Horizontal Evaluation of the Canadian Police Arrangement - International Police Peacekeeping and Peace Operations Program (2015-2020) - Summary

About the program Endnote 1

The Canadian Police Arrangement (CPA) is a partnership between Global Affairs Canada (GAC), Public Safety Canada and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP). Under the CPA's International Police Peacekeeping and Peace Operations (IPP) program, Canadian police officers from domestic police services are deployed to stabilization efforts around the world. Canadian police, in cooperation with partners such as the United Nations and the European Union, or bilaterally with a host country, support sustainable rule of law, institutional reform and the professionalization of foreign police services.

What we examined

The evaluation assessed the performance (effectiveness and efficiency) of the CPA-IPP program during fiscal years 2015-16 to 2019-20. Activities of all partner departments were included. Multiple lines of evidence were analyzed to support the findings and recommendations.

What we found

  • Canadian police officers were respected in mission for their personal and professional competencies. They promoted sustainable rule of law primarily through building the capacity of local police services.
  • Opportunities for improvement in missions include the need to improve long-term strategic planning and results measurement, and consider more targeted deployments and broader criminal justice system engagement.
  • Police officers gained professional competencies while in mission. There are opportunities to better track/leverage these competencies when they return to Canada.
  • Canada demonstrated leadership in prioritizing and valuing the role of women in international police reform through targeted recruitment and leadership roles, and advancing a gender focus in missions.
  • More bilateral and hazardous missions have led to a need to adapt the current CPA and IPP program delivery approach and staff complement.
  • CPA partner relationships are well established and program coordination continues to evolve. Opportunities for improved coordination include the need for a more consistent and organized approach to information sharing, a proactive and coordinated plan for external communication, and enhanced data collection, analysis, reporting and leveraging at all levels.
  • Canadian police officers actively sought coherence with the police reform efforts of other international stakeholders. Working alongside police professionals from other nations offered best practices for approaches to police peacekeeping in international contexts.

What we recommend

Based on the findings of the evaluation, the following recommendations were made:

Recommendation 1 – Be results focused
The CPA partners should strengthen the program's performance measurement approach to better capture outcomes and lessons learned at both the program and mission levels. Performance data should be collected, analyzed, reported and leveraged for continuous program improvement.
Recommendation 2 – Enhance program & mission operations
To enhance both program and mission level operations, the CPA partners should consider opportunities to be more strategic and flexible in areas such as planning, staff complements, recruitment, pre-deployment training, civilian deployments, mission rotations/durations, leadership roles, specialized teams, criminal justice system engagement, external communication, and reintegration.
Recommendation 3 – Enhance domestic coherence
Leveraging existing coordination mechanisms, the CPA partners should institute a more effective approach to internal information and resource sharing within each partner department and amongst themselves, as well as with other federal departments, to support de-confliction across federal security sector reform efforts.

For more information or to view the full report, please visit our website.

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