Departmental Plan 2024-2025: Supplementary Information Tables: Page 2

Gender-Based Analysis Plus

Introduction

In 2018, Parliament passed the Canadian Gender Budgeting Act. The departmental plans and departmental results reports are being used to fulfill the President of the Treasury Board's obligations to make public, every year, analysis on the impacts of expenditure programs on gender and diversity.

Each organization is responsible for conducting their own Gender-based Analysis Plus (GBA Plus).

Applicability

All organizations must complete GBA Plus supplementary information tables in departmental plans and departmental results reports on an annual basis.

GBA Plus at the Department of Finance Canada

In 2016, the Government of Canada took a bold step forward, with support from the Department of Finance, to submit all future budgets to more rigorous analysis by completing and publishing a gender-based analysis of budgetary measures. This practice was later enshrined in legislation, with the passing of the Canadian Gender Budgeting Act by Parliament in December 2018. Since then, the Department of Finance has required that all funding requests be backed by a rigorous GBA Plus and has been committed to upholding and strengthening GBA Plus practices. The Department continues to play an important role in:

• ensuring the continual integration of GBA Plus considerations into government decision-making processes;
• reporting on the impacts in terms of gender and diversity for all new budget measures (a legislated requirement since 2018); and,
• supporting continuous improvement in the quality and rigour of GBA Plus for budget proposals, particularly in terms of the use of disaggregated data.

Looking ahead to 2024-25, the Department will continue to ensure that all budgetary and off-cycle decisions are informed by GBA Plus, supported by the Department of Finance Canada's mandatory GBA Plus Departmental Summary Template. This summary template assists the analytical process to ensure Finance recommendations are supported with a means to assess how diverse population groups may experience policies, programs, or initiatives. The Department remains steadfast in its commitment to assess impacts on intersecting identity factors, as part of GBA Plus, and seamlessly integrating this into its advice to the Minister of Finance.

In terms of reporting, the Gender Results Framework (GRF) will continue to help track Canada's progress toward gender equality goals. And, consistent with the findings and recommendations in the Office of the Auditor General of Canada Report on GBA Plus in 2022 and the Standing Senate Committee on Social Affairs, Science and Technology Report on GBA Plus in 2023, the Department will pay particular attention to the timeliness of the analysis, encouraging GBA Plus to be conducted early in the development of funding proposals and updated when additional funding is required for existing programs. This consistent and timely approach to GBA Plus will help ensure that all funding decisions are made with an understanding of how diverse groups of Canadians will be affected. 

The Department will also continue to ensure that the reporting requirements of the Canadian Gender Budgeting Act are met, whereby the Minister of Finance must publish an annual report on gender and diversity impacts of new budget measures and a GBA Plus study of the impacts of existing tax expenditures based on various key identity factors. This is a significant undertaking – for instance, Budget 2022 and 2023 each included a detailed Impacts Report, with impacts summaries for over 200 budget measures, that explained clearly how decisions would be expected to impact various demographic groups across intersecting factors such as gender, income level and age. These impact summaries also extend beyond who is most affected, and describe the nature of these impacts at a high level. This is done by leveraging Canada's Quality of Life Framework . This framework was introduced in Budget 2021, as a means of enriching the considerations taken into account for all new and existing budget measures. Currently, the Framework consists of 84 indicators organized into five domains, to measure what matters most to Canadians. These indicators remain evergreen and will evolve to capture important issues as they emerge.

General information: Institutional GBA Plus capacity

Governance

To support its GBA Plus objectives and commitments, the Department of Finance has adopted a governance model that ensures effective management, operational efficiency and a well-organized approach to decision-making. This governance model is structured around four key streams of work:

1. a GBA Plus Advisory Committee;
2. a department-wide Challenge Function;
3. an extensive GBA Plus Coordinator Network; and,
4. strong leadership from a departmental GBA Plus Champion.

GBA Plus Advisory Committee

The GBA Plus Advisory Committee is composed of executives and working-level representatives from each branch across the Department. This Committee is co-chaired by the Assistant Deputy Ministers of the Fiscal Policy Branch and the Federal-Provincial Relations and Social Policy Branch. Dedicated to providing strategic advice and direction for GBA Plus initiatives, this committee harnesses its depth of experience to provide valuable insights into how intersectional perspectives are considered. By doing so, the Department ensures that executive-level decision-making processes align closely with the fundamental principles of GBA Plus.

This Committee will continue to think strategically on GBA Plus initiatives, including a Departmental Action Plan on GBA Plus, with a specific focus on enhancing the GBA Plus training and bootcamps, updating gender budgeting tools (GBA Plus Departmental Summary Template and User Instructions ), and promoting better use of disaggregated data.

Challenge Function

All Department of Finance Canada executives and analysts involved in the challenge function are responsible for supporting GBA Plus implementation in their roles. The challenge function on GBA Plus involves critically examining assumptions and statements presented in the GBA Plus Summary Template that accompanies each funding proposal. Analysts question and challenge the incoming proposals to ensure that the funding recommendations are underpinned by a thorough and high-quality GBA Plus analysis.

When appropriate, Women and Gender Equality Canada (WAGE) is also consulted on select budget proposals to help strengthen GBA Plus analysis.

GBA Plus Coordinator Network

The Department has established a network of representatives that serve as GBA Plus Coordinators for their respective branches. This extensive network ensures seamless communication and coordination, facilitating the exchange of best practices, resources and insights. By fostering a sense of unity and shared purpose, the network enhances the effectiveness of GBA Plus implementation. In addition to their GBA Plus work on funding proposals, these analysts take on further responsibilities related to GBA Plus analysis and reporting throughout the fiscal year.

At the heart of this network is a Gender Budgeting Lead who coordinates gender budgeting across the Department, including tracking of proposals and decisions which advance the Gender Results Framework. This role is complemented by a Departmental Lead on GBA Plus who is responsible for supporting wider GBA Plus efforts across the Department such as the implementation of tailored training and providing regular advice to analysts to help them in their challenge function.

GBA Plus Champion

Currently, the Assistant Deputy Minister of the Federal-Provincial Relations and Social Policy Branch serves as the Departmental GBA Plus Champion. Through this role, they support departmental training, raise awareness and ensure employees are educated on the significance of considering gender and intersecting identity factors in decision-making. They actively work to integrate GBA Plus into policy development, monitor and evaluate the impact of initiatives, address barriers and biases, and promote best practices. In doing so, the Departmental GBA Plus Champion contributes to fostering a workplace culture that prioritizes equity and inclusivity and acknowledges the unique perspectives of diverse individuals. 

Capacity

To ensure that all budgetary and off-cycle proposals in 2024–25 continue to be informed by gender and diversity analysis, there will be 1.0 FTE (senior analyst) dedicated to Gender Budgeting in the Fiscal Policy Branch, and 0.6 FTE (senior analyst) as the GBA Plus Focal Point^{Footnote 1} within the Federal-Provincial Relations and Social Policy Branch. Additionally, there will also be 1.0 FTE dedicated to the Gender Results Framework and the Quality of Life Framework, within the Economic Policy Branch (0.5 FTE each), both at the senior analyst level. As well, there will be a GBA Plus coordinator and back-up GBA Plus coordinator in each of the eight policy branches (at 50 per cent capacity on average). The total number of FTEs dedicated to working on GBA Plus at the Department of Finance Canada during 2024–25 will amount to 7 FTEs. This number does not include hundreds of Finance analysts and executives who support GBA Plus as part of their roles.

In 2024–25, Finance will continue to support the government's commitment to advance GBA Plus through the following activities:

• Ensure that federal budget documents incorporate GBA Plus to explain how diverse groups of Canadians may be affected, and articulating this in the Impacts Report (which typically includes over 200 summaries of new budget measures);
• Continue to exercise a rigorous challenge function;
• Collaborate with WAGE to enhance the quality of GBA Plus summaries presented in the Impacts Report and promote better disaggregated data collection to support this analysis; and,
• Participate in the Inter-Departmental Committee on GBA Plus led by WAGE.

Highlights of GBA Plus results reporting by program

Tax Policy and Legislation

All budgetary and off-cycle proposals are informed by gender and diversity analysis, which, in the case of Tax Policy and Legislation, is generally developed internally by departmental analysts. The Department gathers data from various sources that consider both who is affected by a proposal (GBA Plus), as well as how, through the Quality of Life domains. To ensure rigour and completeness, this analysis is reviewed through an internal challenge function. This process informs decision-making on tax policy and supports the publication of gender and diversity considerations following final budget decisions. For example, see the Impacts Report of Budget 2023.

Pursuant to the reporting requirements of the Canadian Gender Budgeting Act, GBA Plus studies have been published as part of the 2019 to 2023 Reports on Federal Tax Expenditures. A further study is planned for release with the 2024 Report.

Further, the Department has undertaken work so that T1 tax return data (collected by the Canada Revenue Agency) are linked to other Statistics Canada survey data. This will allow the Department to be able to better understand how tax policy is interacting with diverse identity groups. These projects are planned to continue to progress in 2024-25.

Economic and Fiscal Policy, Planning and Forecasting

The Fiscal Policy Branch supports the implementation of the Canadian Gender Budgeting Act, and specifically its reporting requirements in terms of the impacts of new budget measures on gender and diversity (for an example, refer to the Budget 2023 Impacts Report). To support this work, Fiscal Policy and other Department of Finance branches, including the Economic Policy Branch, will use the Department of Finance GBA Plus Departmental Summary Templates and Budget Proposal Templates as their main data collection tool to gather data to understand both who is affected by a budget proposal, as well as how, through the Quality of Life domains. Additionally, the Gender Results Framework will continue to support budget decision making and priority setting and help track Canada's progress toward gender equality goals.

The Fiscal Policy Branch will also continue to review and challenge GBA Plus Departmental Summary Templates from external departments, with particular attention paid to the timeliness of the analysis and leveraging of all available sources of disaggregated data.

Economic Development Policy

All budgetary and off-cycle proposals are informed by gender and diversity analysis as required by the Canadian Gender Budgeting Act. The Economic Development Policy Branch leverages and performs due diligence on external submissions that accompany budget proposals. For proposals that originate from the branch, GBA plus analysis is conducted internally. Utilizing budget proposal templates, the branch gathers data from diverse sources to support analysis that considers both who is impacted by a proposal (GBA Plus) and how through the Quality of Life Domains. To enhance its ability to report on impacts related to gender and diversity, the Economic Development Policy Branch will continue to offer internal guidance and conduct regular training programs for staff to advance and maintain the GBA Plus capacity within the branch.  

Federal-Provincial Relations and Social Policy

The Federal-Provincial Relations and Social Policy Branch actively collects data to monitor and report on a broad range of impacts by gender and diversity, aligning with the Department's commitment to GBA Plus and to capturing relevant Quality of Life Impacts. This is evident as all budgetary and off-cycle funding requests are mandated to be informed by GBA Plus analysis. While a few GBA Plus Departmental Summary Templates are completed in house, the majority in this program are received from external departments, reflecting a diverse range of inputs into the process. Analysts apply a challenge function role to external proposals to ensure that the GBA Plus analysis and supporting data are thoroughly reviewed, corrected and calibrated to ensure consistent categorization and assessment prior to being used to inform Department of Finance Canada recommendations and analysis of funding requests.

Financial Sector Policy

All budgetary and off-cycle proposals are informed by gender and diversity analysis, which in the case of Financial Sector Policy is generally developed internally by departmental analysts. The Department gathers and analyzes data from various sources that consider both who is affected by a proposal (GBA Plus), as well as how, through the Quality of Life domains. This process informs decision-making on Financial Sector Policy items within the branch and supports the publication of gender and diversity considerations following final budget decisions. For example, see the Impacts Report of Budget 2023.

The Financial Sector Policy Branch continues to engage across government and with outside stakeholders to improve GBA Plus analytical capacity. This includes seeking guidance on proposal development from Women and Gender Equality Canada, as needed, and use of relevant data tools to collect information on GBA Plus metrics.

International Trade and Finance Policy

For import policy measures, the Department generally has sufficient data, or is able to collect it, to report on impacts of specific measures, for example, on the potential impacts of recent changes to Canada's preferential tariff programs for developing countries.

However, the Department does not itself collect GBA Plus data on programs delivered through international financial institutions, as these international organizations are responsible for assessing the gender and diversity impacts of their programs. This being said, the Department uses the GBA Plus data collected by these international organizations as part of the considerations for its funding decisions.

On June 9, 2017, Canada launched the Feminist International Assistance Policy anchoring its commitment to put gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls at the heart of its international development, humanitarian, and peace and security efforts. This means Canada collects information on, and prioritizes the investments, partnerships and advocacy efforts that have the greatest potential to close gender gaps, eliminate barriers to gender equality and help achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.

Canada Health Transfer

In administering the Canada Health Transfer (CHT), the Department acknowledges that while the transfer is primarily formula-based and does not directly incorporate GBA Plus at the federal level, the program maintains a commitment to the principles of equitable health care. The transfer upholds the national criteria and conditions outlined in the Canada Health Act, ensuring that the allocation of funds supports a universally accessible and comprehensive health care system.

The current framework does not collect data to monitor or report on the CHT's impacts by gender and diversity, primarily due to its formulaic nature. Consequently, there are no plans to modify this approach and the program recognizes the responsibility for applying GBA Plus in health service delivery lies primarily with provincial and territorial governments. This approach aligns with the overarching goals to contribute to the development of the best possible health care system for all Canadians.

Fiscal Arrangements with Provinces and Territories

In administering the Canada Social Transfer, Equalization and Territorial Formula Financing, the Department does not collect GBA Plus data as these transfers are formula-driven and provided unconditionally to provinces and territories. This limits the ability of the program to monitor and report on the impacts on these transfers by gender and diversity.

Given this framework, there are no current initiatives to enable future monitoring or reporting on how these funds are utilized to support marginalized groups. The Department's role is to ensure compliance with the formulaic guidelines of these transfers, which are designed to support broad social objectives like assistance, education, fiscal equalization and territorial needs. While provincial and territorial governments are encouraged to integrate GBA Plus principles in their allocation and utilization of these funds, they retain the discretion to apply these funds according to their unique regional needs and priorities, including addressing the challenges and needs of diverse groups within their jurisdictions. 

Tax Collection and Administration Agreements

There are no unique impacts on individuals specifically related to Tax Collection and Administration Agreements between the federal government and provinces, territories, Indigenous and other non-federal entities. As such, the Department does not collect gender and diversity data in this area. Federal measures that are linked to these agreements (budgetary or off-cycle expenditure proposals) would be informed by gender and diversity analysis. Provinces, territories, Indigenous and other non-federal entities would be responsible for assessing the gender and diversity impacts of any measures linked to these agreements that fall under their purview.

Commitments to International Financial Organizations

While the Department does not itself collect GBA Plus data on programs delivered through international organizations (international organizations are responsible for doing so), the Department uses the data collected from these organizations to assess the gender and diversity impacts of their programs.

Canada has taken an innovative approach to partnering with international financial institutions to help promote gender equality. Canada, together with other likeminded members, has made a substantial contribution to the establishment of gender indicators in all the multilateral development banks in which Canada is a member, although progress has been uneven across institutions. As an example, with Canada's support, the World Bank Group developed a Gender Strategy for 2024-30, which focuses on innovation, financing, and collective action to end gender-based violence, elevate human capital, expand and enable economic opportunities, and engage women as leaders.

Market Debt and Foreign Reserves Management

The program's objective is to raise stable, low-cost funding for Government of Canada operations, including departments' programs and initiatives. GBA Plus assessments are undertaken each year and indicate no unique impacts on individuals specifically related to the management of market debt or foreign reserves. Individual departments and agencies are responsible for all public reporting on the gender and diversity impacts of their respective programs and initiatives. There are no plans to expand the program's capacity to report at this time.