In Canada, based on median income and wages for people aged 25-54, the gender gap stood at 28% in favour of men in terms annual employment income and at 12% in terms of hourly wages (full-time). Moreover, women account only for 19% of board members of publicly traded companies. To address systemic inequalities, the Government of Canada employs an analytical process known as Gender-based Analysis Plus (GBA Plus). Its original iteration as GBA primarily focused on gender differences, the “Plus” was adopted in 2011 to encourage the consideration of multiple factors that shape experiences, perspectives and outcomes, beyond sex and gender. GBA Plus is an analytical tool that supports the development of responsive and inclusive policies, programmes and initiatives. GBA Plus is a process for understanding who is impacted by the issue or opportunity being addressed by the initiative, identifying how the initiative could be tailored to meet diverse needs of the 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 socio-cultural (gender) differences to consider other factors, such as age, disability, education, ethnicity, economic status, geography (including rurality), language, race, religion and sexual orientation. GBA Plus aims to create more inclusive policies that better serve all members of society by taking intersecting identify factors into account.
Gender-Based Analysis Plus (GBA Plus) – Canada
Abstract
GBA Plus is applied by the Canadian Government to reduce inequalities in a variety of initiatives, including policies, programmes and legislations. The GBA Plus process includes the collection of intersectional and disaggregated data, understanding the project’s context and asking analytical questions to assess whether the project may have direct and indirect benefits, or negative impacts on diverse population groups. Ensuring broad participation, considering lived experiences and asking, “who is missing at the table?” helps policy makers to identify potential issues of importance to communities during the assessment. While GBA Plus is most impactful when applied in the early stages of an initiative, it can be applied throughout the whole policy making cycle. Some questions to consider for incorporating GBA Plus in these stages are: “What kinds of disaggregated quantitative or qualitative data would be important in understanding the different ways that diverse groups experience this initiative?”, “Do all people have equitable access to the programme or service? If not, what are the barriers to access?”, “Do diverse groups within the target audience access information in the same ways?”. The application of GBA Plus allows for a detailed and specific description of positive and adverse effects, as well as enhancement and mitigation options. Women and Gender Equality Canada (WAGE) and the Canada School of Public Service provide public servants and federal officials with training on the GBA Plus process. As of 2023-24, 93% of departments and agencies used the GBA Plus online course or the WAGE departmental website to support GBA Plus.
According to the 2022-23 Departmental Results Report of Women and Gender Equality, although all Canadians benefit from the application of GBA Plus, certain groups particularly benefit from its application, notably women, young people and individuals living on a low income. Since 2017, Canada extended the application of GBA Plus to its federal budget. For instance, the Gender Results Framework, introduced as part of Budget 2018, incorporates specific goals related to young people, such as the reduction of gender gaps in reading and numeracy skills among youth, including indigenous young people. GBA Plus has also revealed important outcomes across policy programmes and initiatives. In the field of health, GBA Plus revealed that during puberty, girls are more susceptible to concussions than boys, facing distinct symptoms and slower recovery. By ensuring that health studies include an intersectional and gender lens, GBA Plus helps policy makers inform more targeted health policies. In the field of climate policy, GBA Plus highlighted that women living in poverty disproportionately experience the impacts of climate change, leading to targeted measures to strengthen their involvement in the design and implementation of federal climate initiatives.
Further reading
Department of Finance Canada (2024), Statement and Impacts Report on Gender, Diversity, and Inclusion; Government of Canada (2021), Guidance: Gender-based Analysis Plus in Impact Assessment - Canada; Government of Canada (2022), Gender-based analysis plus: 2021-22 Departmental Results Report, Women and Gender Equality Canada; Government of Canada (2023), Gender-based Analysis Plus implementation survey results 2018-2019; Government of Canada (2024), Feminist International Assistance Gender Equality - Toolkit for Projects; OECD (2018), Gender Equality in Canada Mainstreaming, Governance and Budgeting; OECD (2022), Gender wage gap; OECD (n.d.), Gender-based Analysis Plus; Office of the Auditor General of Canada (2022), Report 3 - Follow-up on Gender-based Analysis Plus; Statistics Canada (2023), Representation of women on boards of directors and in officer positions, 2020.
This practice also supports the implementation of provisions II.1, IV.3 and IV.5 of the OECD Recommendation on Creating Better Opportunities for Young People
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