Results for Canada
Nonprofit organizations deliver programs that can shape people’s lives for years. Yet most organizations can only measure what happens during a program or shortly afterward. Participant surveys are valuable, but response rates often decline over time. This makes it difficult to determine whether improvements in employment, earnings, education, and other outcomes last.
Results for Canada is testing a practical, repeatable approach to measuring the long-term outcomes of nonprofit-delivered social services. Led by Blueprint and funded by the Future Skills Centre, the initiative is delivered in partnership with Statistics Canada and builds on a multi-year collaboration with Employment and Social Development Canada.
The approach links information that nonprofits already collect about their programs and participants with administrative data held by Statistics Canada. These records can provide information about outcomes over many years without requiring participants to complete repeated follow-up surveys. All linkage and analysis take place through Statistics Canada’s secure systems and follow strict privacy and confidentiality requirements.
Data linkage is currently complex, costly, and difficult for most nonprofit organizations to undertake independently. Results for Canada is exploring how to lower these barriers. Blueprint is developing reusable proposal structures, data-preparation processes, analytical methods, agreements, and other resources. Blueprint also provides specialized support throughout the process, allowing participating organizations to access expertise they may need only occasionally.
The model is being tested through pilot engagements with WoodGreen Community Services and NPower Canada. These organizations have extensive participant records, strong data systems, and important questions that linked data can help answer.
- The WoodGreen pilot will examine the long-term effects of its services on education, employment, and earnings, including how results vary across programs and participant groups. Statistics Canada is finalizing the linkage of WoodGreen’s data.
- The NPower pilot will examine employment, earnings, job tenure, education, entrepreneurship, and other outcomes associated with its workforce development programs. Blueprint and NPower are finalizing the linkage proposal for submission to Statistics Canada. Lessons from WoodGreen have already helped accelerate this process.
Both pilots will also examine program costs and benefits. Findings are expected in late 2026.
By testing the process from partnership development through analysis and reporting, Results for Canada aims to create a supported pathway that more nonprofits can use to understand their long-term impact. Over time, this could help service providers improve programs, demonstrate results, and contribute stronger evidence to funding and policy decisions.
Reports and resources
- Results for Canada: Design Report (coming September 2026)
- Future Skills Centre Blog Post: Building a Stronger Evidence Base for Skills: Using Linked Data to Measure Long-Term Outcomes - Future Skills Centre • Centre des Compétences futures (March 2026)
Our team and partners live and work on the traditional territory of many Indigenous people across Turtle Island. Blueprint’s home office is situated in the area known as Tkaronto, an area that has been caretaken by the Anishinabek Nation, the Haudenosaunee Confederacy, and the Huron-Wendat for thousands of years. We strive to meaningfully incorporate principles of reconciliation with First Nations, Inuit, and Métis peoples in our day-to-day work, as is our collective responsibility as treaty people, which requires ongoing reflection and collective action.
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