ARCHIVED - Human Resources and Social Development Canada

• Peter Gzowski Foundation for Literacy
• Canadian Council on Learning
• The Canada Millennium Scholarship Foundation

The purpose of this foundation is to provide one-time funding and a vehicle for corporations and private citizens, who supported Peter Gzowski's work on literacy, to make donations in his name.

Enhance Canadian productivity and participation through efficient and inclusive labour markets, competitive workplaces and access to learning.

• national coordination of the Peter Gzowski Invitational Golf Tournaments for Literacy which raise funds to support literacy initiatives;
• literacy activities which support the raising of funds and public awareness for literacy at the local level; and
• literacy activities that support the promotion of literacy and leverage funds for literacy throughout Canada.

To support and promote evidence-based decision making in all areas of lifelong learning by regularly informing Canadians about Canada's progress on learning outcomes, and encouraging knowledge exchange among learning partners.

Enhance Canadian productivity and participation through efficient and inclusive labour markets, competitive workplaces and access to learning.

In support of its mandate to promote knowledge exchange and inform Canadians on learning issues and outcomes, the Canadian Council on Learning in 2007/08 accomplished the following:

Informing Canadians

• Released its second State of Learning Report, encompassing chapters on learning in early childhood, secondary and post-secondary school, through adulthood, in the workplace and for Aboriginal Peoples, with a special feature on literacy.
• Published an extensive survey of Canadian Attitudes Towards Learning (SCAL).
• Issued a report on Health Literacy in Canada, relying on data from the International Adult Literacy and Skills Survey (IALSS)
• Released the second edition of the internationally recognized pan-Canadian Composite Learning Index (CLI), which tracks progress in learning at the community and national levels.
• Published a report on Redefining How Success is Measured in First Nations, Inuit and Metis Learning that proposes three holistic lifelong learning models for these groups.
• Released the second issue of their comprehensive report on the Post Secondary Education (PSE) sector.
• Increased the accessibility of information on learning through innovative use of new media technologies, such as a regular electronic publication, Lessons in Learning, as well as an e-bulletin (The Learning Link), serving a rapidly growing audience as measured by internet traffic and document downloads from the Canadian Council on Learning website.

Knowledge Mobilization and Exchange

• Supported the five national Knowledge Centres, which brings together leading academics, practitioners and stakeholders to engage in knowledge exchange and dissemination of exemplary practices in the following areas: Aboriginal Learning, Adult Learning, Early Childhood Learning; Health and Learning; and Work and Learning.
• Sponsored national and provincial knowledge exchange initiatives (symposia, conferences, roundtables, workshops) on key learning issues.
• Maintained the on-line peer-reviewed journal: Journal of Applied Research on Learning (JARL). [ URL: http://www.ccl-cca.ca/CCL/Reports/Journal/Journal.htm ]
• Fostered the development of knowledge on learning through its adjudication and support of research projects, the establishment of a research-in-residence program, the release of State-of-the-Field Reviews identifying effective practices, gaps and strategies in each field of learning, and publication of a catalogue of provincial/territorial data on learning as a resource for research.

N/A

The summative evaluation of the Canadian Council on Learning is planned to be completed in Fall 2008.

When published the report will be posted at:
http://www.hrsdc.gc.ca/en/publications_resources/evaluation/index.shtml

The Budget Implementation Act, 1998, provides for the creation of the Canada Millennium Scholarship foundation. The Act establishes that the Minister of Human Resources and Social Development is responsible for tabling the Foundation's annual report before Parliament and provides for the $2.5 billion endowment made to the Foundation in 1998. As announced in Budget 2008, the Canada Millennium Scholarship Foundation will not be renewed after its mandate expires in 2010.

The endowment is managed in accordance with the Funding Agreement between the Foundation and the Government of Canada, as represented by the Ministers of Finance and Human Resources and Social Development.

The objective of the foundation is to increase access to post-secondary education so that Canadians can acquire the skills needed to participate in a changing economy and society by granting scholarships to students who are in financial need and who demonstrate merit.

Enhanced Canadian productivity and participation through efficient and inclusive labour markets, competitive workplaces and access to learning.

• Awarded 101,165 bursaries averaging $3,000 to post-secondary students based on financial need.
• In 2007, 3,135 millennium excellence entrance and national in-course excellence awards were awarded, valued at $4,000 or $5,000, depending on the type of award.
• Continued implementation of program improvements recommended as a result of the Foundation's mid-term review. In 2007, some 28,431 access bursaries were awarded with a cumulative value of $48.2 million.
• Research program into the determinants of access to higher education and the effect of current student financial assistance programs on students' behaviour - completed the following in 2007:
  • Continuation of Millennium Research Series and other publications (12 publications issued in 2007);
  • Implementation of six Millennium Pilot Projects (longitudinal research projects on means to improve access and persistence) including one new project agreed to in 2007.

Note: Results and figures are based on the Canada Millennium Scholarship Foundation's fiscal year which runs from January 1 to December 31.

The variance between (A) and (B) is a result of carryovers in annual allocations to the bursary program in specific provinces, which were produced as a result of student withdrawals from full-time studies or other terms and conditions of payment not being met. This results in a cash rollover from the previous year's to future years' allocation. 2007-2008 spending was above planned spending because unspent funds from previous years were reallocated.

Interim first year results of the evaluation of the Canada Student Loans Program indicate that there are interactions with other Postsecondary education programs that are not well understood. In particular, under certain circumstances, every dollar paid out by the Millennium Foundation, or saved using an registered Education savings plan, results in a one dollar reduction in the student loan. Thus, the net-impact of these programs (or that of the CSLP) is reduced due to their interaction with CSLP.

The Foundation's annual audit has been conducted in the first quarter of 2007-2008, and program reviews and audits of granting processes will be conducted in three provinces.

The Office of the Auditor General conducted an audit of the Canada Millennium Scholarship Foundation and of the Canada Student Loans Program. They found that the Canada Millennium Scholarship Foundation's bursary programs are well managed and that the Foundation has the necessary controls in place to ensure that eligibility for bursaries is assessed correctly and that payments are issued in the right amounts to the right people. They also found that the Canada Millennium Scholarship Foundation obtains reasonable assurance that the provinces and territories are fulfilling their responsibilities in delivering the programs. Furthermore, the Canada Millennium Scholarship Foundation was found to collect adequate information to report its achievements against objectives and meet its obligation to report the results of its activities to Parliament.

URL to Auditor General
http://www.oag-bvg.gc.ca/internet/English/aud_ch_oag_200705_2_e_17477.html

URL to Treasury Board Evaluation of Foundations:
http://www.tbs-sct.gc.ca/report/orp/2007/ef-fe/ef-fe_e.asp

http://www.millenniumscholarships.ca

http://www.millenniumscholarships.ca/en/aboutus/AnnualReport.asp