Appearance by the Minister before the Standing Committee on Public Accounts – November 7, 2023

Official title: Appearance by the Minister for Women and Gender Equality and Youth before the Standing Committee on Public Accounts (PACP)

Date: November 7, 2023

Study: Gender-based analysis (GBA) plus

The Deputy Minister was also present and received the binder for this parliamentary committee appearance.

Opening remarks

Before I begin, I would like to acknowledge that I’m speaking with you from the traditional, unceded territory of the Algonquin Aninashinaabe people.

Thank you, Mr. Chair and members of the Committee for your invitation to discuss our collaborative work we have underway in response to the Auditor General’s 2022 report on the implementation of Gender-Based Analysis Plus.

Joining me today from Women and Gender Equality Canada is my colleague Leila Boussaid, Director General, Research, Data and Intersectionality Branch.

I would like to thank the Auditor General and her Office for their work on GBA Plus. Canada is one of few countries that has benefited from regular audits on its approach to gender equality mainstreaming.

Created as a full department in 2018, WAGE’s role in GBA Plus is twofold: we act as a convenor, a knowledge broker and a capacity builder as it relates to women’s equality and on equality for gender-diverse people; to the application of GBA Plus, and its evolution to intersectional approaches that take into account the different experiences and interactions that diverse groups of women, men and gender-diverse people have with systems, structures and institutions.

As our colleagues from the Auditor General have noted, interest and capacity for GBA Plus has grown steadily with time. Canada is becoming more and more diverse, as we know, which means we must continue to evolve our approaches to ensure we remain relevant to the people we serve. Statistics Canada estimates that approximately 25% of Canadians are racialized, and that in 18 years from now (in 2041), it will be around 40%. That’s about 2 in 5 Canadians. Approximately one in five people in Canada aged 15 years and over, 24% of women and 20% of men, report having a disability, based on the 2017 Canadian Survey on Disability.

Based on our responsibility to evolve to meet the needs of Canada and Canadians, and feedback received from the OAG Audits, as well as the March 2022 Senate Standing Committee on Social Affairs, Science and Technology report on the role of GBA Plus in the policy process, WAGE has been implementing recommendations to ensure the impacts of an enhanced GBA Plus analysis continues.

WAGE has taken action to promote a greater understanding of intersectionality, by clarifying methodology, updating training, and developing a new suite of tools for federal public servants. In addition, WAGE has leveraged GBA Plus Awareness Weeks to promote greater understanding of intersectionality. The 2023 iteration of Awareness Week was held under the theme, “Building a More Inclusive Future for All.” The theme was selected to reinforce GBA Plus’s intersectional design and objectives of advancing equality and inclusion for everyone. As part of these events, two panels on intersectional approaches were held with Deputy Ministers. Together these two events drew over 2000 participants.

We continue to support opportunities for collaboration and peer-to-peer learning, enabling GBA Plus practitioners to share best practices, and become leaders within their communities of practice and continue to build competency across the federal government, including working with others inside and outside government on ensuring we are building awareness of culturally relevant analysis, using tools that communities with lived experience have developed.

We’ve also built more robust governance structures, including key colleagues at the Deputy Minister level whose organizational mandates include cross-government leadership in areas such as anti-racism, disability inclusion, and relations with Indigenous peoples, to facilitate strategic coordination across departments and agencies.

WAGE in the process of revising the cross-government GBA Plus implementation Survey to address methodological limitations – including some raised by the Office of the Auditor General, the Senate Committee and other experts – to improve our monitoring and public reporting on the application and impacts of GBA Plus.

Canada is learning from other countries as they also evolve their approaches, and many other countries who are at earlier stages of thinking on equity, diversity and inclusion are also learning from Canada.

We’re moving in the right direction, and we are committed to continuing this work because it is about better serving Canadians today, and tomorrow.

Thank you.

Status of the Auditor General’s Recommendations since May 2022

Issue/question

What have been WAGE’s actions to address the Auditor General’s recommendations since the 2022 spring report on GBA Plus implementation.

Suggested response

To respond to the Auditor General’s recommendations, since May 2022, WAGE:

WAGE commits to continue working with:

WAGE will continue to:

Background

The 2022 Auditor General Report on GBA Plus implementation is a follow-up to selected recommendations from the 2015 GBA Plus Auditor General Report, specifically focussing on the Department of Women and Gender Equality, Treasury Board Secretariat, and Privy Council Office. The 2022 Report also examined the use and availability of data to support GBA Plus.

Since that time, Women and Gender Equality Canada made progress within its mandate and role to address the Auditor General’s findings.  For example, in the 2022 Spring Report to Parliament, the Auditor General made recommendations that WAGE responded to:

  1. Recommendation 3.33: PCO and TBS provide timely and documented feedback to departments and agencies on the application of gender-based analysis plus (GBA Plus) in their Treasury Board submissions and share this feedback with Women and Gender Equality Canada (WAGE). Departments and agencies should then make future cycle improvements to strengthen the application of GBA Plus.

In response, WAGE committed to identify persistent gaps in applying GBA Plus based on PCO and TBS feedback to departments and agencies on their Memoranda to Cabinets and Treasury Board submissions and integrate this feedback in developing tools and resources.

  1. Recommendation 3.45: Women and Gender Equality Canada should ensure its efforts as a leader and centre of expertise to help advance gender-based analysis plus across all of the federal government.

In response, WAGE committed to reinforce its efforts as a leader and centre of expertise by going back to its core roles as a:

  1. Recommendation 3.57: The Privy Council Office, the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat and the Department of Women and Gender Equality should, within their respective mandates, work with other departments and agencies to ensure that disaggregated data is sought, compiled and used in the design, delivery, and measurement of all policies, programs, and initiatives.

In response, WAGE is working with Statistics Canada to implement the Disaggregated Data Action Plan (DDAP), a whole-of-government approach, to reveal challenges faced by the most vulnerable populations in the country and helping create a more equitable Canada. To better understand the inequalities of diverse population groups, the DDAP adopts a GBA Plus lens to critically analyze all intersecting identity factors.

WAGE’s Step-by-Step GBA Plus Guidance emphasizes the importance of using disaggregated data in all phases of the policy development process - from identifying the issue, to analyzing the simultaneous needs, differences and inequalities among groups, to developing options, and to implementation, monitoring and evaluation of an initiative. 

  1. Recommendation 3.66: WAGE, with the support of PCO and TBS, regularly and comprehensively monitor and publicly report on the status of GBA Plus implementation across the federal government, including plans to advance GBA Plus implementation.

In response, WAGE specifically meets annually with TBS and PCO to discuss the monitoring and reporting of GBA Plus implementation; future plans; and to provide input into WAGE’s departmental GBA Plus implementation survey.

WAGE in consultation with TBS, PCO and other federal departments continuously revise, and update as required the survey questionnaire to enhance it’s methodology. The new and latest survey will be launched in November 2023. The results will be published on the WAGE website by June 2024.

The results of all previous GBA Plus implementation surveys are currently available on WAGE website to monitor impact, growth and improvement.

This recommendation also further aligns with the recent Government Response to the Standing Committee on Social Affairs, Science and Technology’s recommendation on GBA Plus implementation public reporting.

WAGE has been an integral partner in establishing GBA Plus as a key tool for gender budgeting in Canada. For Budget 2023, the scope of these supports has included working with departments and agencies advancing key priorities. This is to ensure that initiatives consider equality, fairness, and inclusion in their design and leverage data to better track the impact of such initiatives over time. These collaborative efforts have been strengthening GBA Plus across all aspects of government policy development and decision-making processes, consistent with the recent OAG recommendations.

  1. Recommendation 3.88: WAGE in collaboration with other responsible departments and agencies and central agencies, should develop specific and measurable targets for the results frameworks that it leads and to which it contributes and develop and implement a plan and monitor results to improve the availability of data for the intersectional identity factors relevant to all indicators used in related frameworks.

In response, WAGE in collaboration with other departments and agencies and central agencies continue their work to develop specific and measurable targets for the results frameworks and is currently exploring options to make the Gender Results Framework more intersectional.

Gender-based Analysis Plus (GBA Plus)

Issue/question

What is the government doing to improve the implementation of GBA Plus?

Suggested response

Background

Gender-based Analysis Plus (GBA Plus) is an analytical tool used to support the development of responsive and inclusive policies, programs, and other initiatives. GBA Plus is a process for understanding who is impacted by the issue or opportunity being addressed by the initiative and how, identifying how the initiative could be tailored to meet diverse needs of the people most impacted, and anticipating and mitigating any barriers to accessing or benefitting from the initiative. GBA Plus is an intersectional analysis that goes beyond biological (sex) and socio­cultural (gender) differences to consider other factors, such as age, disability, education, ethnicity, economic status, geography, language, race, religion, and sexual orientation.

As a centre of expertise, WAGE plays the role of convener, knowledge broker, and capacity builder. In that context, WAGE efforts focus on:

Strengthening GBA Plus

GBA Plus is the result of a sustained commitment over close to 30 years. It has evolved over time and is guided by a process of continuous improvement. Changes have been informed by a wide range of evidence and inputs.

2021 mandate letter commitments directed Minister Ien to lead the evaluation process of GBA Plus with the goal of enhancing the framing and parameters of this analytical tool, with particular attention to intersectional analysis, so that it better reflects the lived experiences of all people of Canada.

To advance work on this mandate commitment, WAGE has worked with key federal partners and has engaged extensively. This process has confirmed opportunities for improvement, many of which are possible within existing resources. This includes better coordination and consolidation of efforts, which can go a long way in responding to recommendations made by both the Auditor General and those made by the Standing Senate Committee on Social Affairs, Science and Technology.

This work has also allowed for a more nuanced understanding of some of the barriers to full GBA Plus implementation. For example:

Gender budgeting

While the Department of Finance was not one of the audited entities, increasingly Finance is actively contributing to efforts to increase coherence and impact of GBA Plus focusing on Canada’s budget process. The Canadian Gender Budgeting Act, which came into force in December 2018, provides an unprecedented opportunity to enshrine gender and equality, fairness, and inclusion considerations as a permanent feature of the federal government’s budgetary and financial management process.

The Act has three key requirements:

  1. Reporting on new budget measures: The Minister of Finance must table, before each House of Parliament, on any of the first 30 days on which that House is sitting after the day on which a budget plan is tabled in Parliament, a report on the impacts in terms of gender and diversity of all new budget measures described in the plan, if an assessment of the impacts is not included in the budget plan or any related documents that the Minister has made public.
  2. Analysis of tax expenditures: The Minister of Finance must annually make available to the public analysis of impacts in terms of gender and diversity of the tax expenditures, such as tax exemptions, deductions or credits that the Minister considers appropriate.
  3. Review of existing programs and expenditures: In addition to mandatory GBA Plus requirements related to new government initiatives, the Act requires that the President of the Treasury Board make information available to the public on an annual basis on existing expenditure programs as it relates to impacts on gender and diversity.

Since the Act came into force in 2018, improvements have been made with each budget. While the fall 2021 election imposed a short budget cycle for Budget 2022, which limited the support WAGE could provide to that budget, Budget 2023 provided opportunities for WAGE to support the budget process early on and more substantially, including a pre-budget presentation to members of the Interdepartmental Committee on GBA Plus, support for GBA Plus training at Finance Canada, updating the budget GBA Plus template, and a review of almost two-dozen selected GBA Pluses undertaken for the budget.

As a result, Budget 2023 includes a gender budget statement and the publication of more than 200 GBA Plus summaries of budget measures, continuing a practice introduced in Budget 2019. In terms of the GBA Plus of Budget 2023:

GBA Plus as part of the implementation of the Impact Assessment Act

WAGE supports the Impact Assessment Agency of Canada and partner departments on the implementation of the 2019 Impact Assessment Act. This legislation requires that proponents of major initiatives, including resource projects, apply GBA Plus to project planning and implementation to assess potential project impacts on different groups of people.

Through this legislation, WAGE is working to ensure that the negative impacts of projects are mitigated, including those related to gender-based violence, and that the benefits of these projects are felt equally among different groups of people.

Both Indigenous Services Canada and Crown-Indigenous Relations Canada are important partners in the implementation of this legislation and in the application of GBA Plus from an Indigenous perspective.

Overview of progress on previous OAG audits and Standing Senate Committee on Social Affairs, Science and Technology (SOCI)recommendations on GBA Plus

Issue/question

What is the government doing to address recommendations to improve GBA Plus?

Suggested response

Background

Recommendations in previous reports

The 2009 audit of by the Auditor General of Canada reviewed GBA practices in nine departments and found uneven implementation of GBA and little evidence of its influence on decision-making. The Auditor General made several recommendations for improving the application of GBA Plus, including:

The 2015 Report of the Auditor General of Canada, “Implementing Gender-Based Analysis”, highlighted the need to do more to fully implement GBA as a rigorous practice across government. In particular, the Auditor General made several recommendations, including:

Following the 2015 audit, the Standing Committees on Public Accounts (PACP) and Status of Women (FEWO) released separate reports on the state of GBA Plus in the Government of Canada. FEWO recommendations included calls for improved governance, legislated requirements for GBA Plus, the promotion of intersectional GBA Plus, mandatory GBA Plus training, and requirements that GBA Plus be integrated in cabinet documents as well as departmental plans and reporting. PACP recommendations stressed the need for mandatory requirements to complete GBA Plus in MCs and TB submissions and to report back to the Committee on progress. Interim and final progress reports were provided to both committees in March 2017 and 2018 respectively. In response to reports on GBA Plus implementation by the PACP and FEWO, the Government committed to update both Committees on progress. The Department has done so by providing updates on Action Plan commitments through an interim report in 2017, and a final report in 2018.

The Government of Canada commissioned the OECD to undertake a review of the gender equality ecosystem, including GBA Plus application, governance and budgeting practices. The review, released in June 2018, provided a number of recommendations for GBA Plus, including:

The 2022 Report of the Auditor General of Canada on GBA Plus highlighted persistent gaps and the need to do more to fully implement GBA as a rigorous practice across government. In particular, the Auditor General made several recommendations, including:

Progress on previous report recommendations

WAGE, in collaboration with central agencies, line departments and other GBA Plus delivery partners, has made significant progress on all previous recommendations related to GBA Plus noted above. In particular:

Moreover, in recent years, the Government has implemented a number of non-legislative requirements for the application of GBA Plus (2015 FEWO report; 2015 PACP report), including:

In 2019, TBS issued guidance to line departments communicating expectations for applying GBA Plus to evaluations of programs (2015 FEWO report; 2015 PACP report; 2018 OECD report).

In 2019, WAGE collaborated with PCO and TBS to develop criteria for assessing the quality of GBA Plus (2018 OECD report). These criteria allowed WAGE and the central agencies to make formal assessments of the quality of GBA Plus in decision-making documents (2009 audit). These criteria also allowed for the development of guidance by central agencies with respect to expectations for the application of GBA Plus in decision-making documents (2009 audit).

In 2016, WAGE established whole-of-government governance structures and other mechanisms for identifying barriers to GBA Plus application, and for monitoring and reporting on its implementation and impacts. For example, WAGE established an interdepartmental network of GBA Plus Champions at the senior executive level, as well as a committee of GBA Plus focal points, who meet quarterly to discuss promising practices, barriers to implementation and strategies for addressing barriers. In addition, WAGE and the Canada School of Public Service established an interdepartmental Learning Advisory Working Group, as well as a Capacity-building Working Group in order to provide advice to WAGE, CSPS and central agencies on addressing barriers and strengthening departmental capacity (2015 audit; 2015 FEWO report; 2018 OECD report).

WAGE assesses and reports on GBA Plus application annually through information gathered from these governance committees, as well as from the annual GBA Plus Implementation Survey, initiated in 2016.

The results are shared annually with all Deputy Ministers through the Public Service Management Accountability Committee. In addition, WAGE has shared results of early implementation surveys through its departmental website. Finally, PCO and TBS each undertake an annual review of a sample of MCs and TB Submissions to assess the quality of GBA Plus application. Reports are produced and shared with WAGE (2015 audit).

In order to support departments in the early application of GBA Plus in the policy cycle, to address persistent barriers to GBA Plus application, and to strengthen GBA Plus and intersectionality considerations in cabinet and other decision-making documents, WAGE has developed a series of tools, resources and training since 2012. In particular:

In December 2018, through the Department for Women and Gender Equality Act, the Government of Canada expanded the mandate of the former Status of Women beyond women’s equality, to include broader considerations of gender equality and intersectional considerations (2018 OECD report). In addition, the legislation clarified WAGE’s authority for strengthening GBA Plus application and for promoting a greater understanding of intersectionality (2018 OECD report).

Having identified data availability as a persistent barrier to its optimal application (2015 audit, 2022 audit), the Government of Canada has made significant investments in improving the availability and access to disaggregated data (2018 OECD report).

In addition, in 2018, the Government of Canada announced investments in a new Centre for Gender, Diversity and Inclusion Statistics at Statistics Canada. In 2019, this Centre launched a Gender, Diversity and Inclusion Statistics Hub where all disaggregated data are housing, categorized and made accessible in various analytical formats.

In response to more recent recommendations made by the Auditor General and/or SOCI, WAGE has taken several steps to build capacity and improve the quality of intersectional evidence to better inform government policies, programs and initiatives including:

Gender-based Analysis Plus: Roles, responsibilities and tools

Issue/question

Who is responsible for applying GBA Plus in decision-making within the federal government and what resources are in place to support its application?

Suggested response

Background

Roles in GBA Plus

Women and Gender Equality Canada (WAGE) supports the whole-of-government implementation of GBA Plus through the development of training and tools to support federal departments and agencies in applying GBA Plus. The department is also responsible for monitoring the government’s implementation of GBA Plus and for providing technical advice and guidance to central agencies and line departments on the application of GBA Plus.

The Privy Council Office, the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat, and other departments can directly consult Women and Gender Equality Canada as a centre of expertise when applying GBA Plus or developing related internal policies, guidance, and plans.

The Privy Council Office (PCO) has the responsibility to review department and agency submissions, such as Memoranda to Cabinet, which are presented to Cabinet for approval. These submissions are important steps in the policy life cycle of government. Analysts in the Privy Council Office guide departmental and agency staff to add and adjust content when they are submitting funding requests or other proposals. This role of the central agencies is to ensure that departments and agencies apply GBA Plus in their proposed policy, legislative, and program initiatives.

The Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat (TBS) has the responsibility to review department and agency Treasury Board submissions, which are presented to Cabinet for approval. These submissions are important steps in the policy life cycle of government as they provide details on design, implementation and monitoring of federal initiatives.

Finance Canada leads on gender budgeting under the Canadian Gender Budgeting Act. Under the Act, the Minister of Finance must table before each House of Parliament a report on the impacts in terms of gender and diversity of all new budget measures, if an assessment of the impacts is not included in the budget plan or any related documents that the Minister has made public. In addition, the Minister of Finance must annually make available to the public analysis of impacts in terms of gender and diversity of the tax expenditures. As the Government of Canada’s centre of expertise on gender equality, WAGE works with Finance Canada on the implementation of the Canadian Gender Budgeting Act and the drafting of the Statement on Gender Equality and Diversity.

Federal departments and agencies are required to integrate GBA Plus into all decision-making, including Memoranda to Cabinet, Treasury Board Submissions, federal budget proposals, and regulations.

Resources available to federal departments and agencies

Training
Resources

Since 2017, the following tools and resources have been made available to federal public servants and the general public, through WAGE’s website:

In addition, in June 2021, a new suite of tools to support public servants in applying rigorous intersectional GBA Plus has been piloted. Tools include a Step-by-Step Guide and Quick Reference tool with key questions to consider when doing GBA Plus, as well as a Compendium of tools on each of the individual identity factors to consider when doing GBA Plus. These tools included key statistics and considerations for each factor. These tools are currently being updated further to engagement on the strengths and weaknesses of the tools. These will continue to be improved over time so that public servants have the guidance required to apply GBA plus from an intersectional perspective.

Application of Gender-based Analysis Plus

Issue/question

How is the Government of Canada supporting the capacity of public servants to apply GBA Plus to decision-making?

Suggested response

The Government of Canada is growing capacity for greater consideration of GBA Plus in decision making by:

WAGE has also doubled down on efforts to grow capacity specific to decision-making processes including:

Background

Gender-based Analysis Plus (GBA Plus) is an analytical tool used to support the development of responsive and inclusive policies, programs, and other initiatives. It is a process for understanding who is impacted by the issues we seek to address, identifying how initiatives could be tailored to meet diverse needs; and anticipating and mitigating any barriers to accessing or benefitting from the initiative.

GBA Plus is intersectional in its design, which means that it goes beyond biological (sex) and socio-cultural (gender) differences to consider other factors, such as age, disability, education, ethnicity, economic status, geography, language, race, religion, and sexual orientation, as well as social context, including social norms, attitudes and systemic discrimination.

Efforts to advance government-wide capacity for robust GBA Plus

The evolution of GBA Plus: A timeline

1995: Commitment to GBA

2007: GBA Mandatory in Submissions to TBS

2011: Rebranding to GBA Plus

2015: Auditor General Audit of GBA Plus

2016: GBA Plus Action Plan

2018: Budget 2018

2019: Mainstreaming GBA Plus

2021-2022: Strengthening GBA Plus

Committee overview

Mandate

When the Speaker tables a report by the Auditor General in the House of Commons, it is automatically referred to the Public Accounts Committee. The Committee selects the chapters of the report it wants to study and calls the Auditor General and senior public servants from the audited organizations to appear before it to respond to the Office of the Auditor General’s findings. The Committee also reviews the federal government’s consolidated financial statements – the Public Accounts of Canada – and examines financial and/or accounting shortcomings raised by the Auditor General. At the conclusion of a study, the Committee may present a report to the House of Commons that includes recommendations to the government for improvements in administrative and financial practices and controls of federal departments and agencies.

Government policy, and the extent to which policy objectives are achieved, are generally not examined by the Public Accounts Committee. Instead, the Committee focuses on government administration – the economy and efficiency of program delivery as well as the adherence to government policies, directives and standards. The Committee seeks to hold the government to account for effective public administration and due regard for public funds.

Pursuant to Standing Order 108(3) of the House of Commons, the mandate of the Standing Committee on Public Accounts is to review and report on:

The Committee also reviews:

Other responsibilities

PACP Members

Conservative Party of Canada

Liberal Party of Canada

Bloc Québécois

Nathalie Sinclair-Desgagné - Second Vice-Chair (Quebec)
Nathalie Sinclair-Desgagné

Bloc Québécois Member of Parliament Nathalie Sinclair-Desgagné was elected as MP for Terrebonne in the 2021 federal election.

She is the BQ Critic for Public Accounts; Pandemic Programs; and Federal Economic Development Agencies.

MP Nathalie Sinclair-Desgagné is also the vice-Chair of the Subcommittee on Agenda and Procedure of the Standing Committee on Public Accounts.

Before her election, she has worked at the European Investment Bank and at PWC London.

She then returned to Quebec in 2017 to pursue a career in the Quebec business world.

Bloc Québécois

Blake Desjarlais (Alberta)
Blake Desjarlais

Blake Desjarlais was elected as MP for Edmonton Greisbach in 2021.

Blake Desjarlais is the NDP Critic for Treasury Board; Diversity and Inclusion; Youth; Sport; and Post-secondary Education.  He is also the Deputy Critic for 2SLGBTQI+ Rights; Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship

Is also a member of the Subcommittee on Agenda and Procedure of the Standing Committee on Public Accounts

MP Desjarlais is also the first openly Two-Spirit person to be an MP, and Alberta’s only Indigenous Member of Parliament.

Related information

Page details

Date modified: