2022-23 Departmental Plan

From the Minister

As the Minister for Women and Gender Equality and Youth, I am happy to share Women and Gender Equality Canada’s 2022-23 Departmental Plan. It details the concrete actions WAGE will carry out this year to advance equality and inclusion in Canada.

The COVID-19 pandemic is one of the most serious public health and economic crisis Canada has ever faced. It has magnified the existing inequities in our society with women and equity seeking communities disproportionately impacted. While 2020-21 and 2021-22 focussed on providing emergency support and fostering economic recovery in communities impacted by COVID-19, in 2022-23 we plan to build upon these actions to further address gender inequality in Canada.

Working with our partners from coast to coast to coast we will continue to support capacity and sustainability of women’s and equality seeking organizations. We will also continue to encourage organizations to support women and girls to foster leadership skills, improve economic prosperity, and address key issues in LGBTQ2 communities, including through the launch of a new LGBTQ2 Projects Fund. We will also continue to support organizations efforts towards ending gender-based violence (GBV).

We believe that everyone has the right to live free from violence. The prevention of GBV remains a top priority for WAGE in 2022-23. Working alongside provinces and territories, Indigenous partners, survivors, their families, direct service providers, experts, advocates, GBV organisations and academics, we continue to advance a National Action Plan to End Gender-Based Violence. Recognizing that Indigenous women, girls, and 2SLGBTQQIA+ people are at an increased risk of GBV, we will continue to work with our partners to support the implementation of the National Action Plan on Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls, including by providing funding to bolster the capacity of Indigenous women and 2SLGBTQQIA+ organizations to provide gender-based violence prevention programming. To promote greater youth awareness of GBV, we will roll out the first phase of the GBV Youth Awareness Campaign as well as continue to educate and raise awareness of GBV through our yearly commemorative events. We will also continue to work to address GBV data gaps in collaboration with other departments, community-based organizations, and academics.

While some progress has been made since the Prime Minister’s historic apology to LGBTQ2 Canadians three years ago, we are continuing the groundwork for the first-ever LGBTQ2 Federal Action plan. Together with LGBTQ2 organisations, we will break down the barriers to full freedom and equality in our society. We will continue to take meaningful steps to promote LGBTQ2 equality, by providing funding to organizations, and through awareness raising and commemorative initiatives, to protect LGBTQ2 rights, and address discrimination against LGBTQ2 communities.

WAGE has committed to ensuring that all initiatives across the Government of Canada consider diversity and inclusion in the decision-making process through an intersectional analysis of race, indigeneity, rurality, disability and sexual identity.

To fulfil this commitment, WAGE will develop a new Gender-Based Analysis (GBA Plus) Action Plan, develop new training products, and launch a GBA Plus online learning hub and knowledge centre. This work is instrumental in understanding how various factors play a role in the social, health, and economic outcomes of individuals.

Stakeholder engagement as well as research and knowledge transfer are the foundation of our department. In 2022-23, we will begin to establish a Centre of Expertise on gender equality and continue to address knowledge gaps and share research to support this commitment. We will also continue to foster our relationships with multiple levels of governments, both domestically and internationally.

I am enthusiastic about the multiple plans that are underway, and I am confident that 2022-23 provides us an opportunity to raise awareness and encourage action to advance gender equality. Together, we can build a safer and better Canada for each and every one of us.

The Honourable Marci Ien, P.C., M.P.

Minister for Women and Gender Equality and Youth

Plans at a glance

The Government of Canada is investing in and taking action to address persistent gender inequalities that affect all people in Canada. To make progress towards a country where people of all genders are equal in every way and can achieve their full potential, in 2022-23 Women and Gender Equality Canada (WAGE) will continue to take action to advance more equitable social, political, and economic outcomes for women, girls, and people of all genders in Canada.

In particular, the department will focus on four priority areas:

• Preventing and addressing gender-based violence
• Strategic action and engagement to address systemic barriers to gender equality
• Ensuring GBA Plus throughout federal government decision making processes
• Supporting community action to advance gender equality

For more information on Women and Gender Equality Canada’s plans, see the “Core responsibilities: planned results and resources” section of this plan.

Core responsibilities: planned results and resources

This section contains information on the department’s planned results and resources for each of its core responsibilities.

Advancing Gender Equality

Description

The Department for Women and Gender Equality advances gender equality for women, including social, economic, and political equality with respect to sex, sexual orientation, and gender identity or expression. The department promotes a greater understanding of the intersection of sex and gender with other identity factors that include race, national and ethnic origin, Indigenous origin or identity, age, sexual orientation, socio-economic condition, place of residence and disability. The department develops and coordinates policies and programs; and undertakes research and data collection and analyses related to these policies and programs; and raises public awareness through outreach. The department provides advice to government to achieve Canada's gender equality outcomes and goals, including advocacy for gender-based budgeting, and facilitates the advancement of gender equality among other partners and stakeholders, through its expertise, contribution to research, and funding to community initiatives. The department serves as a central point for sharing expertise across Canada and with international partners and uses this knowledge to inform and support Canada's gender equality priorities.

Planning highlights

In 2022-23, WAGE will continue to provide leadership and support to advance gender equality through targeted initiatives that address inequalities; outreach and engagement to all Canadians; and enhancement of the government’s approach to Gender-based Analysis Plus (GBA Plus).

Preventing and Addressing Gender-Based Violence

While moving swiftly to address immediate needs of those most at-risk of gender-based violence during the COVID-19 pandemic, WAGE, in partnership with its counterparts in provinces and territories, will continue to advance a National Action Plan to End Gender-Based Violence in 2022-23, with a focus on supporting victims, survivors and their families, no matter where they live in Canada. The GBV National Action Plan builds on the foundation laid by It’s Time: Canada’s Strategy to Prevent and Address Gender-Based Violence (the Strategy) launched in 2017.The COVID-19 pandemic has revealed and exacerbated challenges for people experiencing GBV. The need for coordinated national actions to prevent and address GBV is more apparent now than ever before. Concrete steps being taken in 2022-23 to advance the National Action Plan include:

• Continued collaboration at the FPT Forum of Ministers Responsible for the Status of Women to advance towards a GBV National Action Plan and an overarching accountability framework.
• Continuing to establish a dedicated secretariat within WAGE to coordinate ongoing work towards advancing the National Action Plan.
• Continuing to implement funding received through Budget 2021, including $200 million over 2 years to enhance the capacity and responsiveness of GBV organizations, $105 million over 5 years to enhance GBV programming, $11 million over 5 years for research and knowledge mobilization, as well as $30 million over 5 years to crisis hotlines serving the urgent needs of people experiencing GBV.

Also, as part of the strategy It’s Time: Canada’s Strategy to Prevent and Address Gender-Based Violence, in 2022-23, WAGE will:

• Continue to provide funding through the GBV program to organizations in the GBV sector to support the development and implementation of promising practices to address gaps in supports for victims and survivors and their families. In 2022-23, approximately $50 million is being invested in roughly 60 projects. In addition, as part of the Feminist Response and Recovery Fund, $27 million is being invested in 72 projects focused on addressing GBV and supporting those who experience it.
• Advance efforts to support the implementation of the Framework to Prevent and Address Gender-Based Violence (GBV) at Post-Secondary Institutions (PSIs). Implementation efforts take into account, the Courage to Act report, which identifies promising practices, recommendations, critical gaps, and key next steps necessary to fully develop the framework. WAGE will also build on P/T efforts to prevent and address GBV at PSIs.
• Complete a mid-term evaluation of the Strategy, to ensure federal actions are resulting in the intended impacts for those experiencing GBV.
• Implement the first phase of the GBV Youth Awareness Campaign.
• Continue to raise awareness and promote action through commemoration events such as the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence.
• Continue to support work to accelerate action to reform the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP).
• Continue to support work to end discrimination, sexual misconduct and gender-based violence in the military.

In addition, under the Strategy, the department will continue to fund and undertake GBV research and knowledge mobilization, to better inform initiatives that prevent and address GBV and create safer communities across Canada.

In 2022-23, together with Statistics Canada, WAGE will begin the development of the second cycle of the Survey of Safety in Public and Private Spaces (SSPPS), including consultations with multi-sectoral stakeholders and community groups. The next cycle of this survey will fill critical gaps and expand disaggregated and intersectional data from the first cycle of the survey implemented in 2018-2019, to enable a better understanding of the experiences of those impacted by GBV and help ensure that policies and interventions address the specific needs of different groups of people.

WAGE will also explore new research areas related to GBV in Canada, including developing an economic cost analysis of GBV in Canada; understanding the best ways to provide support and rehabilitation to perpetrators of GBV; technologies that exacerbate harm against women, trans women, youth and LGBTQ2 individuals; and barriers contributing to under-reporting of sexual assault and violence. WAGE will also work with Statistics Canada to support the development of a national Femicide Information System, which will link various datasets to provide the first federal-level overview of femicide numbers in Canada.

In 2022-23, WAGE will continue to fund and undertake research to better understand how diverse groups of people in Canada experience GBV, including eight ongoing multi-year projects from a 2018-19 Call for Proposals focusing on community-based approaches to violence prevention, support systems of survivors of human trafficking, and experiences of gender-based violence among diverse populations in Canada. Results from this research will become available in 2022-23.

In addition, in 2022-23 WAGE will begin planning for new projects to be funded through the $6 million received through Budget 2021, including projects focused on community-based research led by community organizations representing those most at risk of GBV and those who are under-served in the GBV sector.

To ensure research findings and GBV knowledge and resources are shared across a broad audience, the GBV Knowledge Centre’s online platform will continue to share content and research that is accurate, updated, and revised on an ongoing basis.

Finally, through the Human Trafficking Strategy, the department will continue to deliver funding to organizations to develop and implement promising practices to enhance empowerment supports for at-risk populations and survivors of human trafficking. From 2020-21 to 2023-24, $14 million is being invested in 42 projects.

Supporting Truth and Reconciliation

Despite only making up almost 5% of the Canadian population, Indigenous women and girls represent 22% of all women killed by an intimate partner between 2014 and 2020 and are 12 times more likely to be murdered or go missing than non-Indigenous women in Canada. Intersectional and multidimensional disadvantages create, perpetuate and amplify inequalities. To take action, in 2022-23 WAGE will:

• Support the implementation of the Federal Pathway to Address Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls (MMIWG), and 2SLGBTQQIA+ People, and to support the implementation of the 2021 MMIWG and 2SLGBTQQIA+ National Action Plan.
• Continue to implement $55M received through Budget 2021 to bolster the capacity of Indigenous women’s and 2SLGBTQQIA+ organizations to provide GBV prevention programming. This initiative was announced in Budget 2021 and is a key deliverable of the Federal Pathway.

Strategic Action and Engagement to Address Systemic Barriers to Gender Equality

Despite progress made, systemic gender inequalities and disparities continue to exist in Canada and globally. As the lead department in advancing gender equality, WAGE recognizes there is more to be done to address systemic barriers and work towards a more equal and inclusive Canada. In 2022-23, WAGE will continue to strengthen its role as a centre of expertise for advancing gender equality across a number of strategic priorities.

Advancing LGBTQ2 Equality

Following an October 26, 2021 Order in Council, the LGBTQ2 Secretariat was moved from the Department of Canadian Heritage to WAGE. The LGBTQ2 Secretariat works to promote LGBTQ2 equality at home and abroad, protect LGBTQ2 rights and address discrimination against LGBTQ2 communities. In 2022-2023, the Department will fully integrate the Secretariat within its corporate structure, complete the staffing associated with its Budget 2021 funding allocation, and fully integrate LGBTQ2 perspectives into the work of the department.

In 2022-23, WAGE, will:

• Provide Government of Canada leadership on LGBTQ2 policy development and coordination, including supporting the integration of LGBTQ2 considerations across the federal government, through ongoing policy analysis, research and engagement with LGBTQ2 communities
• Launch the first Federal LGBTQ2 Action Plan. The Federal LGBTQ2 Action Plan will reflect and complement both the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls and Gender-Based Violence Action Plans and will align with a diverse and inclusive economic recovery from COVID-19.

Collaboration at Home and Abroad

WAGE will continue to work closely with counterparts in provincial and territorial governments, notably through the Federal-Provincial-Territorial (FPT) Forum of Ministers Responsible for the Status of Women to advance gender equality across the country. The Forum’s main mandate is to share knowledge and information and to undertake collaborative initiatives to advance the status of women, which can include gender diversity and gender equality.

WAGE will also continue to seek guidance and work with the Indigenous Women's Circle (IWC), which consists of Indigenous women leaders, experts and community members, on the challenges they face and their priorities related to advancing gender equality. In 2022-23, WAGE, with the support of the IWC, will continue to collaborate on and implement the Government of Canada’s priorities to advance Indigenous women, girls and 2SLGBTQQIA+ peoples’ equality.

The Government of Canada continues to embrace its international role and responsibility as a world leader in promoting and advancing gender equality, and the full realization of women's human rights. In the 2022-23-year, WAGE will continue to engage with domestic and international partners to advance gender equality and champion the rights and empowerment of women and girls globally. In particular, WAGE will support Canada's participation in the 66th Session of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (CSW 66), which will focus on achieving gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls in the context of climate change, environmental and disaster risk reduction policies and programs. As part of its human rights obligations, Canada will also be submitting its Tenth Report to the UN Committee on the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) in the 2022-23 year. In addition, WAGE will continue to collaborate with Global Affairs Canada on the Generation Equality Forum as a co-leader of the Feminist Movements and Leadership Action Coalition by supporting global feminist initiatives, as well as other relevant international institutions, such as the G7 Gender Equality Advisory Council, the Organization of American States’ Inter-American Commission for Women, and the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation. WAGE will continue to engage bilaterally with key international partners, including with the United States of America, to make progress on gender equality objectives in the context of the Roadmap for a Renewed U.S.-Canada Partnership.

Research and Knowledge Mobilization:

To support a federal government that systematically considers gender diversity and inclusiveness, throughout the 2022-23 year, WAGE will continue to fund and undertake research and mobilize knowledge on gender equality.

Over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, WAGE has been tracking research and emerging trends on the impact of the pandemic on women, youth, marginalized communities and LGBTQ2 individuals in Canada who have been disproportionately affected. In the labour market, diverse women and youth were hit earlier and harder, and their jobs continue to recover more slowly. Long-standing gender, racial and other inequalities have only been amplified over the course of the pandemic. In 2022-23, WAGE will continue to utilize this knowledge and data related to COVID-19 and gender equality to inform policies and programs related to pandemic recovery.

Continuing in the 2022-23 year, WAGE funded research projects will collect and analyze quantitative and qualitative data on the experiences of diverse women and LGBTQ2 individuals in Canada. Research undertaken with various academic, civil society, and government partners, including Statistics Canada, will cover numerous topics, including: COVID-19 and the childcare workforce, Black business owners in Canada, women working in paid care occupations, experiences of bullying among same-gender attracted youth in Canada, and socioeconomic characteristics of immigrant women among board directors and officers.

New research planned in 2022-23 will advance knowledge in the areas of: barriers for women entering the skilled trades sector in Canada; impacts of public investments in the care economy on women’s economic and health outcomes; best practices for increasing representation and participation of Black and Indigenous women in leadership positions; lone-parent households; and pathways for women, youth, and LGBTQ2 individuals out of homelessness. In addition, WAGE will continue funding three research projects through a 2018-19 Call for Proposals that focus on addressing knowledge gaps and building evidence to advance gender equality. Results from these projects will be available in 2022-23.

Supporting Other Government Departments:

Women continue to face unique challenges as it relates to their participation in the workforce. As a centre of expertise for advancing gender equality, WAGE will support other government departments in addressing gaps and improving coordination of federal action to advance gender equality as it relates to economic participation and prosperity, including economic recovery, leadership and democratic participation, and poverty reduction, health and wellbeing by:

• Continuing to support ongoing efforts to support women entrepreneurs through the Women Entrepreneurship Strategy (WES).
• Continuing to work with ESDC to review and amend the Employment Equity Act and work to ensure timely implementation of amendments.
• Supporting other departments in ensuring all Canadians have access to the sexual and reproductive health services they need, no matter where they live.
• Supporting Finance Canada in updates to the Income Tax Act to make anti-abortion organizations that provide dishonest counselling to pregnant women about their rights and options ineligible for charitable status, and to expand the Medical Expense Tax Credit to include costs reimbursed to surrogate mothers for In-Vitro Fertilization (IVF) expenses.

A key component of growing a more resilient economy is supporting women’s participation in the workforce and offering each child in Canada the best start in life. This is why the Government is making significant investments in Early Learning and Child Care and Indigenous Early Learning and Childcare. To support this work, in 2022-23 WAGE will:

• Support Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC) in the process for the National Advisory Council on Early Learning and Child Care.
• Continue to support federal participation in meetings of Federal, Provincial and Territorial Ministers Responsible for Early Learning and Child Care.
• Co-lead two officials-level federal governance committees to support this work.
• Work closely with ESDC to continue to identify data and research gaps and assess options to fill information gaps.
• Continue important engagement with stakeholders.
• Continue to support ESDC towards the implementation of the Canada-wide early learning and childcare system.

Community Engagement:

WAGE will also continue to work to build a better understanding of the needs of communities and women’s and equality-seeking organizations and work with them to advance gender equality. WAGE will implement processes to better collaborate and communicate with women’s movements, organizations, experts, and advocates on issues related to gender equality.

Ensuring GBA Plus throughout federal government decision-making processes

WAGE continues to play a key role in ensuring an intersectional gender lens is applied to work being done across the Government of Canada. In 2022-23, WAGE will continue to strengthen its role in providing leadership on GBA Plus, to work towards a federal government that systematically considers gender equality in everything it does.

One of the federal government’s key tools in developing policies, programs and initiatives across the government that are responsive and inclusive is Gender-based Analysis Plus (GBA Plus). GBA Plus is an analytical tool used for understanding how various factors that make up who we are and the world around us interact to shape our experiences and social, health, and economic outcomes. Applying GBA Plus to all initiatives ensures that equality, fairness and inclusion considerations are embedded in decision-making processes. Over the last 25 years, Canada has made incremental progress in institutionalizing GBA Plus so that all government decisions reflect and respond to the needs of diverse groups of people.

This long-standing commitment and use of GBA Plus has allowed for a strong knowledge base to be created, which will continue to inform priorities and actions. In 2022-23, the Department will develop a new a multi-year GBA Plus Action Plan in collaboration with other government departments and agencies. At the same time, WAGE will continue to build on GBA Plus progress including:

• Working with Finance Canada and the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat to improve the quality, scope, and implementation of GBA Plus in all the phases of the budgeting cycle as per the Canadian Gender Budgeting Act. The Act came into force in 2018 to ensure the inclusion of gender and diversity considerations in all federal budgets.
• Continue to collaborate with other federal departments to evaluate GBA Plus with the goal of enhancing the framing and parameters of the tool, with particular attention to intersectionality.
• Monitoring and reporting on GBA Plus implementation, including on its scope, scale, and quality across the federal government.
• Increasing available research, evidence, and data to support rigorous intersectional GBA Plus by all federal departments and agencies so that gender equality and fairness and inclusion are incorporated in all government initiatives.
• Enhancing governance and coordination mechanisms with a view to improving coherence, and accountability.
• Providing advice with respect to the mandatory GBA Plus assessments undertaken by other federal departments as part of their memoranda to Cabinet and Treasury Board submissions.
• Building capacity and awareness of GBA Plus by developing tools, resources, training, and various learning products, including new micro-learning videos and a new GBA Plus Advanced course
• Making tools, resources and training more readily accessible through the launch of a GBA Plus learning hub.
• Support the integration of GBA Plus with other government priorities including through working with central agencies on efforts to better incorporate quality of life measurements into government decision-making and budgeting.

Supporting Community Action to Advance Gender Equality

A key component in achieving gender equality in Canada is supporting communities, and organizations to take action on the ground and close to home. In 2022-23 WAGE will continue to develop and deliver programming to support projects that address systemic barriers to gender equality and build the organizational capacity of equality-seeking organizations, while taking into consideration the ongoing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Support for LGBTQ2 Communities

As part of the Government of Canada’s efforts to promote LGBTQ2 equality, protect LGBTQ2 rights and address discrimination against LGBTQ2 communities, WAGE will support community initiatives to address the unique needs and persistent disparities facing LGBTQ2 communities through an LGBTQ2 Projects Fund announced in Budget 2021. In addition, WAGE will continue to provide capacity funding to Canadian LGBTQ2 service organizations so that they can continue their important work in communities across Canada.

Women’s Program - Supporting recovery from the pandemic

The impacts of COVID-19 have exposed gaps in our systems and amplified existing inequalities for diverse women in Canada and around the world. Women have faced increased job losses, reduced hours of work, have shouldered the majority of additional unpaid care responsibilities at home, and continue to be on the front lines of the pandemic. There have also been widespread reports of increased intimate partner and other forms of violence. These impacts have been further compounded for Indigenous women, racialized women and other underrepresented groups of women. In response, in 2022-23 WAGE is continuing to support projects through the Feminist Response and Recovery Fund, under the Women’s Program, that address or remove systemic barriers impeding the progress and advancement of women in three priority areas:

• Encouraging women and girls in leadership and decision-making roles
• Improving women’s and girls’ economic security and prosperity
• Ending violence against women and girls

Under this fund, WAGE is currently funding 237 projects in priority areas for underrepresented women including those who are Indigenous, racialized, newcomers, members of official language minority communities (OLMCs), seniors, young women and girls, women who are members of LGBTQ2 communities, low-income, living with a disability and in a rural, remote or northern community.

WAGE will also work with federal partners and stakeholders to begin developing a Menstrual Equity Fund for women’s shelters, not-for-profits, charities, community-based organizations, and youth-led organizations to make menstrual products available to vulnerable people.

Supporting Indigenous Women

In 2022-23, WAGE will continue to support Indigenous organizations through all of its programming. Specifically, through investments announced in August 2021, WAGE will provide funding to the Assembly of First Nations, Pauktuutit and Women of the Métis Nation to empower First Nations, Inuit and Métis women and increase their leadership and democratic participation in their respective communities.

Raising Awareness

To raise awareness and encourage action and engagement in conversations to further gender equality, the department will undertake initiatives that promote and commemorate gender equality, including International Women's Day, Gender Equality Week, Women's History Month, International Day of the Girl, Persons Day, Transgender Day of Remembrance, International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia & Biphobia, International Transgender Day of Visibility, Launch of Pride Season.

Gender-based Analysis Plus

GBA Plus is embedded throughout all of WAGE’s activities. For example, GBA Plus is considered in the design, implementation and delivery of all programs within the department. WAGE has a legislated mandate to promote a greater understanding of the intersection of sex and gender with other factors, including, but not limited to race, ethnicity, Indigenous identity, age, sexual orientation, education, income, geographical location and disability. In addition to leading by example, WAGE continues to deliver on its mandate by working with central agencies and with other federal organizations to ensure policies, legislation, funding and all government initiatives are informed by GBA Plus and are designed and delivered in a manner that is fair and responsive to the needs of all Canadians.

In order to ensure access to data and evidence to support GBA Plus, the department is undertaking and funding research and data collection, as well as working with Statistics Canada to implement a Disaggregated Data Action Plan, in order to fill existing knowledge gaps. To ensure GBA Plus is applied to the monitoring and implementation of its own initiatives, the department collects and analyzes disaggregated data related to its funding programs and other initiatives.

United Nations’ (UN) 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the UN Sustainable Development Goals

As part of the Government of Canada's implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, WAGE will continue to work with Employment and Social Development Canada, the lead federal department, and other responsible federal departments and agencies to implement the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG).

WAGE will collaborate with other federal departments and agencies in delivering the Federal Implementation Plan. WAGE is the lead on SDG 5: Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls, and facilitate collaboration with other key contributing departments and agencies that have work that is linked to this SDG. Specifically, WAGE will focus on coordination of federal initiatives under SDG 5, including monitoring and reporting on progress. This involves working with Statistics Canada to ensure alignment with the Gender Results Framework. The publication of the first Annual Report for Canadians to showcase Canada’s progress on implementing the 2030 Agenda is planned for 2022. WAGE is also a lead on the crosscutting objective of leaving no one behind by advancing gender equality, empowering women and girls, and advancing diversity and inclusion. In this role, WAGE will assist other departments in ensuring that their efforts to advance the SDGs reflect this objective.

In 2022-23, WAGE will continue to contribute to Canada’s progress on the SDGs through a number of important activities, including leading the development of the National Action Plan to End Gender-Based Violence; maintaining and expanding the Gender-Based Violence Knowledge Centre; raising awareness and promoting action to prevent and address gender-based violence through public awareness and commemoration activities; strengthening Gender-Based Analysis Plus and funding research to support evidence-based, gender-responsive, and inclusive policy development and analysis; delivering the LGBTQ2 Action Plan and related activities; further funding of women’s and equity-deserving organizations; and supporting gender equality abroad through its engagement at the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women and the Generation Equality Forum.

Planned results for Advancing Gender Equality

The following table shows, for Advancing Gender Equality, the planned results, the result indicators, the targets and the target dates for 2022–23, and the actual results for the three most recent fiscal years for which actual results are available.

The financial, human resources and performance information for Women and Gender Equality Canada’s program inventory is available on GC InfoBase.

Financial, human resources and performance information for Women and Gender Equality Canada’s program inventory is available on GC InfoBase.

Financial, human resources and performance information for Women and Gender Equality Canada’s program inventory is available on GC InfoBase.

Internal Services: planned results

Description

Internal services are the services that are provided within a department so that it can meet its corporate obligations and deliver its programs. There are 10 categories of internal services:

• management and oversight services
• communications services
• legal services
• human resources management services
• financial management services
• information management services
• information technology services
• real property management services
• materiel management services
• acquisition management services

Planning highlights

Enabling tools and processes

As part of the government's approach to information technology (IT) and information management (IM), WAGE will continue to strengthen its digital capacity to ensure operational efficiency based on user collaboration, while continuing to strengthen cybersecurity. To this end, WAGE will:

• continue to migrate services to cloud computing platforms offering reliability and security while allowing increased capacity, as well as access to better performing applications.
• continue to equip all staff with video conferencing tools and digital solutions to optimize collaboration and exchange, particularly in a hybrid work environment.
• adopt an innovative and secure approach to information management, considering the impacts of the pandemic and a hybrid work context.
• strengthen cybersecurity, particularly considering the hybrid work context, while ensuring that the right balance is struck between security and organizational performance expectations.

WAGE will also continue its efforts to ensure that all its staff, including the Minister and exempt staff, are equipped with the necessary equipment to maintain the required efficiency and productivity, while adapting and optimizing its internal processes, whether in terms of financial controls, acquisitions and contracting or asset management.

In addition, WAGE will continue to establish, improve, and train staff with respect to Access to Information and Privacy (ATIP) processes.

WAGE will continue to implement robust governance mechanisms to ensure that decision making processes are evidence-based and timely.

Strong human resources processes

To strengthen and optimize its workforce capacity, WAGE will continue to promote evidence-based human resources management through the implementation of processes and tools in support of integrated planning, which will aim to:

• support human resources planning
• provide sound advice, promote tools and initiatives related to equity, diversity and inclusion to ensure a diverse, inclusive, and highly qualified workforce.

Diversity and Inclusion within WAGE

WAGE will continue to implement commitments to a diverse and inclusive workplace, by integrating diversity and inclusion commitments and considerations at all levels of the organization.

In particular, in the 2022-23 year, the department will:

• Begin implementing activities under the WAGE Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Strategic Plan
• Continue raising awareness on diversity, inclusion, and accessibility with managers and employees involved with HR management activities, including recruitment and hiring processes, and adding the lens of diversity and inclusion on all HR activities.
• Develop and implement a Recruitment, Retention and Advancement Action Plan for Indigenous employees recognizing Indigenous employment opportunities and challenges
• Ensure that all selection board members and hiring managers complete the mandatory training related to inclusive hiring practices for a diverse workforce.
• Continue to offer and promote training opportunities to combat racism, oppression, intolerance, and other forms of discrimination, such as anti-oppression, anti-racism, accessibility and unconscious bias training.
• Continue the efforts to increase accessibility within WAGE in line with “Nothing Without Us”: Accessible Strategy for the Public Service of Canada.
• Adopt and promote inclusive language across the department that seeks to avoid discrimination, whether related to sex, gender, sexual orientation or other identity factors such as ethnic, origin, culture, language, ability or age.
• Incorporate diversity and inclusion considerations in the work of Champions and departmental networks and communities of practice.

Supporting employee well-being

WAGE will continue to implement commitments to continue to build a healthy and sustainable workforce by:

• Continuing to implement the activities under the WAGE Workplace Wellness Strategy and action plan.
• Supporting employee health and wellbeing in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, including the safe re-entry of WAGE employees to the worksite.
• Continuing to establish and manage clear annual performance objectives

Planned spending and human resources

This section provides an overview of the department’s planned spending and human resources for the next three fiscal years and compares planned spending for 2022–23 with actual spending for the current year and the previous year.

Planned spending

Departmental spending 2019–20 to 2024–25

The following graph presents planned spending (voted and statutory expenditures) over time.

The increase in forecast spending in 2021-22 and in planned spending in 2022-23 is primarily attributable to time-limited funding received in Budget 2019 for advancing gender equality in Canada and funding received through Budget 2021 to advance the National Action Plan to End Gender-based Violence and to advance LGBTQ2 equality. This also explains the decrease in 2023-24 and 2024-25 as the funding received through Budget 2019 and 2021 are time-limited.

Planned human resources

The following table shows information on human resources, in full-time equivalents (FTEs), for each of Women and Gender Equality Canada’s core responsibilities and for its internal services for 2022–23 and the other relevant years.

The increase in forecast full-time equivalents in 2021-22 and in planned full-time equivalents in 2022-23 is mainly attributable to funding received through Budget 2021 to advance the National Action Plan to End Gender-based Violence and to advance LGBTQ2 equality. Decreases in requirements for full-time equivalents starting in 2023-24 are attributable to time-limited initiatives that are set to end.

Estimates by vote

Information on Women and Gender Equality Canada’s organizational appropriations is available in the 2022–23 Main Estimates.

Future-oriented condensed statement of operations

The future‑oriented condensed statement of operations provides an overview of Women and Gender Equality Canada’s operations for 2021–22 to 2022–23.

The forecast and planned amounts in this statement of operations were prepared on an accrual basis. The forecast and planned amounts presented in other sections of the Departmental Plan were prepared on an expenditure basis. Amounts may therefore differ.

A more detailed future‑oriented statement of operations and associated notes, including a reconciliation of the net cost of operations with the requested authorities, are available on Women and Gender Equality Canada’s website.

The difference between 2022–23 planned results and 2021–22 forecast results is primarily attributable to additional funding received in 2022–23 to advance gender equality, the National Action Plan to End Gender-based Violence and LGBTQ2 equality.

Corporate information

Organizational profile

Appropriate minister(s): The Honourable Marci Ien

Institutional head: Gina Wilson

Ministerial portfolio: Department for Women and Gender Equality

Enabling instrument(s): Department for Women and Gender Equality Act

Year of incorporation / commencement: 2018

Raison d'être, mandate and role: who we are and what we do

Information on WAGE’s raison d’être, mandate and role is available on the department’s website.

Information on WAGE’s mandate letter commitments is available in the Minister’s mandate letter.

Operating context

Information on the operating context is available on WAGE’s website.

Reporting framework

WAGE’s approved departmental results framework and program inventory for 2022–23 are as follows.

Supporting information on the program inventory

Supporting information on planned expenditures, human resources, and results related to WAGE’s program inventory is available on GC InfoBase.

Supplementary information tables

The following supplementary information tables are available on WAGE's website:

• United Nations 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals
• Departmental Sustainable Development Strategy
• Details on transfer payment programs
• Gender-based analysis plus
• Horizontal initiatives

Federal tax expenditures

Women and Gender Equality Canada’s Departmental Plan does not include information on tax expenditures.

Tax expenditures are the responsibility of the Minister of Finance. The Department of Finance Canada publishes cost estimates and projections for government­‑wide tax expenditures each year in the Report on Federal Tax Expenditures. This report provides detailed information on tax expenditures, including objectives, historical background and references to related federal spending programs, as well as evaluations, research papers and gender-based analysis plus.

Organizational contact information

WAGE website

For financial information, contact:
Stéphane Lavigne
Chief Financial Officer and Executive Director
Corporate Services Branch
Telephone: 819-420-6825
Email: Stephane.Lavigne@cfc-swc.gc.ca 

For other information, contact:
Lisa Smylie
Director General, Research, Results and Delivery
Telephone: 819-420-6508
Email: Lisa.Smylie@cfc-swc.gc.ca

Appendix: definitions

appropriation (crédit)

Any authority of Parliament to pay money out of the Consolidated Revenue Fund.

budgetary expenditures (dépenses budgétaires)

Operating and capital expenditures; transfer payments to other levels of government, organizations or individuals; and payments to Crown corporations.

core responsibility (responsabilité essentielle)

An enduring function or role performed by a department. The intentions of the department with respect to a core responsibility are reflected in one or more related departmental results that the department seeks to contribute to or influence.

Departmental Plan (plan ministériel)

A document that sets out a department’s priorities, programs, expected results and associated resource requirements, covering a three year period beginning with the year indicated in the title of the report. Departmental Plans are tabled in Parliament each spring.

departmental result (résultat ministériel)

A change that a department seeks to influence. A departmental result is often outside departments’ immediate control, but it should be influenced by program-level outcomes.

departmental result indicator (indicateur de résultat ministériel)

A factor or variable that provides a valid and reliable means to measure or describe progress on a departmental result.

departmental results framework (cadre ministériel des résultats)

A framework that consists of the department’s core responsibilities, departmental results and departmental result indicators.

Departmental Results Report (rapport sur les résultats ministériels)

A report on a department’s actual performance in a fiscal year against its plans, priorities and expected results set out in its Departmental Plan for that year. Departmental Results Reports are usually tabled in Parliament each fall.

experimentation (expérimentation)

The conducting of activities that explore, test and compare the effects and impacts of policies and interventions in order to inform decision-making and improve outcomes for Canadians. Experimentation is related to, but distinct from, innovation. Innovation is the trying of something new; experimentation involves a rigorous comparison of results. For example, introducing a new mobile application to communicate with Canadians can be an innovation; systematically testing the new application and comparing it against an existing website or other tools to see which one reaches more people, is experimentation.

full time equivalent (équivalent temps plein)

A measure of the extent to which an employee represents a full person year charge against a departmental budget. Full time equivalents are calculated as a ratio of assigned hours of work to scheduled hours of work. Scheduled hours of work are set out in collective agreements.

gender-based analysis plus (GBA Plus) (analyse comparative entre les sexes plus [ACS Plus])

An analytical tool used to support the development of responsive and inclusive policies, programs and other initiatives; and understand how factors such as sex, race, national and ethnic origin, Indigenous origin or identity, age, sexual orientation, socio-economic conditions, geography, culture and disability, impact experiences and outcomes, and can affect access to and experience of government programs.

government-wide priorities (priorités pangouvernementales)

For the purpose of the 2022-23 Departmental Plan, government-wide priorities are the high-level themes outlining the Government’s agenda in the 2021 Speech from the Throne: protecting Canadians from COVID-19; helping Canadians through the pandemic; building back better – a resiliency agenda for the middle class; and the Canada we’re fighting for.

horizontal initiative (initiative horizontale)

An initiative in which two or more federal organizations are given funding to pursue a shared outcome, often linked to a government priority.

non budgetary expenditures (dépenses non budgétaires)

Net outlays and receipts related to loans, investments and advances, which change the composition of the financial assets of the Government of Canada.

performance (rendement)

What an organization did with its resources to achieve its results, how well those results compare to what the organization intended to achieve, and how well lessons learned have been identified.

plan (plan)

The articulation of strategic choices, which provides information on how an organization intends to achieve its priorities and associated results. Generally, a plan will explain the logic behind the strategies chosen and tend to focus on actions that lead up to the expected result.

planned spending (dépenses prévues)

For Departmental Plans and Departmental Results Reports, planned spending refers to those amounts presented in the Main Estimates.

A department is expected to be aware of the authorities that it has sought and received. The determination of planned spending is a departmental responsibility, and departments must be able to defend the expenditure and accrual numbers presented in their Departmental Plans and Departmental Results Reports.

program (programme)

Individual or groups of services, activities or combinations thereof that are managed together within a department and that focus on a specific set of outputs, outcomes or service levels.

program inventory (répertoire des programmes)

An inventory of a department’s programs that describes how resources are organized to carry out the department’s core responsibilities and achieve its planned results.

result (résultat)

An external consequence attributed, in part, to an organization, policy, program or initiative. Results are not within the control of a single organization, policy, program or initiative; instead, they are within the area of the organization’s influence.

statutory expenditures (dépenses législatives)

Expenditures that Parliament has approved through legislation other than appropriation acts. The legislation sets out the purpose of the expenditures and the terms and conditions under which they may be made.

target (cible)

A measurable performance or success level that an organization, program or initiative plans to achieve within a specified time period. Targets can be either quantitative or qualitative.

voted expenditures (dépenses votées)

Expenditures that Parliament approves annually through an Appropriation Act. The vote wording becomes the governing conditions under which these expenditures may be made.