Gender-based analysis plus

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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 department 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.

Section 1: Institutional GBA Plus governance and capacity

Governance

In fiscal year 2025-26, SSC’s GBA Plus focal point (GBA Plus Guidance Unit (the Unit)), will continue its effort to institutionalize a GBA Plus lens throughout all departmental activities. The Unit will continue to integrate GBA Plus considerations in planning, decision-making and reporting. The Unit works with branches to ensure GBA Plus is incorporated into SSC’s activities as its role as a service provider and into the departmental priorities. The Unit will also continue to work with Human Resources and Workplace (HRW) to implement GBA Plus considerations from an employer’s lens.

SSC previously conducted a review of its programs for GBA Plus impacts to better identify opportunities to include a GBA Plus lens with the operational nature of the department. In fiscal year 2025-26, the Unit will use the findings from the GBA Plus comprehensive review to continue to improve the tools and guidance available to SSC employees in an effort to simplify and enhance the impacts of a GBA Plus analysis.

Capacity

In 2025-26, SSC will continue its work to implement GBA Plus considerations in the departmental activities by:

• putting forward a GBA Plus Implementation Strategy to increase awareness of GBA Plus at SSC by presenting the Unit’s findings and the resources produced
• enhancing the guidance materials of the GBA Plus toolkit to better assist employees in applying GBA Plus to their work
• developing and presenting GBA Plus use cases to provide concrete examples of GBA Plus application in the context of SSC’s IT mandate
• continuing collaboration to improve data collection processes and performance indicators in the Program Information Profiles (PIPs), Departmental Results Report (DRR), and Departmental Plan (DP)
• promoting a diverse and inclusive workplace culture with innovative solutions and initiatives
• conducting follow-up research to obtain more data about the user experience of SSC employees

Accessibility

SSC will continue implementing its first Accessibility Plan 2022 to 2025 published on December 16, 2022. The Plan identifies the actions SSC will take to identify, remove, and prevent barriers to accessibility in SSC and as a service provider, in accordance with the Accessible Canada Act.

In 2025-26, SSC will publish the next iteration of the Accessibility Plan for 2025 to 2028.

Human resources in the workplace (HRW)

In 2025-26, SSC will continue to promote and implement actions towards equitable and fair human resources (HR) practices, and will promote inclusion and accessibility in the delivery of its internal-facing departmental Employment Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EEDI) Action Plan for 2025-28. From an HR perspective, initiatives include:

• collaborating with key partners in the Accessibility Management Program, Strategic Policy and Enterprise Transformation teams to enable cultural change towards inclusion (including influencing policy and governance resources and structures)
• working with the Accessibility Management Program to address feedback on barriers in a timely manner
• promoting targeted and strategic recruitment, appointments and accommodations including the Duty to Accommodate Centre of Expertise
• providing guidance and resources impacting inclusion in talent management programs including, but not limited to: official languages training, Character Based Leadership, Mentorship Plus, and Leadership Development Programs
• collecting, where able and authorized to do so, aggregated and disaggregated human resources data for analysis and sharing to ensure continued equitable programming and initiatives at SSC

SSC will continue to support the advancement of equity groups by collaborating with its diversity networks in the following ways:

• 2SLGBTQI+: The SSC Pride Network, supported by its Champions, is committed to fostering an inclusive and supportive environment through three key pillars: engagement, education, and policy. Engagement focuses on collaborating with organizations like Egale and Fondation Émergence, hosting workshops, expanding provincially, and strengthening ties with other Pride Networks while enhancing SSC’s social media presence. Education prioritizes raising awareness about cyberbullying, intersectionality, inclusive spaces, pronoun use, and commemorative dates, with training programs developed alongside partners like Egale, Fondation Émergence, and Canada School of Public Service (CSPS) to promote inclusivity across the Government of Canada (GC). Policy advocacy involves partnering with Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat (TBS), PSPN, and others to advance inclusive government-wide policies. Together, these pillars support the Clerk’s Call to Action, SSC’s EEDI Action Plan, and the PSPN Call to Action, driving meaningful progress toward a workplace where diversity thrives.
• Women: One of SSC’s GBA Plus goals is to actively promote topics of interest and concern for women to achieve gender equity and decrease discrimination in the workplace. The Champion for Women will continue to lead a comprehensive strategy in partnership with public, private, and academic sectors. Focus will remain on collaborative opportunities with Diversity and Inclusion leaders and Champions across the public service – specifically with other GC Women’s Networks (WN). These collaborative efforts will culminate in SSC WN events with featured speakers and subject matter experts. These monthly events help to create a safe environment to encourage difficult conversations focused on often-taboo topics in the workplace. They also help to generate awareness for women’s health equity and address intersectionality and anti-racism. The WN will also continue to promote professional development and recruitment for women and women in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) opportunities, while continuing to inspire the next generation of Women in STEM.
• Indigenous Employees: Indigenous Circle Co-chairs, supported by Champions, create and maintain a safe space, known as the Indigenous Sharing Circle, where Indigenous employees and allies can bring forward concerns and celebrate successes to ensure that SSC is an inclusive and discrimination-free work environment for Indigenous Peoples. The Indigenous Sharing Circle works together with the other networks to actively reduce discrimination and tackle barriers in light of the Clerk’s Call to Action on Anti-Racism, Equity and Inclusion. SSC’s Indigenous Circle continues to engage Elders and Knowledge Keepers in traditional teachings and cultural ways of doing, develop strategies to increase sustainable Indigenous recruitment pipelines, talent management and retention, promote related commemorative events, and address issues highlighted in the Many Voices One Mind report and the United National Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. The leadership of the Indigenous Circle works with branches to highlight opportunities to deepen understanding of Indigenous issues and promote decolonization efforts.
• Persons with Disabilities: SSC is committed to supporting employees with disabilities and offer to these employees opportunities for their development, recognition, well-being, and career advancement. In collaboration with the Champions and the Network, SSC will work to improve inclusion and accessibility in all its workplaces, policies and processes. The Champions and Network will actively promote topics identified by the community, offer safe space to discuss issues faced by employees with disabilities and collaborate with other networks to offer training and education opportunities. All these activities aim to offer a more inclusive workplace for person with disabilities and address gaps in representation.
• Visible Minority Employees: SSC is committed to build a workforce that is reflective of the Canadian population, addressing intersectional gaps involving the Visible Minority group, in collaboration with SSC’s Visible Minority Champions and Network. Some of these goals include: promoting related commemorative events and employment equity initiatives in collaboration with other networks for increased awareness; developing strategies to decrease discrimination; promoting consultation and training to improve the Department’s recruitment and staffing processes, addressing gaps in representation and encouraging career development.
• Black Employees: SSC is committed to supporting Black employees and providing opportunities for their development, recognition, well-being, and career advancement. SSC will work with the Black Employees Network (BEN) and communities of practice to bring about bold and meaningful action to address the systemic challenges faced by Black employees in the workplace as recognized in the Clerk’s Call to Action on Anti-Racism, Equity and Inclusion and the Study on the Black Executive Community in the Federal Public Service. BEN will also continue to amplify the voices of Black employees by creating safe spaces to share ideas, and raise awareness on key development. This will ensure that leaders at all levels within SSC take responsibility for achieving an inclusive workplace that is free of anti-Black racism.

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

The GBA Plus Guidance Unit is SSC’s GBA Plus focal point responsible for providing internal advice and overseeing the implementation of GBA Plus. The Unit will be comprised of 2 full-time equivalents (FTEs) for the fiscal year 2025-26. HRW is planning to include 0.25 FTEs with the implementation of GBA Plus training and reporting activities related to this initiative. In total, there are 2.25 FTEs working on GBA Plus at SSC.

The GBA Plus Guidance Unit will continue to:

• review, create and support GBA Plus content in Memoranda to Cabinet and Treasury Board Submissions
• Work with HRW to organize GBA Plus training and awareness events
• create and/or implement GBA Plus governance activities
• conduct research as part of a formalized process to facilitate the implementation of a department’s disaggregated data strategy
• build or refine tools to provide strategic and tailored advice to internal clients

Section 2: Gender and diversity impacts, by program

Core responsibility: Common Government of Canada Information Technology (IT) Operations

GBA Plus data collection plan

SSC programs do not collect sufficient data to enable robust or comprehensive monitoring and to report on program impacts by gender and diversity. The Unit is working towards helping responsible branches in implementing data collection plans by leveraging the findings from the comprehensive review of the department’s programs.

The Unit will continue to develop data collection and reporting mechanisms in collaboration with the branches responsible for each program area. The comprehensive review on the state of GBA Plus at SSC has permitted the Unit to identify the areas where there are gaps in reporting on GBA Plus impacts according to program area. The Unit will continue to provide guidance as required.