Program Review Office

The Program Review Office has been established to help advance the goal of effective and efficient government identified by the 16th Legislative Assembly. The Program Review Office has been asked to:

• Conduct targeted reviews of programs and services to address specific issues of effectiveness or sustainability and to recommend modificationsLead an on-going review of all programs and services to clarify and confirm mandates,
• determine program effectiveness, and report on results achieved
• Work with departments and their program staff to improve review, evaluation, monitoring, and results reporting so that effectiveness and efficiency is demonstrated.

While program reviews have been conducted in the past, those reviews were often conducted by outside consultants, or were one-off attempts at comparing various government services. This Government has decided to set up a small office with GNWT staff to establish and support the on-going review and reporting of all government activity.

So far, project teams have begun looking at how to manage the growth in health expenditures, measuring the effectiveness of the investments made into the Pupil-Teacher Ratio (PTR) and School Support Funding, and examining the coordination of adult education and training within the GNWT. Each of these reviews has a steering committee of senior managers from central agencies and the departments involved, and a working group that includes managers and senior program staff from program departments.

Although value-for-money questions will play a key role in program review, it is not the only purpose of review. Other key factors are service improvement, efficiency and effectiveness, relevance, and linkages to government priorities. Program review results should provide decision-makers with the information they need to make decisions about the continuation of a program, whether it needs more or less resources, whether more or less service should be provided, and whether the public interest continues to be served by a program.