2018–2019 Departmental Results Report - Supplementary Information Tables

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GBA+

Governance structures

Justice Canada’s renewed Policy on Gender-Based Analysis Plus (GBA+) (2017) reaffirms its dedication to ensuring that its activities help foster fair outcomes for diverse groups of women, men and people with other gender identities. To help ensure that GBA+ is integrated into decision-making processes, the Policy:

• Requires officials in all parts of the Department to follow GBA+ training, to apply GBA+ and to ensure that their work considers and reflects the diverse needs of different groups of people.
• Provides guiding principles for GBA+ that it be integrated and systematic, evidence-based, and cognizant of evolving social norms.
• Recommends that GBA+ be conducted throughout key stages of initiatives and that GBA+ analyses and impacts on initiatives be clearly documented.
• Sets out clear accountabilities and responsibilities for all officials. Assistant Deputy Ministers are responsible for ensuring their officials take GBA+ training and integrate GBA+ in their work. Over 80% of Justice Canada employees have completed the mandatory GBA+ training.

The GBA+ Unit is the first point of contact for GBA+ at Justice. The Units responsibilities include:

• Supporting the Department’s GBA+ Champion;
• Increasing GBA+ capacity at the Department of Justice by raising awareness and offering tools, information sessions and resources to help Justice officials better understand GBA+ and how to integrate it into their work;
• Providing advice and guidance on incorporating GBA+ into specific initiatives undertaken by Justice colleagues, and;
• Liaison across the Department of Justice and with Other Government Departments to foster consistent, high quality and coordinated approaches to GBA+ across the federal government.

The Department’s core Memoranda to Cabinet (MC) process and Common Considerations Checklist include GBA+ and further support its integration in decision-making. Departmental MCs, Treasury Board Submissions and Budget Asks are reviewed for GBA+ integration.

Justice Canada’s GBA+ Indicators Project first introduced in 2018, supports the application of Justice Canada’s Policy on GBA+ by considering how and when gender-plus factors are applied to Justice-led initiatives. The Indicators Project first focused on Justice-led MCs and in 2018-19, the project was undertaken with an expanded scope including Justice-led MCs, Budget Asks and Treasury Board Submissions. Progress is measured against two indicators that are designed to address the timeliness of GBA+ and its meaningful influence on initiatives. In addition, in 2018-2019 a new departmental GBA+ Report Template was developed to guide and facilitate the preparation of stand-alone GBA+ reports.

The Senior Assistant Deputy Minister, Policy Sector, is responsible for the GBA+ Unit, provides leadership in the promotion, implementation and monitoring of GBA+ in the department, and advises senior management of their roles and responsibilities. In addition, senior governance bodies are regularly engaged in strategic discussions to strengthen GBA+ across Justice Canada.

Human resources

Justice Canada has a GBA+ Unit (3 Full Time Equivalents in 2018-19) led by the Policy Sector, a GBA+ Champion (for part of 2018-19), as well as a departmental GBA+ Action Team (approximately 12 members) which advises on GBA+ progress, activities and tools, and helps raise awareness of GBA+ across the Department.

Major initiatives: results achieved

Enhancements to Immigration and Refugee Legal Aid, Legal Aid Program

This initiative supported pillar four of the Gender Results Framework, Gender-based Violence and Access to Justice. Based on a gender-plus needs assessment, funding was provided to the six provinces that offer Immigration and Refugee Legal Aid service (British Columbia, Alberta, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec, and Newfoundland and Labrador). This initiative ensures that eligible, economically disadvantaged refugees (men, women, youth, and children) from diverse racial and ethno-cultural communities, including persons with disabilities and members of the LGBTQ2+ community, continued to have access to Legal Aid services in Immigration and Refugee matters.

Provinces, through their legal aid plans, were asked to provide disaggregated data (by gender and other variables) on the provision of legal aid services to diverse groups of men, women and others, annually, through their final claims to Justice Canada. The Department publishes this data in the annual report, Legal Aid in Canada.

Initiatives to address workplace sexual harassment, Legal Aid Program and Justice Partnership and Innovation Program

In Budget 2018, in the context of its goal of “Eliminating gender-based violence and harassment” the Government of Canada funded a new component of Justice Canada’s Legal Aid Program and a new component of the Justice Partnerships and Innovation Program to specifically address sexual harassment in the workplace. This funding increase in legal aid and outreach across the country is supporting free legal information and advice for complainants of sexual harassment in the workplace and the development of a pan-Canadian outreach program to better inform workers, particularly those most vulnerable, about their rights and how they can access help if they have been harassed in the workplace.

Sexual harassment in the workplace is a gendered issue. Women, especially those in male-dominated industries or low-wage and precarious jobs, are most often directly affected by sexual harassment, as are LGBTQ2+ persons and youth. Sexual harassment rates are reportedly higher in certain industries that employ newcomer women and Indigenous women. This initiative was designed to enhance equality rights, diversity, and respect for human dignity and inclusion by creating a safer working environment that will allow all workers, especially women, to reach their full potential and a higher level of satisfaction with their lives and their careers.

This initiative supports pillar four of the Gender Results Framework, Gender-based Violence and Access to Justice. Projects under this initiative need to have a gender-plus based approach and to be able to take into account relevant intersectional factors, such as ethnicity, class, sexuality, age, disability, language, and/or immigration status, etc., to address the experiences of complainants of sexual harassment in the workplace. When preparing proposals, applicants were asked to elaborate on how their proposed activities would impact diverse groups of women, men and others. Other key considerations included trauma-informed practices, cultural sensitivity, multi-sectoral and multi-agency collaboration as well as official language minority communities.

Funded organizations are required to report on their activities, including services provided to, and outcomes for, diverse groups. Information is collected on population group(s) targeted by the projects, communities, number of individuals reached, and specific information on vulnerable populations reached through the project activities.

The performance indicators were:

• Number of communities that have new/adapted Public Legal Education and Information (PLEI)
• Number of PLEI materials developed in multiple languages
• Number of PLEI materials developed specifically to address the needs of vulnerable populations

Enhancements to the Victims Fund to address the needs of vulnerable victims of crime

In 2018-19, the Victims Fund was enhanced by the addition of new funding intended to address the specific needs of child and youth victims in rural, remote and Indigenous communities; enhance trauma-informed services for victims of human trafficking; and increase and improve access to justice and appropriate services to victims of sexual assault.

These enhancements to the Victims Fund expanded the scope and reach of programs and services available to vulnerable victims of crime, including activities that aim to address the needs of high-risk/underserved populations (such as rural and remote communities, Indigenous persons, immigrants and refugees, and male victims of sexual abuse).

The enhancements to the Victims Fund which supports pillar four of the Gender Results Framework, provided:

• multi-disciplinary team approaches to ensure effective responses to reports of child abuse offered in rural, remote and Indigenous communities (rates of non-family violence are high for boys who identify as Indigenous and as belonging to marginalized communities);
• added and enhanced trauma-informed services for victims of human trafficking (Indigenous women are among the most vulnerable), and;
• enhanced existing victims services to address diverse specific needs of victims of sexual assault (Indigenous women are more likely than non-Indigenous women to be victims of sexual abuse and may also be struggling with cognitive impairments due to Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder).

The funding application process for projects funded required that:

• All proposed activities includ a GBA+ approach;
• All projects use an intersectional lens in developing their interventions and activities, and;
• Outcomes of the initiatives were reported from a gender-plus perspective as part of their reporting requirements.

The evaluation of project proposals ensured that an intersectional lens was used to understand and address gender-plus factors. This process ensured a representation of vulnerable groups (such as people who identify as women, racialized women, people of various gender identities, members of the LGBTQ2+ community, etc.) across funded projects.

The selected projects supported victims of human trafficking and promoted a greater understanding of the needs of trafficked persons in order to promote their physical, psychological and social recovery.

Regarding victims of sexual offences, projects selected helped to:

• Enhance the criminal justice system response to victims; and survivors of sexual assault and exploitation;
• Improve their access to justice; and;
• Increase their confidence in the justice system, and enhance victim services.

In support of child victims of crime, projects selected addressed gaps in services to child and youth victims in rural, remote and Indigenous communities. Projects addressed the needs of child and youth victims by:

• Enhancing the capacity of service providers and;
• Encouraging the development of the multi-disciplinary teams approach in rural and remote locations across the country.

Reporting capacity and data

Legal Representation

Legal aid client information collected under the Legal Representation program inventory includes: age (youth/adult), gender and type of legal matter. This information is used for program evaluation and published annually in the Legal Aid in Canada report.

Drug Treatment Court Funding Program

Drug court client information collected under this program includes: age, gender, marital status, ethnicity, education. This information is used for program evaluation.

Victims of Crime

Individual information is collected under some components of the Victims of Crime program inventory (applicants to the Victims Abroad, Victims Parole Fund and Exceptional Circumstances components). The information collected includes: for victims, the type of victimization; and for support persons to victims, the relationship to the victim. This information is used for program evaluation.

Indigenous Justice

Client and participant information collected under the Indigenous Justice program inventory includes: age, gender, Indigenous identity, type of legal matter and programming provided to clients. This information is used for program evaluation.

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