2022-23 Gender-Based Analysis Plus
Table of contents
Institutional GBA Plus Capacity
Governance structures
A dedicated GBA Plus focal point unit for Indigenous Services Canada (ISC), also called the Responsibility Centre, was established at the end of 2020-21 within the Strategic Policy and Partnerships Sector and is still not fully staffed. The focus of the team to date has been to develop a stronger support role for the application of GBA Plus across the department, including awareness of culturally-competent GBA Plus, building an enhanced governance structure and establishing a more systematic challenge-function.
The governance structure for GBA Plus now includes: an executive level Champion; GBA focal points for each sector and core internal services groups to support awareness and capacity building, as well as the challenge-function; and an informal GBA Plus Community of Practice with representatives from across the department. ISC will continue to strengthen the governance structure for GBA Plus to further awareness and support a rigorous challenge-function.
Human resources
The resources dedicated to support GBA Plus within ISC include: support from an Executive Champion; a GBA Plus Responsibility Centre, which is comprised of 5 full-time equivalent (FTE) employees and 8 part-time equivalent Sector and internal service GBA Plus Focal Points.
Planned initiatives
ISC will continue to work collaboratively with Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada and Indigenous partners to develop distinctions-based culturally-competent GBA Plus approaches and tools for use internally and externally. This work is intended to promote more responsive, culturally-competent policies and services that meet the unique needs of Indigenous women, men, and gender diverse peoples. To advance these efforts, ISC will continue to support and work closely with the Advisory Committee on Indigenous Women's Wellbeing and national Indigenous organizations to ensure these new GBA Plus approaches are designed and guided by Indigenous Peoples.
In addition to the ongoing challenge-function and continued strengthening of the governance structure, in 2022-23 ISC will work to develop culturally-competent GBA Plus tools, a capacity building plan and department specific training to support more fulsome application of culturally-competent GBA Plus across the department.
ISC will also continue to conduct internal engagement and training to improve GBA Plus uptake, capacity, and application across sectors, with a particular focus on increasing awareness and capacity for culturally-competent GBA Plus approaches. ISC will also continue to work with Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada to support Women and Gender Equality Canada and the Canada School of Public Service to include Indigenous considerations in GBA Plus training and tools for all public servants.
Reporting, capacity and data
GBA Plus is undertaken across all major initiatives requiring Cabinet approval, using gender-disaggregated data and other socio-economic data and indicators where available. Collaboration and information-sharing with Indigenous partners is also used to embed gender and other diversity factor considerations into program and service design.
Currently, there are few ISC programs that collect and keep sufficient individual recipient micro-data information to undertake GBA Plus or to monitor GBA Plus implementation at the individual recipient level. To reduce reporting burden on Indigenous partners, the Community-Based Reporting Template and other Data Collection instruments have been simplified. However, gender-disaggregated and other data contained in these reporting instruments are not easily extracted for the purposes of GBA Plus. ISC will continue to work with Indigenous partners on distinctions-based data strategies and in other areas of data collection to help address this gap.
Highlights of GBA Plus Results by Program
| Clinical and Client Care | Investments in Clinical and Client care support health improvements in First Nations communities, which align with the Gender Results Framework pillar "Poverty, reduction, health and well-being". Information about gender is collected at the clinical level via paper charts and, in some instances, electronic medical records, but is not reported at the program level. Similarly, information about diversity may be collected at the clinical level but not reported at the program level. Lack of electronic data is a large impediment to reporting. Additionally, individual data that is collected is owned by the First Nations communities and is subject to guidelines around Ownership, Control, Access and Possession and agreed upon data/privacy principles for First Nations members. Consequently, data about health services and health status information that is routinely available for Canadians is not available for Indigenous Peoples. Some funding is being provided to First Nations communities through contribution agreements to expand the use of electronic medical record applications, which would remain under the ownership of the communities. An information technology project will explore the possibility of aggregate electronic data sharing arrangements with communities if electronic medical records are in place. This will include a GBA Plus component for aggregate analysis of services provided. |
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| Community Oral Health Services | The program collects data on gender, which would facilitate analysis of oral health impacts by gender. The program is currently in the process of preparing a National Oral Health Report where impacts of gender on distribution and severity of oral disease and service utilization will be incorporated. |
| Supplementary Health Benefits | The services and benefits provided through the Non-Insured Health Benefit program advance the Poverty Reduction, Health and Well-Being (reduced poverty and improved health outcomes) goal of Canada's Gender Results Framework. Sustained coverage under the program removes financial barriers for vulnerable First Nations and Inuit clients and contributes to ongoing efforts to diminish the substantial health disparities faced by many First Nations and Inuit individuals. The benefits provided through the program support more years in good health, improved mental health and improved access to health services. A comprehensive GBA Plus review of the Non-Insured Health Benefit program was conducted to consider differential impacts in terms of its operating environment and client population profile. The findings highlighted the strong and continued need for the program to provide more than 898,000 eligible First Nations and Inuit individuals with coverage for a range of medically necessary services, that are not covered by other public or private health insurance plans, regardless of their sex, gender, age, income or geographic location. Data collected by the program can be disaggregated based on a variety of identity factors for analysis and reporting purposes. For example, the third generation of the Health Information and Claims Processing Services system, which came into effect in June 2020, includes "Gender X" data field as a non-binary gender identifier, allowing sex/gender data to be further disaggregated in future years. |
| Individual Affairs | This program tracks the number of requests and eligible individuals globally. Data is collected as part of registration activities, which can be extracted and analyzed. As it relates to GBA Plus, the most relevant data would be age, sex at birth and province of residence. To align the registration and card issuance program with the Policy Direction to Modernize the Government of Canada's Sex and Gender Information Practices, and to expand the department's capacity to report on impacts by gender and other identity factors, the department has introduced non-intrusive, flexible documentation options and the ability to display a third, non-binary gender identifier to the Secure Certificate of Indian Status. This policy direction aims to support a Government of Canada initiative to reflect increasing recognition of gender diversity, to improve consistency across federal-provincial-territorial identity documents and to respond to complaints under the Canadian Human Rights Act. |
| Jordan's Principle and the Inuit Child First Initiative | Jordan's Principle and Inuit Child First Initiative currently do not collect sufficient structured data to enable to monitor and report on the impacts to First Nations and Inuit children and youth from the lens of gender and other identity factors. Actions to be taken to enable future monitoring or reporting on Jordan's Principle and Inuit Child First Initiative impacts by gender and diversity will include the following four measures. Firstly, developing a structured data collection method that collects gender and gender identity informed by current free text fields within the data collection systems. Secondly, developing a Jordan's Principle and Inuit Child First Initiative specific evaluation tool to monitor and report on trends observed from First Nations and Inuit children and youth applicants from a gendered and diversity lens. Thirdly, developing specific data-informed decision making tools to monitor and track requested items and services over the short, medium and long term by identified gender as a method to identify trends in requested services and items that may correlate to requests by specific genders. Finally, developing evaluation parameters and mechanisms to track and observe trends in applicants receiving Jordan's Principle or Inuit Child First Initiative funds and improvement/decrease of outcomes by gender. |
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| Mental Wellness | The Mental Wellness Program works closely with Indigenous partners, organizations and communities to support mental wellness services that are Indigenous-led, culturally relevant, trauma-informed, and inclusive. This work supports the Poverty Reduction, Health and Well-Being goal of Canada's Gender Results Framework. The program's efforts are strongly guided by Indigenous-led frameworks such as the First Nations Mental Wellness Continuum Framework, Honouring Our Strengths, and the National Inuit Suicide Prevention Strategy. Each of these frameworks outline a comprehensive, strengths-based approach that identifies the need for specific supports for populations at risk, including across genders and for individuals who identify as 2SLGBTQQIA+. By highlighting key Indigenous social determinants of health, including self-determination, equity, and collaboration across all sections both nationally and internationally, these frameworks support all the pillars and goals of the Gender Results Framework. In addition, aspects of the Mental Wellness Program (in particular, health supports for those impacted by the issue of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls) are designed to address the gendered impacts and experience of trauma and violence. With a few exceptions, the program does not formally collect any data on mental wellness services or outcomes, but relies on external sources, particularly Indigenous-led monitoring, performance measurement, and evaluation, for tracking trends in mental wellness in Indigenous communities. There are few exceptions: the program does collect gender disaggregated data (with some limitations) relating to utilization of the Hope for Wellness Help Line, and the Mental Health Services Tracking System database provides the capacity to disaggregate data about gender identity from clients who have chosen to access mental health counselling. In 2021 and 2022 respectively, a third gender option was added to the data collection instrument for the trauma-informed health supports programs, and the tracking system database. The program is looking to build capacity to better utilize these data sets in the future. The program continues to work closely with Indigenous partners and other stakeholders to ensure that Indigenous-led monitoring, performance measurement, and evaluation is supported as much as possible within existing resources. |
| Healthy Living | This program does not collect sufficient data to enable monitoring/reporting of impacts by gender and other identity factors. The Healthy Living program and its initiatives are community-based, with funding recipients determining their own priorities and service delivery mechanisms based on self-identified needs in their communities, which often includes directing investments and services to specific gender and diversity groups. In terms of support towards self-determination and eventual service transfer, the Healthy Living program reporting requirements are minimal. However, the data collection instrument for the Nutrition North Canada, Nutrition Education Initiatives (to be implemented in 2022-23) has been updated to gather some details on gender. In addition, the program continues to monitor data from relevant Indigenous-led surveys such as the Regional Health Survey (First Nations) to identify, when possible, gender and diversity-specific information. |
| Healthy Child Development | Services provided through the Healthy Child Development suite of programming advance the Poverty Reduction, Health and Well-Being, Education and Skills, Gender-based Violence and Access to Justice pillars of Canada's Gender Results Framework. The program works closely with First Nations and Inuit partners to fund community-based and culturally-relevant programming, services, and initiatives that aim to improve the health outcomes focused toward First Nations and Inuit women, mothers, young children and families. Areas of focus include prenatal and postnatal health, midwifery, nutrition, early literacy and learning, healthy relationships, emotional and mental health. In addition to community-based programming, the program provides policy support and guidance to gender-based issues impacting Indigenous women and families, such as gender-based violence and forced and coerced sterilization of Indigenous women. ISC's services are guided by Indigenous-led Frameworks, including the Indigenous Early Learning and Child Care Framework, which aims to provide Indigenous Peoples with greater control and influence over Early Learning and Child Care and serves as a guide for communities, service providers, policy makers and governments to work towards achieving a shared vision of high-quality culturally appropriate care for all Indigenous children and families. In recognition of the need to ensure the voices and perspectives of Indigenous women in departmental policy and decision-making processes, and as part of the response to reports of forced and coerced sterilization of Indigenous women in Canadian hospitals, ISC established an Advisory Committee on Indigenous Women's Wellbeing with Indigenous partners and federal departments. This committee provides the department with gender and distinctions-based advice and guidance on issues within the social determinants of health. The program cluster collects age and/or gender disaggregated data through its recipient reporting on relevant prenatal/maternal child health and early childhood development services pertaining to pregnant people receiving and participating in services and activities by trimester, mothers with babies that breastfed, as well as children who have been screened, assessed and diagnosed with special needs. Going forward, the program will continue to work with Indigenous partners, including the Advisory Committee on Indigenous Women's Wellbeing as well as the Indigenous Early Learning and Child Care Transformation Initiative, to ensure new GBA Plus approaches are designed and guided by Indigenous Peoples. |
| Home and Community Care | The Home and Community Care (HCC) Program captures data to support gender-based analysis for its First Nations communities, which are the clients that the program serves. Through the department's Electronic Service Data Collection Records Tool, the program captures types of services requested by its clients with a lens towards gender-based considerations such as sex and individual diversity. National and regional staff who deliver the Home and Community Care to the remote/isolated First Nations communities are diverse, and continue to be committed to ongoing GBA Plus training and to incorporating the GBA Plus policy in the services they deliver, as well as in their planning and reporting. The staff in the HCC work closely with their First Nations partners to share their GBA Plus knowledge and awareness, and to collectively identify and incorporate culturally relevant GBA Plus considerations, when and where possible, for supporting the health of these vulnerable communities. In the Accreditation and Quality Improvement program, GBA Plus has been considered in the funding formula that captures rural and remote communities as an indicator for vulnerable and diverse populations. The division continues to work with its Indigenous partners on distinctions-based data strategies to help advance the application of GBA Plus approaches and tools, while maintaining strong and trustworthy relationships with First Nations and ISC. |
| Health Human Resources | The Aboriginal Health Human Resources Initiative aims to increase the number of Indigenous Peoples entering health careers. It also provides training to community-based workers and health managers delivering health services in First Nations and Inuit communities. Increasing the healthcare delivery workforce in Indigenous communities is an important way to advance health equity, particularly in rural and remote communities where health human resource challenges are greatest. Indigenous communities are currently experiencing inequitable critical shortages in health providers, including physicians, nurses, allied health workers, and unregulated health paraprofessionals. Staffing is a critical factor in impacting quality of care in nursing stations, health centers, and in the home environment, with clear links to safety outcomes. |
| Environmental Public Health | Environmental Public Health programs and services positively impact First Nations communities on reserve by advancing the Poverty Reduction, Health and Well-being goal of Canada's Gender Results Framework. Indigenous woman and children are disproportionately impacted by many environmental public health risks and hazard. The eight environmental public health service delivery lines, at all stages in the policy development stage naturally lend itself to these considerations. Using one of the eight environmental public health service delivery lines as an example, insufficient water and wastewater infrastructure can add a considerable labour burden and have impacts on health. Safe water is critically important to care work and may increase the time and labour necessary to undertake tasks such as cooking, laundry and washing when it is not readily available. Improved access to clean, usable water will reduce the time and labour burden on women undertaking extra care duties, which is expected to increase the opportunity to pursue economic and/or educational goals. Research indicates that because of women's gendered roles and responsibilities, they spend more time caring for children, elderly and people with disabilities. In places where there are drinking water advisories, Indigenous women on-reserve may be disproportionately affected as there will be a need to obtain safe water for consumption, bathing, and cleaning. Women, pregnant women, the elderly and children may have trouble accessing heavy bottles of water to address water advisories. Literature and evidence has also outlined the traditional cultural roles that women play in Indigenous communities as water keepers. Manganese and lead is directly relevant to gender given potential impacts on children and pregnant women whereas it would not be relevant for other parameters. Overall, resolving long-term drinking water advisories positively impacts all members of the community. It is anticipated that beneficiaries will include men, women, elders, youth, 2SLGBTQQIA+, and others. Reliable drinking water most benefits the most vulnerable members of First Nations communities. Improving access to safe drinking water and adequate infrastructure such as water and wastewater can be expected to positively impact the health of individuals. Water and wastewater services, as with the other seven (7) environmental public health service delivery lines, has and continues to provide these benefits to First Nations on reserve community members inclusive of all. Of note, the Climate Change and Health Adaptation Program south of 60 was designed, from problem definition through to implementation, to require engagement of and benefits for women and Elders in all proposals. The First Nations Selection Committee, which recommends proposals be funded, ensures a balance in this regard as well. Environmental Public Health Services also collects data on the number of women and Indigenous Environmental Public Health Officers and, given the low numbers in this regard, are developing a recruitment and retention strategy. |
| Communicable Disease Control and Management | The program collects sufficient data on many nationally notifiable communicable disease outcomes which enable the program to monitor trends and/or report program impacts by gender. This includes COVID-19 case data, sexually transmitted and blood-borne infections (such as HIV, hepatitis C, infectious syphilis), active Tuberculosis, and vaccine preventable diseases (e.g. chronic hepatitis B). Depending on the disease, information by geography up to the community level is available. In addition, data from the Public Health Agency of Canada, provincial sexually transmitted and blood-borne infections surveillance systems, Non-Insured Health Benefits administrative data, First Nations and Inuit Health Branches regional offices and partnership tables are being used to assess GBA Plus impacts. When a higher burden of disease is found for one gender, this information is shared with policy and program teams to inform program design and implementation. The same considerations are made where age disaggregated data is available. In addition, existing data tools and processes are labour intensive and are compiled with a one to two year delay. This would benefit from transitioning to a more real-time reporting server-based platforms which could expedite regional public health interventions. A real-life example of such a platform would be the COVID-19 case surveillance system in First Nations communities in the provinces developed by ISC to support communities and partner organizations in responding to the COVID-19 pandemic. |
| Education | Equity goals are supported by the application of GBA Plus to education programs leading to the inclusion of equal opportunities and diversified paths in educations and skills development, equal and full participation in the economy, and reduced poverty and improved health outcomes. The department has the ability, through the Education Information System, to measure a number of indicators related to education attainment. The indicators (graduation rates, special education assessments and learning plans, number of children attending school) are disaggregated by gender and other identifying factors. The Education Reports and Analysis Solution provides the ability to report on data, by student gender, through funding recipient reporting. The information collected and the level of detail differs amongst programs. The fields included in the data collection instruments and used to collect data on students and youth funded by education programs are regularly reviewed with Indigenous partners. Over time, some fields may be removed or added to the data collection instruments based on program partners' priorities. In addition, with the signature of regional or sectoral education agreements, self-government agreements and devolution of education programming, Indigenous partners become increasingly responsible for the determination of data collected and how it is collected. As agreements are reached on the submission of aggregate data for reporting, detail on gender and other identity factors is no longer available. Education programs continue to discuss considerations for GBA Plus and reporting in conversations with partners. ISC has the ability to collect and measure students who receive funding through the Post-Secondary Student Support Program, including the name of the post-secondary institution the student attended, the level of education sought, the area of study, and the student's achievement status at the end of the semester. While the department collects annual data on the number of youth served, the number of youth returning to school, and the number of youth who are employed/self-employed, there are limitations to the accuracy of the data as it is currently collected (youth evaluations) and is not gender-disaggregated. The Department is working to update its data collection instruments for the program to align with Employment and Social Development Canada's new horizontal results framework and to more accurately reflect total participants. |
| Income Assistance | The Income Assistance program's existing data collection system collects sex information and data that is useful in determining impacts for sex and other identity factors, but expansion of the data collection in this area could be beneficial. As the program undertakes co-development of reform options with First Nations partners to make the program more responsive to the needs of individuals and families and to identify the supports required to help individuals better transition from income assistance to employment and education, consideration of the program's data collection needs can be addressed. This could include both quantitative and qualitative data collection methods, determined in partnership with First Nations. GBA Plus has been flagged as an area for key consideration when the data collection instrument is reviewed for reform. |
| Assisted Living | The Assisted Living program's existing data collection system collects little information that would be useful in determining impacts by gender and other identity factors. That said, the program is currently engaging with First Nations and Inuit on a continuum approach to delivering long-term care services in their communities. A new continuum approach to service delivery will likely entail significant changes to the program and to its data collection approach. Appropriate quantitative and qualitative measures for determining the program's impact on women, gender diverse people, seniors and persons with chronic illnesses and disabilities will be defined during the redesign of the approach to data collection. |
| First Nations Child and Family Services Program | Through the reform of the First Nations Child and Family Services Program, this program supports the Poverty Reduction, Health and Well-Being pillar of the Gender Results Framework. The program supports children, youth, and their families by providing supports for services and activities such as:
This program does not collect sufficient data at this time to enable it to monitor and/or report program impacts by gender and other identity factors. The federal government's Six Points of Action for Child Welfare Reform includes the co-development of a data and reporting strategy, including gender-based indicators, with provinces, territories and Indigenous partners. ISC is also working with some partners and the Public Health Agency of Canada to determine if information related to Indigenous children, disaggregated by sex/gender can be included in the development of the Canadian Child Welfare Information System. The need for new performance measures and data systems to address the unique requirements of child and family services and respect Indigenous data sovereignty is being communicated from communities, agencies and organizations across the country. These data improvements will allow for continued monitoring of outcomes, particularly those related to sex and gender, and ensure equity in the provision of prevention support and services to meet the needs of children, youth and families. The department will work with the Public Health Agency of Canada to determine if new distinctions-based performance measures can be used to monitor outcomes. These measures will be used to ensure equity in the provision of prevention support and services to meet the needs of children, youth and families, as determined by Indigenous communities. ISC will continue to rely on practices rooted in the co-developed principles of mutual accountability, including co-developed approaches to address gender considerations and data gaps. This includes reviewing the Institute of Fiscal Studies and Democracy's (IFSD) recommendations in Phase 1 report "Enabling First Nations Children to Thrive" and Phase 2 report "Funding First Nations child and family services (FNCFS): A performance budget approach to well-being". The IFSD Phase 2 report includes proposed "Measuring to Thrive Framework" indicators that capture the well-being of children, families, and communities and is premised on the understanding that a child's environment is integral to their well-being. ISC will continue to work with First Nations partners to improve Departmental and program-specific outcomes and performance indicators by looking at the Measuring to Thrive Framework as an important tool. |
| Family Violence Prevention | The Family Violence Prevention program's existing data collection system collects limited data to be able to fully assess gender and other identity factors impacts. The program is in the initial phase of redeveloping its Data Collection Instrument to further integrate a GBA Plus lens to its dataset, thereby allowing the Program to further disaggregate its data through the annual roll-up (e.g., across 2SLGBTQQIA+ and distinctions-based client groups). This will entail expanding the existing demographic data fields to encourage a more holistic snapshot on the subpopulations seeking access to ISC's funded facilities, including 2SLGBTQQIA+ people. The program anticipates new data in several areas, including the proportion of programming that incorporate distinctions-based and 2SLGBTQQIA+ components, and the extent to which facilities serve the 2SLGBTQQIA+ population. A quarterly/annual environmental scan of statistical data, reports, and the news will help inform progress in identifying how successful prevention programming is in increasing the safety and security of women, children, families and 2SLGBTQQIA+ people in Canada. In addition, the Program's next evaluation is slated for 2022-23 in accordance with the Five-Year Evaluation Plan, which will help identify gaps within the Program's data collection, including the incorporation of a GBA Plus lens. Recently announced increases to the ISC-funded network of emergency shelters and transition homes, as well as greatly expanded resources for family violence prevention activities, should create additional opportunities for positive impacts for Indigenous women, children, families and 2SLGBTQQIA+ people. |
| Urban Programming for Indigenous Peoples | Urban Programming for Indigenous Peoples has a Performance Information Profile with indicators across its funding streams. Existing monitoring, oversight and reporting processes are used to measure the impacts on different groups, including youth, women and underserved populations (e.g. persons with disability, chronic illness, 2SLGBTQQIA+). However, the consistency and reliability of data collection reports related to the Performance Information Profile indicators could be much improved through co-development with Indigenous peoples. ISC will continue to work with key stakeholders, such as national regional Indigenous organizations that serve Indigenous peoples living in urban centres, to create a performance framework that will appropriately allow for the collection and sharing of mixed methods data in a culturally-sensitive and respectful manner, and based within Indigenous methodologies. |
| Health Facilities | At this time, this program does not collect gender-specific or social data. In accordance with the program's terms and conditions, the provision and management of health facilities on reserve is the responsibility of the First Nations recipient. Furthermore, the multi-jurisdictional complexity of health service delivery to Indigenous Peoples creates challenges in gathering comprehensive Indigenous health data. Many key indicators of health come from systems held by provinces and territories. There is no simple mechanism to identify Indigenous-specific data within these systems due to First Nations guidelines around Ownership, Control, Access and Possession of all information about their peoples, and the absence of ethnic identifiers. Consequently, health status information routinely available for Canadians is not available for Indigenous Peoples. To overcome these challenges, ISC works collaboratively with Indigenous organizations such as the First Nations Information Governance Council. The council oversees the First Nations Regional Health Survey which collects wide-ranging information about on-reserve and northern First Nations communities based on Western and Traditional understandings of health and well-being. Although the Regional Health Survey provides sex-disaggregated data that is broken down by age group, the data is self-reported and linked to perceived health outcomes. The survey does not report on perceived health outcomes related to health infrastructure. Nonetheless, survey data can help to provide important context surrounding the regional health status of First Nations which will support the implementation and delivery of the program. GBA Plus impacts will also be monitored using the Community-Based Reporting Template. The reporting template, which was first implemented in 2008-09, combines performance information that recipients must report on annually to meet requirements set out in their contribution agreement in one template. It consists of 50 questions and collects four types of information relevant to the programs for a given reporting year. A small portion of this information is organized by gender. |
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| e-Health Infostructure | The eHealth Infostructure Program uses GBA Plus to ensure inclusive outcomes for Canadians in relation to its core program authorities. It is anticipated that improving First Nations' capacity, governance and control over their digital health solutions will positively impact all First Nations community members including women, men, boys, girls, and gender-diverse individuals in different ways, based on their specific needs and interactions with health care services in Indigenous jurisdictions. Specifically, distinctions-based treatment is provided using virtual technologies, including remote-presence robotics for education, ongoing treatment and acute care emergency preparation for medical transportation in life-threatening situations. Youth mental wellness counselling specific to gender diversity or suicide prevention is also provided virtually, given the high incidence of suicide attempts and completed suicides in the First Nations amongst men, women and 2SLGBTQQIA+ community members. There is a shortage of available data to measure impacts of specific virtual sessions disaggregating by sex or gender. |
| Health Planning, Quality Management and Systems Integration | The Health Planning, Quality Management, and Systems Integration Program supports the Poverty Reduction, Health and Well-Being pillar by improving First Nations and Inuit capacity, governance and control over health care services, which should have a positive impact for First Nations and Inuit who are currently receiving health services and programming through both the federal and provincial governments. The program does not collect sufficient data to enable it to monitor or report program impacts by GBA Plus. As noted under the First Nations guidelines around Ownership, Control, Access and Possession, any data collected by the program does not include ethnic identifiers. Consequently, health status information that is routinely available for Canadians is not available for Indigenous Peoples. Data collection for the program is limited to community and organization levels across First Nations communities. Data on gender and other identity factors cannot be collected as part of this program. To overcome these data collection challenges, the department works collaboratively with Indigenous organizations such as the First Nations Information Governance Centre. The Centre oversees the First Nations Regional Health Survey that collects self-reported information on Western and Traditional understandings of health and well-being, on reserve. Although the survey provides sex-disaggregated data that is broken down by age, the data collected via a self-reported survey and linked to perceived health outcomes. The survey does not report on perceived health outcomes related to health infrastructure. Nonetheless, survey data can help to provide important context and considerations surrounding the regional health status of First Nations, which can support program implementation. GBA Plus impacts will be monitored using the Community-Based Reporting Template. This template, first implemented in 2008-09, combines performance information in a single template that recipients must report on annually to satisfy requirements set out in their Contribution Agreements. The Agreements consist of 50 questions and collects four types of information relevant to the programs for a given reporting cycle. A small portion of this information is organized by gender. |
| Indigenous Governance and Capacity | As part of the modernization of the Indigenous Governance and Capacity program, ISC will examine how this program can better support and monitor gender diversity among elected and administrative leaders in Indigenous governments and institutions. We have identified Diversity in Leadership as an area of focus for the Professional and Institutional Development Program, however, there is currently no dedicated funds or means of tracking progress. This will be an area of program development in 2022-23. The Indigenous Government and Capacity program provide support for First Nations governance, which includes supports for elected officials in Indigenous Governments. Accordingly gender-specific data regarding elected officials collected by ISC, in part, reflects gender-specific impacts of the Indigenous Governance and Capacity program. |
| Water and Wastewater | The department recognizes the under-representation of Indigenous women, two-spirit, non-binary, and other gender diverse groups in the field of water and wastewater operations and is working to identify barriers (identify gaps in resources, training, and supports) and increase awareness of the field and the role of water operators in the community. ISC has partnered with technical service providers and other organizations. ISC supported Water First as it has demonstrated success in developing women water operators. The Bimose Water First and Technical Youth Career Outreach projects aim to promote, empower, and encourage First Nations youth, and women to pursue careers in water/wastewater, science, technology, engineering and math, including trades. The department is also working with service providers and organizations to improve the effectiveness of existing recruitment efforts and enhance communication and outreach efforts in First Nations communities. For example, it has supported the dissemination of a career promotional guide produced by the Native Women's Association of Canada that included information on the field and highlighted existing supports and resources for operators. The project benefited from input by the 2SLGBTQQIA+ community. Last, future engagements on the long-term strategy for water and wastewater and the review of the Safe Drinking Water for First Nations Act are also expected to focus on the role of women and youth. |
| Education Facilities | The impacts of this program support the pillars and goals of the Gender Results Framework, through the education and skills development goals:
Overall, investments in education facilities will help bridge the infrastructure gap between First Nations and the rest of Canada and positively impact all members of the community. It will improve the overall social well-being and economic prosperity of First Nations communities on reserves. |
| Housing | ISC will support on-reserve housing capacity enhancement, innovation and pilot projects that include data collection and analysis, and report on the housing needs of First Nations community members, including the needs of women, men, two-spirit people, youth, elders, and people with disabilities. The focus of these projects will be on supporting First Nations communities and organizations to collect data that can inform their self-determined priorities with respect to housing. ISC is also reforming on-reserve program delivery tools and practices to implement First Nations recommendations, while continuing to engage with First Nations organizations to prepare for the transfer of housing and infrastructure services on-reserve. ISC will continue to work with First Nations partners to address these critical housing gaps in First Nations communities and advance the co-developed First Nations National Housing and Related Infrastructure Strategy. |
| Other Community Infrastructure and Activities | The impacts of this program support the pillars and goals of the Gender Results Framework, through the Economic Participation and Prosperity goal as well as the Poverty Reduction, Health and Well-Being goal. The department considers GBA Plus principles as a core component of renewed, respectful, and inclusive nation-to-nation processes which will lead to reliable and sustainable infrastructure that supports the well-being of Indigenous communities through closing socio-economic gaps between Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities. Local and community-driven infrastructure projects improve the overall social well-being and economic prosperity of First Nations communities on reserve and supports First Nations in their efforts to develop healthier, more sustainable communities. First Nations identify their infrastructure needs through the First Nations Infrastructure Investment Plan process and proposed projects are assessed based on the following four priorities: protection of health and safety and assets; health and safety improvements; recapitalization/major maintenance; and population growth. Establishing cultural spaces that are inclusive of the perspectives of Indigenous women, girls, and 2SLGBTQQIA+ communities is a critical factor in ensuring that these populations are safe and included in decisions that affect them. This initiative will support the construction of culture and recreation facilities and help to ensure Indigenous women, girls and 2SLGBTQQIA+ have safe, no-barrier, permanent, and meaningful access to their cultures and languages. Investments could support community gathering places and cultural infrastructure that contribute to building identities and vibrant cultures. Overall, investments in community infrastructure will help bridge the infrastructure gap between First Nations and the rest of Canada and positively impact all members of the community, including women and men of various identities including age, culture, language, sexual orientation, education, ability, geographic location, faith, ethnicity and socio-economic status. It will improve the overall social well-being and economic prosperity of First Nations communities on reserves. |
| Emergency Management Assistance | The Emergency Management Assistance program does not collect data that monitors or reports impacts related to gender and other identity factors. At this time, no specific steps are being undertaken to collect this data. Although there is some interest within the program to collect GBA Plus and diversity-related data, we could only do so with the expressed consent from and engagement with First Nations communities. Although there are no planned engagements at this time with First Nations communities to request this type of information, there may be opportunity in the future to do so. |
| Indigenous Entrepreneurship and Business Development | The National Aboriginal Capital Corporations Association provides results disaggregated by gender in their Annual Reports, which include the percentage of businesses supported by the Aboriginal Financial Institutions and Métis Capital Corporation network that are owned by Indigenous women. In 2019-20, the National Aboriginal Capital Corporations Association conducted a survey of Indigenous women entrepreneurs to begin to identify gender specific barriers to entrepreneurship. Recognizing that women face additional barriers to entrepreneurship, National Aboriginal Capital Corporations Association launched the Indigenous Women's Entrepreneurship initiative and has set a goal of increasing the number of Indigenous women entrepreneurs accessing financing through the Aboriginal Financial Institutions network by 50% by 2025. The Indigenous Women's Entrepreneurship Initiative will report on uptake of the program by Indigenous women entrepreneurs. This initiative will also help expand the Aboriginal Entrepreneurship Program's capacity to monitor and report impacts on gender. The Aboriginal Entrepreneurship Program is now delivered using a distinctions-based approach with Métis Capital Corporations delivering targeted supports to Métis entrepreneurs. The reporting requirements for the Métis Capital Corporations are similar to the current requirements for the National Aboriginal Capital Corporations Association and Aboriginal Financial Institutions. However, their reporting is focused on Métis-specific indicators. The federal government, the National Aboriginal Capital Corporations Association and Métis Capital Corporations will continue to co-develop effective indicators and measures for the collection of data based on sex, gender and other intersecting identity factors, such as age (youth and seniors) and rural/remote populations. Under the Inuit-Crown Partnership Committee Economic Development and Procurement Working Group, and the task teams under the working group, ISC is working collaboratively with Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, and other government departments and Regional Development Agencies, towards greater Inuit self-determination in economic development. There are also plans to work with Inuit to develop a distinctions-based approach to Inuit economic development, which will presumably include the development of a data reporting framework. Once an approach will be established, ISC will co-develop Inuit specific indicators with Inuit-led financial institution and economic development organizations. Existing data collection has proven useful in determining impacts for gender identity factors, but expansion of the data collection in this area could be beneficial. As programs undertake co-development approaches with Indigenous partners to develop and reform policies and implementation frameworks, programs will remain committed to collecting more robust gender data, to support a responsive approach to the needs of Indigenous individuals and business in the future. |
| Land, Natural Resources and Environmental Management | Programs under the Environment Directorate do not significantly impact any of the pillars of the Gender Results Framework. At this time, the First Nations Solid Waste Management Program does not collect gender specific or age related statistics related to the initiative. Overall, a lack of essential community infrastructure negatively impacts all members of the community, although not equally. This initiative works to improve community infrastructure and in so doing improves the overall social, well-being and economic prosperity of First Nations men, women, children, and two-spirited from a variety of demographics related to age, culture, language, sexual orientation, education, ability, geographic location, faith, ethnicity, and socio-economic status. While no additional actions to monitor the impacts by gender and other identity factors are being proposed at this time, the initiative is engaging with its National Advisory Committee and the ISC GBA Plus Centre to explore ways to ensure that all sectors of First Nations communities on reserve are benefiting equitably from improvements to waste management systems. Currently, the Indigenous Centre for Cumulative Effects does not collect data to enable the monitoring and/or reporting of impacts by gender and other identity factors. However, it does promote the consideration of potential environmental, social, health and economic impacts, including cumulative impacts in a holistic manner. The centre allows for the improved capacity for management of impacts on the environment, and will contribute to positive outcomes for Indigenous Peoples, including women, children, low-income groups, and gender diverse individuals. In this spirit, the centre will support intergenerational equity. Actions taken in the present will help to ensure environmental and natural resources sustainability to support the needs of future generations. The Environmental Review and the Impact Assessment processes do not currently collect sufficient data to enable monitoring and reporting of potential project impacts on gender or other identity factors, such as age, sexuality, income level or socio-economic status. However, pursuant to the 2019 Impact Assessment Act, factors such as those mentioned above must be considered in all project assessments. The Environmental Review Process and related guidance are currently being revised to take into account new requirements of the Act. Accordingly, environmental reviews of project on reserve will increasingly consider a project's potential adverse impacts on health, social and economic conditions in diverse groups and sub-groups within a project area, including on gender, age, (dis)ability, culture, and socio-economic considerations. Also, when analysing impacts of development projects off reserve on First Nations communities, ISC considers how these projects may affect diverse groups of people differently with the goal of ensuring a more equitable distribution of the benefits, where possible. The Contaminated Sites on Reserve program helps to improve community and social well-being by supporting the cleanup of contaminated sites on reserve lands and in the North. While all demographic groups are positively impacted by remediation activities, youth and future generations benefit the most. Contaminated site remediation and long term monitoring activities are crucial to protecting sources of food and drinking water. Even the existence of a contaminated site can create socio-psycho stresses that can be linked to human health risks (e.g. uncertainties surrounding safe drinking water and contaminated food sources). The remediation of contaminated sites increases the social wellbeing of future generations. Together with the other custodial departments under the Federal Contaminated Sites Action Plan, Phase IV, the program collects information to determine the impacts that the programming is having on Indigenous men, women and businesses. Additionally, the program is developing capacity building tools in pollution prevention and contaminated sites aimed at youth. Among other supports, the Reserve Land and Environment Management program provides a training and certification program for land managers. Though the program is not directly targeted towards women, the majority of certified land managers are female. Therefore, there are indirect impacts to the education and skills development, and economic participation and prosperity goals of the Gender Results Framework. Additionally, the Professional Land Managers Certification program now includes a Matrimonial Real Property elective course. This course addresses the Gender Results Framework objective "fewer vulnerable individuals lacking stable, safe and permanent housing." Following the close of the Centre of Excellence for Matrimonial Real Property in March 2021, the National Aboriginal Lands Managers Association now hosts resources and expertise for First Nations seeking information. These initiatives support implementation of the Family Homes on Reserve and Matrimonial Interests or Rights Act and awareness of rights and protections for individuals living on reserves, including rights of occupation and division of value of the family home in cases of death or the breakdown of a relationship. The program is not currently tracking gender specific data, however the training program was designed to lessen barriers for older students, women and caretakers. In 2022-23, discussions on developing a GBA Plus reporting strategy are ongoing. The land use planning initiative ties to two Gender Results Framework goals: leadership and democratic participation, and economic participation and prosperity. The initiative provides support for community-led planning to ensure accessibility to services within residential zones for childcare, health services and education as well as ensuring that all community members, including youth and the elderly, are engaged and participate in land use planning. As land-use planning is a First Nations community-driven exercise, ISC does not track gender specific data related to it. In 2022-23, discussions on developing a GBA Plus reporting strategy are ongoing. The Additions to Reserve Program has been developed to provide First Nations access to land and resources and to reduce the socio-economic gap between First Nations and non-Indigenous Peoples. This funding will build capacity in First Nations, seeing them become full partners/decision makers in future decisions. The ultimate objective is for First Nations to reconnect and rebuild their relationship with the land, which will promote cultural practices and traditions and result in the investment of economic development opportunities. Accelerating the pace at which land is added to reserves can help address pressing community housing needs with corresponding positive impacts for youth, women and off-reserve residents who are able to return to their communities. An increase in resources to accelerate the additions to reserve process is expected to have positive impacts on northern and remote First Nations communities as a way to access economic opportunities via larger, urban markets. Finally, increased access to economic development will assist the economic well-being of Indigenous men and women, as well as assist in reducing financial marginalization. ISC does not have data to analyze and assess the immediate gender impacts of additions to reserve. As a result, it is difficult to predict the differential impacts this funding could have on Indigenous women, men, elders, youth, single parents, people with disabilities and 2SLGBTQQIA+ people. |
| Statutory, Legislative and Policy Support to First Nations Governance | As the department does not currently have any processes for tracking gender identities or sexual orientation of candidates, there is currently no data to reflect the number of 2SLGBTQQIA+ candidates. At this time, the Band Governance Management System has been updated to include Two-Spirit as an option under Gender for those elected officials who choose to identify themselves as such. This will allow for a further disaggregation of data as time goes on. |
| New Fiscal Relationship | The 10-year grants advance the self-determination of First Nations and thereby advance the Gender Results Framework goals of economic equality and full participation in the economy, and reduced poverty and improved health outcomes. ISC will continue to rely on practices rooted in principles of mutual accountability, including the co-development of a National Outcome-Based Framework, which should allow for disaggregated analysis by gender at the national level, as well as by other factors, such as age, geography and income, depending on data availability. ISC will co-develop approaches to address gender considerations in reporting with linkages to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, including identifying and taking steps to address data gaps. |
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| British Columbia Tripartite Health Governance | The program's responsibility is to manage the First Nations Health Authority's fiscal arrangements. The program and the department's GBA Plus team have connected with colleagues at the First Nations Health Authority to share work and exchange ideas and best practices. In September 2019, the department shared a GBA Plus guidance document for ISC employees with the First Nations Health Authority as part of the management and operational planning. However, the First Nations Health Authority is a separate entity that takes decisions and operates independently from Canada. Due to the nature of the BC Tripartite Framework Agreement, the program is not able to direct or make suggestions as to how the First Nations Health Authority would spend its resources and structure their organization as this would run counter to the self-determination model. Therefore, ISC will continue to support any work that the First Nations Health Authority proposes in this area through its collaborative processes. |
| Internal Services | ISC collects data on the four Employment Equity groups and disseminates it internally to increase the representativeness of these groups, including by occupational group. The results of these actions can be measured by an analysis of the evolution of the representativeness. The department will promote the new self-declaration form which will include more underrepresented groups. Communication will be initiated to encourage self-identification. While ISC makes a conscious effort to put a diversity lens on all communications products, indicators will be identified to measure this progress. |
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