"Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC) worked jointly with 12 Provinces and Territories (P/Ts) to undertake the 2012-2017 second cycle for the Labour Market Development Agreement (LMDA) evaluation. The first cycle of LMDA evaluation was carried out between 1998 and 2012 and involved the conduct of bilateral formative and summative evaluations in all P/Ts. Under the second cycle, the evaluation work consisted of conducting two to three studies per year on the Employment Benefits and Support Measures (EBSMs) similar programming delivered under these agreements. The studies generated evaluation evidence on the effectiveness, efficiency and design/delivery of EBSMs for Canada overall and for the twelve P/Ts that opted for a joint evaluation process with Canada. Under LMDAs, Canada transfers $2.14B in Employment Insurance (EI) Part II funds to P/Ts for the design and delivery of programs and services to help unemployed individuals, mainly eligible under EI, to find and maintain employment"--Introd., p. vi.

The 1996 Canada-New Brunswick Labour Market Development Agreement (LMDA) enabled the New Brunswick government to assume responsibility for design & delivery of active employment benefits & measures identified in the Employment Insurance (EI) Act. Provincial benefits & measures (PBM) provided under the LMDA include a wage subsidy program, assistance to entrepreneurs, work experience for EI recipients in support of obtaining long-term employment, support for EI clients pursuing training or education, an earnings supplement program, labour market partnership activities, employment assistance services, and research & innovation in labour market development & policy. This report presents findings of a formative evaluation of the LMDA conducted to supply information indicating what improvements, if any, are required to the LMDA design, delivery, & supporting infrastructure that would permit it to better meet its objectives. After introductory sections on the LMDA, the evaluation methodology, and the characteristics of LMDA participants, evaluation findings are presented & discussed with regard to program rationale, design & delivery, participation in provincial benefit measures, attainment of targeted goals, and impacts on participants, employers, & communities.

"Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC) worked jointly with New Brunswick and11 other Provinces and Territories (P/Ts) to undertake the 2012-2017 second cycle of the Labour Market Development Agreement (LMDA) evaluation. The first cycle of the LMDA evaluation was carried out between 1998 and 2012 and involved conducting bilateral formative and summative evaluations in all P/Ts. Under the second cycle, the evaluation work consisted of conducting two to three studies per year on the Employment Benefits and Support Measures (EBSMs) similar programming delivered under these agreements. The studies generated evaluation evidence on the effectiveness, efficiency and design/delivery of EBSMs for Canada, for New Brunswick and for 11 other P/Ts that opted for a joint evaluation process with Canada"--Introduction, p. vi.

"This report presents results from a study that seeks to determine whether starting participation in Employment Assistance Services (EAS) earlier after initiating an Employment Insurance (EI) claim leads to better labour market impacts for participants than postponing participation to a later time. This study was undertaken as part of stream 2 of the second evaluation cycle of the Labour Market Development Agreements (LMDAs). This report builds upon previous evaluation work conducted on the timing of EAS participation by Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC). Previously, the analysis was conducted with a sample of 10% of active claimants across Canada who participated in 2001 to 2003. The current analysis was conducted with up to 100% of active EI claimants who started participation in EAS-only between 2002 and 2005 across Canada. The focus of this report is on the national level results. The provincial/territorial results will be presented in separate reports for each of the participating provinces and territories"--Introd., p. 1.