Evaluation of the Industrial and Regional Benefits Policy

The objective of the Industrial and Regional Benefits (IRB) Policy is to contribute to the continuing viability of Canadian companies’ capabilities in high technology manufacturing and services, and to improve their ability to compete in both domestic and international markets. The policy is applied routinely to defence and security procurements over $100M and is discretionary for procurements between $2M and $100M. Under the policy, winning bidders (prime contractors) must undertake business activities in Canada equal to the value of the contract (IRB obligations). Prime contractors are encouraged through a variety of IRB policy features to undertake high quality, export-oriented activities with competitive Canadian industrial firms (IRB recipients) across Canada’s regions. There are five eligibility criteria that an IRB contractor must demonstrate when they submit an IRB transaction to Industry Canada for review: causality, incrementality, the Canadian Content Value, timing and eligible party. The objective of this evaluation was to provide program management with information on the impact of the IRB Policy to inform decision-making. The evaluation was conducted in accordance with the Directive on the Evaluation Function, and addressed the core issues of relevance and performance. The evaluation covered the five-year period from April 1, 2008 to March 31, 2013, and it focused on the aspects of the IRB Policy that pertain to Industry Canada. The evaluation utilized the following methodologies: a document review and administrative data analysis; a literature review; key informant interviews (n=37); case studies; and a survey (n=140 recipient firms). The evaluation also utilized an input-output (I/O) model to assess the impacts of the IRB Policy on Gross Domestic Product.