Question Period Note: Gender-based Analysis Plus (GBA Plus)

What is the government doing to improve the implementation of GBA Plus?

• The COVID-19 pandemic intensified existing inequalities and shed light on the need to identify and respond to the needs of diverse people and groups.
• As the lead federal department for GBA Plus, over the past five years, WAGE has worked with partners across government to:
o Support the sound application of GBA Plus as a mandatory part of all key decision-making documents, including Memoranda to Cabinet, regulations, and throughout the federal budgeting process.
o Strengthen capacity to apply GBA Plus by developing tools and training for the public service. For example, in 2021 WAGE launched a suite of supportive tools, including a Step-by-Step Guide on conducting GBA Plus.
• We will continue to work with partners and equality-seeking organizations across Canada to ensure that tools like GBA Plus are helping ensure an equitable Canada for all of us.

• Gender-based Analysis Plus (GBA Plus) is an analytical tool used to support the development of responsive and inclusive policies, programs and other initiatives. GBA Plus is a process for understanding who is impacted by the issue or opportunity being addressed by the initiative and how; identifying how the initiative could be tailored to meet diverse needs of the people most impacted; and anticipating and mitigating any barriers to accessing or benefitting from the initiative. GBA Plus is an intersectional analysis that goes beyond biological (sex) and socio-cultural (gender) differences to consider other factors, such as age, disability, education, ethnicity, economic status, geography, language, race, religion, and sexual orientation.
• As a centre of excellence for GBA Plus, Women and Gender Equality Canada strives to:
o Increase awareness, understanding of, and commitment to GBA Plus as a key lever for gender equality, diversity and inclusion;
o Provide guidance, develop tools and training, and create and strengthen existing infrastructure to enhance capacity and improve expertise for GBA Plus across federal departments and agencies and in other gender and inclusion mainstreaming initiatives;
o Strengthen an evidence-based approach by increasing capacity for GBA Plus and related tools/techniques, including gender budgeting, to assess differential impacts through the application of GBA Plus to identify issues and inform priorities;
o Broker relationships and create channels and forums between a broad range of actors to capture new knowledge, including finding and disseminating good practices; and
o Act as a hub for GBA Plus knowledge and expertise and create spaces and opportunities to harness new ideas to develop solutions and enable innovation.
• GBA Plus training is available in both official languages to government officials and to the general public through the Introduction to GBA Plus online course, on the Department’s website. Additional training is available through the Canada School of Public Service.
• Federal departments and agencies are currently required to integrate GBA Plus into all Memoranda to Cabinet, Treasury Board submissions, federal budget proposals, and regulations. Further, GBA Plus is now included in key legislation, including, the Impact Assessment Act, the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act and the Accessible Canada Act. In addition, through annual Departmental Plans and Departmental Results Reports, all federal departments and agencies are required to apply GBA Plus to existing program expenditures.
• Various governance structures have been put in place to support departments and agencies and ensure they remain accountable for their GBA Plus requirements. This includes a GBA Plus Champions Network and an Interdepartmental Committee on GBA Plus. Further, capacity to undertake robust GBA Plus continues to grow disaggregated data allowing for quality analysis is increasingly available.
• In April 2021, the Office of the Auditor General of Canada (OAG) publicly released their performance audit plan for the 2021-22 year, which included an audit of GBA Plus and Inclusiveness. The audit will be the third audit of GBA Plus by the OAG. Previous audits were conducted in 2009 and in 2015. The final report for the 2021-22 audit is anticipated to be tabled by the Auditor General in 2022.
• In response to the gaps identified by the OAG 2015 audit, WAGE, in collaboration with the Treasury Board Secretariat and the Privy Council Office, have worked to advance GBA Plus through the 2016-2020 Action Plan. Notable achievements in the plan include:
o GBA Plus is now mandatory in all Treasury Board Submissions, Memoranda to Cabinet, Departmental Results Frameworks and Reports, and is reflected in the Cabinet Directive on Regulations;
o TBS and WAGE developed guidance on integrating GBA Plus into evaluations, which was published in 2019;
o The 2018 Canadian Gender Budgeting Act enshrined the application of GBA Plus in federal budgetary and financial processes;
o WAGE introduced an annual GBA Plus Implementation Survey in 2016 to monitor progress on GBA Plus across federal departments;
o In November 2018, WAGE hosted the first GBA Plus Forum, which had 1,000 participants online and in-person. The Forum generated important insights for advancing GBA Plus, including the need for: inclusive consultation and participation of impacted groups; greater cultural competency; more awareness of the various factors to consider when doing GBA Plus; improved accountability; increased capacity for rigorous and intersectional analysis; and the establishment of a central focal point (Centre for Excellence) to facilitate ongoing progress on GBA Plus implementation; and
o In September 2018, the Government launched Statistics Canada’s Centre for Gender, Diversity and Inclusion Statistics in response to the growing demand for better intersectional data. The Centre houses quick facts, statistics and recent analysis related to gender equality and diversity.
 

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