Cathexis specializes in program evaluation: it’s what we do. We have been providing high quality evaluation services to government, community and other public sector clients across Canada since 2001, and we are committed to making it useful.
Our purpose
Through evaluation, we build understanding that drives impact.
Our values
Excellence
We are socially-minded professionals who are determined to make a difference. We go the extra mile to ensure our work gives our clients the insight they need to drive improvement.
Advancement
We are adventurous, creative, progressive, and open-minded. We continuously grow and learn to serve our clients better.
Integrity
Our commitment to professionalism and deep respect for human dignity shape all aspects of our work.
Collaboration
We enjoy working collaboratively with our clients and each other. We appreciate diversity and know we can achieve more through teamwork than individual effort.
Fun
We aspire to make the evaluation process enjoyable, and to share our energy and excitement with our clients.
Our ethics
We are committed to operating a socially responsible, progressive business. When you work with us, you work with a team that cares about impact: on the environment, on marginalized and vulnerable persons, and on our community. We are also committed to protecting the privacy of individuals and their personal information. See our privacy policy.
Our commitment to Truth and Reconciliation
As part of Cathexis’s commitment to Truth and Reconciliation, we developed our first Reconciliation Action Plan in 2022. Our Reconciliation Action Plan outlines our journey to date and specifies the commitments we’re making to pursue Truth and Reconciliation across four areas:
- education for our team on the Truth of the harms and legacy of colonialism, white supremacy, and residential schools; and of the richness of Indigenous culture, ways of knowing and being, and many other topics
- good relationships with Indigenous peoples, communities, and the planet
- our professional practice as evaluators
- governance of our organization
As part of this work, we have made financial contributions to the following organizations:
- The Native Women’s Resource Centre of Toronto, a registered charity that directly supports thousands of Indigenous women and their families each year.
- RAVEN, a registered charity whose mission is to raise funds for access to justice and legal services for Indigenous land and water defenders.
- Alderville Black Oak Savanna located on Alderville First Nation. This is the site of two rare grassland habitats (the Tallgrass Prairie and the Black Oak Savanna) and home to the Mississauga Anishinabeg (Michi Saagiig) of the Ojibway Nation since they were forced to move from their traditional lands around the Bay of Quinte in the nineteenth century. Cathexis had the opportunity to visit and tour the grasslands in September 2022.
Our commitment to anti-oppression, equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI)
In April 2024, our team approved our first formal Anti-oppression Action Plan. We developed this plan because we have, for a long time, believed in and worked towards advancing anti-oppression, justice, equity, diversity, inclusion, and accessibility.
Our commitment to anti-oppression involves continuous reflection on how what we do and how we show up can support or disrupt unfair systems that mistreat, exploit, and marginalize certain groups of people, based on race, Indigeneity, sex or gender, sexuality, ability, body size, class, age, citizenship, and other characteristics that make us diverse.
Our current Action Plan sets out:
- Guiding principles for the actions we’ve chosen to prioritize
- Conditions for success that must be in place for our anti-oppression work to flourish
- Specific goals across various business areas (operations, corporate giving, human resources and recruitment, client projects)
- A calendar of activities for ongoing staff learning, reflection, and accountability
- An anti-oppression learning journey roadmap for all staff, including required training and activities for all new hires
Our Action Plan is intended to lead us toward creating and maintaining an inclusive, equitable, and respectful work environment, and to contribute to positive social change.