Call for Proposals

Canadian Evaluation Society Ontario Chapter 2025 Virtual Conference

The Canadian Evaluation Society Ontario Chapter (CES Ontario) is pleased to invite evaluation practitioners, researchers, academics, emerging evaluators, students, and other potential presenters to submit proposals for panel presentations and methods masterclass workshops for CES Ontario’s 2025 Virtual Conference.

Theme: Exploring Program Evaluation in Ontario: Politics, Progress, and Possibility

Evaluation is a constantly changing field of practice, informed by new and emerging technologies, approaches, and political pressures. Join us as we survey these topic areas, explore their interplays and connections, and discuss how to integrate them into our work.

Topic Areas:

• New and next approaches to program evaluation: proposals about new evaluation processes, frameworks, and models, alternative funding models, and decolonized evaluation approaches
• Technology: proposals about how AI (and other tools!) are changing evaluation, and considerations of utility and equity
• Political considerations: proposals about evaluation politics in Ontario, Canadian, and international contexts, as well as managing projects and stakeholders

Conference participants will:

• Gain a deeper understanding of current trends, innovations, opportunities, and challenges for enhancing and integrating approaches in evaluation.
• Gain important evaluation skills to address current and future trends.
• Enhance connections with other evaluators, networks, and organizations.
• Contribute to discussions about the importance of evaluative thinking and evaluation practice in the areas of new approaches, technology, and politics.

Overview

Sessions Formats

We invite proposals for any of the following formats:

1. Keynote presentation
2. Panel discussions
3. Short presentations
   • 10-45 minutes
4. Workshops
   • 45-90 minutes
   • Can be at the introductory or advanced level
5. Networking and connections

Each proposal should include:

Style and format (250 words max): Please describe how the session will be organized and how you will interact with participants.

Session description (250 words max): Please describe what will be covered during your session, including learning objectives.

Short bio and experience: Please provide a bio and overview of previous workshop or facilitation experience.

Competencies domains: Please provide a list of key competency domain(s) that this session will focus on. (See the Canadian Evaluation Society’s document Competencies for Canadian Evaluation Practice)

Proposals should be a maximum of four (4) pages.

Selection Criteria

Criteria	Weight
Relevance – Alignment with conference theme, evaluation competencies	10
Detail – Clarity of proposal and outline of presentation/workshop	10
Focus – Proposal presents innovative ways to address theme areas	10
TOTAL	/30

 

Submission

The deadline to submit proposals is July 4, 2025, at 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time Zone.

A decision on proposals will be communicated to applicants by July 21, 2025. An honorarium will be provided to successful applicants.

Questions and Submissions

Please direct any questions to the Conference Planning Group at conference@evaluationontario.ca

Call for Volunteers

Are you interested in taking a leadership role with the 2025 Virtual Conference? CES Ontario is looking for a Conference Planning Committee Chair. This individual will be responsible for:

• Leading the Conference Planning Committee in planning the CES Ontario 2025 Virtual Conference
• Assisting the selection of conference content and presenters
• Leading the development of marketing and sponsorship packages
• Working with staff and volunteers to test technical elements of conference delivery
• Other duties as determined by the conference team and the CES Ontario board

The Conference Planning Committee Chair will work with the support of the Membership Committee co-chairs, the Administrative Coordinator, and volunteers to ensure a great experience for all conference attendees. Please share widely: this person does not need to be a CES Ontario member to apply!

Please contact Kaitlyn at admin@evaluationontario.ca if you are interested in learning more.