Gender-based analysis plus 2024 to 2025 Departmental Plan

A process used to identify the impacts of policies, programs and services on different groups of: 

• women; 
• men; and 
• gender-diverse people. 

The "plus" considers many factors, such as race, ethnicity, religion, age, and mental or physical disability. As a disability focused organization, GBA Plus analysis is always at the forefront of the decisions being made and how the organization operates overall.

1. Governance

Accessibility Standards Canada was established in July 2019. It is a small departmental corporation, which is led by a 9-member Board of Directors. The Accessible Canada Act requires the government to consider diversity when appointing Directors. This includes having Directors:

• who are people with disabilities;
• that reflect the diversity of Canadian society; and
• that reflect the diversity of disabilities faced by Canadians.

Most of the board members are persons with disabilities. They represent a variety of disabilities. There is gender equality on the Board. The Board is responsible for setting the organization’s strategic direction. It ensures that GBA plus is included in departmental decision-making.

It has 58 planned full-time equivalents (employees) in 2024 to 2025. Nearly 30% of staff identify as having a disability, and at Management level, nearly 50% of managers are women and 50% men. The organization as a whole collectively shares responsibility to take GBA plus into consideration in its operations.

In addition, Accessibility Standards Canada, is advancing the implementation of the GBA Plus governance through its Grants and Contributions funding program, By advancing Accessibility Standards Research, it aims to gather data on how funding recipients consider the needs of the members of the diverse population of Canada and engage them into their research project. 

The goal is for recipients to anticipate and mitigate barriers to accessibility while taking into consideration the needs of under-represented groups. Applicants to the program must include, as part of their application, information on the people involved in their project. This is for all levels of the project, whether it’s project staff or research participants. 

Applicants must, of course, aim to include people with disabilities in their project as per the program’s mandate. Since 2022 to 2023, we also ask applicants in all the call for proposals to consider intersectionality when involving people in their project, to ensure the needs of diverse sections of population and inclusiveness are considered at the conception stage of the research project. 

During the funding application process, applicants must fill the application forms and indicate the estimated total number of people involved in their project, and their participation goals from diverse intersectional groups (disability, gender, LGBTQ2+, race, indigeneity, and age). Those groups are in line with the framework identified in Accessibility Standards Canada’s Intersectional Strategy. 

Applicants that receive funding must give the people involved in their research project an opportunity to self-identify as part of those categories. Funded recipients must then be accountable and report on this data throughout the research project and at the end of it, to show their continued participation goals and results. This means that Accessibility Standards Canada can gather data on how our funded projects support inclusiveness and meet the needs of Canada’s diverse population.

2. Capacity

To advance departmental GBA Plus capacity, the intersectionality lens was added to the reporting requirements of Grants and Contributions funded projects in 2022 to 2023 to help ensure that going forward, the diverse needs of population groups historically overlooked, as well as inclusiveness, are taken into consideration in our funded research projects. 

Efforts were made in 2023 to 2024 to encourage past funding recipients to start collecting and reporting on this data, and for current funding recipients to be more consistent in their reporting. More clarity is being provided to recipients starting in 2024 to 2025 so they understand the aim of this initiative, their responsibility, and how they can collect the data while respecting their own organization’s privacy policies.

3. Highlights of GBA Plus results reporting by program

1. Standards Development
2. Outreach and Knowledge

Standards development

Our standards are developed to address accessibility barriers irrespective of gender, race, sexuality, or other forms of identity.

To ensure that standards address all barriers faced by Canadians with disabilities, an intersectionality framework and strategy for the standards development process was developed in 2023. The intersectionality framework focuses on the following identities as they relate to barriers to accessibility:

• Gender
• Disability
• LGBTQ2+
• Race
• Indigeneity

To enable future monitoring or reporting of the program’s impacts by gender and diversity, Accessibility Standards Canada (ASC) will collect information on the intersecting identities of technical committee members and public reviewers of ASC standards starting in 2024. Both groups will be asked the same standardized questions.

Collecting intersectionality information of technical committee members and public reviewers helps the organization to create the most inclusive standards possible by making sure they apply to the widest range of Canadians.

Furthermore, in future, we will collect GBA Plus data on the impact of funded research projects, especially the impact on to Canada’s under-represented population to ensure that our research and programming has a positive impact on minority and Indigenous communities, and other underrepresented groups.

Outreach and Knowledge

We engage with disability groups across the country, private and public entities, and all levels of government with the objective of addressing accessibility barriers. 

The foundation to collect data in accordance with our newly established GBA Plus Strategy has been laid. Accessibility Standards Canada will start reporting on the direct and indirect GBA Plus impact of its Standards Development and Outreach and Knowledge Programs from the fiscal year 2025 to 2026.