3B1. Making Results Matter: Connecting Evaluation, Research, and Policy in the Federal Landscape

Our world is changing rapidly. The complex societal challenges that we are facing require agile responses from government organizations, based on the best scientific evidence available. However, federal policymakers and managers continue to struggle in finding, interpreting, and using such evidence. This interactive fireside chat will focus on how to build sustainable practices across the federal government that will help to bridge research, evaluation, and policymaking.

Our panel of experts, along with audience participants, will address the following questions:

1. What structures currently exist in the federal government to facilitate knowledge transfer between researchers, evaluators, and policymakers? What barriers continue to limit the use of evidence in policymaking?
2. What other functions should be included or created in the results conversation to foster evidence-informed policymaking?
3. What mechanisms should be developed or strengthened to facilitate evidence-informed policymaking?

The conversation will support both the Impacts and Innovation conference streams by leveraging research and practice knowledge related to evidence for policy influence and innovative collaboration between evaluators and policymakers.

Isabelle Bourgeois, Full Professor, Faculty of Education, and Co-Director, Centre for Research on Educational and Community Services, University of Ottawa
Isabelle Bourgeois, Ph.D., holds the position of Full Professor at the Faculty of Education, Co-Director of the Centre for Research on Educational and Community Services, and is the inaugural holder of the Alex Trebek Forum for Dialogue Professorship on Public Policy at the University of Ottawa. Her ongoing research work focuses on measuring and building organizational evaluation capacity (EC) in the public and community sectors, as well as evidence and research use by policymakers. She has received the Karl-Boudreault Award for Leadership in Evaluation Award from NCC-CES (2017), and the Contribution to Evaluation Award from CES (2025).

Robert Shepherd, Full Professor and Supervisor, Graduate Diploma in Program Evaluation, School of Public Policy and Administration, Carleton University
Robert Shepherd, PhD, is full professor and supervisor of the graduate online Diploma in Public Policy and Program Evaluation. His ongoing research focuses on public sector management reform in comparative perspective, Indigenous public policy and evaluation, and improving ethical practice in public services. He is currently working two Partnership Grant projects, and is the current Editor-in-Chief of Canadian Public Administration. He is a former federal public servant, who served in several departments.

Eric Champagne, Full Professor, School of Political Studies, and Director of the Centre on Governance, University of Ottawa
Eric Champagne is Full Professor in Public Administration at the School of Political Studies and Director of the Centre on Governance at the University of Ottawa. His current research focuses on infrastructure financing and asset management within the context of multilevel governance, as well as public sector reforms in Canada and in developing countries. Among his professional engagements, he serves as President of the Performance and Planning Exchange (FRP/PPX), a non-profit organization dedicated to policy implementation, and sits on the Board of Directors of the Canadian Association of Programs in Public Administration (CAPPA).