Program
Transport Canada works with the Canadian Transportation Research Forum, a not-for-profit association of transportation professionals, to provide transportation-research scholarships (the Program) for graduate students at Canadian universities. Scholarships are awarded to students who successfully show their research studies in one of the three defined areas: Economics, efficiency and competitiveness in transportation; Sustainable transportation; and Transportation safety and security. Since its creation in 2004, the Program sponsored 39 scholarships, for which it provided a total of $194,000. Currently, the Program offers four scholarships a year at $6,000 each. Transport Canada’s Program Group/Environmental and Transportation Initiatives Branch administers the program.
Evaluation
This is the first evaluation of the Program since its creation. The evaluation covers the period from April 1, 2004 and March 31, 2015. To review the achievements of the Program, the evaluation collected information from scholarship recipients, program staff in Transport Canada and the Canadian Transportation Research Forum, through surveys and interviews, as well as program documents and web scans.
Evaluation Results
The evaluation findings and recommendations are as follows:
- There is a strong demand for the Program as it is one of a few scholarships available in Canada for transportation research. On average, the Program received five applications for every scholarship awarded.
- The Program had a positive outcome which would contribute to transportation research in Canada. More than 50 academic papers were produced by scholarship recipients. In addition, most recipients of scholarships moved on to academic or professional works in the transportation field.
- The Program was well managed. It has clear application processes and performance measurements. It also had low administrative costs, through the shared administration with the partner organization.
- Recommendation: Transport Canada’s Policy Group/Transportation and Economic Analysis Branch should review the current selection criteria to ensure that the scholarship research more closely reflects Transport Canada’s mandate and industry needs. The Branch is expected to complete this review by March 31, 2017.