Gender-Based Analysis Plus (GBA Plus)

General Information

Institutional GBA Plus Capacity

The Department of Justice Canada is dedicated to ensuring that its activities are aligned with the Government of Canada’s commitments to Gender-Based Analysis Plus (GBA Plus) to help foster fair outcomes for diverse groups. In 2022-23, to support improved integration of GBA Plus considerations into decision-making processes, the Department will continue to align with the key principles outlined in its updated departmental policy on GBA Plus, including:

In 2022-23, the Department will continue advancing its GBA Plus capacity, with the GBA Plus Unit playing a lead role, supported by a departmental GBA Plus Action Team, whose members contribute on an as-needed basis to the development of GBA Plus activities and tools, and help to raise awareness regarding GBA Plus across the Department. During this year, efforts will be focused on finalizing the GBA Plus Guide for Legal Services, which is intended to help practitioners incorporate GBA Plus into their advisory, legislative and litigation work. Another priority will be the development of training tailored to the specific needs of Justice Canada employees.

The GBA Plus Unit will continue to support the Department’s GBA Plus Champion, and provide advice and guidance on incorporating GBA Plus considerations into specific initiatives led by the Department, including in departmental Memoranda to Cabinet, Treasury Board Submissions and Budget Asks. The Department’s GBA Plus Champion will continue to actively encourage officials’ participation in capacity-building activities and promote new ways of improving GBA Plus in key areas of work. Finally, the GBA Plus Unit will act as a liaison across the Department and with other federal departments and agencies to foster consistent, high-quality and coordinated approaches to GBA Plus across the federal government.

The Senior Assistant Deputy Minister, Policy Sector, responsible for the GBA Plus Unit, provides leadership in the promotion, implementation and monitoring of GBA Plus in the Department, and advises senior management of their roles and responsibilities. In addition, senior governance bodies will continue to be regularly engaged in strategic discussions to strengthen and build GBA Plus capacity across the Department.

Justice Canada will continue to report on advancing GBA Plus through the Impact Assessment process, which evaluates the application of GBA Plus to Department-led initiatives. Progress is assessed through two indicators, which measure the timeliness and meaningful influence of GBA Plus on initiatives.

The Department will continue to promote the importance of applying a GBA Plus lens at an early stage in an initiative’s development to enable meaningful integration of GBA Plus considerations into decision-making processes and will continue to encourage the collection and use of disaggregated data to inform further development of initiatives. In addition, an intersectional approach will continue to be promoted as one methodology that can contribute to identifying and addressing barriers and systemic inequities in the justice system. By considering a range of identity factors, an intersectional approach can help to identify potential impacts of departmental policies, programs and initiatives on diverse groups and help ensure that inequities are not created or that existing inequities are addressed and not exacerbated.

Highlights of GBA Plus Results Reporting Capacity by Program

Highlights of GBA Plus Results Reporting Capacity by Program
Advisory Services The Department of Justice Canada provides legal advisory services to federal government departments and agencies and contributes to the advancement of the overall outcomes included in the Departmental Results Framework.The nature of the work conducted by the legal Advisory Services program does not include providing grants and contributions funding, nor does it include reporting on impacts based on gender and diversity.However, while the program does not collect disaggregated data, it does have a role in supporting the implementation of GBA Plus across the public service by integrating GBA Plus considerations, as relevant, into legal advice provided to its Government of Canada client departments and agencies. This will be further promoted and supported by a GBA Plus Guide for Legal Services, which is intended to help practitioners incorporate GBA Plus into their advisory, legislative, and litigation work. The Guide is currently being finalized and, once approved, will be distributed to Justice Canada counsel. In addition, through the Department’s annual reporting exercise, business units are provided an opportunity to highlight the application of GBA Plus in their work in order to identify best practices.
Legislative Services The Department of Justice Canada provides legislative and regulatory drafting services to federal government departments and agencies and contributes to the advancement of the overall outcomes included in the Departmental Results Framework.The nature of the work conducted by the Legislative Services program does not include providing grants and contributions funding, nor does it include reporting on impacts based on gender and diversity.However, while the program does not collect disaggregated data, it does have a role in supporting the implementation of GBA Plus across the public service by integrating GBA Plus considerations, as relevant, into legislative and regulatory services provided to its Government of Canada client departments and agencies. This will be further promoted and supported by a GBA Plus Guide for Legal Services, which is intended to help practitioners incorporate GBA Plus into their advisory, legislative, and litigation work. The Guide is currently being finalized and, once approved, will be distributed to Justice Canada counsel. In addition, through the Department’s annual reporting exercise, business units are provided an opportunity to highlight the application of GBA Plus in their work in order to identify best practices.
Litigation Services The Department of Justice Canada provides litigation services to federal government departments and agencies and contributes to the advancement of the overall outcomes included in the Departmental Results Framework.The nature of the work conducted by the Litigation Services program does not include providing grants and contributions funding, nor does it include reporting on impacts based on gender and diversity.However, while the program does not collect disaggregated data, it does have a role in supporting GBA Plus across the public service by integrating GBA Plus considerations, as relevant, into litigation services provided to its Government of Canada client departments and agencies. Through the Department’s annual reporting exercise, business units are provided an opportunity to highlight the application of GBA Plus in their work in order to identify best practices.
Legal Policies, Laws, and Governance The Department of Justice Canada will continue to develop and coordinate all federal justice legislative reforms, policy options and initiatives to promote a fair, accessible and relevant justice system for the benefit of all Canadians. This includes the areas of judicial affairs, criminal justice, victims of crime, youth justice, family law, access to justice, official languages, contraventions, bijuralism, Indigenous justice, human rights, privacy, access to information, security, terrorism as well as legislative and regulatory processes.The development of high-quality legal policies and laws enables the delivery of programs and services that advance Government of Canada priorities and contribute to achieving increased access to justice and improved accountability and responsiveness of the justice system.In 2022-23, Justice Canada will continue its broad, inclusive and distinctions-based consultation and engagement process with Indigenous peoples, organizations and groups on the implementation of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act (UN Declaration Act). This will help ensure that the diverse perspectives and voices of Indigenous peoples, including Indigenous Elders, women, youth, gender-diverse and 2SLGBTQQIA+Footnote 1 individuals, and Indigenous people living in urban areas, are considered.The Department will continue to strive to develop innovative approaches to Indigenous justice systems, guided by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada Calls to Action and the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls Calls for Justice. This includes leading negotiations on administration-of-justice agreements with Indigenous partners. This work will provide a foundation for the development of a new conceptual framework for Indigenous groups to assume a greater role in the administration of justice within their communities, which will advance self-determination, promote community development, and increase public safety. In addition, this will support the development of capacity for change that is enduring and transformational. Administration-of-justice agreements are expected to provide a unique opportunity to help reduce the victimization of certain groups (e.g. Indigenous women, youth, and gender-diverse and 2SLGBTQQIA+ persons) by facilitating the development of community-led and community-focused administration-of-justice agreements.An intersectional approach will also be applied to the development of an Indigenous Justice Strategy. This will include consideration of diverse Indigenous voices and perspectives at each stage of the initiative, including pre-engagement discussions, the selection of engagement funding agreement recipients, and the development of engagement plans. As such, the inclusion of intersectional Indigenous perspectives will help to better identify and reflect, to the extent possible, shared Indigenous justice priorities.In the context of efforts to strengthen public confidence in the federally appointed judiciary, the Department will continue to work with relevant stakeholders by offering advice on policies or initiatives that align with the Government’s commitment to increase diversity on the federally-appointed bench, along with relevant diversity data as to appointees. In addition, the Department will continue to work with Canadian Heritage to develop and introduce legislation to combat serious forms of harmful online content, including by strengthening the Canadian Human Rights Act and the Criminal Code to more effectively combat online hate and hate speech. Finally, the Department will continue to provide support to the Minister of Official Languages in the modernization of the Official Languages Act, to reflect a changing society and ensure that government measures in support of official languages effectively respond to the challenges faced in various regions of Canada.The Department’s legal policies are developed to support departmental programs and services. The impacts are measured by the indicators included in the Departmental Results Framework, as well as other program indicators included in individual Performance Information ProfilesFootnote 2. The programs collect relevant data related to grants and contributions, including on gender and diversity, and report on impacts. For measuring and reporting on medium and long-term impacts related to increased access to justice, the programs rely on relevant data collected by Statistics Canada and other partner organizations.Furthermore, the National Justice Survey (NJS) conducted by Justice Canada is a national public opinion survey used to inform policy development, departmental reporting, communications and public engagement on a variety of justice-related issues. The 2022 NJS will collect information on the gender of respondents and include an oversampling of Indigenous and racialized groups for improved GBA Plus assessment. The topics covered this year include the youth criminal justice system, Canadian Victims Bill of Rights and cybercrime, as well as questions on the family justice system and confidence in the criminal justice system. The analysis will adopt a GBA Plus lens, with a particular focus on disaggregated data to allow for comparison of the views of different groups to further understand issues of systemic racism and discrimination in the justice system.Finally, under the Justice Data Modernization Initiative, the Department will commission and conduct research that uses data science to examine impacts and understand how social infrastructure can be leveraged to reduce the overrepresentation of Indigenous and racialized people in the criminal justice system.
Legal Representation This program includes Legal Aid (Criminal, and Immigration and Refugee), State-Funded Counsel, Access to Justice Services Agreements in the Territories, Integrated Market Enforcement Teams Reserve Fund, and the Special Advocates Program.Men and young adults between the ages of 18 and 34 are more likely to be involved in the criminal justice system. In addition, Indigenous peoples, some racialized minorities, and individuals suffering from mental health and addiction issues are overrepresented in the criminal justice system, with Indigenous women and youth being particularly overrepresented.Recipients of immigration and refugee legal aid include newcomers from a wide range of ethno-cultural origins. Men and women are equally represented.Through its Legal Advice for Complainants of Workplace Sexual Harassment component, the program supports organizations that provide legal information and advice to persons who have experienced sexual harassment in the workplace, regardless of their economic status. Workplace sexual harassment disproportionately impacts women, especially those in male-dominated occupations, LGBTQ2+ persons, workers in low-wage, precarious or casual employment, and those providing personal services or reliant on tips. Women, especially racialized women, and youth are overrepresented in these types of employment.Currently, all jurisdictions provide information on the gender and adult/youth breakdown among clients. In addition, most of them provide information on Indigenous identity. The Legal Aid Program has been working with provincial and territorial governments and legal aid plans to obtain more specific demographic information. Projects under the workplace sexual harassment component are required to report on vulnerable populations targeted and the extent to which they have been successful in reaching them.
Drug Treatment Court Funding Program The programs offered by the federally funded drug treatment courts are available to all Canadians who meet the selection criteria. However, they have a greater beneficial impact for males between the ages of 20 and 49 with a serious dependence on the illicit use of opiates, who form the majority of participants. The general public and community members are expected to benefit indirectly as the program contributes to making communities healthier and safer, as a result of a reduction of crime committed in relation to drug dependency.The Drug Treatment Court Funding Program will continue working with provincial and territorial partners currently participating in the program to improve the quality of data collection.Future agreements with provinces and territories will contain data reporting requirements, including gender and diversity data, to enable monitoring impacts from a gender and diversity perspective. In addition, the application process will include questions about how GBA Plus considerations will be integrated into the implementation of new funding, to ensure programs are tailored to the needs of diverse populations.
Contraventions Regime This program includes the Contraventions Act Fund for the implementation of official languages requirements under the Contraventions Act. The Contraventions Act provides an alternative to the summary conviction procedure of the Criminal Code for the prosecution of certain offences under federal statutes and regulations by allowing these offences to be prosecuted using provincial court processes through means of a ticketing scheme. The federal government must comply with all official languages rights requirements that would be applicable in the context of a purely federal prosecution scheme. As such, the federal government established the Contraventions Act Fund to ensure the implementation of the Contraventions Act in a manner consistent with all applicable constitutional and legislative language rights and obligations. The Fund aims to provide provinces and territories with the ability to deliver judicial activities and extra-judicial services in both official languages.The Fund will continue to collect data and report annually on the percentage of alleged offenders requesting and receiving proceedings in their official language of choice. This will contribute to monitoring and assessment of the impacts on diverse official language minority groups. The program works in close collaboration with funding partners to identify possible barriers to accessing services in official languages and addresses them proactively, as needed.
Victims of Crime This program includes the Victims Fund. A GBA Plus analysis of all activities is required as part of the funding application process for all project funding provided under the Victims Fund. Approved projects are required to use an intersectional lens in developing their interventions and activities and are asked to report the outcomes of that analysis as part of their reporting requirements.The process helps to ensure that there is a proportional representation of diverse groups, such as people who identify as women, racialized women, people of various gender identities, and members of the LGBTQ2+ community.In addition to its robust evaluation framework, the program regularly consults the departmental GBA Plus Unit on the delivery of its initiatives. In 2022-23, the program plans to continue the review of its reporting templates, in collaboration with the GBA Plus Unit, to improve the quality of the data collection process. Furthermore, the program will continue to support the work of a multi-functional working group within the Department to develop a new general reporting template that could be widely used and adjusted based on the needs of specific initiatives. To improve data collection, the new template will include considerations of intersectionality and the collection of a broad range of data.
Youth Justice The Department of Justice Canada administers three youth justice programs: the Youth Justice Services Funding Program (YJSFP), the Intensive Rehabilitative Custody and Supervision (IRCS) Program, and the Youth Justice Fund (YJF).These seek to:
  • increase the capacity of provinces and territories to deliver youth justice programs that address gender, ethnic and cultural differences and respond to the needs of Indigenous young persons and of young persons with special requirements;
  • improve the responsiveness of the youth justice system to better respond to the specific needs of Indigenous youth and other overrepresented youth justice subpopulations and prevent recidivism; and
  • address the overrepresentation of males, Indigenous youth, and racialized or other subpopulations in the youth justice system and make our communities safer.
The general youth justice population, between the ages of 12 and 17 at the time of the offence, is the primary target for this programming. However, the youth justice subpopulations that benefit the most from the programming are the subpopulations that are most overrepresented in the criminal justice system (i.e. males, Indigenous youth and other racialized youth populations such as Black youth).These youth justice programs and services are expected to contribute to making communities safer and healthier and, as a result, bring indirect positive impacts to community members and the general public.Programming information is currently being provided to the Department by provinces and territories. In addition, Statistics Canada has numerous data sets on the youth population and youth involved in the criminal justice system. The Department is collaborating with Statistics Canada to address important gaps with respect to collecting disaggregated data for visible minority and Indigenous youth.
Family Justice This program includes the Canadian Family Justice Fund (CFJF), of which the overall purpose and objective is to facilitate access to the family justice system for families experiencing separation and divorce.The CFJF continues to place a particular emphasis on extending the reach of family justice programs, services and information to meet the needs of diverse and underserved populations. Available funding in 2022-23 and beyond will target initiatives designed to reach underserved communities.In addition, the CFJF received additional funding to assist provinces and territories with the implementation of official languages provisions under the Divorce Act. This funding will support provinces and territories in enhancing their capacity to deliver family court and family justice services in both official languages to ensure that Canadians can exercise their right to divorce proceedings in the official language of their choice.
Indigenous Justice This program includes the Indigenous Justice Program (IJP) and the Indigenous Courtwork Program (ICW). Program evaluations for the IJP have consistently shown that its programs help reduce the rate of recidivism and contribute to safer communities.Both the IJP and the ICW have direct positive benefits for Indigenous victims as well as Indigenous persons in contact with the criminal justice system. They contribute to improving access to justice for Indigenous peoples, increasing safety and security for Indigenous communities as well as improving community health and well-being.Client and participant information collected under the Indigenous Justice program inventory includes various identity factors, such as age, gender, Indigenous identity, type of legal matter and programming or assistance provided to clients. This information is used for program reporting and evaluation.IJP has provided additional training to improve the capacity of funding recipients to report disaggregated data on a broader range of program activities. IJP is also transitioning to a new online data collection tool, expected to further improve the quality of the data collected.
Justice System Partnerships This program includes the Justice Partnership and Innovation Program (JPIP) and the Access to Justice in Both Official Languages Support Fund.The JPIP responds to the changing conditions affecting Canadian justice policy and emerging priority issues, including supporting the revitalization of Indigenous laws and legal traditions and addressing workplace sexual harassment, family violence and access to justice. The program is supporting the following activities related to gender-based violence and increased access to justice:
  • developing and disseminating public legal education and information (PLEI) resources on different legal issues to generate awareness and understanding of the Canadian justice system, laws, rights and obligations, and how to address legal matters, to increase access to justice for diverse populations, including racialized communities;
  • providing PLEI resources on sexual harassment in the workplace to better inform workers, particularly those most vulnerable, about their rights and how they can access help if they have been harassed in the workplace;
  • providing free independent legal advice and supports for racialized communities and victims of intimate partner violence; and
  • activities that assist victims of intimate partner violence to access and navigate the family justice system and that improve justice system responses.
An intersectional GBA Plus assessment of activities is required as part of the funding application process for all project funding provided under the JPIP. Approved projects are required to use an intersectional lens in developing and implementing their activities and are asked to report the outcomes of that analysis as part of their reporting requirements.The activities and projects undertaken pursuant to the Access to Justice in Both Official Languages Support Fund (Fund) enhance the development and vitality of official language minority communities and are positive measures within the meaning of the Official Languages Act.Among its activities, the Fund provides support to projects related to legal linguistic training and tools for bilingual justice professionals and students.In addition, the Fund provides support to provinces and territories for the implementation of the official languages provision under the Divorce Act, which benefits official language minority communities. For example, by enabling individuals to file documents in the official language of their choice without having to incur translation costs.Funding recipients are required to report on their activities, including training, services, and PLEI products and materials provided to and outcomes for diverse groups/official language minority communities. Information will be collected as to the population groups targeted by the projects, communities, number of individuals reached, and specific information on vulnerable populations reached through the project activities.
Ombudsman for Victims of Crime The Office of the Federal Ombudsman for Victims of Crime (OFOVC) works with stakeholders and clients to inform its recommendations to the federal government on steps to address intimate-partner and domestic violence, sexual assault, human trafficking and femicide. A number of initiatives by the OFOVC support this goal, including: The OFOVC tracks the implementation of its recommendations to decision makers. It recognizes the importance of collecting data related to upholding victims’ rights across the criminal justice system. The OFOVC is exploring enhancement tools to expand the capacity to report on impacts by gender and other diversity factors.
Internal Services

Internal Services are those groups of related activities and resources that support the Department’s programs and/or are required to meet the organization’s corporate obligations. Internal Services refers to the activities and resources of the following ten distinct services:

  • Management and Oversight Services
  • Communications Services
  • Legal Services
  • Human Resources Management Services
  • Financial Management Services
  • Information Management Services
  • Information Technology Services
  • Real Property Management Services
  • Materiel Management Services
  • Acquisition Management Services

Internal Services influence the:

  • representation of members of equity groups in management;
  • proportion of employees who belong to equity groups;
  • gender wage gap;
  • access to benefits that reduce the impact of child care duties on employees’ careers and economic well-being;
  • proportion of employees who self-report being harassed in the workplace; and
  • language used and tone of discourse surrounding equity, diversity and inclusion within the Department.
In addition to ongoing data collection based on employment equity factors, Internal Services houses Justice Canada’s recently established Anti-Racism and Anti-Discrimination Secretariat, which is implementing both new measures and new approaches to existing measures to better report on impacts by gender, racial identity and ability in the future.A results map and indicators were recently developed to support the monitoring and evaluation of initiatives within the Anti-Racism and Anti-Discrimination Results Framework. The data collected will be used to determine the efficacy of current initiatives in increasing representation and career development opportunities for Indigenous, Black and other racialized, and LGBTQ2+ employees, and employees with disabilities.The Human Resources Management System now allows employees to self-declare and determine how their information can be used (e.g. mentorship opportunities, assessment boards). This information will help supplement existing demographic data that informs measurement, reporting, representation, and career development strategies.The new Employment Equity Plan will include goals regarding representation, hiring, promotion and retention of employees from employment equity groups and include reporting on a semi-annual basis.The Department’s first Accessibility Plan, currently in development and anticipated to be published by December 2022, will incorporate feedback gathered through consultations with all employees, with particular attention to the experience and advice of persons with disabilities, as well as with departmental clients and members of the public. Accessibility plans, published every three years, present the results of consultations regarding the impacts of barriers on persons with disabilities, whose intersecting identity factors may also include those of other traditionally marginalized groups (including women, Indigenous peoples, visible minorities and the LGBTQ2+ community). Accessibility plans also outline the actions through which the Department will respond directly to the reported impacts and barriers, whereas annual reporting will measure progress on action items and track effectiveness in responding to, removing, and preventing the barriers and negative impacts.