Gender-based analysis plus 2020-21

Institutional GBA Plus Capacity

Governance structure

Shared Services Canada (SSC) has been increasingly integrating Gender Based Analysis plus (GBA Plus) into programs and services since 2016. All Memoranda to Cabinet and Treasury Board Submissions continue to include a GBA Plus analysis. The GBA Plus Responsibility Centre currently resides in Strategic Services within Human Resources and Workplace (HRW). They collaborate closely with the Strategy Branch, ensuring that GBA Plus is incorporated where possible, based on data availability and leveraging existing governance structures. Internal GBA Plus objectives are also attained via activities supported by Diversity networks and their Champions representing various intersectional groups at SSC.

Major initiatives: results achieved

During 2020-21, GBA Plus analysis and implementation have continued to have a direct impact on decisions, actions and results fostering equality within SSC. While continued deliberate efforts are needed to address GBA Plus issues, SSC employees are increasingly diverse and employment survey results are improving.

Below you will find SSC initiatives and results for the intersectional groups, during this reporting cycle.

Like many departments, SSC renewed its GBA Plus, diversity and inclusion efforts in the wake of the murder of George Floyd in May 2020. To ensure positive changes, SSC accomplished the following, as a department, in the 2020-21 fiscal year:

• Developed a Diversity and Inclusion Framework to guide the department’s strategic activities each year
• Established the Diversity Council to provide advice to senior management and co-develop solutions and areas of focus for the annual framework
• Ran two Self-ID Campaigns (Rate of self-identification increased to 98% [PS average is 80%])
• Provided GBA Plus training to SSC’s Executive Oversight Board members in March 2021
• Mandated Unconscious Bias training for all Executives. This is an ongoing effort with a current completion rate of 47%)
• Supported the creation of four branch-specific diversity champions and ambassadors;
• Signed a contract with the Canadian Centre for Diversity and Inclusion (CCDI) to complete an Employment System Review which will be completed in 2021-22
• Included specific diversity and inclusion commitments in executive and manager-level performance management agreements
• Created annual diversity recruitment targets to ensure continuous growth in representation for equity communities. In 2020-21, SSC surpassed target numbers in three of four equity groups
• Piloted an anonymous recruitment program for two executive-level positions

Target Population – Women

SSC successfully achieved several GBA Plus goals, including promoting Women in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) fields and the development of women to achieve gender equality and decrease discrimination. Some of the key initiatives that took place during the past year include:

• SSC continued to host monthly interdepartmental Women in STEM meetups with more than 250 participants to discuss key issues
• SSC hosted a virtual day of activities to celebrate International Women’s Day, including a living library that allowed participants an opportunity to hear from different women, including an Indigenous Elder, about their lived experiences
• Began planning a specific women’s mentorship pilot program by researching and connecting with different public and private sector organisations to learn best practices
• Hosted a “Race2Dinner” event to speak to all women executives and members of the Women’s Network about race, racism, and allyship to bring awareness of each participants’ own anti-Black and anti-Indigenous racism and how to dismantle systemic barriers that exist in Canadian society
• Created the Men as Allies Training Program in partnership with Women in TechWorld, IBM and the University of Ottawa to ensure women in technology roles are supported in the workplace

Target Population – Indigenous peoples

SSC strategies and priorities in regards to Indigenous Peoples GBA Plus intersectional goals are achieved in collaboration with the Diversity and Inclusion Champion and the Advisory Circle. Some of these goals include: promoting related commemorative events; developing strategies to increase awareness of Indigenous history and current issues to decrease discrimination; and addressing issues highlighted in Public Service Employee Survey results. A few highlights from the past year include:

• Promoting the Moose Hide Campaign and the launch and promotion of Indigenous Awareness Week and Indigenous History Month
• Collaborating with Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC) on Indigenous pilot program IM/IT apprenticeship to hire apprentices
• Expanding the relationship with post-secondary Indigenous programs and campuses; prioritizing Indigenous candidates for appointments from EX pools while also providing guidance on how to avoid bias in performance and talent management
• Supporting the participation of Indigenous and other diverse employees in leadership development programs, like the Aspiring leaders program which will be launched in 2021-22

Target Population – Persons with disabilities

The Accessibility Accommodations and Adaptive Computer Technology (AAACT) Program continues to provide information and communication technologies (ICT) accessibility requirements/advice for other government departments.

GBA Plus goals in relation to SSC employees with disabilities have been achieved by AAACT in collaboration with SSC’s Persons with Disabilities Champion and Advisory Committee.

More specifically, SSC is:

• Identifying barriers and taking actions as part of SSC’s Accessibility Plan due to be published by December 2022
• Pathfinding a pilot project to make sure that SSC-led enterprise ICT procurements consider accessibility from the start by incorporating EN 301 549 ICT standards in the requirements
• Recruiting five candidates from the neurodiverse community in 2021-22 through a pilot partnership with Specialisterne and the Office of Public Service Accessibility (OPSA)
• Advising and supporting hiring managers in the use of the Federal Student Work Experience Program (FSWEP) and Co-Op programs for student placement needs with the ability to leverage: specific programs within FSWEP for disabled individuals, the Federal Internship Program for Canadians with Disabilities programs, and the promotion of Public Service Commission (PSC) inventories for students with disabilities

SSC is also taking the lead on accessibility in the Government of Canada in these ways:

• Supporting public servants – building on the expertise of the AAACT program and the success of the Lending Library of Assistive Technologies (a fast-tracked accommodations process designed to quickly provide hardware, software, resources and tools for short-term employees in the Government of Canada)
• Supporting organizations (including SSC) – providing advice, resources, tools, and training materials related to accessible procurement, Microsoft365 accessibility, and how to design and build accessible ICT
• Partnering and working collaboratively with other departments, agencies, jurisdictions, organizations, and persons with disabilities. SSC’s Accessibility Plan is scheduled to be published by December 2022
• Building accessibility skillsets: Standard job descriptions developed for the AAACT

Target Population – Visible Minority Employees

SSC’s Visible Minority Champions and Advisory Committee, in collaboration with the Diversity Unit, worked to identify solutions to challenges that impact SSC employees. They were successful in achieving several goals this past year, including:

• Organized 2 Design Jams to understand barriers for racialized people, particularly those who are Black and promoting related commemorative events
• Launched a series of Race, Ethnicity and Culture (REC) Talks aimed at encouraging open conversations regarding all forms of discrimination and racism
• Promoted consultations and training, such as unconscious bias courses, in order to improve the departmental recruitment and staffing processes
• Helped launch the Mentorship Plus program for Executives and CS-05 to specifically sponsor employees with high-potential who are Black or other racialized employees to prepare them for leadership roles
• Created and launched the Black Employee Network to help address issues highlighted in the Public Service Employee Survey (PSES) and Public Service Employee Annual Survey (PSEAS) results.

Regional Capacity

SSC continues to build regional capacity through recruitment, engagement and investments in learning and development. Regional capacity increased over the past year from 1,716 employees at the end of 2019-20 to 1,823 employees at the end of 2020-21. As well, employees are enabled by technical and logistical support wherever they are located.

Workplace Wellness / Mental Health

Throughout 2020-21, the Mental Health Program provided necessary support in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, as it continued to work towards the Federal Public Service Workplace Mental Health Strategy. This included providing regular tools and learning sessions, building capacity, and focusing on measuring and reporting on activities.

Activities in the past year included:

• Over 30 learning sessions, including the Wednesday Wellness Sessions, with nearly 2200 participants across all events
• A five-part training series on resilience was delivered to approximately 500 attendees
• The Mental Health and Wellness Ambassador Community experienced a renewal, and approximately 55 ambassadors acted as a resource for mental health in their directorates
• The Working Mind training was adapted to be delivered virtually
• An integral support for employees is the Employee Assistance Program (EAP), which was made available to all SSC employees and their immediate families
• The Mental Health scorecard initiative allowed to assess psychosocial factors strengths and risks to workplace mental health at the Departmental, Branch and Directorate level. This initiative included a guide for managers and supervisors on the 13 psychosocial factors, questions for reflection and suggested actions, as well as a template action plan.
• Employee mental health was continuously monitored throughout the year, including analyses of the future of work pulse check surveys, EAP usage, as well as long-term disability usage. Programming was adapted throughout the year to meet employee needs.

Employment Equity

SSC has demonstrated an increase in the number of Women, Indigenous people, Visible minorities and Persons with disabilities during the reporting period, as shown below:

Representation and availability of employment equity group

	Representation as of March 31st, 2020	Representation as of March 31st, 2021	Workforce Availability as of March 31st, 2021
Women	2,200 (32.95%)	2,452 (34.11%)	35.48%
Indigenous People	205 (3.07%)	216 (3.01%)	2.61%
Visible Minorities	1,177 (17.63%)	1,336 (18.59%)	16.97%
Persons with disabilities	366 (5.48%)	428 (5.95%)	9.72%

Conclusion

SSC will be leveraging GBA Plus to monitor gaps and to identify innovative strategies to address them: focusing specifically on the recruitment of women into the CS group; continuing to increase the intake of Indigenous employees; removing technological barriers to help fully integrate employees with disabilities: preventing and eliminating discrimination; and providing support to employees and victims of discrimination. Progress will be monitored through Human Resources dashboards.

Highlights of GBA Plus Results by Program

SSC, as a centralized Information Technology (IT) service provider, primarily delivers services to public servants and to its partners across the federal public service.

In 2020-21, initial discussions took place with stakeholders within SSC regarding the development of data collection and analysis tools to report information on departmental programs, in order to measure future results. Work will continue within SSC to improve data capabilities for GBA Plus results.