Gender-based analysis plus

General information

Institutional GBA+ Capacity
In 2021–22, the Public Service Commission of Canada (PSC) will finish delivering its Gender-Based Analysis plus (GBA+) Action Plan 2019–21, which outlines key goals and initiatives to meaningfully integrate GBA+ into its activities and decision-making processes, through 5 key pillars:
  • Governance and Capacity
  • Awareness and Training
  • Integration and Impact
  • Data and Research
  • Monitoring and Reporting

The intended outcome is for all key PSC programs, policies and services to be informed by an evidence-based assessment of their direct and indirect benefits and disadvantages for diverse groups of Canadians. Each of these assessments will include consideration of the intersections of several demographic and identity factors.

In 2021–22, the GBA+ Focal Point, located within the PSC’s Results and Delivery Division, will continue to drive and monitor the timely and meaningful implementation of the PSC’s GBA+ Action Plan. This person will:

  • build staff awareness of the PSC’s GBA+ commitments, by developing and disseminating targeted internal resources
  • provide GBA+ leadership and direction to sectors, and offer guidance on PSC activities and products
  • champion the use of data breakdowns in PSC activities
  • monitor and report on concrete progress and results in GBA+ integration

The Results and Delivery Division will continue to inform executive management, including a GBA+ Champion at the management level, on progress against set objectives.

Highlights of GBA+ Results Reporting Capacity by Program
Policy Direction and Support

An immediate intended outcome for this program in 2021–22 will be to help remove or mitigate barriers to staffing across the federal public service. This outcome supports broader strategic outcomes, including fostering confidence in the staffing system and a diverse public service.

This program also supports the Economic Participation and Prosperity pillar of the Gender Results Framework, by contributing to a more equal and full participation of women, especially women in under-represented groups, in Canada’s economy.

The PSC has identified several departmental and program indicators that support identifying and mitigating potential barriers for diverse groups of federal public servants and the general public. These indicators include the percentage of:

  • applicants who self-declare as a person with a disability
  • federal executive appointees who self-identify as an Aboriginal person
  • federal public service employees who perceive staffing in their work unit as fair

Disaggregated data for these indicators will be collected, analyzed and leveraged into decision-making.

In 2021–22, activities under this program to address potential gender and diversity-related gaps and barriers will include:

  • providing staffing advice and guidance on unbiased and inclusive processes, including developing guidance to support departments as they review their employment systems to identify and eliminate barriers
  • introducing a requirement for unconscious bias training for hiring managers across government
  • managing and overseeing the priority administration system, which aims to help diverse groups of people cope with career transitions due to various life and work-related events

Given the nature and scope of most of these key initiatives, gender and diversity-related results are expected in the medium term, and will be monitored closely against baselines and expected outcomes to ensure meaningful integration. Disaggregated data will be extracted, analyzed and reported on.

Recruitment and Assessment Services

An immediate intended outcome for this program in 2021–22 will be to reduce barriers for PSC staffing and assessment products, including for job applicants who require accommodation measures. This outcome supports broader strategic outcomes, including reducing barriers to public service jobs for Canadians, as well as the strategic recruitment priorities of the federal government (including public service renewal).

This program also supports the Economic Participation and Prosperity pillar of the Gender Results Framework by contributing to a more equal and full participation by women, especially women in under-represented groups, in Canada’s economy.

The PSC has identified several departmental and program indicators related to reducing barriers for diverse groups of Canadians (for example, based on their disability status). These indicators include the percentage of:

  • applicants who found GC Jobs easy to use when applying for a job
  • accommodation requests for assessment services processed within service standards

Disaggregated data for these indicators will be collected, analyzed and leveraged into decision-making.

In 2021–22, activities under this program to address gender and diversity-related gaps and barriers will include:

  • initiatives to implement remote assessment systems for second language oral skills
    • these initiatives will aim to improve the experience of candidates with mobility constraints and make testing more accessible to persons with disabilities
  • efforts to transform the federal public service’s recruitment platform, focused on piloting a new recruitment solution that will provide Canadians with an equal opportunity to apply to federal government jobs, ensuring inclusivity from the outset
    • diversity and inclusiveness considerations will be incorporated through accessibility features, reporting capabilities and functionalities to mitigate biases
  • support for recruiting persons with disabilities in the federal public service, in keeping with the federal government’s accessibility strategy, through implementation of the Federal Internship Program for Canadians with Disabilities
    • the program includes an accessible-by-design assessment process, where the most common types of accommodation requested by candidates with disabilities are already built into the assessment tools and strategy
    • this will allow for a more inclusive and timely recruitment experience for program interns
    • expected results include greater economic inclusion of women, men and gender-diverse persons with physical and/or cognitive disabilities
  • targeted recruitment programs to support the recruitment of students with disabilities and Indigenous students across Canada
  • ongoing consideration of gender and all other employment equity groups when developing, maintaining and monitoring all PSC personnel assessment and development tests to ensure that they are barrier-free
    • this includes monitoring aggregated data on the performance of members of all employment equity groups (women, Aboriginal peoples, persons with disabilities, members of visible minorities) on these tests to ensure that they are barrier-free

In addition to these activities, the PSC’s Diversity & Inclusion Centre of Expertise will provide the National Recruitment Directorate with targeted, evidence-based advice on avenues to remove or mitigate unintended barriers in PSC recruitment products and services

Given the nature and scope of most of these key initiatives, gender and diversity-related results are expected in the medium term, and will be monitored closely against baselines and expected outcomes to ensure meaningful integration. Disaggregated data will be extracted, analyzed and reported on.

Oversight and Monitoring

An immediate intended outcome for this program in 2021–22 will be for the PSC to be accountable to Parliament on the integrity of the staffing system. This outcome supports broader strategic outcomes, including efficient and effective organizational oversight of staffing and providing useful and accessible data to Canadians. Both of these outcomes may support evidence-based decision-making building on GBA+ considerations.

In 2021–22, activities under this program to address gender and diversity-related gaps and barriers will include:

  • surveys to provide a system-wide view of the public service staffing environment, including preparing the 2021 Staffing and Non-Partisanship Survey, which will aim to:
    • collect data on key sociodemographic factors (such as including a third gender option, employment equity group membership, level of education, region and first official language)
    • allow for detailed analysis of interactions between gender and self-declaration in relation to other employment equity groups
    • support a deeper understanding of differences in perceptions of staffing that may exist for various groups, including gender and other identity factors, and their intersectionality
    • share data on each participating department and agency on the Open Government portal, allowing them to conduct high-level analyses to identify improvements unique to their organization
  • research to provide departments and Canadians with an informed view of the dynamics of public service hiring, based on data analysis for key gender and diversity factors and their interactions
  • monitoring and analyzing information collected through systems such as the Public Service Resourcing System, as well as additional hiring data

For all of these PSC programs, some of the microdata information (for example, on gender, area of residence and educational attainment) will be collected for each applicant or respondent. Other information could be collected based on self-declaration as a member of one or more designated employment equity groups (women, Aboriginal peoples, persons with disabilities, members of visible minorities).

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