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Public Services and Procurement Canada
Gender-based analysis plus: 2020 to 2021 Departmental Results Report

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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).

In 2019 to 2020, PSPC established a GBA+ community of practice to guide 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 equivalent (FTE) dedicated to GBA+ at PSPC. This includes:

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 of GBA+ mainstreaming at PSPC.

Gender and diversity impacts, by core responsibility

Core responsibility: Purchase of goods and services

Distribution of benefits

The Procurement Services Program and the Procurement Leadership Program provide support to government operations. The Procurement Services Program does not benefit a particular target population, however leveraging procurement to advance Canada’s socio-economic policy goals is a component of the Procurement Leadership Program. There are a number initiatives underway with respect to developing a more diverse supplier base that is representative of the Canadian population, including gender representation. 

Table 1: Key impacts
Statistics Observed resultstable 1 note 1 Data source Comment
Percentage of participation in procurement processes by businesses owned by Indigenous peoples In 2020 to 2021, 11% of bids received from businesses in Canada were from businesses owned by Indigenous peoples. Manual data gathering exercise of PSPC procurement bid information None
Percentage of participation in procurement processes by businesses owned by women In 2020 to 2021, 14% of bids received from businesses in Canada were from businesses owned by women. Manual data gathering exercise of PSPC procurement bid information None

Table 1 Note

Table 1 Note 1

2020 to 2021 or most recent

Return to table 1 note 1 referrer

Other

The department applies GBA+ within the context of procurement policy and tools development. PSPC completed a 2-year socio-economic procurement experimentation cycle (from 2019 to 2020), which aimed to leverage the government’s significant purchasing power to pursue socio-economic outcomes through procurement. Activities included increasing the participation of underrepresented suppliers, including women, Indigenous peoples, and visible minority communities, as well as the inclusion of social or community benefits into procurement to contribute to the socioeconomic well-being of all Canadians. PSPC is currently in the process of publishing a summative report of the findings, which will highlight GBA+ -related impacts.

Gender-based analysis plus data collection plan

In 2020 to 2021, PSPC advanced the development of a Policy on Social Procurement, which not only provides a systematic approach for the inclusion of socio-economic outcomes, but also aims to increase the participation of underrepresented groups in PSPC procurements. The policy also provides the authorities necessary to collect personal data, including information on ethnicity, gender and other socio-economic characteristics of bidders and suppliers to develop a baseline to effectively carry out social procurement. The policy came into effect on May 3, 2021. PSPC also continued with the phased deployment of the electronic procurement solution (EPS), with significant advancement in the onboarding of suppliers and government buyers onto the platform. The EPS 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.

Core responsibility: Payments and accounting

Distribution of benefits

The Receiver General is a service provider to the Government of Canada departments and agencies who manage the individual programs. Those departments and agencies determine the entitlement of recipients to benefits, or the requirement for Canadians to remit funds to the Government of Canada.

The Federal Pay Administration Program provides pay system and services for Government of Canada employees. The Federal Pay Administration Program plans on broadening its use of GBA+ to better understand if and how employees of different gender identities may be disproportionally affected by pay issues. 

Table 2: Key impacts
Statistics Observed resultstable 2 note 1 Data source Comment
Gender breakdown of employees with a pay case in the backlog Although there is a slight variance of 4% for male and 3% for female employees with a case in the backlog, the results are relatively proportionate to the overall public service composition.  Case Management Business Intelligence Tool (CMT BI): Nil
Age breakdown of employees with a pay case in the backlog Employees over 60 are overrepresented as they make up 14.9% of the backlog, while they represent 8% of the active public service. This can mostly be explained, however, by the fact that the backlog includes retired employees in addition to those still on strength. Case Management Business Intelligence Tool (CMT BI): Nil
Official language breakdown of employees with a case in the backlog There is a slight variance (around 3 percentage points) with the overall public service composition, having Francophones being more impacted by pay issues. Initial analysis shows that overall, Anglophone and Francophone employees are affected in similar proportions by the main transaction types, with the exception of return from leave and acting cases, where Francophone are slightly overrepresented.  Case Management Business Intelligence Tool (CMT BI): Nil

Table 2 Note

Table 2 Note 1

2020 to 2021 or most recent

Return to table 2 note 1 referrer

Other

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), employees with the RCMP, emergency salary advances and pensions are also being prioritized.

Gender-based analysis plus data collection plan

Compensation related questions based on demographical data are reviewed every fiscal year. The following demographic characteristics were examined to understand if any employee groups were more impacted by compensation issues:

Core Responsibility: Property and infrastructure

Distribution of benefits

The Long Term Vision and Plan (LTVP) for the Parliament Hill and Surroundings Program is committed to creating inclusive built environments and fostering a sense of community for all demographics. In addition, the LTVP is creating many opportunities for Canadians from across the country, including youth, women and Indigenous people by working to increase their socio-economic participation in the federal procurement process for the parliamentary precinct and by developing broader strategies to increase skills development, as well as apprenticeship and employment opportunities for Indigenous people and firms. Application of GBA+ concluded that the LTVP may have differential impacts on men and women, and sub-groups (for example, age, family, disability and visible minority status), due to the challenge of providing proper accommodation and access to the parliamentary precinct during transition periods. Employing a GBA+ methodology allows for a more accessible parliamentary campus that reflects evolving Canadian demographics, as well as greater participation for vulnerable groups via targeted recruitment and procurement strategies.

The Laboratories Canada strategy will provide a significant opportunity to create work spaces and infrastructure that ensure accessibility and inclusion by accounting for these factors in the early design and planning stages and piloting new approaches for design and implementation, including local community representatives, to be a pathfinder for standards development in building design. PSPC is leveraging procurement initiatives with GBA+ considerations to meet the Government of Canada’s commitment to diversity and inclusiveness for under-represented groups.

PSPC’s Real Property Services (RPS) manages one of the largest and most diverse real estate portfolios in the country and plays a vital role in helping the Government of Canada achieve results for Canadians. Responsibilities for property and infrastructure give rise to socio-economic benefits, such as:

PSPC continues to explore options and develop and deploy strategies to provide Indigenous organizations, women business owners and other underrepresented groups with greater access to opportunities to participate in and submit proposals in response to real property solicitations. Future real property contracts will include provisions designed to encourage successful proponents to provide increased accessibility to procurement opportunities to businesses owned by women and other underrepresented groups. PSPC also continues to conduct technical accessibility assessments on its nationwide Crown-owned and lease purchase portfolio to identify accessibility improvements.

Key impacts

No statistics to report.

Other

Accessibility in the built environment and gender-based analysis plus

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:

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.

Gender-based analysis plus data collection plan

Nothing to report for 2020 to 2021.

Core responsibility: Government-wide support

Distribution of benefits

The linguistic services provided by the Translation Bureau can be viewed as being gender-balanced. Moreover, there is not a significant distributional impact on a particular income level and no significant inter-generational impact.

Table 3: Key impacts
Statistics Observed resultstable 3 note 1 Data source Comment
Knowledge of official language for all Canadians Latest statistics (2016):
  • 68.3% English only
  • 11.9% French only
  • 17.9% English and French
  • 1.9% neither English nor French
Total population (2016): 34,767,250 		Statistics Canada: Knowledge of official languages by age (total), 2016 counts for the population excluding institutional residents of Canada, provinces and territories, 2016 Census—100% Data table 3 note 1Refers to the ability of the individual to conduct a conversation in English only, in French only, in both English and French, or in neither English nor French at the time of the census (May 10, 2016).
Indigenous first language, Indigenous language spoken most often at home and other Indigenous language(s) spoken regularly at home Latest Statistics (2016):
  • 213,225 individuals reported that an Indigenous language is their first language
  • 137,515 individuals reported that an Indigenous language is the language most often spoken at home
 Statistics Canada: Aboriginal mother tongue, Aboriginal language spoken most often at home and other Aboriginal language(s) spoken regularly at home for the population excluding institutional residents of Canada, provinces and territories, 2016 Census—100% data None

Table 3 Note

Table 3 Note 1

2020 to 2021 or most recent

Return to table 3 note 1 referrer

Other

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.

Gender-based analysis plus data collection plan

Nothing to report for 2020 to 2021.

Core responsibility: Procurement Ombudsman

Table 4: Key impacts
Statistics Observed Resultstable 4 note 1 Data Source Comment
Surveys to 83 federal government departments and agencies. Respondents were asked to indicate whether they have procurement initiatives in place that target underrepresented groups. This includes Indigenous peoples, Black Canadians, other visible minorities, women, people with disabilities, and members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and two-spirit (LGBTQ2) community. 31 departments indicated that they have relevant initiatives in place. 100% of departments with initiatives focus on Indigenous peoples, 32% on people with disabilities, 26% on Black Canadians and women. Other visible minorities and the LGBTQ2 community were targeted by 19% and 6% of departments, respectively.  Federal government departments and agencies The Procurement Ombudsman has observed progress, particularly with regards to initiatives targeting Indigenous peoples, but notes that there still is more to do to ensure representation of diverse groups in the federal procurement process 

Table 4 Note

Table 4 Note 1

2020 to 2021 or most recent

Return to table 4 note 1 referrer

Other

During the past fiscal year 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:

In 2019, the Office of the Procurement Ombudsman hosted its first Diversifying the Federal Supply Chain Summit in Ottawa and hosted an additional one in Toronto in 2020 and an online event in 2021. The summit is geared toward underrepresented suppliers—Indigenous peoples, LGBTQ2, racialized people, persons with disabilities, and other minority groups. It seeks to share the tools and programs that are available to support an understanding of the federal procurement process and help suppliers within these groups access federal contracting opportunities.

The Office of the Procurement Ombudsman departmental questionnaire on initiatives to diversify federal procurement was completed for the first time in November 2020 with the goal of learning from departments about diversity initiatives in federal procurement.

Gender-based analysis plus data collection plan

Nothing to report for 2020 to 2021.

Program links to gender results framework

Table 5: Core responsibility: Purchase of goods and services
Program name Education and skills development Economic participation and prosperity Leadership and democratic participation Gender-based violence and access to justice Poverty reduction, health and well-being Gender equality around the world
Purchase of goods and services ✓ ✓ Not applicable (N/A) N/A N/A N/A
Table 6: Core responsibility: Payments and accounting
Program name Education and skills development Economic participation and prosperity Leadership and democratic participation Gender-based violence and access to justice Poverty reduction, health and well-being Gender equality around the world
Government-wide support N/A ✓ N/A N/A N/A N/A
Table 7: Core responsibility: Property and Infrastructure
Program name Education and skills development Economic participation and prosperity Leadership and democratic participation Gender-based violence and access to justice Poverty reduction, health and well-being Gender equality around the world
Property and infrastructure ✓ ✓ ✓ N/A ✓ N/A
Table 8: Core responsibility: Government-wide support
Program name Education and skills development Economic participation and prosperity Leadership and democratic participation Gender-based violence and access to justice Poverty reduction, health and well-being Gender equality around the world
Government-wide support N/A ✓ N/A N/A N/A N/A
Table 9: Core Responsibility: Procurement Ombudsman
Program name Education and skills development Economic participation and prosperity Leadership and democratic participation Gender-based violence and access to justice Poverty reduction, health and well-being Gender equality around the world
Government-wide support N/A ✓ N/A N/A N/A N/A

Program links to quality of life framework

Table 10: Core responsibility: Purchase of goods and services
Core responsibility Prosperity Health Environment Society Good governance
Purchase of Goods and Services  ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ N/A
Table 11: Core responsibility: Payments and accounting
Core responsibility Prosperity Health Environment Society Good governance
Government-wide support ✓ N/A N/A ✓ ✓
Table 12: Core responsibility: Property and infrastructure
Core responsibility Prosperity Health Environment Society Good governance
Property and Infrastructure  ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
Table 13: Core responsibility: Government-wide support
Core responsibility Prosperity Health Environment Society Good governance
Government-wide support N/A N/A N/A ✓ ✓
Table 14: Core responsibility: Procurement Ombudsman
Core responsibility Prosperity Health Environment Society Good governance
Procurement Ombudsman N/A N/A N/A N/A ✓

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2024-07-10