Gender-based analysis plus: 2018–19 Departmental Results Report – Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat
Governance structures
The Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat (TBS) had no gender‑based analysis plus (GBA+) implementation plan in place for 2018–19 and had no committees dedicated to GBA+. It did, however, take a number of steps to implement GBA+, both in its capacity as a central agency and in its capacity as a department.
Central agency
As part of its review of all submissions seeking Treasury Board approval for new spending proposals or authorities, TBS identifies relevant gender issues and recommends adjustments to ensure that the outcomes of new government policies, programs and initiatives will meet the needs of the men, women and gender-diverse individuals who make up Canada today. Based on this review, TBS advises Treasury Board ministers on the gender implications of approving each proposal.
All TBS managers and analysts in program, policy, regulatory and expenditure management sectors are responsible for supporting GBA+ implementation in their roles, as appropriate (for example, in policies, memoranda to Cabinet, and Treasury Board submissions). All program analysts are responsible for carrying out a challenge function as it relates to the content provided in the GBA+ appendix of each Treasury Board submission.
In addition, following the enactment of the Canadian Gender Budgeting Act on , the President of the Treasury Board is responsible for making available to the public analysis of impacts in terms of gender and diversity of the existing Government of Canada expenditure programs that the President, in consultation with the Minister of Finance, considers appropriate.
Department
TBS has designated a GBA+ champion at the assistant deputy minister level. The champion:
- promotes the value of GBA+ in informing Cabinet decision‑making
- provides guidance to TBS’s senior managers on their responsibilities with respect to GBA+
- arranges training for analysts at TBS so that they can incorporate GBA+ into carrying out TBS’s challenge function
- promotes the value of GBA+ in and outside TBS through, for example, GBA+ Awareness Week, speaking engagements, and presentations to internal and external management committees
Human resources
The GBA+ champion is supported by the part-time work of 2 analysts (total of 0.3 full-time equivalents).
A number of employees throughout TBS work part-time on GBA+ implementation, for a total of 9.0 to 10.0 FTEs.
Major initiatives: results achieved
The following are examples of initiatives where TBS applied and monitored GBA+ in 2018–19:
- In , TBS published the new Cabinet Directive on Regulation. This directive requires that departments and agencies undertake an assessment of social and economic impacts of each regulatory proposal on diverse groups of Canadians, in accordance with the Government of Canada’s commitment to implementing GBA+. Supporting policies, guides and tools provide guidance, including what information to include on GBA+ with proposed and final regulations that are published in the Canada Gazette.
- “Placing evidence at the centre of program evaluation and design,” a measure included in Budget 2018, aims to improve performance and impact assessments for innovation-related programs. GBA+ considerations will be applied to data collection, and to policy, performance, and evaluation activities. The data collection and analysis undertaken will allow the Central Performance and Impact Assessment unit to delve deeper into the data and to disaggregate information based on GBA+ characteristics. The team will explore GBA+ considerations in the context of innovation programming.
TBS has also undertaken a number of initiatives in 2018–19 to promote the use and application of GBA+ across government, for example:
- TBS continued developing a tool to help the evaluation community integrate GBA+ into evaluations.
- TBS is using an open, transparent and inclusive approach to interdepartmental consultations by using Government of Canada collaboration tools such as GCconnex. TBS is now making every draft policy instrument available to departments and agencies for feedback. Feedback from Women and Gender Equality Canada (formerly Status of Women Canada) focuses on the potential gender implications of implementing the new policy instrument government-wide.
- In 2016, TBS and the Department of Justice started working with 30 departments and agencies on modernizing how sex and gender information is collected, used and displayed. In fall 2018, the Clerk of the Privy Council approved a Policy Direction to Modernize the Government of Canada’s Sex and Gender Information Practices, and all departments and agencies in the core public administration are responsible for implementing it. TBS has allocated resources for a limited time to help departments and agencies with their implementation efforts. Some have already taken steps to improve their practices. Full implementation will span several years.
Reporting capacity and data
Two TBS programs encompass services that collect individual recipient microdata:
- Internal Services
- Digital Policy Program
Names and addresses collected under these programs are collected in full compliance with all privacy requirements. No aggregated data or related GBA+ analysis are publicly reported.
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