Summary of Municipal Rural Infrastructure Fund Formative Evaluation

The Municipal Rural Infrastrucutre Fund (MRIF program) supports infrastructure projects that improve the quality of the environment; promote long-term; economic growth; upgrade community infrastructure; improve citizens' quality of life; and build modern infrastructure (adopting the best technology, new approaches, and best practices).

Since its inception in August 2003, the Municipal Rural Infrastructure Fund (MRIF) has acted as an instrument for significant investment into municipal infrastructure and capacity building across Canada. The MRIF program focuses on the needs of smaller communities. A minimum of 80% of the total contribution set out in the bilateral agreements will have to be committed to projects to be implemented in areas served by local governments having a population of less than 250,000.

In Budget 2003, the government announced that $1 billion would go towards the MRIF and Budget 2006 included a top-up of $200 million to MRIF. The total $1.2 billion MRIF program is scheduled to conclude in 2011. The program funding for MRIF is delivered in conjunction with federal delivery partners.

The purpose of the MRIF formative evaluation was "to provide assurance that program design and delivery remain appropriate over the life of the program, and to take into consideration the lessons learned from the development and results of the Infrastructure Canada Program (ICP) mid-term evaluation completed in 2005- 2006."

The formative evaluation noted that MRIF is an appropriate program to support infrastructure development in small and rural municipalities, has produced a significant number of outputs (infrastructure projects) that will contribute to the intended outcomes of the program, and is appropriately designed to promote policy objectives for all partners involved. It also indicated that the role of the federal government in MRIF is relevant in that it has expedited the realization of much needed municipal infrastructure projects and leveraged other funding sources to provide 70.6% of the project funding.

The recommendations are grouped in three categories; for the summative evaluation, for the current program management and for consideration in future infrastructure programs.

Management Response

The management response to each category is as follows:

• INFC will take into consideration issues aiming from the evaluation when the summative evaluation framework is prepared;
• INFC will clarify the existing reporting requirements, is reviewing opportunities for improvement of data quality in SIMSI data base, is working with Federal Delivery Partners (FDPs) and Provinces/territories (P/Ts), and continues to work internally on strengthening and streamlining of performance indicators; and
• Many of the suggestions have already been incorporated under the design of the Community Component (CC) of the Building Canada Fund (BCF). Under BCF up to 1% will be available for development of long-term plans, joint knowledge and research projects, and feasibility studies and, with municipalities, capacity-building endeavors. The BCF has been designed to ensure more streamlined process that will assist municipalities with their capacity issues. Up to 15% of total eligible costs for each project under BCF are allowed for planning and assessment costs.

A summative evaluation is planned for the year 2011-2012.

Contact:

Infrastructure Canada
(613) 948-1148
Toll Free Number: 1-877-250-7154
TTY: 1-800-465-7735
info@infc.gc.ca