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.

General information: Institutional GBA Plus capacity

Governance

At the Privy Council Office (PCO), the primary governance mechanisms for GBA Plus are the Assistant Secretary GBA Plus Committee and the PCO GBA Plus Framework. The PCO Assistant Secretary GBA Plus Committee is composed of all Assistant Secretaries. The purpose of the committee is to serve as the primary senior management governance and decision-making body responsible for integrating GBA Plus across PCO’s diverse business lines. In 2025-2026, the Committee will continue to provide a platform for PCO Secretariats to report on their progress in enhancing the application of GBA Plus within their respective policy processes and areas of work, as well as brief on areas such as the completion of mandatory GBA Plus training for their staff.

In 2025-26, PCO will continue to implement the PCO GBA Plus Framework, published in November 2023. The Framework includes six elements:

1. Policy Statement: PCO commits to ensuring that its roles align with the Government of Canada’s commitments to GBA Plus.
2. Accountability: The Framework identifies key roles and responsibilities for a number of accountable parties including: The Champion for GBA Plus, PCO Deputy Secretaries, the Assistant Secretary to the Cabinet (Social Development Policy), the Assistant Secretary GBA Plus Committee, Assistant Secretaries to the Cabinet, the GBA Plus Focal Point, and all PCO employees in the EC, EX, LP, and LC groups.
3. Tools and Training: PCO’s Due-Diligence and Evidence-Based Analysis Tool enables systematic examination of gender and other important cross-cutting factors to inform risk-informed, evidence-based and sound public policy making. Further tools are developed and maintained.
4. GBA Plus Pilot Initiative: PCO developed a small-scale pilot “Deep Dive” review to enhance intersectional considerations in Memoranda to Cabinet.
5. Organizational Needs Assessment: PCO commits to developing a workplan and multi-year implementation strategy to embed intersectionality into the work of PCO.
6. Ongoing Monitoring: PCO commits to monitor and report on implementation through the GBA Plus Implementation Survey, and key corporate reporting mechanisms including the Departmental Plan and Departmental Results Report.

Capacity

All PCO executives and analysts are responsible for supporting GBA Plus implementation in their roles, as appropriate. In addition, PCO will continue to maintain a Champion for GBA Plus who is supported by the GBA Plus Focal Point (1 FTE). Together, they promote awareness of intersectionality at PCO by:

• promoting the value of inclusive intersectionality to inform Cabinet decision-making;
• raising awareness of intersectionality in and outside PCO through, for example GBA Plus Awareness Week, speaking engagements and presentations to internal and external committees;
• providing guidance to PCO senior managers and employees on their responsibilities with respect to GBA Plus; and,
• promoting training for PCO employees so that they can strengthen intersectional considerations when undertaking the challenge-function role and providing advice.

PCO’s working-level GBA Plus Network will also support the implementation of the GBA Plus Framework and enables the dissemination of best practices across the organization. This includes continuing to promote and share GBA Plus ‘Job Aids’, developed in 2024, with PCO analysts and PCO analyst onboarding events to strengthen the application of GBA Plus and disaggregated data in Memoranda to Cabinet.

Finally, through the Human Resources Group (HRG), PCO promotes GBA Plus training for all new employees by promoting the Canada School of Public Service’s (CSPS) Gender-based Analysis Plus (GBA Plus) training (INC101) as part of employees’ onboarding package.

Capacity building through Inclusion, Diversity, Equity and Anti-Racism Action Plan

In January 2025, the Clerk announced PCO’s first Anti-racism, Equity and Inclusion Action Plan covering FY 2024-25 to FY 2026-27. Key initiatives under the Action Plan will support the recruitment, promotion and inclusion of employees from equity-seeking groups and identify training opportunities to further awareness, knowledge and actions that support GBA Plus analysis, including intersectionality.

Advancing IDEA and Reconciliation, including by leveraging GBA Plus, is anticipated to strengthen PCO’s organizational capacity to surface and address intersectional policy considerations, better meeting the diverse needs of a broad range of Canadians.

Highlights of GBA Plus results reporting by program

Programs identified below are in line with PCO’s Program Inventory. Secretariats in PCO generally do not collect primary data based on gender and diversity. Rather, they leverage data and information from departments to inform GBA Plus analyses and advice to support the Prime Minster and Cabinet. Data is collected and stewarded by the responsible department or agency and owned by Ministers. Where data is collected within PCO, it is identified below.

Program: International Affairs and National Security

Foreign and Defence Policy

The Foreign and Defence Policy Secretariat (FDP) ensures that GBA Plus is utilized in providing support to the Prime Minister and Cabinet and in leading the federal response to events of international significance. A GBA Plus lead has been identified within FDP as part of its focus on strengthening GBA Plus Framework. The lead is tasked with the assessment of new policy and program proposals, and supporting the coordination of GBA Plus considerations related to defence and foreign affairs. The lead will continue to conduct qualitative and quantitative analyses, examining how various intersecting identity factors impact the effectiveness of initiatives, as well as provide PCO oversight, coordination, challenge, and support functions. FDP will continue to develop operational protocols to ensure that GBA Plus is effectively integrated into workflows to better account for various identity factors, including age, geography, religion, culture, gender, sexual identity, language, physical/cognitive ability, and income—as well as the intersection of these identities – and ensure GBA Plus considerations are part of support to the Prime Minister’s international engagement. Additionally, the GBA Plus lead continue working closely with the PCO Departmental GBA Plus Focal Point to develop additional methods for evaluating and implementing the GBA Plus Framework in daily operations and policies.

In 2025-26, this will include ensuring GBA Plus considerations are fully integrated for the G7 Summit, including through the work of the Gender Equality Advisory Council and mainstreaming gender equality across the agenda.

Security and Intelligence

The Security and Intelligence (S&I) Secretariat has an identified GBA Plus lead to support coordination of GBA Plus considerations related to the security and intelligence community, composed of approximately 15 departments and agencies. This coordination includes considerations of issues within hiring, retention and community building, personnel training, as well as analysis of the relationships intelligence organizations have with, and the effects they have on, diverse and equity deserving communities.

PCO S&I’s GBA Plus lead continues to monitor GBA Plus goals and intelligence community-related programs in line with approved review cycles. GBA Plus data and analysis was used to support updates to Cabinet, as well as the release of the Intelligence Priorities public document in September of 2024.

Within the scope of the intelligence community, the Security and Intelligence Secretariat (S&I) will continue to conduct qualitative and quantitative analyses related to GBA Plus issues. It is expected that data collection will focus largely on qualitative research into intelligence as a practice, as well as research into transparency practices when intelligence organizations conduct targeted outreach to diverse and equity deserving groups.

S&I collects sufficient data to enable monitoring and reporting on program impacts. In early 2025, S&I will be leading a data collection process (a survey of GBA Plus questions to key intelligence community organizations) to support a qualitative analysis of key questions in line with the Intelligence Priorities results and delivery framework. This information and analysis will be used to make recommendations to senior decision makers in the intelligence community, and will also support updates to Cabinet.

National Security Council

The National Security Council (NSC) Secretariat supports the Prime Minister, the NSC, the Clerk, and the National Security and Intelligence Advisor (NSIA) and Deputy Secretary by providing strategic advice on horizontal issues impacting Canada’s national security and interests; providing a convening, coordinating, and challenge function pertaining to the strategic policy issues brought forward to the NSC; and, supporting informed decision-making by producing all-source intelligence assessments.

The NSC Secretariat incorporates GBA Plus considerations into its staffing, training, and analytical practices to maintain a diverse workforce, mitigate biases, and ensure its policy advice and intelligence assessments reflect key considerations, including GBA Plus.

NSC Secretariat employees are required to complete the introductory GBA Plus course offered by the Canada School of Public Service. Further, the Secretariat’s intelligence analysts have completed training on understanding and identifying biases to ensure their assessments and tradecraft are structured and objective. When developing intelligence analysis, NSC Secretariat employees consider the impacts of global developments on gender and diversity. GBA Plus considerations have also been included in the Canadian Intelligence Priorities, which inform intelligence assessment approaches and development.

The NSC Secretariat also houses the Canadian Academy of Intelligence Analysis (CAIA) and the recently established Intelligence Analysis Community of Practice (IACOP). Training offered by CAIA is reviewed with a GBA Plus lens. IACOP coordinates the Canadian intelligence community by promoting and implementing enterprise-level initiatives such as training and learning, career development, community excellence and Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI). GBA Plus and EDI are key pillars in all IACOP initiatives and underpins the work that it does across the Canadian intelligence community, and IACOP will be setting up an EDI advisory committee in 2025-26.

Program: Intergovernmental Affairs

Intergovernmental Affairs

Intergovernmental Affairs Secretariat (IGA) works with other government departments, particularly Women and Gender Equality Canada, to ensure federal-provincial-territorial alignment on GBA Plus issues and programs (e.g., the National Action Plan to End Gender-Based Violence). There is also work underway to develop a suite of guidance to improve consistency and create a whole-of-government approach in navigating and managing Federal Province Territorial and Indigenous dynamics. IGA also participates at the working level in the internal PCO GBA Plus Network.

PCO ensures that GBA Plus considerations are included in its Internal Trade initiatives. As a convener, PCO aggregates GBA Plus data provided by partners/other federal departments to inform its approach to addressing internal trade barriers. For instance, in its research, analysis and reporting on internal trade barriers, PCO cross-references sectors where barriers are identified with gender and diversity data in those sectors using StatsCan’s National Occupational Classification and Labour Force Survey data. This allows PCO to highlight and focus on barriers with the greatest GBA Plus impact. PCO also ensures that stakeholder engagement efforts take a GBA Plus lens in identifying groups to engage with. Finally, Intergovernmental Affairs prepares formal GBA Plus assessments where needed.

Program: Social and Economic Policy

Social Development Policy and Economic and Regional Development Policy

Social Development Policy (SDP) and Economic and Regional Development Policy (ERDP) work with other government departments to support the development of Memoranda to Cabinet and play a key challenge function role in the policy process.

All policy proposals from departments and agencies must be informed by GBA Plus. SDP and ERDP reviews and considers GBA Plus as part of the PCO’s challenge function role on proposals brought forward by federal departments and agencies.

To advance how departments and agencies incorporate GBA Plus into their proposed policies and programs, Social and Economic Policy is taking a multi-step approach in their challenge function role and providing guidance to departments on GBA Plus.

Social and Economic Policy is working to enhance documentation of GBA Plus in the challenge function. This work will drive the qualitative assessment and monitoring of gender and diversity considerations in policy proposals, using an intersectional lens. While due to Cabinet Confidences this information cannot be shared publicly, this monitoring will be used to brief PCO senior management and inform learning products to strengthen PCO’s role to review policy proposals, including GBA Plus components.

Social and Economic Policy will also continue to onboard and train new and existing analysts using GBA Plus training materials, including supplementary learning aids to support PCO analysts in their review of GBA Plus considerations in Memoranda to Cabinet.

The program also provides advice to clients on how to integrate GBA Plus into their Memoranda to Cabinet and contributes to the development of training materials to strengthen the quality of GBA Plus in Memoranda to Cabinet.

Liaison Secretariat for Macroeconomic Policy

The Liaison Secretariat for Macroeconomic Policy (LSMP) supports the provision of macroeconomic and fiscal policy advice and recommendations to the Prime Minister. The team leverages existing sources of disaggregated data and GBA plus analysis to inform economic and fiscal advice on matters including long-term economic growth, the fiscal situation of Canadians, employment status, housing, inflation, and other relevant topics. LSMP will continue to identify new sources of information and disaggregated data to inform products.

Program: Impact and Innovation

The Impact and Innovation Unit (IIU) is a program in PCO that provide services to other departments and officials by applying novel policy methods to address policy gaps and support meaningful outcomes for Canadians. It considers GBA Plus in the design, delivery, and measurement of its key lines of business, including Impact Canada Challenges, behavioural science programs, and the Impact Canada Fellowship program.

Impact Canada Challenges

A GBA Plus lens is applied in program design, jury member selection and is assessed when reviewing applicants. Future initiatives will continue to prioritize GBA Plus to report on the impacts of gender and diversity by:

• Profiling applicants by demographic and business characteristics for GBA Plus performance measurement. Impact Canada Challenges have demonstrated the ability to mobilize businesses that are women-led, led by Black and racialized people, and Indigenous-led compared to the average in the Canadian economy. For example, in the Agricultural Methane Reduction Challenge, 20% of applications were submitted by equity-deserving groups. Furthermore, results have shown that Challenge business applicants are diverse and vary in age of the primary decision-maker, size of the business, industry, and number of years in operation.
• Ensuring that Impact Canada Challenge juries, which assess and recommend solutions for funding, are selected by paying attention to diverse views, experience, and expertise of the panels, ensuring better representation of women and under-represented groups including Black, Indigenous, and racialized people, as well as those with lived and living experience. For example:
  • The Agricultural Methane Reduction Challenge jury strove to meet the benchmark set by the 50-30 Challenge. This was an initiative between the Government of Canada, Canadian businesses and diversity organizations, to increase Gender parity on Canadians boards and/or in senior management (50% women and/or non-binary people), and strive for significant representation (30%) of members of other equity-deserving groups (e.g., Racialized, Black, and/or People of colour, people with disabilities, 2SLGBTQIA+, and Indigenous Peoples) on Canadian boards and/or senior management. Further the Agricultural Methane Reduction Challenge jury is composed of 55% women and 27% racialized or Indigenous persons, demonstrating that results that can be achieved by intentionally setting a goal from the beginning.
• Building GBA Plus into the design, implementation, and evaluation framework of Impact Canada Challenges through stakeholder consultations with equity experts and underrepresented groups in the problem area; collecting and analyzing demographic data to assess how demographic considerations are linked to funding criterion; and developing integrated GBA Plus framework to identify where bias and barriers occur throughout Challenges and how GBA Plus initiatives can mitigate such barriers to ensure that Challenges continue to have a low barrier to entry.

Behavioural Science

Behavioural science projects aim to understand attitudes, beliefs, and barriers that might influence behaviours in multiple areas. This involves using data on citizen perceptions (including surveys and other data collection), including detailed sociodemographic breakdowns across multiple areas to understand the experiences of diverse groups in multiple policy domains. In addition to sub-population breakdowns in nationally representative samples (based on census sociodemographic categories), some initiatives have employed oversampling techniques to derive more statistically meaningful insights. Furthermore, one behavioural science project in partnership with the Office of the Secretary to the Governor General has the explicit objectives of identifying, understanding, and addressing barriers driving under-representation of certain groups in being nominated for one of Canada’s highest civilian honours, the Order of Canada.

Impact Canada Fellowship program

The Impact Canada Fellowship program was created in January 2018 to attract external talent with specialized skills in key disciplines linked to the Impact Canada mandate, with the aim to increase capacity and upskill the existing workforce. The Fellowship program has created equal opportunity for all genders, with more than 50% of applicants, and of pre-qualified candidates representing women. The Impact Canada Fellowship program has initiated an anonymized screening process (e.g., applicants pass initial screening without assessors knowing applicants’ gender, identity, educational, etc. information), which intends to reduce potential inherent biases in hiring processes. In alignment with the Clerk’s Call to Action on Anti-Racism, Equity and Inclusion in the federal public service, in 2024, the Impact and Innovation Unit developed tailored outreach to attract and encourage applications from underrepresented groups to the Fellowship program. With consultation from a number of internal EDI-focused committees, including PCO’s Inclusion, Diversity, Equity and Anti-racism Secretariat (IDEA), the Anti-Racism Network (ARAN), the Interdepartmental Black Employees Network (IBEN), and the Indigenous Centre of Expertise at the Public Service Commission, inclusive promotional content was developed and outreach was undertaken with various equity, diversity, and inclusion-focused government networks as well as universities with higher proportions of underrepresented groups, including Black and Indigenous communities. These efforts led to a higher percentage of visible minority applicants in the 2024 behavioural science recruitment campaign than in any previous Fellowship campaign.

Impact Canada GBA Plus Working Group

The Impact Canada GBA Plus Working Group was created in July 2023 to build on Impact Canada’s existing strengths regarding GBA Plus and opportunities to improve, as identified in an organizational needs assessment completed in June 2023. Since July 2023, the Working Group has created a Strategic Framework and a 2023-24 Fiscal Year Plan to deliver concrete actions. To date, this includes updating the Behavioural Science program’s research guide to incorporate GBA Plus at every stage, creating a standardized set of best-practice demographic questions that will be used across every business line in the Impact and Innovation Unit, creating a public-facing blog on how GBA Plus has been applied to the work of the Challenge Team, and creating a pool of existing trainings that will be provided to the entire unit as part of a commitment to ongoing GBA Plus training. The Working Group’s actions in 2025-26 will focus on updating the strategic framework to reflect new priorities and launching activities that build on the work completed to date. For example, the Working Group will aim to refine and scale up analytical techniques for using disaggregated demographic data, now that data collection has been standardized and refined. As another example, the Working Group will build on existing training available by providing a variety of opportunities to learn and engage with this topic, such as organizing experts to speak to the Impact and Innovation Unit and peer presentations of projects that demonstrate strong GBA Plus.

Program: Legislative and Parliamentary Governance

Legislation and House Planning

Legislation and House Planning (LHP) Secretariat works with policy secretariates within PCO in reviewing all legislative proposals providing advice on legislative and parliamentary considerations, paying particular attention to how all the proposals affect various groups in Canadian society, including any negative or unintended consequences. All analysts continue to be expected to take appropriate GBA Plus training and to apply appropriate analytical tools to their work, informed by that training wherever possible.

Machinery of Government and Democratic Institutions

The Machinery of Government (MOG) Secretariat works with other PCO Secretariats to conduct the challenge function on proposals to Cabinet or the Prime Minister that have machinery of government implications. All analysts continue to be expected to take appropriate GBA Plus training and to apply appropriate analytical tools to their work, informed by that training wherever possible. For instance, in the development of analysis relating to possible revisions to the MC template, special attention was paid to ensuring that GBA+ considerations were taken into account in guidance documents.

With funding provided in Budget 2022, the Democratic Institutions (DI) Secretariat established a team to focus on Protecting Democracy initiatives, including efforts to combat mis- and disinformation (MIDI). While data on the impact of MIDI on specific groups is currently limited, available research suggests women and minority groups are disproportionately targeted.

The team’s focus on data generation, supporting research, and integrating these findings into policy development, will support analysis of GBA Plus relevant data and findings and enable the team to better target its efforts on an ongoing basis. Furthermore, the team is interested in MIDI in both official languages and, where possible and appropriate, other languages relevant to Canada’s cultural communities.

Another team in the Democratic Institutions Secretariat leads policy analysis and development efforts to protect and modernize Canada’s electoral system. A GBA+ lens is applied to this policy work to ensure benefits will accrue to diverse groups of Canadians.

For example, in developing advice leading to the introduction of Bill C-65 (the Electoral Participation Act), PCO-DI considered the impact of the proposed amendments to the Canada Elections Act on the Canadian electorate, taking into account various identity factors, including age, geography, religion, culture, gender, sexual identity, language, physical/cognitive ability, and income—as well as the intersection of these identities.

Program: Planning and Operations of Cabinet

Priorities and Planning and Results and Delivery

While the Priorities and Planning Unit does not collect policy, program, or service-specific data, as part of its Cabinet coordination responsibilities, the unit administers the yearly Ministerial Survey. Last year, the Ministerial Survey was expanded to include more detailed questions about the integration of GBA Plus in Cabinet documents and Memoranda to Cabinet (MCs). The objective is to evaluate whether the inclusion of GBA Plus in these documents meets the needs of Ministers and to identify areas for improvement that can be incorporated in advice to departments and agencies for future MCs and Cabinet documents.

The Results and Delivery Unit plays a critical role in providing government-wide leadership to support robust disaggregated data collection and comprehensive GBA Plus analysis. In alignment with MC guidance, policy proposals are required to include a Results and Delivery Strategy annex, which outlines how the proposal advances government priorities and specifies the expected results and performance indicators. The Results and Delivery Unit provides guidance to departments and agencies to track and report on indicators and outcomes, including fulsome GBA Plus and disaggregated data considerations.

The Results and Delivery Unit also collaborates with relevant departments and agencies to ensure that tracking and reporting mechanisms facilitate evidence-based adjustments throughout the lifecycle of a program or initiative. This collaboration incorporates full consideration of GBA Plus and emphasizes the collection of disaggregated data to inform results and next steps.

To strengthen departmental and agency approaches to developing, articulating, and implementing Results and Delivery Strategies, PCO reviews these strategies and provides feedback to ensure a sound framework is presented. This includes outlining what a successful initiative is expected to achieve for Canadians, focusing on results and outcomes.

The Results and Delivery Unit co-chairs with Social Development Policy the PCO Assistant Secretaries GBA Plus Committee, whose function is to continue to serve as the primary senior management governance and decision-making body responsible for integrating GBA Plus across PCO’s diverse business lines. This Committee will continue to provide a platform for PCO Secretariats to report on their progress in enhancing the application of GBA Plus within their respective policy processes and areas of work.

Additionally, the Results and Delivery Unit, in partnership with Statistics Canada, co-chairs the Federal Advisory Committee on the Disaggregation of Data. This Committee will continue to promote cross-government efforts to leverage disaggregated data to address systemic inequities and improve the accessibility and impact of government programs and services. For example, the Committee is establishing an ever-green Disaggregated Data Resources Hub that will act as a central repository accessible to all federal public servants and will contain disaggregated resources, job aids and training materials.

Program: Senior Personnel and Public Service Renewal

The Government of Canada is committed to open, transparent, merit-based appointments, to help ensure that people of all gender identities, Indigenous peoples, visible minorities, persons with disabilities and other minority groups are reflected in leadership positions. To support this priority and monitor representation across Governor in Council (GIC) positions, the Senior Personnel Secretariat (SPS) collects and maintains information on the diversity of Governor in Council appointees.

This diversity information is collected through self-identification at two points in the selection process: as part of the initial application, and on the Self-Identification Form for those being recommended for appointment. The collected information covers the following categories: gender, 2SLGBTQIA+, visible minorities, persons with a disability, Indigenous peoples, bilingualism, first official language and youth (less than 40 when appointed).

PCO will continue to provide information on representation within the GIC community, including on its website and in Departmental Results Reports.

As of December 16, 2024, there were approximately 1,840 people appointed to administrative tribunals, agencies, boards, commissions, international organizations, and Crown corporations. Of these appointees, 52% identify as women, 17% as visible minorities, 8% as Indigenous peoples, and 7% as persons with a disability.

The Public Service Renewal Secretariat (PSR) supports the Clerk in their role as Head of the Public Service by providing advice on the management and renewal of the Public Service and identifying opportunities for the Clerk to advance Public Service priorities. The Secretariat leads and delivers key initiatives such as the Call to Action on Anti-Racism, Equity, and Inclusion, the Annual Report to the Prime Minister on the Public Service, advancing renewed dialogue on values and ethics, as well as engaging and mobilizing governance structures. It also collaborates with departments, central agencies, horizontal and functional communities, including employee networks on public service wide management priorities (e.g., diversity, equity and inclusion, accessibility, values and ethics, official languages, etc.).

To advance the effective management and renewal of the Public Service, PSR applies an evidenced-based, GBA Plus lens, supported by reports and survey data, to inform initiatives, advice, and approaches, as well as in undertaking engagement activities across the federal Public Service enterprise, including with various networks and communities (e.g., young professionals and managers networks, equity group networks, federal regional councils).