Building Policy Research Capacity

In today’s world, government policy-makers face an increasingly complex environment, immense time pressures, and public demand for quick fixes to issues that continually shift. Formulating effective and evidence-based public policy in this environment requires strong strategic policy-making and research capacity. But for years, Canadian governments have been cutting back on their capacity to engage in analytical policy research and strategic policy-making. In light of these challenges, what would be required to enhance governments’ policy research capacity? The Health System Planning and Research Branch within the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care (MoHLTC) engaged Signal49 Research to explore this important question. The process occurred in two phases: an extensive literature review and consultation with national and international policy experts; and a case study review of four selected organizations. This briefing presents a synthesis of the findings, including the commonalities in structure, processes, and tools that emerged.