Anti-racism Lens

The Anti-racism Lens (the Lens) is a practical tool to help Defence Team members identify potential racial impacts of decisions, policies, programs, and everyday practices.

Use this tool at every stage of planning, design, implementation, and evaluation to reduce unintentional harm and support equitable outcomes.

On this page

• When to use this tool
• What this tool helps you do
• How to apply the Lens
• Key questions to consider
• Using the Lens with other tools
• Additional resources

When to use this tool

The Lens is meant to work alongside and reinforce existing tools that are built into our regular work, like Gender Based Analysis Plus (GBA Plus), and fits directly into the GBA Plus five-step process. While GBA Plus provides the overall decision-making structure, the Lens adds a clear, race-focused perspective to help identify where racism or power imbalances may influence policies, programs, communications, or operations.

Use the Lens when you are:

• developing or revising a policy, program, directive, or procedure
• making decisions that affect Defence Team members or stakeholders
• planning or evaluating communications and imagery
• organizing meetings, events, or ceremonies
• conducting human resources, talent management, or performance processes
• evaluating outcomes and continuous improvement

What this tool helps you do

The Lens helps you:

• identify potential racial impacts—intended and unintended—before and after decisions
• surface assumptions and address bias in decision‑making
• consider how policies, programs, and practices affect racialized groups
• design equitable options and mitigation strategies
• document decisions and follow‑up actions for accountability

How to apply the Lens

Use the steps below to apply the Lens in a consistent and practical way. These steps can be adapted to fit your context, regardless of the size or complexity of the decision.

Some sections include short examples to help illustrate how the Lens can be applied in practice.

1. Define the decision or change
   • State the purpose, scope, timelines, decision points, and who is affected.
     Example: Specify whether the change affects access to a program, policy, service, or opportunity.
2. Gather context and data
   • Collect relevant quantitative and qualitative evidence. Identify data gaps and known limitations.
     Example: Review disaggregated participation and outcome data and check previous feedback from racialized Defence Team members.
3. Engage affected people appropriately
   • When feasible, involve those with lived experience and people who will be affected. Provide psychological safety and voluntary participation.
     Example: Invite input through small, facilitated discussions or use anonymous channels when power dynamics may inhibit open feedback.
4. Reflect using the key questions
   • Apply the Lens questions to surface inequities, hidden assumptions, and discretion points that could drive different outcomes.
     Example: Ask who benefits or is disadvantaged, whose perspectives are missing, and where vague policy wording could lead to unequal treatment.
5. Develop options and mitigations
   • Revise the design, process, communications, or supports to reduce potential harms and improve equitable access and outcomes.
     Example: Offer translation or plain‑language summaries, adjust imagery to avoid stereotypes, or remove non‑essential criteria that screen out racialized Defence Team members.
6. Decide and document
   • Record what you considered, what changed, and why. Capture who is accountable and any follow‑up actions or timelines.
     Example: Note the key risks identified, the mitigation you selected, and where responsibility sits for monitoring results.
7. Monitor, learn, and adapt
   • Track outcomes over time. Seek feedback and revisit earlier steps to strengthen results.
     Example: Review results after implementation, compare outcomes across groups, and make iterative adjustments as new evidence emerges.

Key questions to consider

Use these prompts (select what applies) to guide analysis and discussion.

Some sections include short examples to help illustrate how the Lens can be applied in practice. Examples are provided only where they add clarity.

• Understanding impacts
  • Who benefits, who may be disadvantaged, and how do we know?
  • Could this decision create unequal effects for Indigenous, Black, Asian, or other racialized Defence Team members?
• Decision‑making and bias
  • What assumptions or discretion points may be shaping the outcome?
  • Whose perspectives informed the process? Who is missing and how will we include them?
• Access and participation
  • Are venues, schedules, and formats inclusive?
  • Could religious observances, cultural practices, or language create barriers?
    • Examples:
      • Offer non‑alcohol venues or alternatives.
      • Check event dates for conflicts with cultural observances.
      • Provide virtual attendance options where feasible.
• Representation and communications
  • Do imagery and messaging avoid stereotypes and tokenism while reflecting diverse racialized groups respectfully?
  • Are Indigenous peoples represented in ways that avoid ownership framing and stereotypical visuals?
    • Examples:
      • Avoid phrasing such as “Canada’s Indigenous Peoples.”
      • Don’t rely on regalia as the sole depiction of Indigenous Peoples.
      • Show racialized Defence Team members in a variety of roles, not only training or entry‑level milestones.
• People management and advancement
  • Could cultural norms be misinterpreted as performance issues?
  • Are racialized Defence Team members receiving equitable access to opportunities?
    • Examples:
      • Avoid judging directness, eye contact, or communication style without cultural context.
      • Check for patterns where racialized Defence Team members may be disproportionately assigned secondary duties.
• Systems and outcomes
  • Does the policy/program reinforce existing inequities, or is it designed to close gaps?
  • How will we measure outcomes by race ethically and adapt based on evidence and feedback?

Using the Lens with other tools

Use the Lens alongside other Defence Team and Government of Canada tools to support consistent, inclusive, and well‑informed decision‑making.

• Defence Team Anti‑racism Framework: Align your analysis with the framework’s principles and pillars; document decisions and follow‑up actions accordingly.
• Gender-Based Analysis Plus: Use alongside the Lens to assess intersecting identity factors (such as gender, disability, and language) that can shape different outcomes.
• Inclusive event planning: Apply detailed guidance for inclusive venues, formats and participation options when planning events or ceremonies.
• Data and evaluation tools: Use available templates and dashboards to monitor outcomes over time.

Additional resources

Build a shared understanding and consistent language across teams using the:

• Anti-racism toolkit
• Anti-racism lexicon
• Anti-racism learning hub

All three are available on the Combatting systemic racism and racial discrimination in the Defence Team web page.

For further learning, read about hateful conduct and how the Defence Team is addressing it:

• Hateful conduct
• Hateful Conduct Spectrum printable handout (accessible only on the National Defence Network)

Back to top