There is growing awareness in the global community that gender equality is a cornerstone of inclusive growth. Canada scores well on several metrics of gender equality. Over the past three years, the Canadian government has invested in strengthening the federal governance framework for gender equality by developing institutions, policies, tools and accountability structures to promote gender equality and gender mainstreaming. Canada is now one the few OECD countries where gender analysis is mainstreamed within routine Cabinet policy processes, in accordance with the 2015 OECD Recommendation on Gender Equality in Public Life (2015 Recommendation) and the 2013 OECD Recommendation of the Council on Gender Equality in Education, Employment and Entrepreneurship.

Canada has a longstanding commitment to gender equality. Over the past three years, the federal government has developed institutions, policies, tools and accountability structures to promote gender equality and mainstreaming. The appointment of the first Cabinet-level Minister of Status of Women in 2015 was a significant step forward and ensures that gender equality and diversity considerations are brought to the Cabinet table. Another notable development was the creation of the Deputy Ministers' Task Force on Diversity and Inclusion to provide advice on advancing a feminist government. Improvements in the implementation of Gender-Based Analysis Plus (GBA+), which encourages policy designers to undertake a critical analysis of the gender and other diversity-related dimensions of a proposed policy, have also been made in recent years.

Recommendation 1: In the context of Canada's stated commitment to gender equality and its results and delivery agenda, the OECD suggests that Canada builds on positive steps it has taken recently by establishing a Gender Results Framework, and use this framework as a foundation for:

This chapter outlines Canada’s relative position in the OECD for key international gender indicators and provides a historical context on government action in relation to gender equality. The chapter also outlines the current political commitment to a 'feminist agenda' in Canada, and looks at the extent to which this has acted as a catalyst for the federal administration to accelerate the implementation of gender equality initiatives. Finally, the chapter outlines the role of government-wide gender equality policy strategies at federal and sub-national levels in Canada, building on the recently launched Gender Results Framework.

This chapter considers Canada's institutional design for gender mainstreaming from a whole-of-government perspective by assessing the roles and responsibilities of Status of Women Canada (SWC), the centre of government, federal departments and Statistics Canada in delivering Gender Based Analysis Plus (GBA+) and gender budgeting commitments. It also discusses horizontal coordination structures such as the Cabinet Committee on Diversity and Inclusion, and modalities of collaboration between the Federal Government, Provinces and Territories. Canada's institutional design is well advanced in international terms and is broadly in line with the 2015 Recommendation. To further boost SWC's position as an institutional champion, consideration could be given to modernise its mandate to encompass gender equality and related dimensions of equality and inclusion. Further reinforcement of the challenge function of the centre of government would allow for more effective quality control and impact assessment of GBA+ and gender budgeting.

This chapter looks at Gender-Based Analysis Plus (GBA+) and its implementation in Canada and provides recommendations to help maximise its potential as a tool for delivering greater gender equality through government policy. It also considers the extent to which the performance and results framework tracks and facilitates outcomes in relation to gender equality. The Government of Canada has a strong focus on results and has recently instituted a Cabinet Committee on Agenda, Results and Communications (ARC) and, to support it, a Results and Delivery Unit (RDU) at the Privy Council Office. The development of the Gender Results Framework as part of Budget 2018 also represents an important step forward. Further development of this Framework should focus on strengthening its upstream linkages - to specific gender equality targets set out in a gender equality strategy for Canada – and its downstream linkages to departmental results and delivery frameworks.

This Chapter looks at the extent to which the Government of Canada is transparent and consultative in its approach to gender equality policy development. A transparent government is critical to building citizen trust and, together with citizen consultation, can underpin evidence-based gender policy-making and improved gender policy results. Canada has taken steps forward in this regard in recent years, and can strengthen this through increased transparency in relation to GBA+ and embedding more systematic and meaningful citizen consultation in the policy development process. This Chapter also considers scrutiny mechanisms in relation to the government’s actions and decisions to achieve greater gender equality. Accountability for the government’s actions on gender could be strengthened if the Parliament of Canada and the Canadian Office of the Auditor General build on their successful interventions in the area of GBA+ and incorporate a greater gender perspective in broader aspects of their work.

This Chapter assesses the efforts of the Government of Canada so far in relation to gender budgeting and provides recommendations for how developments to date can be built upon to ensure a more effective and sustainable approach. Gender budgeting has only recently been introduced in Canada but is already proving itself to be an influential tool, encouraging departments to think in a more structured way about the design and conduct of GBA+ and to develop policies that help achieve gender results. Significant gender budgeting attention has focussed on the introduction of gender equality-related content in the budget. However, the presentation of this information is just one element of the wide-ranging approach to gender budgeting being developed by Canada. Reviewing the gender impact of baseline spend and strengthening the application of a gender lens to ex post processes such as evaluation and spending review will help ensure that gender budgeting is embedded across the full budget cycle. Parliamentary scrutiny of gender budgeting remains at an under-developed stage, but will be essential to ensure the government is held to account for its actions in this area.