Section 1: Institutional GBA Plus governance and capacity
Governance
The Canadian Human Rights Commission (the Commission) is pleased to have an executive level Gender-based analysis plus (GBA Plus) Champion, who is responsible for the promotion of GBA Plus at the Commission, including disseminating relevant information to support GBA Plus awareness and implementation across the organization. The Commission also has a GBA Plus Focal Point, who is responsible for participating in the GBA Plus Focal Points Meetings and sharing relevant updates, resources, and events.
Capacity
The Commission is particularly sensitive to GBA Plus issues in general, enabling us to integrate this knowledge into our day-to-day operations and apply an intersectional lens to all areas of our work.
The nature of the Commission's work as Canada's national human rights institution puts us in a unique position. As the grounds of discrimination enumerated in the Canadian Human Rights Act include sex and gender identity or expression, as well as race, religion, age, disability and others, many employees have robust expertise in gender-based and intersectional analysis and assessment.
Additionally, the Pay Equity Commissioner is entirely focused on addressing systemic gender-based discrimination in the compensation practices and systems of federally regulated employers.
The Commission is committed to ensuring that the differential impacts on diverse groups of people are considered when policies, programs and initiatives are developed. The Commission's GBA Plus Champion is responsible for the application and monitoring of this approach.
We have also established an Inclusion, Diversity, Equity and Anti-Racism (IDEA-AR) Unit within the Commission, successfully staffed with a director.
Lastly, in both the implementation of the Commission's Accessibility Plan and Anti-Racism Action Plan, an intersectional lens is applied, including race, sex, and gender identity and expression.
Human resources (full-time equivalents) dedicated to GBA Plus
One full-time equivalent (FTE) will be dedicated to working on GBA Plus in the Commission during the 2025–2026 fiscal year.
Section 2: Gender and diversity impacts, by program
Core responsibility:
Engagement & Advocacy
Program name:
Program goals:
The Promotion Program contributes to a more inclusive Canada by raising awareness about Canadian human rights and responsibilities through its public advocacy and engagement efforts. The program engages civil society, governments, employers and other stakeholders to work together in identifying approaches to eliminate barriers to social inclusion that people in vulnerable circumstances face in today's society. The program advances human rights by developing statements, positions, approaches and tools to influence public debate on emerging, immediate and long-term human rights issues and represents the public interest in courts and tribunals to support the advancement of human rights, pay equity and accessibility. The program uses GBA Plus in all its activities as the Commission is committed to ensuring that the differential impacts on diverse groups of people are considered when policies, programs and initiatives are developed.
Core responsibility:
Complaints
Program name:
Program goals:
The Protection Program contributes to a diverse society that promotes social inclusion by providing People in Canada with a human rights complaint resolution system, so that people in vulnerable circumstances can bring forward the human rights issues or challenges they face.
Core responsibility:
Proactive Compliance
Program name:
Program goals:
The Audit Program contributes to the establishment of a diverse society that promotes social inclusion and a fair labour market by ensuring that federally regulated workplaces are free of barriers for women, Indigenous Peoples, people with disabilities and racialized people. In conducting audits of federally regulated organizations for compliance with the requirements of the Employment Equity Act, the Pay Equity Act and the Accessible Canada Act, the program helps them achieve reasonable progress toward the creation of environments that foster equality of opportunity and respect for human rights.
GBA Plus data collection plan
Promotion Program
This program collects sufficient data to enable it to monitor and/or report program impacts by gender and diversity.
Results from the Commission's disaggregated data analyses will serve to pave the way for a Commission-wide integrated data collection strategy. The expansion of unique identifiers will enable us to better link data sources and extract more meaningful data to understand who is engaging with our system, what barriers they face, how intersectionality impacts their engagement with the human rights complaints process and will inform how we improve access to justice.
The Office of the Federal Housing Advocate (OFHA) integrates GBA Plus to ensure inclusive outcomes by prioritizing those disproportionately affected by inadequate housing, such as women, Indigenous peoples, 2SLGBTQQIA+individuals, and people with disabilities. This approach aims to achieve systemic reforms in housing laws, policies, and programs to address inequities and improve access to adequate housing.
As part of the Commission and Federal Housing Advocate's work on the Monitoring Framework on the right to adequate housing for people with disabilities, we will publish new disaggregated findings in a series of reports throughout the fiscal year. We will also continue to advocate for better data collection with a view to improving disaggregated data collection.
By amplifying marginalized voices and addressing barriers, the OFHA seeks to empower individuals, reduce systemic barriers to housing, and enhance quality of life indicators for disadvantaged groups. Accessible tools, including online, phone, and paper submissions in official languages and several Indigenous languages, ensure equitable engagement, while disaggregated data and collaboration with civil society organizations and Indigenous entities guide evidence-based recommendations. Monitoring of report recommendations and annual reporting ensure accountability and transparency, fostering trust in the government's commitment to the right to housing.
Protection Program
This program collects sufficient data to enable it to monitor and/or report program impacts by gender and diversity.
Collecting disaggregated data from rights holders who file complaints is a key means of identifying barriers and enhancing the human rights complaints process. In 2025–2026, the Commission will analyze the two years of data collected between 2023–2024 and 2024–2025 to help inform service delivery needs of key demographics of those most vulnerable in our system. The analysis of this work will also inform future data collection needs for a new Human Rights Case Management System (CMS).
Additionally, a GBA Plus lens will be applied to all planning and development stages of the new Human Rights CMS. This new CMS will be built to collect and analyze data and to improve reporting according to the GBA Plus framework.
Audit Program
This program collects sufficient data to enable it to monitor and/or report program impacts by gender and diversity.
In support of the Program Links identified in the Gender Results Framework, the Pay Equity Act has a direct impact on the economic participation and prosperity of diverse groups of women by reducing the portion of the gender wage gap that is due to the historic undervaluing of “women's work” in federally regulated workplaces. To amplify this impact, the Office of the Pay Equity Commissioner, under the leadership of the Pay Equity Commissioner, will continue to work directly with workplace parties on tools, resources, and training to ensure enforcement and compliance with the Pay Equity Act