Applied research
Questions answered in the terms a decision is actually made in.
Literature and evidence reviews, primary data collection, mixed-method designs and rapid-response research built around the timelines policy teams really work to.
PolicyWise for Children & Families — Alberta
Evidence people can act on
PolicyWise works with government, researchers, social-sector organizations and communities to turn complex evidence into decisions that improve outcomes for children, youth and families.
Linked administrative data
6 ministries · 20+ programs
Ages covered
0–30
Child & Youth Data Lab
Evidence into practice
Reports · Toolkits · Briefs
Partners engaged
200+
Evidence built with partners across
- Children’s Services
- Community & Social Services
- Alberta Health
- Advanced Education
- Justice
- Education
01 Who we are
Better evidence. Better decisions. Better outcomes.
“We connect people with evidence.”
PolicyWise — organizational purpose
We are a charitable, not-for-profit organization based in Alberta. Our work sits in the space between research and decision-making — where good intentions meet real constraints.
We meet people where they are, define the issue together, and produce evidence of a quality that can carry the weight of a decision. Applied research, evaluation, data science and knowledge mobilization are how we get there.
Read our theory of changeThree inputs, one direction
- People Communities, families and front-line practitioners
- Evidence Research, linked data and evaluation
- Progress Policy and practice that improve outcomes
Vision
Children, youth and families thrive in environments shaped by wise decisions.
Where we work
Alberta
Edmonton & Calgary offices, national and international reach.
02 What we do
Six disciplines,
one line of sight.
Most questions we are asked cannot be answered by one method alone. We assemble the combination the decision actually needs — and hand back something a team can use on Monday.
Data & analytics
Administrative data linked across systems that rarely talk to each other.
Through the Child & Youth Data Laboratory we linked data across six Alberta ministries and more than twenty programs — one of only a few such initiatives in the world.
Evaluation
Knowing whether it worked — and what to change next.
Developmental, formative and summative evaluation, outcome measurement and theory-of-change work designed with the people delivering the program, not around them.
Strategic advisory
Sitting on your side of the table while the strategy is still forming.
Evidence-informed strategy, policy analysis, systems mapping and facilitation for leadership teams working across ministries, agencies and funders.
Capacity building
Leaving the capability behind, not just the report.
Training, coaching and practical tools that help organizations collect better data, read their own evidence and keep evaluating after we have gone.
Policy & practice
Moving evidence the last mile into practice.
Knowledge mobilization, plain-language briefs, toolkits and convening — so that what we learn reaches the front line and the cabinet table alike.
03 How it converges
From complexity to coordinated action.
Three inputs, one direction. Hover, tap or tab through any point to follow it the whole way to an outcome.
People
Communities, families and front-line practitioners define what actually matters before a single number is collected.
Scroll the diagram sideways to follow a path
04 Resources for practice
Evidence, published
for the people using it.
Research report
Improving youth mental wellbeing
What Alberta’s service data tells us about when young people reach for support — and what happens when the door is not open.
Policy brief
Building stronger communities
Practical conditions that let local organizations sustain outcomes after the funding cycle ends.
Child & Youth Data Laboratory
40+
reports produced from linked administrative data covering Albertans aged 0–30 over a six-year period.
Evaluation study
Systems that work for families
Tracing how families move between services, and where the handoffs quietly fail them.
Data insight
Early learning that holds
Drag, scroll or use the arrows
05 Find your way in
Why this matters
to you.
For ministries and public agencies
Decisions that will be scrutinised deserve evidence that holds up.
We have worked alongside Alberta ministries for years — including the cross-ministry data linkage behind the Child & Youth Data Laboratory. We know how a briefing note travels.
- Cross-ministry data linkage
- Policy analysis & options
- Outcome measurement
For non-profits and service providers
Prove what is working — without pulling staff off the floor.
Evaluation designed around the capacity you actually have, plus the tools and coaching to keep measuring once the engagement ends.
- Program evaluation
- Theory of change
- Data capacity coaching
For academic and applied researchers
A bridge between rigorous method and real-world use.
Partner on studies, access linked administrative data through governed processes, and get findings into the hands of people who can act on them.
- Research partnerships
- Data access & governance
- Knowledge mobilization
For community-led organizations
Your knowledge counts as evidence too.
We meet people where they are. Community definitions of success shape the questions, the measures and how the findings are shared back.
- Participatory design
- Plain-language reporting
- Practical toolkits
For funders and philanthropic partners
See where your investment changes the curve.
Portfolio-level evaluation, shared measurement across grantees, and honest reporting on what the evidence does and does not support.
- Portfolio evaluation
- Shared measurement
- Impact reporting
06 Impact
Work you can trace to a decision.
Figures below are drawn from the Child & Youth Data Laboratory, established with the Government of Alberta. Organisation-wide totals are shown as placeholders pending confirmation.
6
Alberta ministries contributing linked data
20+
programs represented in the linkage
Ages covered
0–30
Albertans, tracked across a six-year period
200+
ministry analysts, policy staff and directors engaged
[XX]
partner organizations supported across Alberta — figure to be confirmed
“One of only a few such initiatives in the world.”
On the Child & Youth Data Laboratory
07 Let’s begin
Create impact together.
Tell us the decision you are facing. We will tell you honestly what evidence exists, what would need to be built, and what it would take to get there.