Question Period Note: 2022-2023 Departmental Plan

What are the priorities for Women and Gender Equality as described in the 2022-2023 Departmental Plan?

• Over the past two years, WAGE focused on providing urgent support for communities impacted by COVID-19. In 2022-23, WAGE will build upon these investments and further strengthen the department as a world class Centre of Expertise for advancing gender equality, addressing systemic barriers, and creating positive change in communities across Canada.

• Collaborating with other levels of government, Indigenous organizations, the women’s movement, private sector, advocates and equality-seeking organizations, WAGE will:

o Continue to advance a National Action Plan to End Gender-Based Violence to ensure that anyone facing gender-based violence has reliable and timely access to protection and prevention services;
o Launch Canada’s first Federal LGBTQ2 Action Plan;
o Deliver programming to create stable, predictable, long-term funding that organizations need to advance gender equality in Canada;
o Work with federal partners to develop a Menstrual Equity Fund;

o Undertake vital research to address knowledge gaps to better capture the lived experiences of all Canadians.

• The Departmental Plan (DP) is a ministerial accountability mechanism as well as an annual reporting requirement that serves to communicate departmental expenditure plans, as well as the organization’s priorities, resource requirements and expected results for the fiscal year. This Departmental Plan provides an outline for achieving more equitable outcomes for women and girls, including Indigenous women and the 2SLGBTQQIA+ community, and building capacity to fulfill the department’s expanded mandate and its role as a centre of expertise.

• The mandate for Women and Gender Equality Canada is to advance equality with respect to sex, sexual orientation, and gender identity or expression through the inclusion of people of all genders.

• In 2022-2023, the Department will focus on four priority areas:

1) Preventing and addressing GBV, including: ongoing implementation of Canada’s Strategy to Prevent and Address Gender-Based Violence, advancing the National Action Plan to End Gender-Based Violence delivering programming for organizations working to address human trafficking and GBV; funding research to address knowledge gaps and to advance evidence-based responses to GBV; implementing the first phase of a GBV Youth Awareness Campaign and supporting the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Calls to Action and the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls National Inquiry Calls for Justice in partnership with First Nations, Inuit and Metis Peoples.

2) Strategic actions and engagement to address systemic barriers to gender equality, including: continuing to advance LGBTQ2 equality through the LGBTQ2 Secretariat; launching the first Federal LGBTQ2 Action Plan; establishing WAGE as a world-class Centre of Expertise for advancing gender equality; collaborating with provincial/territorial governments through the Federal-Provincial-Territorial Forum of Ministers Responsible for the Status of Women, as well as with National Indigenous Leaders and Representatives; and supporting other federal government departments in advancing gender equality as part of the economic recovery.

3) Ensuring GBA plus throughout federal government actions and decision-making processes, including: developing a new whole-of-government GBA Plus Action Plan; leading the evaluation process of GBA Plus to better capture the lived experiences of all Canadians; supporting federal departments and agencies in applying the tool in their policy and programming work; and improving the quality and scope of GBA Plus in budgeting processes in collaboration with Finance Canada and the Treasury Board Secretariat.

4) Supporting community action to advance gender equality, including: implementing a new LGBTQ2 Projects Fund to address the unique needs and persistent disparities facing LGBTQ2 communities; supporting projects to address systemic barriers to gender equality including the Feminist Response and Recovery Fund; developing a Menstrual Equity Fund in collaboration with federal partners; and providing funding to Indigenous organizations to support Indigenous women, girls and 2SLGBTQQIA+ individuals.
• Over the reporting period, the department will continue to strengthen internal services functions, including: Communications; Human Resources, Finance; Information Management; Information Technology; Real Property and Acquisition.
• Key internal services priorities for the fiscal year include: designing and implementing a new and inclusive organizational structure; attracting and retaining a highly diverse and qualified workforce; and implementing a comprehensive governance approach to serve WAGE’s expanded organizational mandate and structure and support transformation.

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