2024-25 Gender-based analysis Plus (GBA Plus)

Consultation and Accommodation

This program targets Indigenous groups that are broadly gender-balanced. While disaggregated data does not currently exist for the program, the opportunity for data collection and analysis will be advanced through discussions and events held with the community of consultation protocol holders.

In order to reduce the reporting burden for Indigenous communities, tracking the impacts of GBA Plus is encouraged within the existing reporting structure for Indigenous peoples. For federally-based activities related to consultation and accommodation such as networks, workshops, conferences, and training, GBA Plus considerations will be discussed and/or monitored through data collection and survey/evaluation processes, where applicable.

First Nation Jurisdiction over Land and Fiscal Management

The Lands Advisory Board and First Nation Land Management Resource Centre represent 208 First Nations that have adhered to the Framework Agreement on First Nation Land Management, with 106 of those First Nations managing their lands through community-approved land codes. There is no requirement for First Nations with land codes to report on GBA Plus considerations, given First Nation Land Management is considered a form of self-government. However, the department will continue to raise awareness with the Lands Advisory Board and the First Nations Land Management Resource Centre (LAB/RC) on how various groups of people could be impacted differently and to encourage partners to include the different views and lived experiences of these groups throughout the development and implementation of current and future initiatives. Note that the current proposal for a First Nations-led solution to land registration is expected to have positive impacts for First Nations communities as a whole, and, no disproportional negative impacts have been identified regarding any of the specific demographic groups (i.e. women, men, and gender-diverse people across various and intersectional identity factors).

The information collected through reports, plans, and meetings with partner institutions under the First Nations Fiscal Management Act (FNFMA) is provided at a community or institutional level, as is appropriate for a government-level program. To date, no data at individual levels or disaggregated by factors such as gender, age, etc. have been collected from the communities participating in the FNFMA, making it challenging to assess potential impacts, positive or negative, on any one of the specific demographic groups (i.e. women, men, youth, 2SLGBTQI+ people, people with disabilities, or elders). Nevertheless, the team recognizes the value of collecting GBA Plus data and will continue to work with partners to ensure that the regime and communities have the data they need for evidence-based decision making to advance their community priorities.

In the context of Indigenous-led engagement activities, CIRNAC has limited ability to bind participants in the management of their engagement activities. The department cannot ask or expect Indigenous groups to report on a GBA Plus indicator as part of an engagement. Part of returning control to First Nations is entrusting Indigenous groups to engage with their respected members in a community-led and culturally-appropriate approach that the Indigenous groups deem fit. There are no plans to acquire such data for the aforementioned reasons.

Indigenous Engagement and Capacity Support

The Supporting Indigenous Women's and 2SLGBTQI+ Organizations program collects data through activity reports and annual surveys to monitor program impacts, including the collection of disaggregated data related to gender and diversity. The program is developing a new Results Framework that will track the impact of the program through both quantitative methods (activity and data reports) and qualitative methods including oral reports and videos that will demonstrate impacts through an intersectional lens (gender, age, geography, distinction, etc.). The Basic Organizational Capacity (BOC), Federal Interlocutor's Contribution (FICP) and Consultation and Policy Development programs likewise collect data of diverse organizations that are supported through these programs. Many Indigenous Representative Organizations (IROs) and other Indigenous communities and organizations represent all intersections of the Indigenous population, but many also specifically represent Indigenous women, youth, 2SLGBTQI+, etc. For example, of the 51 IROs currently funded by the BOC program, 24 are First Nations, 7 are Inuit, 8 are Métis, 7 are Non-Status, and 5 are women's organizations that can be distinctions-based or multi-distinctions.

Indigenous-led Services

The supporting organizations program collects data through annual activity reports to monitor program impacts in the areas that fall under the FICP, including housing and infrastructure. The challenges vary between each of the programs. The housing program is currently subject to a Memorandum to Cabinet where the reporting requirements may shift to Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation while the infrastructure program will sunset in 2024–25.

Management and Implementation of Agreements and Treaties

The program supports First Nations, Inuit and Métis communities with modern treaties, self-government agreements, sectoral agreements and other constructive arrangements, and therefore does not directly support a specific pillar or goal under the Gender Results Framework. However, it has direct impacts on First Nations, Inuit and Métis men, women, and gender-diverse people, as modern treaty and self-government agreement holders exercise jurisdiction and responsibilities relating to their political, economic, social and cultural development to improve, amongst other things, the socio-economic well-being of their respective populations.

As autonomous orders of government, self-governing Indigenous governments have the authority to administer programs and services at their discretion. This program ensures that these governments are provided with consistent funding and equipped to administer programs and services that benefit their communities.

Studies such as the Final Report of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls (2019) have shown that colonial intervention in Indigenous communities imposed a patriarchal status quo and subjected Indigenous women to systems of oppression. Discussions with self-governing Indigenous governments suggest that self-government has increased their ability to reclaim traditional and more inclusive forms of governance. As groups have begun to exercise their inherent right of self-determination through self-government agreements, Indigenous women are encouraged to return to their vital roles in communities.

As disaggregated data does not currently exist for this program, opportunities for data collection and analysis will be advanced through discussions with modern treaty and self-government agreements holders. Reporting on the GBA Plus impacts of this program should be done in a way that is consistent with and respectful of modern treaty and self-government agreements holders' data sovereignty.

Negotiation of Treaties, Self-Government Agreements and other Constructive Arrangements

Based on the program's 2023-24 Performance Information Profile, there are plans to collect data to enable it to monitor and/or report program impacts by gender and diversity where applicable.

The objective of the Negotiations of Treaties, Self-Government Agreements and Other Constructive Arrangements program is to negotiate agreements that recognize and implement Section 35. The process by which agreements are negotiated are subject to a GBA Plus lens. For example, the program will ensure through the tracking of negotiation engagement data that underrepresented groups (e.g., women, youth) have a voice in the engagement process, and that the government will seek to obtain diverse perspectives.

Other Claims

Unlike the Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement, childhood claims class actions settlements are managed outside of the Government. The parties do not receive statistical information on gender or diversity. It is important to note that both survivors and class counsel have expressed concerns related to privacy implications of statistical information being shared with the parties during the various settlement implementation negotiations.

That said, information on gender and diversity is available for individual and multi-plaintiff litigation claims and settlements.

We are able to assume that eligible claimants of the childhood claims are comprised of women and men in relatively equal numbers (based on population data), including individuals from all regions, residing both on and off reserve, and in urban and remote communities.

While there is no data available to determine the impacts through an intersectional lens, existing research indicates that women and 2SLGBTQI+ survivors of harmful historic programs and policies are likely to experience disproportionate consequences of physical and sexual abuse. Research suggests that residential schools were "purposefully gendered to undermine and remove Indigenous women's traditional authority, agency, and roles within families, clans, and traditional governance systems" (Hanson 2016). Furthermore, the final report of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls indicates that Indigenous women are disproportionally affected by the negative consequences of historic trauma (e.g. loss of land, forced relocations, residential schools, and the Sixties Scoop).

Further, as men are statistically less likely to report incidents of physical and sexual abuse, they may choose not to seek higher levels of compensation to avoid having to discuss the abuse that they suffered. The settlement agreement and implementation of the agreement were designed in consultation with class members, and sought to mitigate potential barriers.

Residential Schools Legacy

It is important to note that disaggregated data is not available to track benefits of new funding agreements to particular populations. The parties do not receive statistical information on gender or diversity. Increasing data collection could inadvertently negatively impact partners, small communities, and organizations and be perceived as an additional burden and as detrimental to their privacy. These organizations often rely on volunteers to organize events and may reconsider applying for funding should the process become too complex. Reporting requirements are limited. While recipients are required to report on the number of participants reached by an activity or initiative, they are not obliged to track intersectional identity factors of participants.

That said, we are able to assume that those intergenerationally impacted by the legacy of residential schools could be directly or indirectly impacted by and marginalized due to an intersection of multiple compounding factors. Indeed, while there is presently no data available to determine the impacts through an intersectional lens, existing research indicates that women and 2SLGBTQI+ survivors are more likely to face barriers to access and participation. Age is another important consideration that may be a barrier or impede participation, since residential school survivors are an aging population, with the majority being over the age of 65.

Specific Claims

CIRNAC is not positioned to identify distribution of benefits of specific claims settlement agreements on individual members of a First Nation. As the settlement agreement provides the First Nation with the sole authority and responsibility for administration of the settlement compensation, Canada is not in a position to monitor or report on such effects post-agreement, and First Nations are not required to report on the use, access and benefits derived by the use of the settlement funds.

Climate Change Adaptation and Clean Energy

The Climate Change Adaption and Clean Energy program works to ensure that sufficient data is collected in order to assess GBA Plus relevant impacts. This includes the continued and planned rollout of GBA Plus specific questions within program proposal templates and year-end reporting. This initiative will help expand the program's ability to collect relevant GBA Plus data, which can then be used for internal and external reporting purposes as needed. These questions assist in monitoring diversity impacts on a distinction basis with respect to projects funded by the program. Note that these projects are focused at the community-level, and resulting data belongs to communities and recipients who receive funding. For projects related to engagement, there is a focus on ensuring that the inclusion of diverse voices, groups, and opinions are meaningfully taken into consideration.

Northern and Arctic Environmental Sustainability

Reports required by both the Northern Participant Funding Program and the Northern Regulatory Initiative include voluntary GBA Plus questions, to assist with reporting on Program GBA Plus objectives. However, this may not be sufficient to enable it to fully report on program impacts by gender and diversity. Awareness of the importance of ensuring diverse perspectives and considerations are brought forward, is emphasized through GBA Plus-specific discussions during engagement sessions (e.g. those being held with recipients and others) and other engagement activities and opportunities.

CIRNAC does not collect sufficient data to monitor and/or report program impacts by gender and diversity. This being said, the department will consult internally to better understand the requirements for monitoring and reporting the program's impacts by gender and diversity, with the aim of establishing a plan to collect data, as required, in keeping with appropriate considerations for protecting privacy.

Northern and Arctic Governance and Partnerships

Northern Contaminated Sites

The Northern Contaminated Sites Program collects sufficient data to enable GBA Plus monitoring. It collects socio-economic data on each of its projects, which include statistics on the number of female, Indigenous and northern employees, as well the number of Indigenous and northern businesses contracted for work. This data is collected on a quarterly basis and is used to meet a number of internal and external reporting requirements. In the future, the program plans to continue collecting data in a similar manner to track the impacts of projects on affected sub-groups.

Northern Regulatory and Legislative Framework

This program does not currently collect sufficient data to monitor and report program impacts by gender and diversity. Several subprograms do not have the opportunity to collect GBA Plus data.

Until 2023–24, only the legislative and regulatory initiatives under this program collected GBA Plus data, because they require robust consultation and engagement where partners can raise the potential impacts of proposed new or amended legislation and regulations on gender and diversity.

To improve data collection efforts, funding reports now include an optional question requesting additional information on how partners ensured diverse perspectives and participation were considered while completing their funded activities. Regulatory dialogue sessions include participation from Indigenous governments and organizations (each round of sessions targets 25% Indigenous representation, per territory). This has begun in 2023–24 and will continue in 2024–25 and into the future.

Northern Strategic and Science Policy

This program does not collect socioeconomic data. Co-development partners to the Arctic and Northern Policy Framework established a set of principles to provide continuing guidance on implementation of the Framework, including that "policy and programming will reflect a commitment to diversity and equality, and to the employment of analytical tools such as GBA Plus to assess potential impacts on diverse groups of people."

Reporting requirements for the post-secondary initiatives related to the Arctic and Northern Policy Framework are all done by the academic institutions and governments receiving funds for those initiatives. All of the territories are now collecting data for post-secondary education achievement levels on a distinctions basis and across genders.

Post-secondary institutions across Canada are working toward collecting and analyzing demographic data for student enrolment and graduation. For example, the Dechinta Centre for Research and Learning collects robust and disaggregated administrative and performance data and is in the process of establishing an evaluation approach which will analyze outcomes over the relevant funding period. Dechinta has been a strong supporter of education for Indigenous women, girls and the issues that they face in acquiring education at a post-secondary level. As part of this, staff and students are encouraged to bring their children to school with them. Dechinta is also gender inclusive, and in March 2022, they published a gender justice toolkit, Gender and Queer Terminology Toolkit, which has since been shared with GBA Plus networks in the Government of Canada. The Centre has also designed curriculum to be inclusive of all Indigenous women, girls and 2SLGBTQI+ people. Dechinta uses a land-based pedagogy based on the relationships Dene have with the land and their knowledge that directly benefits Indigenous students, teachers and communities.

Another example is Yukon University, which tracks student demographics for Indigeneity and gender (female, male, non-specified, gender-diverse, non-binary), and runs a student survey each fall including those categories as well as self-identification as belonging to a racialized group or as having a disability. The University is committed to reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples, including helping them to heal and revitalize their cultures and languages. Yukon University became the first university in northern Canada in 2022, and 28% of its students identified as Indigenous. The University consulted with the Indigenous community, including Yukon First Nation governments and Indigenous Elders and youth, when developing its first 5-year strategic plan. Due to the Yukon being on the traditional territory of 14 First Nations, the University has established a First Nations Core Competency requirement for all staff and students. Yukon University's building design will provide universal access to safe, inclusive, and accessible public spaces, ensuring that everyone can participate to their full potential by achieving the Rick Hansen Foundation Accessibility Certification™ gold level. With the new science building, it plans to combine western science and Indigenous knowledge.

Nutrition North Canada (NNC)

The program's collaborative approach to working with Indigenous partners supports distinctions-based food security initiatives that respond to the experiences and lived realities of Indigenous communities. Regular engagement with NNC's Indigenous Working Group, its Advisory Board, and the Inuit-Crown Food Security Working Group guides and informs NNC on where to best target food security funding to maximize benefits for Indigenous groups. These engagements recognize the diverse experiences of Indigenous women, children, elders, gender-diverse peoples, and differently abled persons, and strive to reduce systemic barriers to access.

The NNC retail subsidy and Harvesters Support Grant are important to individuals and groups more likely to face challenges affording or otherwise accessing food. Ongoing programming will rely on GBA Plus, and this should result in increasing Northerners' resiliency to changing environments, and provide better access to food for residents in isolated northern communities.

The 5 funded research projects are required to carry out their research through a GBA Plus and distinctions-based lens of who is accessing the NNC retail subsidy, how it is benefiting different socioeconomic groups, and the resulting impact on food insecurity. The results of these reports are expected in 2024–25.