need to determine adequate indicators/measurements for social inclusion, resettlement and integration.

Need to gather evidence to assess potential gaps and provide essential services (e.g. physical/mental health, basic skills & abilities, etc).

Need to gain a better understanding of short-term and long-term refugee outcomes.



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Existing Data Sources of Refugee Information

Longitudinal Survey of Immigrants to Canada (LSIC).

Longitudinal Immigrant Database (IMDB).

Longitudinal Administrative Database (linked with the IMDB) LAD-IMDB.

Interim Federal Health Database (IFH).

Permanent Residence Data System (PRDS) – no data on outcomes.

Refugee Continuum.



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Refugee Research Challenges

Applicability of research results to a pan-Canadian context.

Refugee groups are not homogeneous and have different needs.

Hard to establish a representative sample.

Small sample sizes make it difficult to generalize findings.



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Refugee Research Challenges - cont’d

Difficult population to locate.

Interview challenges i.e. language barriers, issues of trust.

Timeliness of research results.

Resource capacity.



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Evaluation Division - What We Do

Provide Deputy Minister, senior management and program managers with objective, timely and evidence-based information and conclusions on the results of programs, policies and initiatives.

Strategic approach to evaluation work: results informing ongoing policy development and program design.

Studies, evaluation frameworks/RMAFs, performance measurement.



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Evaluation Challenges

Availability and quality of data, particularly regarding certain refugee groups.

Outcomes and success indicators are not clearly defined.

Research and results often limited: project and/or group specific.



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Addressing Challenges

Draw on existing data sources.Importance of SPOs/NGOs as data sources/info providers.

Employ multiple lines of enquiry.rigorous evaluation methodology.

Conduct primary research.Interviews, focus groups, survey, etc.

Recognize limitations.



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CIC Examples

Privately Sponsored Refugees (PSR) Program Evaluation.

Karen Refugees cohort study / performance measurement framework.

Pre-Removal Risk Assessment (PRRA) Program Evaluation.

Citizenship and Immigration Canada Citoyenneté et Immigration Canada 1 Research and Evaluation in...

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