Gender-based analysis plus (GBA+) – Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat, 2019–20 Departmental Results Report

The Oversight and Treasury Board Support program performs due diligence reviews of Treasury Board submissions and memoranda to Cabinet in order to provide advice to Treasury Board regarding resource allocation, risks, and policy compliance. This work supports sound decision-making, value for money, compliance with rules and policies, and alignment with Government of Canada priorities and objectives.

The program has integrated GBA+ into its work by:

• working with departments and Crown corporations to improve the quality of their GBA+ and to clearly integrate that analysis into the program design and delivery sections of Treasury Board (TB) submissions, where relevant, to inform TB decisions
• working with the Expenditure Data, Analysis, Results and Reviews program to launch, in 2019–20, a new TB submission template and supporting guidance that include specific requirements for:
• integrating GBA+ into the program design phase
• identifying the gender-based and other impacts that will be monitored, and developing the data collection and reporting plan to support this monitoring
• participating in developing training and information sessions on the new expectations for integrating GBA+ into TB submissions

The Expenditure Data, Analysis, Results and Reviews program has three core activities to support Parliament, namely:

• implementation of the Policy on Results
• presentation of the government’s spending plan (expected and actual) through Estimates documents and GC InfoBase
• ensuring that compensation decisions are informed by relevant analyses

Through these activities, the program exercises an oversight and challenge role to ensure that government spending is effective in achieving tangible results of good value for Canadians.

The program has integrated GBA+ into its work by:

• adding questions on the integration of GBA+ to an annual survey on the capacity of performance measurement and evaluation functions across departments
• working with Women and Gender Equality Canada, the Department of Finance Canada, and the Privy Council Office to implement section 5 of the Canadian Gender Budgeting Act and the Budget 2019 funding for TBS to work with departments receiving Budget 2019 funding to ensure robust administrative data collection and reporting practices with respect to GBA+ information for all initiatives, including by:
• assessing the capacity of programs across government to measure their impact on gender and diversity
• developing guidance, through the template for the GBA+ supplementary information table for the 2019–20 Departmental Results Report, for programs to report their GBA+ impacts and to help make data more available
• putting in place robust administrative data collection and reporting practices to support GBA+ for all initiatives
• working with TBS’s Oversight and Treasury Board Support program, following the implementation of the Canadian Gender Budgeting Act and the 2019 Budget funding to revise the TB submission template and guidance to add specific requirements for:
• integrating GBA+ into the program design phase
• identifying the gender-based and other impacts that will be monitored, and developing the data collection and reporting plan to support this monitoring
• contributing to the development of training on how to integrate gender and other considerations into TB submissions, in compliance with the new template

Disaggregated results include the following:

• In 2018–19, 36% (41 out of 114) of departments completed and approved evaluations that included analysis of the gender-based and other impacts of a program, policy, or service. In the same year, 10 departments indicated they had difficulty measuring gender-based and other impacts when conducting evaluations
• In 2019–20, TBS developed data models to analyze the gender-based and other impacts of firms that receive support from innovation and clean technology programs. The analysis revealed that:
• from 2007–08 to 2016–17, between 13% and 15% of these firms were female-controlled
• more than 20% of these firms did not know whether they were male- or female- controlled, which suggests that the collection of information to support GBA+ still needs improvement

The Government-Wide Funds program represents funds that are held centrally to supplement other appropriations, from which allocations are made to, or payments and receipts are made on behalf of, other federal organizations.

The relationship between the allocations from central votes to departmental votes and GBA+ is to be looked at in the context of the Canadian Gender Budgeting Act, which requires that departments report on the gender-based and other impacts of their programs. See the Expenditure Data, Analysis, Results, and Reviews program above for information on how the act is implemented.

The Acquired Services and Assets Policies and Initiatives program aims to strengthen the management of assets and acquired services within the Government of Canada through the development and implementation of policy instruments governing procurement, real property, materiel management, investment planning, and project management.

The program has integrated GBA+ into its work by including gender and other considerations in the guidance being developed to help departments manage materiel, procurement, and real property. 

The program plans to increase its capacity for GBA+ by exploring other strategies for collecting information on the gender-based and other impacts of the management of procurement.

The Canadian Digital Service works with partner organizations to improve government services for the people who use them; builds capacity across government for human-centred service design and iterative development; and provides advice to inform government decisions about digital investments.

The program has integrated GBA+ into its work by:

• using human-centred design practices and agile development methods that focus on the specific needs of different users (for example, veterans and their families, newcomers to Canada, Canadians with low income, and people with disabilities)
• researching and testing how gender, language, disability, literacy, ethnicity, access to technology, and other factors impact people’s needs when they access and use a service; then building the service in a way that incorporates accessibility and inclusiveness from the start
• meeting or exceeding accessibility standards by conducting automatic checks and manual audits of digital products and services
• hosting learning events on diversity and inclusion to improve its own capacity and the capacity of the government as a whole to use inclusive service design and development practices

The Communications and Federal Identity Policies and Initiatives program is responsible for setting the requirements that enable departments to provide Canadians with information about Government of Canada decisions, policies, programs and services and support the use of a single, consistent, and coherent identity of the Government of Canada.

The program has integrated GBA+ into its work by working with departments to implement the Policy on Communications and Federal Identity and its supporting instruments. This policy requires departments to manage their communications in ways that consider the needs and interests of diverse groups of Canadians.

The program plans to increase capacity for GBA+ by developing an approach for consulting with departments to determine what actions they are taking to meet the above policy requirements when they are developing communications products and activities.

The Digital Policy program sets the strategic direction and develops policies in the areas of the management of information and data, information technology, services, access to information, privacy, and security. The program is also responsible for government-wide plans and activities in support of open government.

The program has integrated GBA+ into its work by:

• emphasizing, through the Policy on Service and Digital, client-centric service design and delivery, including the consideration of accessibility, inclusion, and choice of official language
• leveraging open government activities to support accessible and inclusive engagement by, for example:
• working with the Province of Manitoba to create an Inclusive Public Engagement Working Group that will advance the adoption of pan-Canadian inclusive public engagement principles and other open government activities
• having a third party assess proposed commitments in Canada’s National Action Plans on Open Government through a GBA+ lens before finalizing these commitments
• encouraging publication of disaggregated data on the open government portal to facilitate GBA+
• supporting implementation of the Policy Direction to Modernize the Government of Canada’s Sex and Gender Information Practices across the Government of Canada, Canada’s largest employer
• improving delivery of Government of Canada services to the public by updating its policy instruments to incorporate requirements that departments consider gender diversity in how they provide services to the public and requirements for how the government conducts itself as Canada’s largest employer

Results related to gender and to other factors include that 26% (89 out of 339) of all priority services across government have performed GBA+ since 2014–15.

The program plans to increase capacity for GBA+ by:

• reviewing disaggregated data on client satisfaction with Government of Canada services when the results of the 2022 Citizens First survey are released
• developing an open-government maturity model to help government institutions:
  • understand their maturity level in relation to open government
  • track and report on their progress in priority areas, including those relating to GBA+ themes

The Digital Strategy, Planning, and Oversight program supports the Government of Canada’s enterprise digital transformation objectives and enables departments to meet priorities by providing enterprise strategic planning and digital investment oversight, and supporting cybersecurity and digital enablement initiatives and activities.

The program has integrated GBA+ into its work by considering how  the Government of Canada digital identity program, which aims to give users a consistent authentication experience when they log into government services, impacts marginalized, diverse populations that face barriers in accessing government services in remote areas

The Financial Management Policies and Initiatives program plays a lead role in supporting the commitment of the Office of the Comptroller General to strengthen financial management, oversight, and reporting within the Government of Canada.

The program has integrated GBA+ into its work by preparing periodic demographic snapshots of government employees who work in finance in order to inform discussions on diversity and inclusion in areas such as recruitment, career development, and training.

The Financial Management Transformation program is modernizing the financial and materiel management business model across government, to provide more timely access to reliable, consistent government-wide information, and ensure that financial management services better enable the delivery of programs for Canadians and remain cost effective and sustainable.

The program plans to increase capacity for GBA+ by raising awareness about and monitoring the gender and other impacts of new financial and materiel management solutions as they are implemented in departments.

The Greening Government Operations program leads the implementation of the Greening Government Strategy, the goal of which is low-carbon, resilient and green Government of Canada operations.

The program has integrated GBA+ into its work by conducting GBA+ when developing policy proposals. In general, efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions benefit vulnerable populations, which are disproportionately affected by climate change.

The Internal Audit Policies and Initiatives program is responsible for maintaining a modern internal audit policy suite and overseeing the function for the Government of Canada.

The program has integrated GBA+ into its work by:

• monitoring the diversity of Departmental Audit Committees members and taking action to increase it where needed
• assessing risks in relation to gender and other factors as part of its annual audit plan review, which identifies and prioritizes planned internal audit engagements

Disaggregated results include that in May 2019, the representation of all under-represented groups on Departmental Audit Committees fully aligned with labour market availability for those groups. However, a rise in the labour market availability of persons with a disability created a gap when updated rates were released in June 2019. Efforts continue to be deployed to attract and recruit qualified individuals from this group.

The program plans to increase capacity for GBA+ by developing an internal audit oversight portal that will allow direct upload of audit products from departments, enabling refined search capabilities for gender-based and other data from risk-based audit plans and internal audit reports.

The Management Accountability Framework and Policy Suite Integrity program administers the Management Accountability Framework (MAF), a key tool of oversight that is used by TBS. The program is also responsible for working with experts within TBS to clarify and streamline the Treasury Board policy suite, the set of administrative rules that govern the way departments operate.

The program has integrated GBA+ into its work by:

• collecting departmental data on the representation of members of employment equity groups (women, Indigenous employees, visible minorities, and persons with disabilities), as part of the people management assessment of the MAF
• measuring and tracking departmental practices related to diversity and inclusion

Note

Data on workforce representation is reported in the Annual Report on Employment Equity in the Public Service. See the programs in the Employer section below for more details.

The Public Service Accessibility program was created to support the Government of Canada in meeting the requirements of the Accessible Canada Act. The program is charged with developing an overarching strategy and implementation plan to help the federal public service be ready to meet the requirements of the act and establishing a Centralized Enabling Workplace Fund to invest in new tools, research and projects to improve workplace accommodation practices and eliminate barriers that contribute to the need for individual accommodation.

The program has integrated GBA+ into its work by:

• improving the federal government’s understanding of how disability intersects with other identity factors such as age, gender, sexual orientation and ethnicity to influence outcomes such as workplace accommodation, rates of harassment, stress and mental health among public service employees, through work with partners, including academic researchers
• administering the Centralized Enabling Workplace Fund which invests in research, tools and innovation aimed at improving workplace accommodation practices and removing barriers that create a need for accommodation

Disaggregated results include the following:

• According to the 2019 Public Service Employee Survey, 65% of employees with a disability feel little or no stress due to accessibility or accommodation issues; the rate for employees without a disability was 85%. Additional results from the survey, disaggregated by employees with and without a disability, are available on the following web page: 2019 Public Service Employee Survey Results for the Public Service by Question 108. Are you a person with a disability?

Data related to workforce representation, including for persons with a disability, is reported in the Annual Report on Employment Equity in the Public Service

Actions to remove and prevent barriers for persons with a disability also benefit other equity groups since 53% of persons with a disability are women, 10% are members of a visible minority, and 7% are Indigenous

The Compensation and Labour Relations program supports the Treasury Board in its role as the employer for the core public administration to ensure that terms and conditions of employment are fairly negotiated, that compensation is equitable and appropriate, and that departments and agencies are equipped to meet their accountabilities with respect to labour relations and managing compensation. The program also provides support in establishing strategic direction for the public service to prevent and resolve workplace harassment.

The program integrated GBA+ into its work during the 2018 round of bargaining by:

• expanding benefits to make them more inclusive, for example, it broadened the definition of “family” for family-related responsibilities, care of family, and bereavement leave entitlements in most agreements
• improving parental and maternity leave provisions to give new parents greater flexibility
• added provisions for paid leave in situations of domestic violence
• establishing a joint committee with the Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada to review the collective agreements to identify opportunities to make language more gender-inclusive

The program integrated GBA+ into its work in the context of Budget 2019, as part of complying with the new Pay Equity Act, by assessing the gender-neutrality of proposed job evaluation standards before they were submitted to the Treasury Board.

The Public Service Employee Survey includes questions about labour relations matters, such as collective agreements, terms and conditions of employment, and harassment. The 2019 survey results,  disaggregated by various demographic characteristics, are available online: 2019 Public Service Employee Survey Results for the Public Service by Demographic Characteristics.

The Executive Policies and Initiatives program fosters government-wide excellence in executive leadership and management through modern and agile policy frameworks. The program supports deputy heads and heads of human resources with policy advice and support to enable a high-performing and diverse executive cadre.

The program has integrated GBA+ into its work by advancing work on inclusion data and analytics to identify long-term trends in representation of employment equity groups at the executive level.

For disaggregated results, refer to the People Management Policies and Initiatives program.

The Pension and Benefits Management program manages the public service pension and group insurance benefit plans, including disability insurance and the public service health care and dental care plans, and supports the funding and financing of the public sector pension and benefit plans.

The program has integrated GBA+ into its work by completing, in May 2019, a GBA+ exercise to examine whether the design of the proposed Employee Wellness Support Program would create inequalities for any particular group of employees. The exercise found that:

• steps had been taken to minimize unintended bias in the decision-making process
• income replacement benefits and annual sick leave provisions would likely have a positive impact for the vast majority of public servants
• the program could help provide equity for women and members of visible minority groups

The Pension and Benefits Management program also:

• examined policy proposals related to the employer’s position on the Public Service Health Care Plan renewal through a GBA+ lens
• conducted GBA+ on pensionable leave without pay periods
• prepared a GBA+ of the public service pension plan, which is to be updated regularly with new data from published annual and actuarial reports on the public service pension plan

TBS holds funds centrally to supplement appropriations, from which allocations are made on behalf of other federal organizations. These funds provide payments for the employer’s share of health, income maintenance and life insurance premiums; payments to or in respect of provincial health insurance plans, payroll taxes and provincial taxes; the reimbursement of employment insurance premium rebates; and payments of administration costs.

Budget 2019 provided funding for an arbitral award made in respect of the Public Service Dental Care Plan. The funding enhanced coverage under the plan and is expected to contribute equally toward the wellness of all plan members and their eligible dependents.

The Pensions and Benefits Management program section of this table contains additional details.

The People Management Systems and Processes program supports the Chief Human Resources (HR) Officer of Canada who, as the business owner, is responsible for providing coordinated and strategic oversight for enterprise-wide HR systems, processes, standards and controls. The program is currently executing the business owner functions in response to the Phoenix pay crisis and the NextGen Initiative, which is exploring a future HR and pay solution for the Government of Canada.

The program has integrated GBA+ into its work by:

• making its communication products on human resources systems and related courses more inclusive by using gender-neutral language
• using a rigorous evaluation process to prequalify three vendors for the Next Generation HR-to-Pay Initiative. As part of that process, it:
• selected members of the evaluation teams to ensure a representation of gender and diversity groups
• set diversity goals for the composition of the Next Generation team and for its engagement methodologies to ensure that the diversity of the Government of Canada workforce was reflected

The program plans to increase capacity for GBA+ by conducting a GBA+ exercise on the employee performance and talent management program in 2021–22, subject to resource availability.

The People Management Policies and Initiatives program supports the Treasury Board in establishing strategic direction for people management and for the use of official languages for work and services to the public. It seeks to provide the foundation for excellence to manage a productive public service that is healthy, safe, and inclusive. In doing so, the program contributes to the attraction, retention, and development of a skilled and diverse workforce that can communicate in both official languages.

The recruitment and retention of a skilled and diverse workforce, including at the executive level, that reflects the population it serves is a cornerstone of effective people management in the public service and helps build Canadians’ trust in government. In 2019–20, the target for the overall public service was to at least meet the workforce availability rates for the four employment equity groups (women, Indigenous employees, visible minorities, and persons with disabilities).

The program has integrated GBA+ into its work by:

• leading engagement and outreach activities, including in-person meetings with over 1,000 managers across Canada, to raise awareness about the value of wellness, inclusion and diversity, which creates the foundation for understanding the need for GBA+
• developing a wellness, inclusion and diversity strategy with six partner organizations across the public service. The strategy included initiatives such as one led by Women and Gender Equality Canada to enhance the GBA+ analytical tool to better account for diversity beyond binary gender. TBS supported the initiative by participating in the working group to enhance the tool.
• modernizing the questionnaire that asks employees whether they belong to one or more of the four designated groups under the Employment Equity Act (women, visible minorities, Indigenous people, persons with disabilities) to apply a wider lens
• conducting a GBA+ exercise as part of the review of the Official Languages (Communications with and Services to the Public) Regulations), which were amended in June 2019, with the goal of making the regulations as inclusive as possible

Disaggregated results include the following:

• So that departments could focus on responding to the COVID-19 pandemic, TBS postponed collecting data on workforce demographics for 2019–20. It was therefore not available for inclusion in its 2019–20 Departmental Results Report. Collection and reconciliation of that data is underway, and TBS will provide this information to Parliament when it is available.
• Although the final data for 2019–20 was not available at the time of publishing, the public service has been meeting or exceeding workforce availability rates for women, Indigenous peoples, and members of visible minorities. At the executive level, representation rates for women and members of visible minorities have been exceeding workforce availability, but rates for Indigenous persons and persons with a disability have been falling short of their availability in the workforce.
• Detailed data on workforce representation in the public service is reported in the Annual Report on Employment Equity in the Public Service.
• The actions taken by TBS in 2019–20 to address the gaps in representation and build a more inclusive culture are outlined in TBS’s 2019–20 Departmental Results Report.
• Results of the 2019 Public Service Employee Survey, disaggregated by various demographic characteristics, including employment group, are available on the following webpage: 2019 Public Service Employee Survey Results for the Public Service by Demographic Characteristics.

The Regulatory Policy, Oversight, and Cooperation program provides leadership and management of the Government’s regulatory function, federal regulatory policy including the Cabinet Directive on Regulation, and regulatory reform agenda.

The program has integrated GBA+ into its work by providing advice to departments to help them meet the requirement in the Cabinet Directive on Regulation to assess the social and economic impacts of each regulatory proposal on diverse groups of Canadians.

Results relating to gender and to other factors include that, based on available data, in 2019–20, 62% (16 out of 26) of the regulatory impact analysis statements for medium- to high-cost regulatory proposals indicated whether the proposal had any potential gender or other impacts. Certain proposals were already largely developed before the new requirements came into effect; therefore, no assessment was included. 

The program plans to increase capacity for GBA+ by developing new metrics to capture departments’ compliance with the GBA+ requirements in the Cabinet Directive on Regulation. It plans to begin reporting in 2022–23.

Internal services are those groups of related activities and resources that the federal government considers to be services in support of programs and/or required to meet corporate obligations of an organization. Internal services refers to activities that support program delivery in the organization, regardless of the internal services delivery model in a department.

The focus in this table is on TBS’s Human Resources Management Services.

In 2019–20, TBS internal services integrated GBA+ into their work by:

• beginning to apply, the Policy Direction to Modernize the Government of Canada’s Sex and Gender Information Practices in the department
• renewing efforts to raise awareness and promote inclusion for all genders and other identity factors in the department
• using the Talent Acquisition Strategy, developed in 2019–20, to promote programs and initiatives that managers can use to hire diverse talent

Disaggregated results include the following:

• In 2019–20, there were no gaps between workforce availability and representation at the executive and management levels for women, persons with disabilities, or visible minorities. There was, however, a gap at the executive level for Aboriginal peoples and gaps at various classification levels for all employment equity groups in the department
• According to the results of the 2019 Public Service Employee Survey, male and female TBS employees experience similar levels of career satisfaction. Responses from the 11 employees who identified as gender-diverse were less positive in certain areas. Results include the following:
• 85% of males, 81% of females, and 82% of gender-diverse employees agree that in their work unit, every individual is accepted as an equal member of the team
• 83% of males, 74% females, and 60% of gender-diverse employees indicated that they receive meaningful recognition for work well done
• 78% of males, 77% females, and 71% of gender-diverse employees indicated that they receive positive feedback from their immediate supervisor on job performance
• 62% of males, 60% females, and 34% of gender diverse employees indicated that they have opportunities for promotion

All of TBS’s results for the 2019 Public Service Employee Survey, including results disaggregated by various demographic characteristics, are available on the following webpage: 2019 Public Service Employee Survey Results by Theme for Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat by Demographic Characteristics

TBS Internal Services plans to increase capacity for GBA+ by:

• enhancing its human resources data analytics capacity so that it can add a GBA+ lens to some facets of its human resources data to help inform decision-making by management
• reviewing its Talent Acquisition Strategy and developing a staffing plan to address the gaps identified in the most recent workforce availability information