Public Services and Procurement Canada
Gender-based analysis plus: 2022 to 2023 Departmental Plan

Institutional gender-based analysis plus capacity

The department has a gender-based analysis plus (GBA+) responsibility centre situated within its strategic policy unit to provide oversight, direction and promotion of GBA+ across Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC).

PSPC’s GBA+ community of practice supports the consistent, rigorous and robust implementation of GBA+ across the department's programs and services. The community of practice includes representatives from all of the department's branches and regions. Representatives from the GBA+ community of practice will continue to share information, exchange best practices and meet several times annually to discuss issues related to the implementation of GBA+ at PSPC.

In total, there are approximately 6.5 full-time equivalents (FTE) dedicated to GBA+ at PSPC. This includes:

• 1.5 FTE within the GBA+ responsibility centre dedicated to the promotion of GBA+
• 0.5 FTE within other branches for training, and applying GBA+
• 4.5 FTE from across 18 branches and regions representatives of the PSPC GBA+ community of practice

Together, the PSPC GBA+ responsibility centre and community of practice will continue to support GBA+ capacity-building at PSPC, increase awareness of GBA+ across the department, support the tailored application of GBA+ to the various PSPC lines of business, improve the availability of data for GBA+, and improve monitoring and reporting on the use of GBA+ at PSPC

Highlights of gender-based analysis plus results reporting capacity by program

Core responsibility: Purchase of goods and services

The department applies gender-based analysis plus within the context of procurement policy and tools development. Over the course of the fiscal year, PSPC will continue to integrate GBA+ more broadly in its procurement-related processes, most notably through the implementation of a Program on Social Procurement. Procurement modernization and inclusivity initiatives will continue to target improved opportunities for under-represented groups to participate in the federal government supply chain, and the removal of barriers to participation, in particular for persons with disabilities. These activities will be of particular importance given the context of the COVID-19 economic recovery and the profound impact of the global pandemic on Canadian businesses owned by racialized individuals.

Within the context of the electronic procurement solution (EPS) initiative, GBA+ analysis completed during the planning stage identified an opportunity to improve decisions by factoring their potential impacts on fairness and inclusion. In order to assess gender and diversity impacts during the implementation of the solution, analysis of available data points will be conducted along intersecting factors such as sex, gender, language, age, physical ability, geographic or regional context, duration of service and tenure. Additionally, a positive impact is anticipated in the area of accessibility with enhanced technology making procurement processes clearer, more accessible and less burdensome.

Under the Procurement Program, data is collected on suppliers in support of efforts to increase the participation of Indigenous peoples and certain under-represented groups in federal procurement, where possible. PSPC is advancing the phased deployment of the EPS, which will be a critical tool with respect to enhancing the department’s procurement data holdings, and its capacity to measure and assess gender and diversity in its procurement activities. In addition, PSPC will work with partners at Indigenous Services Canada and Statistics Canada to support analyses, as required.

Core responsibility: Payments and accounting

PSPC examined all outstanding backlog cases and disaggregated the data based on age, sex, and language demographics to understand the impacts of pay issues. Initial analysis indicated there are no appreciable differences between various groups of employees within the public service when it comes to pay impact, but further analysis will be done.

In order to mitigate the negative impact of pay related issues on those especially vulnerable to pay interruptions, or those less able to follow up on their pay issues, PSPC prioritizes processing of high-impact cases such as maternity and parental leave, disability leave, and other long-term leave without pay. Cases for leave with income averaging, students, employees who typically work shift-work (for example, nurses, firefighters, ships’ crews and officers), Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) personnel, emergency salary advances and pensions are also being prioritized.

PSPC also reviews compensation related questions based on demographical data in the Public Service Employees Survey every fiscal year. The following demographic characteristics were examined to understand if any employee groups were more impacted by compensation issues:

• leave
• official languages
• occupational category groups
• age groups
• gender
• Indigeneity
• disability
• visible minority
• sexual orientation

PSPC will continue to use data, from the pay system and other sources, to better understand if and how employees of different gender, race, disability or indigeneity identities may be disproportionally affected by pay issues.

The Pension Program is committed to ensuring that its delivery of services to public servants is inclusive and reflective of Canada’s diversity. The Pension Program will be collecting gender and diversity data via member surveys beginning in 2022. Member feedback enable the Pension Program to evaluate current services and give insights for innovation toward future initiatives. The survey allows respondents to self-identify on the basis of gender as well as belonging to any of the following groups

• Indigenous peoples
• lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and two-spirit plus (LGBTQ2+)
• persons with disabilities
• visible minorities

As part of the design process for the pension web renewal project, the Pension Program conducted interviews with active members and retirees. The composition of the user group was selected to be representative on the basis of sex, language, age, geographic/regional context, and tenure. The Pension Program analyzed the data to identify specific challenges and needs, desires and hopes for new pension web services, as well as validate facts and false assumptions. As the project moves into the implementation phase during 2022 to 2023, compliance with accessibility standards will be a key consideration in the development and testing.

The Pension Program will continue to build GBA+ awareness. An Engagement, Diversity and Inclusion Committee has been established. This committee aims to positively impact employee representation and embrace the principles of diversity and fostering inclusion.

Core responsibility: Property and Infrastructure

PSPC is working to integrate social procurement objectives into each new strategic sourcing real property initiative, ensuring a coordinated approach to developing and implementing flexible service delivery solutions that provide opportunities for small and medium enterprises to participate in work in federal buildings and infrastructure, and for participation from under-represented groups, such as women, Indigenous peoples, persons with disabilities, visible minorities and others. The accessibility in the built environment initiative involves conducting technical accessibility assessment of a portion of government buildings and establishing a process to determine the feasibility of accessible built environment adaptations, the cost implications and a mechanism for prioritizing actions. The assessments are being done in consultation with persons with disabilities as this is the focal point of the initiative.

PSPC continues to conduct technical accessibility assessments on its nationwide Crown-owned and lease purchase portfolio. As a result of these assessments, PSPC is able to identify accessibility improvements to bring base building elements in conformity with the 2018 Accessibility Standard and address new legislative requirements under the Accessible Canada Act.

As the Government of Canada lead for accessibility in the built environment, PSPC is playing a key role in building a more inclusive workplace. To that end, PSPC is undertaking various pilot projects, in collaboration with stakeholders, to identify opportunities and the feasibility of improving the accessibility of PSPC’s built environment and exceeding the minimum codes and standards.

In addition, PSPC has developed and issued a functional direction on all access washrooms to assist project and property managers in applying a consistent approach to the implementation of these facilities across our portfolio. In the development of this functional direction, GBA+ informed the proposed options. Considerations included potential impacts on diverse groups of women, men and non-binary people, people with mental or physical disabilities as well as many other identity factors such as race, ethnicity, religion, and age. Given that the proposed options do not prohibit any person from using a washroom of their choice, no negative impact is expected from the implementation of the functional direction.

Furthermore, PSPC used GBA+ to improve equity and inclusivity in the design of the workplace. Key findings have been grouped into 4 themes:

• autonomy
• group dynamics
• privacy
• wellbeing

The GCworkplace GBA+ served as a reference for PSPC during the creation of the GCworkplace design guidelines to provide recommendations that support accessibility and inclusivity principles.

Finally, PSPC conducted a GBA+ review to ensure that projects under the Parliamentary Precinct and Laboratories Canada initiatives are implemented in a manner that accounts for the experiences of diverse groups of people. In 2022 to 2023, PSPC will continue to advance the use of GBA+ in order to create equitable, diverse and inclusive environments.

Core responsibility: Government-wide support

The Translation Bureau ensures that GBA+ is integrated into its major decision-making processes. The Translation Bureau provides linguistic services to Canadians in both official languages, Indigenous languages, sign languages and other languages spoken across Canada. Through the provision of its linguistic services, it aims to benefit all Canadians in support of the Government of Canada’s commitment to provide access to public information in both official languages, in an equal and timely manner.

The Translation Bureau provides translation and interpretation services in Indigenous languages, enhancing visibility and supporting the efforts of Indigenous peoples in the reclamation, revitalization, and strengthening of Indigenous languages as a foundation for culture and identity.

Another focal point has been the work of the Translation Bureau in its provision of interpretation services in American Sign Language (ASL) and langue des signes québécoise (LSQ) at major events organized by the Government of Canada. In addition, the Translation Bureau has been offering video remote interpretation (VRI) for sign language interpretation services.

The linguistic profession is primarily dominated by women. The language industry employs all Canadians; however, the linguistic profession tends to predominantly attract women. The 2011 National Household Survey reported that women accounted for 70% of the employees in this occupation, compared to an average of 48% for all occupations combined.

Core responsibility: Procurement Ombudsman

The Office of the Procurement Ombudsman’s Diversity and Inclusion Committee developed a 2021 to 2022 Diversity and Inclusion Plan, with clear goals, commitments and specific key performance indicators. Diversity and inclusion goals are:

• a diversity and inclusion lens is applied to all business with third parties, including government departments, suppliers, and the general public
• a more welcoming and inclusive work environment is fostered and maintained, where staff feel included and respected for what they bring in the workplace, and where differences enrich the workplace culture and maximize the success of its team
• improved education and raised awareness around the benefits of diversity and inclusion programs in the workplace

In 2022 to 2023, the Office of the Procurement Ombudsman will continue to apply a diversity and inclusion lens to all its business with third parties, including government departments, suppliers, and the general public. It will use the information collected from 83 federal government departments and agencies on diversity initiatives during an information-gathering exercise on social procurement practices and the office’s understanding of the landscape, to support suppliers who might benefit from departmental procurement initiatives. Over the course of the fiscal year, it will also participate actively in the Diversity and Inclusion Subcommittee of the Canadian Federation of Ombuds Offices, which is a forum for federal ombuds organizations across Canada to share information regarding programs, initiatives, and best practices that will foster a diverse, inclusive, and equitable workplace.