Privy Council Office’s 2024–25 Departmental Results Report: Gender‑based analysis plus

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).

The Policy on Results indicates that Program officials, as designated by Deputy Heads, are responsible for ensuring data collection for meeting policy requirements.

Applicability

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

Section 1: institutional GBA Plus governance and capacity

Governance

Gender-Based Analysis Plus (GBA Plus) is an analytical process used to assess how diverse groups of women, men and people of all genders may experience policies, programs and initiatives. The “Plus” in GBA Plus acknowledges that GBA goes beyond biological (sex) and socio cultural (gender) differences. We all have multiple identity factors that intersect to make us who we are; GBA Plus considers many other identity factors, like race, ethnicity, religion, age and mental or physical disability.

In 2023–24, PCO published its first, public-facing GBA Plus framework. In 2024-25, PCO continued advancing its GBA Plus framework through its governance structure for GBA Plus. This included the Assistant Secretary GBA Plus Committee, which was established to serve as the primary senior management governance and decision-making body for this stream of work.

PCO has also continued to collaborate with Women and Gender Equality Canada, the Department of Finance Canada, and the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat (TBS) on strengthening the implementation and refinement of GBA Plus.

Capacity

As part of its continued work to enhance the use of GBA Plus to assess the implications of policies and programs through individuals’ intersecting identity factors, PCO undertook a range of activities in 2024–25 to reinforce GBA Plus capacity, including:

• Advanced the annual “Deep Dive” review to study a targeted number of Memoranda to Cabinet (MCs), with an aim to provide targeted, enhanced intersectional support early in the development of MCs, and to identify lessons learned that could be amplified across all departments’ work;
• Delivered and promoted training sessions for PCO analysts on Strengthened GBA Plus, led by the GBA Plus Focal Point, and distributed tailored job aids aimed at improving the quality of GBA Plus and disaggregated data in Memoranda to Cabinet (MCs); and
• Leveraged its new Assistant Secretary GBA Plus Committee to support continuous improvement in applying GBA Plus.

In addition, PCO branches undertook tailored efforts to enhance GBA Plus capacity in their respective areas and presented their progress to the PCO Assistant Secretary GBA Plus Committee.

Priorities, Planning (P&P) and Results and Delivery Unit (RDU): Advancing GBA Plus and Disaggregated Data

To enhance the integration of GBA Plus into proposed policies and programs, analysts collaborate with lead PCO secretariats to review Memoranda to Cabinet (MCs) and provide feedback on the application of GBA Plus and disaggregated data.

With respect to data, the team continued its work to advance disaggregated data considerations across whole-of-government via the Assistant Deputy Minister Federal Advisory Committee (FAC) on Disaggregated Data, which the secretariat co-chairs with Statistics Canada. The FAC delivered on its workplan by creating a disaggregated data resources hub, hosted on the Canada School of Public Service platform, and accessible to all federal public servants. The resources hub contains an ever-green repository of disaggregated data and GBA Plus resources developed by the FAC, with contributions from federal departments and agencies.

Senior Personnel Secretariat: Improved diversity through increased data sharing

The Senior Personnel Secretariat (SPS) collects and maintains information on the diversity of Governor in Council (GIC) appointees to support the Government’s commitment to transparent and merit-based appointments to help ensure that people of all gender identities, Indigenous peoples, visible minorities, persons with disabilities, and other equity-seeking groups are reflected in leadership positions. As part of its vacancy management exercise in 2023-24, SPS began to share further disaggregated GBA Plus data with departments to advance government-wide GBA Plus efforts and improve understanding of how organization representation levels compare to GIC positions as whole (by leadership and non-leadership positions), as well as the Canadian population. This practice continued throughout the 2024-25 fiscal year.

Human resources (full-time equivalents) dedicated to GBA Plus

1 FTE is fully dedicated to GBA Plus; however, a wide range of employees (including at executive levels) are responsible for reviewing and advancing the application of GBA Plus as part of their regular engagement with Cabinet proposals, appointments and other aspects of PCO business.

Section 2: gender and diversity impacts, by program

Core Responsibility: Serve the Prime Minister and Cabinet

Program 1: International Affairs and National Security

1a: Foreign and Defence Policy (FDP)

Program goals:

• To provide the Prime Minister and Cabinet high quality advice through FDP’s challenge function on foreign and defence policy, which includes consideration of GBA Plus on all Memorandum to Cabinet and other policy proposals submitted by line departments.
• Supporting the Prime Minister in his strategic international engagement, which includes application of GBA Plus considerations to inform recommendations for the Prime Minister’s engagements and the Prime Minister’s interactions with his counterparts and other global leaders.
• Coordinating responses to international crises through a whole-of-government approach, which reflect and incorporate GBA Plus considerations.

Target population: All Canadians.

Distribution of benefits

Benefits of foreign and defence policy advice were determined not to have a disproportionate distribution of benefits to any one community.

Other key program impacts

When performing the challenge function role, FDP considered GBA Plus input on all Memoranda to Cabinet and other policy proposals submitted by line departments. This information was reviewed and, where necessary, challenged by FDP. This included ensuring that a comprehensive GBA Plus assessment was included in all MCs for consideration by Cabinet, as well as applying a GBA Plus lens to other sections of the MCs.

When assessing and advising on funding proposals, FDP also took into account the GBA Plus dimensions of each request, to ensure proposed initiatives respond to GBA Plus commitments. FDP also assesses alignment of international assistance spending with Canada’s Feminist International Assistance Policy (FIAP) and the inclusive nature of the Official Development Assistance Accountability Act.

In 2024-25, FDP identified GBA Plus leads and focal points within the branch’s secretariats as part of its focus on strengthening GBA Plus frameworks and elaborated a workplan to better incorporate GBA Plus into the secretariat’s work. The workplan prioritizes training and tools to mainstream GBA Plus, as well as participation in PCO’s GBA Plus governance structures. Focal points were tasked with the assessment of programs, and support for the coordination of GBA Plus considerations related to the security and intelligence (including defence, foreign affairs, and emergency preparedness) community, which is composed of over 15 departments and agencies.

FDP also applied a GBA Plus lens in the planning and execution of the Prime Minister’s international engagement, including visits and calls, by ensuring the PM is equipped to raise concerns about equity for marginalized or vulnerable groups with his interlocutors. For example, FDP undertook analytical work to identify where 2SLGBTQI+ communities are at risk globally and provided Leader-level messaging to raise where appropriate.

FDP also worked to ensure GBA Plus is advanced through its policy work. For instance, GBA Plus considerations were integrated for the 2025 G7 Summit, including through the work of the Gender Equality Advisory Council and mainstreaming gender equality across the agenda; advances to the women, peace and security agenda through the publication of Foundations for Peace, Canada’s third National Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security; and through close collaboration with line departments, principally Global Affairs Canada, to advance Canada’s feminist international policies, including the FIAP.

FDP will continue to develop operational protocols to ensure that GBA Plus is effectively integrated into workflows to better account for factors such as race, ethnicity, indigeneity, religion, age, sexual orientation, and mental and physical disability, and to ensure GBA Plus considerations are part of support to the Prime Minister’s international engagement.

1b: Security and Intelligence (S&I)

Program goals:

• To provide the Prime Minister and Cabinet high quality advice through S&I’s challenge function on security and intelligence issues and policy, which includes consideration of GBA Plus on all Memoranda to Cabinet and other policy proposals submitted by line departments.  
• Convening the intelligence community, in a manner which reflects and incorporates GBA Plus considerations. 
• Coordinating the security and intelligence community’s response to crises, in a manner that reflects and incorporates GBA Plus considerations. 

Target population: All Canadians, and the intelligence community

Other key program impacts

All areas of the National Security and Intelligence Advisor (NSIA) branch are seized with maintaining and improving GBA Plus capacity and applying GBA Plus considerations to the department’s mandate. Throughout 2024-2025, the NSIA branch effectively applied a GBA Plus lens to a wide variety of policy and assessment files, to integrate intersectional considerations into strategic decision making across the Department and will continue to do so in 2025-26.

PCO’s NSIA branch will continue to advance the implementation of GBA Plus to help strive for federal initiatives that are responsive and inclusive for Canadians, and for all members of Canada’s intelligence community. In ensuring there are analysts who are assigned to report on and monitor implementation of GBA Plus, the NSIA branch is committed to making GBA Plus an integral part of its policies, programs, operations, and issues management considerations.

GBA Plus data collection plan

The Security and Intelligence (S&I) branch 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 consideration 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 S&I 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, 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.

1c: National Security Council (NSC)

Program goals: The NSC Secretariat prioritised training on understanding and identifying bias to ensure that all Memoranda to Cabinet, policy proposals, and strategic assessments were structured and objective.

In response to requests from the community for more training and learning opportunities on mitigating implicit bias in intelligence analysis, the Intelligence Analyst Community of Practice (IACOP) partnered again with a community subject matter expert to present more sessions of the workshop on Implicit Bias and GBA Plus developed last year. IACOP held more workshops, plus a 90-minute virtual session at the Intelligence Analyst Forum (attended by over 500) and a train-the-trainer session to build capacity across the community. A new EDIA Advisory Committee was created that will review IACOP workplans and initiatives with an EDIA lens and make recommendations on how to enhance EDIA in the intelligence community through IACOP work.

Target population: All Canadians.

Distribution of benefits

Benefits of security and intelligence policy advice were determined not to have a disproportionate distribution of benefits to any one community.

Other key program impacts

The NSCS incorporated GBA Plus considerations into its staffing, training, and analytical practices to maintain a diverse workforce and its staffing practices complied with GoC standards and polices.

When developing policy advice and intelligence analysis, NSCS employees considered impacts of global developments on gender and diversity. GBA Plus considerations have also been included in the Canadian Intelligence Priorities, which informs assessment approach and development.

1d: Fentanyl Czar

Program goals: The Office of the Fentanyl Czar integrates and coordinates across government of Canada departments and agencies, engages domestic and international stakeholder and advocates with U.S counterparts to assist in the development of policy advice to accelerate Canada’s ongoing efforts to detect, disrupt, and dismantle the fentanyl trade and support those experiencing addiction.

Target population: All Canadians and stakeholders affected by the fentanyl crisis

Key program impact statistics

The Office of the Fentanyl Czar was established in February 2025 and incorporated GBA Plus considerations into its strategic planning. The work of the Office of the Fentanyl Czar includes identifying and addressing the complex and multifaceted issue of drug-related harm, which disproportionately affects specific population groups, including working-aged men, individuals experiencing mental health issues, Indigenous peoples, and the unhoused.

By adopting GBA Plus principles, the Office of the Fentanyl Czar effectively identified key stakeholders to engage-with in order to identify gaps and drive meaningful action in communities most impacted by the fentanyl/opioid crisis.

Program 2 : Intergovernmental Affairs

2a: Intergovernmental Affairs (IGA)

Program goals: IGA provides advice and support to the Prime Minister, Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs, Minister of Transport and Internal Trade, and the Quebec Lieutenant on the federal/provincial/territorial/municipal landscape, bilateral and multilateral engagement with provinces and territories, management of the federation, and national unity. IGA is the federal policy lead for internal trade for the Government of Canada.

PCO-IGA supports the Government's efforts to integrate GBA Plus into policy development, issues management, and the review of funding proposals. This includes working with other departments, such as Women and Gender Equality Canada, to ensure federal-provincial-territorial (FPT) alignment on GBA Plus issues and programs, including intersectional analysis that takes into consideration regionality and supporting reconciliation efforts.

Target population: All Canadians.

For IGA’s Internal Trade team, the target population is businesses, industry and workers who face interprovincial barriers to trade, labour mobility, and investment. This is also anticipated to impact consumers by providing increased choices, lower prices, and greater access to goods and services, in turn leading to improved economic conditions and increased competition. 

Distribution of benefits

Benefits of PCO IGA policy advice were determined to not have a disproportionate distribution of benefits to any one community with the aim of fostering greater responsiveness to differing needs of Canadians.

Specific demographic group(s) to be monitored

As work moves beyond the Federal Action Plan to Strengthen Internal Trade towards implementation of broader internal trade policies, legislation and bilateral agreements – mutual recognition (MR) of goods (excluding food), MR in the trucking sector, FPT internal trade legislation, 30-day labour mobility service standard for credential recognition – gender impacts are expected to continue to be mixed. For instance, men are expected to benefit more broadly from initiatives that impact small and medium-sized businesses, given their larger representation among small- and medium-sized business owners. However, the reduction of trade barriers and costs in certain service sectors (finance, health, education, law, government, etc.) will provide more benefit to women where they represent over half of the labour force.

Key program impacts

As part of the Federal Action Plan to Strengthen Internal Trade, IGA’s Internal Trade team funded and conducted comprehensive research in 2024 to identify top internal trade barriers in key sectors and develop concrete solutions to address them. The first project to be concluded was focused on the trucking sector and included focus groups with industry stakeholders to better understand the disproportionate impacts that certain internal trade barriers have on women and other diverse stakeholders, including people with disabilities and immigrants. The Internal Trade team worked with PCO's GBA Plus Focal Point in advance of the focus groups to incorporate GBA Plus in the data collection strategy for the focus group. 

Female participants in the focus groups spoke of the need for the industry to adopt policies aimed at increasing retention and reducing turnover among underrepresented groups generally. To that end, they said that the industry needs to promote a better work-life balance and improve the image of trucking as a viable career option. Some noted that more needs to be done to adapt to Canada’s changing demographics and ensure opportunities for equity-deserving groups including newcomers, persons with disabilities, and remote Indigenous workers in northern communities where significant barriers to access (training, etc.) remain.

PCO IGA also considers regional differences including the interplay between geographic, demographic, cultural, and socio-economic factors of Canadians in different provinces and territories to identify opportunities and challenges, including risk mitigation strategies. This enables more informed decision-making to promote more inclusive and equitable outcomes for all. For example, Canadians’ access to programs and supports may vary in urban, rural and remote communities and may differ for persons with disabilities, youth, newcomers and by gender. This helps to support strong policy decisions and solutions that promote equity, inclusion, and diversity across Canada.

In collaboration with Indigenous Services Canada, Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs, Justice Canada and Finance Canada, PCO-IGA has developed a Framework for Federal-Provincial-Territorial-Indigenous (FPTI) Relations on Indigenous Affairs. The purpose of the framework is to advance reconciliation through the development of strategies to guide FPTI relations, support effective FPTI engagement by including Indigenous partners in ministerial and working-level FPT processes. It is also to help eliminate gaps and overlap on Indigenous affairs between orders of governments, improve FPTI horizontal coordination across departments and to encourage consideration of system-wide federal fiscal pressures when developing FPTI strategies. PCO-IGA also launched an inter-departmental table to support the implementation of the Framework across the federal government. Including Indigenous partners can improve the outcome of decisions as well as support respect and advancement of Indigenous Peoples’ rights, including rights to self-determination and to participate in decision-making processes.

2b: Impact and Innovation Unit (IIU)

Program goals: The IIU uses novel public policy methods to address identified gaps in effectively translating policy objectives into meaningful and measurable outcomes for Canadians.

Target population: All Canadians.

Key program impact statistics

PCO's Impact Canada Initiative continues to consider GBA Plus in the design and delivery of its programs, including Impact Canada Challenges, behavioural science projects, and the Impact Canada Fellowship program.

Other key program impacts

For Impact Canada Challenge juries, which assess and recommend solutions for funding, attention was paid to the representation of women and minorities in the relevant industries, as well as recruiting individuals with diverse views, expertise, and (lived and living) experience. For example, the jury for Impact Canada’s Producer Mental Wellbeing Initiative (PMWI), launched in March of 2024, consists of three men and ten women across seven provinces—in comparison, Statistics Canada estimated that the number of women farm operators was 30% in 2021.

The Impact and Innovation Unit created a GBA Plus Working Group in July 2023 to continue advancing GBA Plus capacity across its programs. A framework was developed to integrate GBA Plus across different business lines within the IIU. It outlines targeted actions to embed GBA Plus into data, analytics, products, and team practices, ensuring more inclusive and equitable processes. This coordinated approach supports systematic integration and enables progress tracking toward inclusive outcomes. Other efforts included identifying foundational GBA Plus trainings to make them accessible to all team members, integrating GBA Plus prompts into research and project design guides, advancing accessibility guidelines and standardizing demographic measures across program areas to ensure alignment with best practices.

Impact Canada Challenges

The GBA Plus lens is applied at multiple stages of an Impact Canada Challenge, including during the Challenge program design and when reviewing solutions provided by participants. Impact Canada Challenges are designed to attract a diverse pool of applicants. In particular, their initial application emphasizes a low barrier to entry, focusing on a minimal number of intake questions alongside those concerning their solution. Crucially, the application does not require extensive reporting on a business’ history, operation, plans, or finances like other grant programs do. This approach succeeds in engaging new talent and non-traditional actors: for example, across the active challenges, over 40% of applicants had never applied for government funding before.

The Producer Mental Wellbeing Initiative (PMWI) is an example of a Challenge that was deliberately designed using an equity lens in 2024-25. Throughout the “understand” and “design” stages of the PMWI, significant and intentional efforts were made to understand the complex realities and stressors of producers across Canada. As such, it was deemed essential that all proposals submitted for this Initiative be inclusive and consider the unique challenges faced by producers across Canada, including that of youth, women, Indigenous farmers, and equity-deserving farmers. By leveraging local community leaders and culturally sensitive resources, this Initiative aims to significantly improve mental wellbeing in Canada’s agricultural sector. 

Impact Canada uses a variety of sources to understand its GBA Plus footprint. Drawing from application forms, participant surveys, and administrative sources, it routinely collects and analyzes demographic and business data. These data track (business) applicants in terms of the primary decision-maker's age, gender, immigrant status, visible minority status, and Indigenous status. They also track the businesses' location, size, number of years in operation, and industry, along with other business performance measures.   

Impact Canada Behavioural Science program

While the behavioural science program regularly conducts statistical analyses comparing differences across demographic groups, some programs have a more explicit focus on GBA Plus. In 2024-25, led by the behavioural science program, PCO-IIU formalized this approach in articulating a standardized set of demographic questions in consultation with internal and external experts, including Statistics Canada and Women and Gender Equality Canada. These standardized demographic measures are now implemented across all surveys, as relevant, maximizing the care, rigour, and comparative value of these data collection activities in support of GBA Plus. These measures include gender, 2SLGBTQI+ identity, age, Indigenous identity, ethnicity, language, region, education, parental status, pregnancy, household size, employment status, household income, immigration status, and disability.

For example, in 2024-25 the Trust, Information and Digital Ecosystems Study (TIDES), a national survey series on misinformation, contemporary threats to public trust and democracy, included oversamples of individuals from multiple underrepresented groups, including Indigenous Peoples, recent immigrants, individuals with a first language other than French or English, parents with children under 6, and young adults. TIDES analyses explored differences across oversampled groups on key variables, such as trust in government and confidence in democracy. These groups demonstrated differences such as having fewer interactions with government programs and services, more frequent targeting by online hate speech and harassment, and lower engagement with democratic processes. Together, these observations suggest potential underlying, systemic, and addressable regional, linguistic and structural discrepancies that will be further explored in future research. Similarly, research with a nationally representative sample of Canadian firearm owners also allowed for a further investigation of their socio-demographic characteristics—factors like income, education levels, etc.—that can be compared to general population census data. Doing so allows for a better understanding of this population that, in turn, allows for better calibrated policies and programs.

Furthermore, the Program of Applied Research on Climate Action (PARCA) investigated the varied engagement in climate attitudes and behaviours across socio-demographic segments, as well as differential drivers and barriers to climate action. For instance, PARCA’s Emerging Topics Wave 4 survey explored the intersection of climate action and affordability, oversampling low-income households to ensure adequate statistical power when modelled with age, gender and other characteristics.

Similarly, the Health, Attitudes, and Behavioural Insights Tracker (HABIT) identified demographic intersections that differ in support for future pandemic measures, using advanced analytic methods. This work showed that older adults (65+) are most supportive of future public health measures, followed by university education women, with support declining among men aged 18–64 and non-university-educated mothers. These findings underscore the importance of using GBA Plus approaches to identify how overlapping identity factors—such as age, gender, parental status, and education—intersect to shape perceptions and responses. Such insights can help tailor public health strategies to address barriers and build trust among populations that are more hesitant or vulnerable.

GBA Plus data collection plan 

Impact Canada Challenges

Impact Canada gathers GBA Plus data by gathering information from and on Challenge applicants pre- and post-participation. This involves obtaining a variety of demographic and business characteristics through application forms and participant surveys, as well as administrative data sources available within the Government of Canada. Since predominantly teams or firms participate in challenges, the characteristics are captured at the organizational and/or leadership levels of each participating entity. Accordingly, these reflect the composition of the participating teams in terms of gender, age group, Indigenous identity, disability status, and visible minority status. Additionally, some challenges have also gathered information on organizational commitments to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion efforts.

Impact Canada Behavioural Science program

In addition to ensuring survey samples are representative of the Canadian population on age, gender and region, the IIU Behavioural Science program strategically recruited more participants from underrepresented groups (also known as oversamples) or hard-to-reach populations to improve its ability to study and understand the experiences of these groups. The decisions on which groups to oversample were informed by the populations of interest identified in published literature and/or by experts.

The Program of Applied Research on Climate Action (PARCA), which focuses on climate beliefs and actions, collectively oversampled 1,600 respondents, including low-income Canadians, youth, rural Canadians, and those in regions particularly vulnerable to the effects of climate change. Furthermore, the IIU collected data from a first-of-its-kind, nationally representative sample of Canadian firearm owners—a population that has been historically hard to identify and reach.  

As part of the Better Accommodation Project (BAP), which is a one-year initiative aimed at transforming accommodations for federal employees with disabilities across the public service, the IIU conducted sludge audits of the workplace accommodation process in nine Government of Canada departments. While demographic data was not collected as part of this project (due to small sample sizes and the risk of identifying participants), BAP applied an explicit GBA Plus lens by centering the lived experiences of employees with disabilities to identify systemic and behavioural frictions in the process. As well, given that sludge can lead to inequity in service delivery, often having the greatest impact on those who need these services the most, access and equity checks were integrated to identify parts of the process that may pose particular barriers or challenges to equitable access. Across the nine departments, more than half of the process steps failed one or more of the access and equity checks, highlighting how sludge in a process can add up to create disproportionate barriers for employees with disabilities, risking equitable outcomes. This approach ensured that the findings not only highlight broad inefficiencies or “sludge” but also prioritized equity and responsiveness to diverse employee needs. 

Collecting representative samples and strategic oversamples allowed for better demographic analyses, and for understanding how different groups might be experiencing or reacting to a given issue. These results are shared with IIU partners, who can incorporate these GBA Plus insights into the design of their programs and policies.

Program 3: Legislative and Parliamentary Governance

3a: Legislation and House Planning (LHP)

Program goals: The program goals for LHP are to:

• Support the Government House Leader in developing the legislative priority plan for each sitting of Parliament, and work horizontally with other departments, and within PCO, to deliver the plan.
• Support the Government and other departments in developing responses to parliamentary committee reports and government positions on Private Member’s Business and Senate Public Bills.
• Support the management of the Cabinet Committee on Operations.
• GBA Plus lens is applied in developing and reviewing legislative and other Parliamentary proposals, as well as providing advice to senior officials and to Cabinet.

Target population: Parliamentarians and all Canadians and stakeholders affected by new or amended legislation. 

Distribution of benefits

Government and other legislation can affect Canadians of all ages, ability levels, education, ethnicity, economic status, geographical location, language, race, religion, and sexual orientation. GBA Plus analysis is applied to all legislative proposals so that no group is disadvantaged as a result of a new or amended legislation, and that differential impacts are understood and mitigated where appropriate.

Other key program impacts

When performing the challenge function role, LHP works with policy secretariates in reviewing legislative and other Parliamentary proposals, paying particular attention to how they may affect various groups in Canadian society, including any negative or unintended consequences.

3b: Machinery of Government (MOG)

Program goals: The program goals for MOG are to:

• Provide advice and support to the Prime Minister, Clerk, PCO Secretariats and departments on the structure and functioning of the government as a whole and its institutions, including how government makes decisions, who is responsible for implementing government decisions, and what organizational support Ministers need.

Target population: All Canadians.

Other key program impacts

All MOG analysts are expected to take appropriate GBA Plus training and to apply appropriate analytical tools to their work. All advice and guidance provided to the Prime Minister on the organization and structuring of government is informed, when relevant, by GBA Plus.

3c: Democratic Institutions (DI)

Program goals: The program goals for the DI Secretariat are to provide public service support to the Minister of Democratic Institutions to fulfill the Minister’s legislative responsibilities and coordinate efforts to strengthen and protect Canada’s democratic institutions.

Target population: All Canadians and stakeholders affected by the amendments proposed in Bill C-65, An Act to amend the Canada Elections Act.

Key program impacts on gender and diversity

The Democratic Institutions Secretariat also led policy analysis and development efforts to protect and modernize Canada’s electoral system. A GBA Plus lens was applied to this policy work to ensure that benefits accrue to diverse groups of Canadians, including women, seniors (those aged 65 or plus), new Canadians, persons with disabilities, religiously observant Canadians, rural or remote Canadians, as well as members of the diverse 2SLGBTQI+, racialized, and Indigenous communities. This GBA Plus analysis was used to inform the development of policy advice to support Bill C-65, An Act to amend the Canada Elections Act, during Second Reading and Committee Stage in the House of Commons from April 2024 to January 2025, which proposed legislative amendments that sought to encourage voter participation, enhance privacy protections for Canadians, and better safeguard electoral processes.

Other key program impacts

The Democratic Institutions Secretariat leads on a variety of initiatives to protect Canada’s Democracy, including efforts to combat mis- and disinformation (MIDI). MIDI amplifies societal divides, increasing polarization and hindering freedom of speech. Research shows that MIDI disproportionally affects minority groups. The team’s focus on data generation – and integrating these findings into policy development – supported GBA Plus by using relevant data to guide its efforts on an ongoing basis. For example, in December 2024, toolkits to help community leaders, elected officials, public office holders, and public servants identify and combat disinformation were published in nine additional non-official languages to ensure relevance to a broader range of Canada’s cultural communities.

Program 4: Planning and Operations, Results and Clean Growth

4a: Priorities and Planning and Results and Delivery Unit

Program goals: Not applicable, as the team does not engage in external lines of business targeting specific populations. The team’s work is focused on Government-wide policy development, implementation, and results.

Target population: Not applicable, as the team does not engage in external lines of business targeting specific populations. The team’s work is focused on Government-wide policy development, implementation, and results.

Other key program impacts

As their stakeholders and lines of business are internal to Government, the team does not provide a standard external service to Canadians.

To continue to enhance the integration of GBA Plus into proposed policies and programs, analysts collaborated with lead PCO secretariats to review Memoranda to Cabinet (MCs) and provide feedback on the application of GBA Plus and disaggregated data.

Cabinet support

As part of its Cabinet support function, the team conducts Ministerial surveys to understand Ministers’ usage of GBA Plus in reviewing MCs, with responses informing relevant PCO program activities. To strengthen these efforts, the Ministerial Survey was updated to include more detailed questions assessing whether GBA Plus integration in MCs is meeting the Ministers’ needs. The insights from the Ministerial Survey were utilized by the team to continue to advance and enhance the application of GBA Plus and disaggregated data across proposed government policies and programs

Data and results

The team continued to provide Government-wide leadership through tracking Government priorities via mandate letter commitments, which enabled robust analysis of disaggregated data and GBA Plus to provide insights into impacts of policies and programs on diverse population groups.

Additionally, the team has continued to advance disaggregated data across whole of Government by continuing to co-chair the interdepartmental ADM Federal Advisory Committee on Disaggregated Data with Statistics Canada. The team has also contributed to the advancement of GBA Plus within PCO by co-chairing with Social Development Policy the internal PCO Assistant Secretary GBA Plus Committee.

4b: Clean Growth

Program goals: The program goals for the Clean Growth Office include accelerating clean growth projects by supporting system-wide coordination and culture change to advance regulatory and permitting efficiency, identifying barriers for investment, tracking projects to ensure timely federal decision-making, and serving as an open door for project proponents, provinces and territories, Indigenous partners and other organizations.   

Target population: Clean growth project proponents, provinces and territories, Indigenous partners and other organizations. 

Other key program impacts

CGO considered GBA Plus as part of the Memoranda to Cabinet respecting the Cabinet Directive on Regulatory Permitting and Efficiency for Clean Growth Projects. While CGO relies on other departments GBA Plus project specific analysis, and acknowledging that reaching and hearing from marginalized and vulnerable communities can be challenging, CGO will work towards ensuring diverse perspectives, including of women and those with various intersectional identities, are represented through engagement with project proponents and federal entities.

In 2024-25, CGO created a plan to better incorporate GBA Plus into the secretariat’s work. The workplan prioritizes training and tools to mainstream GBA Plus. CGO began collecting data on projects being monitored to see what if any impacts or efforts to identify and address impacts with respect to diverse groups of people were being taken by project proponents.

CGOs work also supports diversity by working with proponents and key stakeholders to support clean energy projects or that invest in Canada’s clean economy, including those that look to advance Indigenous-led projects and projects with strong Indigenous participation.

Program 5: Senior Personnel and Public Service Renewal

5a: Senior Personnel

Program goals: The Senior Personnel Secretariat (SPS) supports the principles of equity, diversity, and inclusion in the Governor in Council appointments system.

Target population: All Canadians aged 18 years and above, with continued focus on increasing representation for equity-seeking groups.

Distribution of benefits

As of March 31, 2025, 52.0% of Governor in Council appointees self-identified as women.

Key program impact statistics

Other key program impacts

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

GBA Plus data collection plan

This diversity information was collected through self-identification for those being recommended for appointment. The collected information covers the following categories: gender, 2SLGBTQI+, visible minorities, persons with a disability, Indigenous Peoples, bilingualism, first official language, and youth (less than 40 when appointed).

PCO continued to provide information on representation within the GIC community including on its website as well as internally to inform decision-makers and help advance government-wide GBA Plus efforts.

SPS continuously looked for ways to improve the accessibility, timeliness, and usability of GIC diversity data. This included exploring the use of data visualization to produce more user-friendly information on diversity representation in the GIC community.

5b: Public Service Renewal (PSR)

Program goals: PSR applies a GBA Plus lens primarily through engagement activities across the federal Public Service enterprise, as well as with various networks and communities (e.g., young professionals and managers networks, equity groups, federal regional councils), in advancing work to support effective management and renewal of the Public Service.

Target population: Federal Public Servants

Specific demographic group outcomes

Groups that may benefit: All federal public servants, in particular those who face inequities in the workplace (e.g., Black, Indigenous, racialized and 2SLGBTQI+ people, as well as persons with disabilities).

Program 6: Social and Economic Policy

6a: Social and Economic Policy

Program goals: Social and Economic Policy provide advice and support to the Prime Minister and portfolio ministers on a wide range of issues, including those pertaining to social, economic, regional development. Social and Economic Policy supports the efficient and effective functioning of Cabinet and Cabinet committees on a day-to-day basis. As part of this work, Social and Economic Policy coordinates departmental policy proposals going to Cabinet and its committees, performs a challenge function during the policy development process and prepares briefing materials and accompanying policy analysis to facilitate Cabinet’s decision-making process.

Target population: All Canadians.

Other program impacts

All policy proposals must be informed by GBA Plus and the program reviews and considers GBA Plus as part of PCO’s challenge function role. All new analysist in the Social and Economic and Regional Development Policy Secretariats were required to take GBA Plus Training to ensure they are equipped to advance their work from the onset.

To advance how departments and agencies incorporate GBA Plus into their proposed policies and programs, Social and Economic Policy initiated a series of improvements. These efforts included the development of tailored tools and practices including a departmental GBA Plus framework, continuing series of targeted Deep Dives to enhance PCO capacity for intersectional analysis, and leading GBA Plus training sessions and an internal GBA Plus working group for analysts.

GBA Plus data collection plan

The GBA Plus Focal Point, based in the Social Development Policy Secretariat at PCO, continued to track qualitative data on the GBA Plus comments provided through PCO’s challenge function and through targeted Deep Dive analysis of policy proposals’ GBA Plus analysis. These comments were then analyzed for broader trends and areas of improvement to improve intersectional analysis across Government policy and program proposals.

6b: Liaison Secretariat for Macroeconomic Policy

Program goals: In supporting the provision of macroeconomic and fiscal policy advice and recommendations to the Prime Minister, including those pertaining to tax and financial sector policies, the Liaison Secretariat for Macroeconomic Policy (LSMP) reviewed and considered GBA Plus as part of its challenge function role. LSMP also reviews the summary of GBA Plus in context of federal budget process. During Budget 2024 and Fall Economic Update 2024, LSMP reviewed close to 400 proposals that had GBA Plus. Moreover, LSMP continued to onboard and train new analysts using GBA Plus training materials so that analysts are well equipped to provide guidance to departments on GBA Plus for Memoranda to Cabinet.

Target population: All Canadians.

GBA Plus data collection plan 

The Liaison Secretariat for Macroeconomic Policy (LSMP) informs the Prime Minister on latest economic data releases and produces analytical research on economic developments. The team leverages existing sources of disaggregated data (e.g., age group, income levels) in its economic analyses on matters including financial situation of households, labour market participation, housing, and other applicable topics. LSMP will continue to identify new sources of information and disaggregated data to inform products.