Archived: Departmental Plan 2019 to 2020, supplementary tables, Environment and Climate Change Canada, chapter 4

Gender-based analysis plus

Governance structures

The Assistant Deputy Minister (ADM) of the Strategic Policy Branch (SPB) is Environment and Climate Change Canada’s (ECCC) Gender-based Analysis Plus (GBA+) Champion. The GBA+ champion is responsible for the overall implementation and updating as required of the department’s GBA+ policy.

The department’s GBA+ Centre of Expertise resides with SPB and:

• Develops templates, tools, and guidance to facilitate GBA+ analysis of policy and program proposals;
• Provides advice and support to departmental staff undertaking GBA+ analysis;
• Acts as a challenge function to ensure that required GBA+ analyses are complete and rigorous;
• Chairs the GBA+ Branch Advisory Network, which exists to share best practices and resources and to strengthen GBA+ capacity throughout the Department; and,
• Liaises with the Department of Women and Gender Equality (WAGE) and collaborates with GBA+ leads in other government departments.

GBA+ activities also feed into the department’s Working Group on Diversity and Inclusion, supported by ADM Co-champions.

These resources aim to support the integration of GBA+ analysis across all departmental activities to help support evidence-based decision-making and to continue to build a culture of inclusiveness.

Human resources

The ADM of Strategic Policy will continue to act as GBA+ champion. The Director-General of Strategic Policy manages the day-to-day operation of the Centre of Expertise, which includes one dedicated FTE and a Director.

The Branch Advisory Network is made up of roughly 25 members from across the department. 

General GBA+ training is available for all staff through WAGE. Specific training needs will continue to be identified to support professional development and to enhance GBA+ capacity throughout the Department.

Planned initiatives

Over the 2019–20 fiscal year, the department will remain focussed on ensuring that GBA+ is embedded into all core activities, including the analysis of policy and program measures, research, and evaluation, as well as the department’s operational and management culture, through activities such as training and development.

Key activities for the year will include continuing:

• To build a knowledge base to support GBA+ analysis within the department. This will include keeping an evergreen bibliography of data sources, academic papers and other resources that provide evidence of the impacts of climate change and other environmental issues on key groups in society, as well as potential means to mitigate these impacts;
• To work with WAGE and other departmental GBA+ leads to develop networks and exchange best practices;
• To foster the development of the Branch Advisory Network to support capacity building and to enhance departmental cross-collaboration on GBA+;
• To support the formal and informal training of staff through courses, conferences, and networking opportunities, and,
• To refine tools and templates to support GBA+ related undertakings including, among other things, the preparation of Memoranda to Cabinet, Treasury Board Submissions, and Budget proposals, and to ensure that GBA+ considerations are taken into identified and acted upon early in the development of such proposals.