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2019–20 Departmental Results Report: Women and Gender Equality Canada

The Honourable Maryam Monsef, P.C., M.P.
Minister for Women and Gender Equality and Rural Economic Development

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Minister Maryam Monsef

I am pleased to present the 2019–20 Departmental Results Report for Women and Gender Equality Canada (WAGE). This report covers the results of our activities to advance gender equality for our first complete fiscal year as a full department of the Government of Canada.

Over the course of the 2019–20 fiscal year, WAGE continued to fulfill its commitments to advance gender equality and create a fairer, more inclusive Canada for the benefit of all Canadians. We continued to advance in four priority areas: strategic action, support and investment to address systemic barriers to gender equality; promoting a greater understanding of the intersection of sex and gender with other identity factors; preventing and addressing gender-based violence; and strategic engagement to advance gender equality in Canada. Progress has been made across all priority areas. Thank you to the officials at Women and Gender Equality Canada and to all our partners who are focused on ensuring that women are safe, women are working and their families are cared for.

A strong and vibrant women's movement is essential to advancing gender equality and ensuring all Canadians have access to opportunity. This year WAGE continued to grow its historic support for women's and equality-seeking organizations, providing more than $65 million dollars in funding. This represents a doubling of available funding compared to the previous fiscal year and is over three times as much as was allocated in the four years preceding. Between 2015 and 2019, these investments supported 550 organizations from coast-to-coast-to-coast, 70% more than were funded in the past five years, reaching over 6 million Canadians. 

In 2019–20, we made specific investments to help address the unique needs and persisting disparities facing LGBTQ2 Canadians. Budget 2019 provided a historic investment of $20 million over three years to strengthen and grow LGBTQ2 organizations across the country and we held the first ever Call for Proposals specifically to support LGBTQ2 organizations. These investments will build on the whole-of-government efforts to address historic and systemic inequalities for LGBTQ2 Canadians.

WAGE took important steps in our work to end gender-based violence. Following the roadmap set out in It's Time, the first federal strategy to address and prevent GBV, we moved forward on addressing key issues in each of the four pillars of prevention, support for survivors and their families, and promotion of responsive legal and justice systems. We invested in research because better data on experiences of gender-based violence in Canada leads to policies, programs or initiatives that make a real difference in the lives of Canadians. We worked with Statistics Canada on three national surveys that shed new light on the nature and extent of gender-based violence experienced by people living in Canada, especially for the first time among specific groups such as Indigenous people in the Territories, gender and sexual minority people and students.

In fall 2019 we launched the National Strategy to Combat Human Trafficking. Backed by $75 million in federal funding, the strategy will support the development of prevention programming for vulnerable populations, strengthen practices for law enforcement and immigration officials, and empower victims and survivors to regain self-confidence and control over their lives. WAGE launched its first call for proposals for projects under this strategy in summer 2020.

Canada also hosted the Women Deliver 2019 Conference, the world's largest conference on gender equality and the health, rights and wellbeing of girls and women. It positioned Canada as the single largest investor in sexual and reproductive health and rights and in women's organizations in Canada and around the world. At the same time, Feminists Deliver, a grassroots collaboration of different organizations, hosted a four-day conference and trade show. This event along with the Indigenous Conference shed light on the urgent issues facing Indigenous communities, and also marginalized communities and grassroots struggles. WAGE also continued to collaborate with other federal departments on the implementation of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

In 2019–20, as a centre of expertise on gender, WAGE continued to engage with other federal departments and agencies to provide technical expertise and to develop and implement initiatives related to gender equality issues, including proactive pay equity legislation to ensure that workers in federally regulated workplaces, including the federal private sector, the federal public service, Parliamentary workplaces and the Prime Minister's and Ministers' offices, receive equal pay for work of equal value.

2020 was to be a monumental milestone for gender equality in Canada, marking the 25th anniversary of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action and the 50th anniversary of the tabling in Parliament of the Royal Commission Report on the Status of Women. However, with a global pandemic that has impacted women most, this year also threatens to roll back hard won gains in women's and gender equality. In addition to jobs lost and additional unpaid care responsibilities for kids and elders, women, and to a certain extent those amongst the most vulnerable, constitute the majority of those serving on the frontlines of the crisis: personal support workers, childcare workers, food sector workers nurses and health workers and social workers. On top of that, we saw an increase in the rate of gender-based violence amid social and financial pressures and isolation measures to prevent the transmission of COVID-19.

The impacts we have experienced from COVID-19 put at risk hard-won gains towards gender equality, but we will not allow progress to stall. It's why we applied a gender and intersectional perspective to our COVID-19 response, as outlined in the Economic and Fiscal Snapshot 2020. It's also why the first thing we did was to accelerate investments in shelters, transition housing and other organizations providing gender-based violence supports and services. COVID-19 is a crisis unlike any other and it has laid bare the cracks in our support systems. This crisis has thrown into sharp focus the needs of organizations serving women and children who are fleeing violence. No one should be left without a place to turn at this difficult time and our government has moved swiftly to provide $100 million to these critical front-line organizations, ensuring their doors can remain open and they can continue their lifesaving work.

Moreover, we know there can be no meaningful recovery unless we address the needs of women. As recognized by CARE as having the best COVID-19 response in terms of taking into account intersectionalities, Canada will continue to apply this lens to respond to this pandemic and guide our recovery. Moving forward into fiscal year 2020–21, WAGE is doubling its efforts, working closely with partners to ensure gender equality remains a top priority for this country.

The Honourable Maryam Monsef, P.C., M.P.

Minister for Women and Gender Equality and Rural Economic Development

Results at a glance and operating context

Operating context

In December 2018, new legislation created the Department for Women and Gender Equality Canada (WAGE), transforming the former Status of Women Canada into a full department of the Government of Canada. This change expanded the Department's mandate to advance equality with respect to sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression through the inclusion of people of all genders, including women, in Canada's economic, social and political life.

With its expanded mandate, WAGE continued to work to advance gender equality through an intersectional gendered lens during the 2019–20 year. Working in partnership with key stakeholders, including civil society organizations, labour groups, the private sector, other orders of government, and First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples, the Department promoted the inclusion of all people in Canada's economic, social, and political life. The Department advanced gender equality by performing a central expertise function within the Government of Canada in the development and implementation of policies and programs to advance gender equality, delivered programs, and invested in research to ensure initiatives to advance gender equality are evidence-informed. In 2019–20, WAGE's total operating budget was $117,444,684 and its total actual workforce (full-time equivalents) was 300.

Despite significant progress made on gender equality in Canada, women continue to be under-represented in politics and leadership roles, earn less money on average than men, and are more likely to experience gender-based violence, including sexual assault and intimate-partner violence. Through Gender-based Analysis Plus (GBA+), WAGE and the Government of Canada can better understand how factors such as sex, gender, race, national and ethnic origin, Indigenous origin or identity, age, sexual orientation, socio-economic condition, geography, culture, and disability, shape these outcomes for Canadians and what policy, programs and other initiatives are needed to create a more equitable Canada. In the 2019–20 year, WAGE continued to serve as a centre of expertise on GBA+ for the Government of Canada, to ensure that all federal departments and agencies advanced government priorities with initiatives that were inclusive and responsive to the diverse needs of people in Canada.

The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020 had an effect on activities and departmental operations planned for this year. For example, in light of concerns regarding COVID-19, the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women, convened annually in March, was significantly scaled back. Other planned initiatives impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020 included a public awareness campaign for youth on gender-based violence and a national survey on gender-based violence in the workplace. Beginning in April 2020, the Government of Canada provided $50 million in emergency funding to women's shelters, sexual assault centres and other organizations providing gender-based violence services to ensure continuity of supports during the pandemic. Women's Shelters Canada and the Canadian Women's Foundation were key partners in ensuring this funding quickly got to shelters and sexual assault centres across Canada to meet their immediate needs during the COVID-19 pandemic. Over 1,000 organizations across the country received much-needed funding that helped ensure they could keep their doors open to those experiencing gender-based violence. Organizations used this funding to enhance cleaning and safety procedures, hire additional staff to manage additional workload, and purchase equipment to help them deliver their services remotely. Many of these organizations providing gender-based violence services were experiencing one of their busiest years when the pandemic was declared. Recipients have conveyed that, without this additional funding, they would have struggled to adapt. As a result of receiving the funding, organizations have stated that they were able to increase staff capacity, increase the space available in shelters for persons who needed to isolate, as well as meet clients' needs for privacy, and increase their technological capacity so that they could reach people remotely. They were also able to remain innovative, trauma informed, and client centered, all while increasing health and safety procedures as the foundation of service delivery. 

Results at a glance

In 2019–20, as outlined in its Departmental Plan, WAGE focused on four priority areas in the advancement of women's and gender equality.

Priority area #1:
Strategic action, support and investment to address systemic barriers to gender equality

Concrete interventions and funding to address systemic barriers are expected to advance gender equality, as well as increase economic security and prosperity for women and people of all genders.

In 2019–20, WAGE:

  • took action and provided expertise, advice and recommendations to partners and stakeholders to promote women's and gender equality, including on issues related to pay equity, child care, women's economic prosperity, women's entrepreneurship, and equality for LGBTQ2 individuals
  • built capacity of front-line organizations to advance equality for women and girls through funding to over 250 Capacity-Building projects under the Women's Program
  • identified strategies to engage men and boys as partners to advance gender equality, and invested over $600,000 in seven projects to change behaviours and attitudes, in partnership with men and boys across Canada
  • convened a Youth Working Group on Gender Equality to develop initiatives aimed at promoting behaviours and attitudes among youth in support of gender equality
  • invested over $66 million in over 600 women's and equality-seeking organizations to support 626 new and ongoing projects. These organizations reached approximately six million people
  • explored innovative partnership opportunities across sectors, forming approximately 1,292 partnerships over the reporting year
  • promoted action through initiatives such as International Day of the Girl, Persons Day, and International Women's Day

Priority area #2:
Promote a greater understanding of the intersection of sex and gender with other identity factors

As a centre of gender expertise for the Government of Canada, the Department promoted the greater understanding of the intersection of sex and gender with other identify factors in order to develop and implement federal policies and programs that are more inclusive and reflect the needs of diverse groups of people in Canada.

In 2019–20, WAGE:

  • shared lessons learned and best practices for developing inclusive and responsive initiatives
  • supported the integration of GBA+ throughout the policy, legislative, program development and evaluation cycle, including in the early COVID-19 response, through the development of analyses, tools and resources to support tailored initiatives for those who needed it most
  • monitored and reported on the implementation of GBA+ in the federal government, including monitoring the application of GBA+ through the annual implementation survey of departments
  • supported the Department of Finance Canada in implementing the Canadian Gender Budgeting Act, ensuring the inclusion of gender and diversity considerations in policy decisions and government expenditures, including integrating GBA+ into the Fiscal Snapshot process
  • invested over $10 million in over 40 research and data collection projects in order to strengthen current evidence base on gender equality
  • supported the whole-of-government implementation of the Gender Results Framework, including launching the Gender Results Framework Portal to monitor progress on gender equality priorities for the Government of Canada

Priority area #3:
Prevent and Address Gender-Based Violence

The Department's interventions focused on developing the tools and resources necessary to support awareness of gender-based violence (GBV) in Canada and strengthen the GBV sector, improving supports and services for women and girls affected by GBV.

In 2019–20, WAGE:

  • initiated response to the COVID-19 pandemic, to ensure that emerging needs could be addressed quickly
  • expanded the GBV Knowledge Centre, including by developing knowledge products related to GBV and transferring knowledge to service providers and stakeholders that were accessed 26,607 times over the year
  • invested over $8 million in research to address knowledge gaps related to GBV, including through the development and implementation of three new national surveys in partnership with Statistics Canada focusing on experiences of gender-based violence in Canada
  • promoted action through commemoration events such as the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence
  • supported 58 projects to develop and implement promising practices that address gaps in supports for survivors of GBV and their families
  • funded a coalition of stakeholders to develop a framework to prevent and address GBV at post-secondary institutions
  • established a Commemoration Fund to honour the lives and legacies of missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls and LGBTQ2 individuals that funded over 100 commemorative initiatives in 2019–20

Priority area #4:
Strategic engagement to advance gender equality in Canada

WAGE engaged with many domestic and international partners to help address challenges to advancing gender equality globally and at home.
In 2019–20, WAGE:

For more information on WAGE's plans, priorities and results achieved, see the "Results: what we achieved" section of this report.

Results: what we achieved

Core responsibility

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, 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.

Results

Over the reporting period, WAGE delivered results for Canadians and contributed to its Core Responsibility of advancing gender equality in four priority areas: supporting investments to address systemic barriers to gender equality; promoting a greater understanding of how the intersection of sex and gender with other identity factors impacts people's lives; preventing and addressing gender-based violence; and other strategic actions and engagement to advance gender equality in Canada.

Priority area #1: Strategic action, support and investment to address systemic barriers to gender equality

Women's and equality-seeking organizations play a critical role in creating a stronger, fairer, and more equal Canada. That is why, in 2019–20, WAGE invested a total of over $66 million in over 600 organizations across the country to address systemic barriers to advancing gender equality. For example, WAGE provided $10 million each to the Canadian Women's Foundation, Community Foundations Canada and Grand Challenges Canada in order to foster collaboration and innovation to address challenges related to gender equality in communities across the country. In addition, in 2019–20, WAGE invested over $37 million in 367 new projects, including: 108 projects to help communities and families honour the lives of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls; 192 projects to support the capacity of women's and equality-seeking organizations; four projects to advance women's economic security; eight projects to advance women in leadership as well as three agreements, including one with the province of Québec, to deliver COVID-19 emergency response funding to nearly 1,000 shelters, sexual assault centres and organizations across the country providing supports for people experiencing gender-based violence.

To help advance equality with respect to sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression, WAGE invested close to $2 million in seven organizations in 2019–20. This funding helped the organizations build stronger capacity and networks of LGBTQ2 community organizations to advance LGBTQ2 equality across Canada. Additionally, in March 2020, WAGE launched a Call for Proposals for up to $18 million to support LGBTQ2 organizations across the country whose initiatives contribute to a strong LGBTQ2 movement in Canada to advance equality for all people. This was the first open call of its kind in Canadian history and recognizes the critical work these organizations do every day to advance equality in Canada for LGBTQ2 individuals.

WAGE also leveraged innovative partnership opportunities across sectors (resulting in approximately 1,292 partnerships) in order to expand reach and amplify efforts to advance gender equality in Canada. For example, WAGE partnered with the BMO Financial Group to provide virtual training to women's organizations to enhance their capacity to secure funding for their work.

Gender equality considerations have implications for most policies and programs developed and delivered by the Government of Canada. In 2019–20, as a centre of expertise on gender, WAGE continued to engage with other federal departments and agencies to provide technical expertise and to develop and implement initiatives related to gender equality issues, including:

WAGE also met with over 200 partners and stakeholders across the country, through a series of roundtables, to share their insight and expertise on how to engage men and boys as partners in advancing gender equality. The participants represented a wide diversity of perspectives and life experiences, sectors and professions from across the country.

As a result of these conversations, in 2019–20, the Department published a report on what we heard entitled Calling Men and Boys In – What We Heard: Report from the Roundtables on Engaging Men and Boys to Advance Gender Equality. The Department also invested over $600,000 in seven projects designed to implement what we heard in these series of roundtables, including the need to invest in initiatives that aim to: change behaviours contributing to inequality; challenge and change negative norms, attitudes and behaviour; and build networks for knowledge sharing and collaborative action. For example:

To spearhead the National Conversations on Gender Equality with Young Canadians in 2019–20, WAGE launched the Youth Working Group on Gender Equality. The 22 members of this Working Group first convened on May 1, 2019, and continued to meet to develop recommendations for a more inclusive society and exchange ideas with young leaders from across Canada on ways to further advance gender equality. Many members from this Working Group took part in the Prime Minister of Canada's National Youth Summit, which took place from May 2 to 3, 2019. During the Summit, the Department facilitated discussions with 300 young people from across the country on gender equality, and created space for discussions on critical issues facing youth in the world today, particularly those facing young women, girls, and LGBTQ2 individuals. The Department also launched funding agreements, totalling over $2 million over four years, with five Indigenous organizations across Canada who will engage with Indigenous youth on gender equality issues that matter most to their communities. 

Finally, the Department raised awareness of gender equality issues and promoted action on those issues through initiatives such as International Day of the Girl, Persons Day and International Women's Day. WAGE's social media and events to commemorate these days raised awareness of issues related to women's leadership and economic security, as well as gender-based violence.

Priority area #2: Promote a greater understanding of the intersection of sex and gender with other identity factors

Gender-based Analysis Plus (GBA+) is an analytical tool for understanding how various intersecting identity factors, such as gender, sex, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, place of residence, country of origin, Indigenous identity, or disability, shape people's economic, health or social outcomes. Applying this understanding to the development and implementation of government initiatives allows for more inclusive policies and programs that reflect the diverse needs of people. In order to do this analysis, disaggregated data and research are needed.

As the centre of expertise for the Government of Canada on GBA+, the Department worked towards wider implementation of GBA+ and promoted a greater understanding of GBA+ among federal public servants and partners in the advancement of gender equality in Canada and globally. For example, WAGE continued to provide tools and resources to support GBA+, including an online course. From April 2019 to March 2020, approximately 36,743 participants completed the GBA+ Online Course.

In addition, the Department focused its efforts on developing specialized tools and training to ensure that GBA+ is integrated throughout policy and program cycles. For example, WAGE: 

In addition to providing tools and training supports, WAGE also monitored and reported on the integration of GBA+ throughout the policy, legislative, program development and evaluation cycle. For example, the Department:

In order to support the understanding of how sex, gender and other identity factors shape people's outcomes, WAGE also launched the portal for the Gender Results Framework (GRF). The GRF was introduced in Budget 2018 with priorities, goals and indicators with which to measure progress towards gender equality. The portal launched in 2019–20 allows for better access to data on each of the indicators in the GRF and to monitor progress towards the goals as outlined in the framework.

With the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in Canada, WAGE established a Task Team in the Department to support other departments' understanding of the gendered and intersectional impacts of COVID-19. To this end, WAGE analyzed data and developed a synthesis of how COVID-19 has impacted different people in different ways, as well as tools to guide the application of this understanding to the development of emergency response initiatives.

Priority area #3: Prevent and Address Gender-Based Violence

In 2019–20, WAGE launched funding to strengthen the GBV sector, improving supports and services for women and girls impacted by GBV by investing $50 million in 60 new projects. Over the next few years, these projects at the national, regional and local levels will test promising practices to address gaps in supports for specific groups of survivors, including Indigenous women and their communities and underserved populations, such as youth, racialized women, LGBTQ2 communities and non-binary people, non-status/refugee/immigrant women, seniors, women living in an official language minority community, women living in northern, rural and remote communities, and women living with a disability.

In addition, WAGE collaborated with partners across the country to develop and begin implementing a framework to prevent and address GBV at post-secondary institutions. In August 2019, WAGE invested $1.5 million to address gaps in resources to support post-secondary institutions in preventing and addressing gender-based violence on their campuses. Over the next two years, this investment will contribute to closing resource gaps by developing toolkits, resources, a new web portal, and the establishment of communities of practice, as identified by the WAGE-funded Courage to Act report.

In 2019–20, WAGE invested over $8 million in research to address knowledge gaps related to GBV, including through the development and implementation of three new national surveys in partnership with Statistics Canada. These are the first national surveys to focus on experiences of gender-based violence in Canada. Some results from these surveys have already been released, filling important data gaps, including by providing the first ever nationally representative data on transgender and gender diverse people in Canada. As data continues to be analyzed, the Government of Canada and its partners will gain valuable information on experiences of gender-based violence among different populations including women living with a disability, Indigenous women, LGBTQ2 people, and immigrant women, to inform policies and programs to prevent and address GBV and to support survivors and their families.

Progress this year on these surveys includes:

In addition, WAGE launched its first-ever Call for Proposals (CFP) for research. In total, 15 research projects were supported and, over the next two years, researchers will implement research initiatives to fill key data and evidence gaps to inform the response to GBV in Canada. WAGE also invested in important research related to public attitudes that lead to GBV and towards those who perpetrate and experience GBV. In March 2020, Library and Archives Canada published the report "Attitudes related to gender-based violence and #MeToo in Canada: final report", which provides important insights that will inform future efforts to shift the attitudes of people across Canada on these issues.

WAGE expanded its Knowledge Centre, adding 72 new federal resources and over 100 other new resources in order to share new knowledge on GBV in Canada. This new knowledge is supporting governments, service providers and Indigenous organizations, academic institutions, and the private sector in developing and implementing evidence-based initiatives to prevent and address gender-based violence in Canada. In addition, almost all sections of the online platform were revised, updated and a completely new section on crisis lines for each province and territory for people affected by GBV was developed in early spring, coinciding with the first wave of COVID-19.

WAGE raised awareness of issues related to GBV through commemoration events such as the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence. Annually around the world, from November 25 through December 10, individuals and organizations come together to raise awareness and inspire action to eliminate violence faced by women, girls and LGBTQ2 individuals. During the 16 Days this year, Canada marked the 30th anniversary of the École Polytechnique massacre in which 14 women were murdered and 10 women and four men were injured. Synchronized with Montreal's Mount Royal, 14 beams of light shone into the dark sky above Centre Block on Parliament Hill on December 6, 2019, to honour each woman who was killed.

Eliminating violence against Indigenous women and girls is an urgent issue in Canada. In response to the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls' interim report, which recognizes commemoration as an essential part of truth‑gathering, healing and reconciliation, a Call for Proposals was launched by WAGE under the Commemoration Fund in February 2019. In total, 108 projects totalling more than $13 million over two years were announced in 2019. This funding will support Indigenous governments and organizations to work with families, communities, and survivors to help honour the lives and legacies of missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls and LGBTQ2 individuals.

In March 2020, as part of Canada's COVID-19 Economic Response Plan, the Government announced funding for women's shelters and sexual assault centres to help with their capacity to manage or prevent an outbreak in their facilities. In this context, WAGE rapidly put into place agreements with Women's Shelters Canada and the Canadian Women's Foundation in order to distribute funding to shelters and sexual assault centres across Canada to meet their immediate needs during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Priority area #4: Strategic engagement to advance gender equality in Canada

Efforts to advance gender equality cannot be done in isolation. That is why WAGE collaborates closely with key domestic and international partners in order to advance gender equality in Canada. 

Domestically, in 2019–20, WAGE worked closely with provincial/territorial counterparts and National Indigenous Leaders and Representatives through the Federal-Provincial-Territorial (FPT) Forum of Ministers Responsible for the Status of Women. During the 37th Annual Meeting of FPT Ministers responsible for the Status of Women, all Ministers agreed to explore how to engage and collaborate on national actions to end gender-based violence, to promote women in leadership positions and find concrete solutions for ensuring women's active participation in the economy.

In order to complement our domestic efforts, the Department also worked to advance Canada's gender equality priorities on the international stage, through participation in key gender equality fora such as the United Nations, the Organization of American States (OAS) and Women Deliver. For example, the Department:

In addition, in 2019–20, WAGE collaborated with Global Affairs Canada to lead the organization of the Women Deliver Conference This conference brought together more than 8,000 people on site and over 100,000 virtually from over 165 countries to share new ideas and solutions to advance gender equality. Canada was well represented at the conference and WAGE worked with domestic and international partners to support women's organizations and advocates engaging in gender equality discussions and initiatives. In May 2019, the Department announced over $300,000 in funding for two initiatives supporting the Women Deliver 2019 Conference, including Feminists Deliver, which focused on diversity and inclusion for people in British Columbia who experience marginalization because of gender, and the Nutsamaht Indigenous Women's Pre-Conference, which raised awareness and fostered advocacy through the engagement of Indigenous women and girls of diverse perspectives, strengths, abilities, and sexual and gender identities. WAGE also worked with partners on numerous conference panels and meetings of international working groups related to gender equality at the conference. Leading up to the conference, WAGE funded a 12‑month project, entitled Mobilization Canada, to support and coordinate domestic efforts to address gender equality issues. This included supporting side events for non‑governmental organizations, sponsoring 50 participants from across Canada to attend the Conference, and mobilizing the public and private sector to strengthen the women's movement in Canada in order to sustain longer-term action identified during the conference.

Finally, to support the coordinated advancement of gender equality domestically and internationally, WAGE contributed to the implementation of Canada's strategy to advance and achieve the United Nations' 2030 Agenda and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). WAGE is one of six federal government departments responsible for the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. In particular, WAGE contributes to the implementation of SDG 5 (Gender Equality) by supporting the implementation of GBA+ across the federal government and the coordination of a whole-of-government implementation of gender equality goals under the Gender Results Framework.

Results achieved
Departmental results Performance indicators Target Date to achieve target 2017-18
Actual results
2018-19 Actual results 2019-20 Actual results
The Department's interventions facilitate the advancement of gender equality Percentage of projects funded by the Department that have an impact on reducing systemic barriers to gender equality At least 85%Footnote 1 March 2021Footnote 1 Not availableFootnote 2 89% Not availableFootnote 3
Percentage of stakeholders that applied knowledge or resources from the Gender-Based Violence Knowledge Centre Greater than 75% March 2020 Not availableFootnote 2 Not availableFootnote 4 86%
Number of partnerships or coalitions with governments, and international, Indigenous, civil society, private sector, women's and equality-seeking organizations At least 1,200Footnote 1 March 2021Footnote 1 Not availableFootnote 2 1,261 1,292
Number of federal government data and research gaps filled as identified by the Interdepartmental Committee on Gender Equality Not availableFootnote 5 Not availableFootnote 5 Not availableFootnote 5 Not availableFootnote 5 45
The federal government systematically considers gender equality Percentage of federal organizations satisfied with the Department's tools and resources to incorporate gender equality considerations into their work Greater than 68% March 2020 Not availableFootnote 2 99% Not availableFootnote 6
Number of major new federal initiatives (e.g. policies and programs) that include specific measures to advance gender equality Not availableFootnote 1 Not availableFootnote 1 Not availableFootnote 2 58 Not availableFootnote 6
Budgetary financial resources (dollars)
2019–20
Main Estimates
2019–20
Planned spending
2019–20
Total authorities available for use
2019–20
Actual spending
(authorities used)
2019–20
Difference
(Actual spending minus Planned spending)
91,394,939 91,394,939 101,036,991 99,260,478 7,865,539
Human resources (full-time equivalents)
2019–20
Planned full-time equivalents
2019–20
Actual full-time equivalents
2019–20
Difference
(Actual full-time equivalents minus Planned full-time equivalents)
194 208 14

In 2019–20, the difference between actual and planned spending is a result of additional funding received through Budget 2019 for advancing gender equality in Canada and for capacity building and community-level work of Canadian LGBTQ2 organizations. These additional resources also explain the increase in FTEs (+14) over the reporting period.

Financial, human resources and performance information for WAGE's Program Inventory is available in GC InfoBase.

Internal Services

Description

Internal Services are those groups of related activities and resources that the federal government considers to be services in support of programs and/or required to meet corporate obligations of an organization. Internal Services refers to the activities and resources of the 10 distinct service categories that support Program delivery in the organization, regardless of the Internal Services delivery model in a department. The 10 service categories are:

Budgetary financial resources (dollars)
2019–20
Main Estimates
2019–20
Planned spending
2019–20
Total authorities available for use
2019–20
Actual spending
(authorities used)
2019–20
Difference
(Actual spending minus Planned spending)
12,565,662 12,565,662 16,058,460 15,286,031 2,720,369
Human resources (full-time equivalents)
2019–20
Planned full-time equivalents
2019–20
Actual full-time equivalents
2019–20
Difference
(Actual full-time equivalents minus Planned full-time equivalents)
95 92 (3)

Over the reporting period, WAGE's Internal Services functions continued to build capacity as the organization continued to grow to a full-fledged department. Key initiatives are outlined below.

Accommodation and enabling equipment:

Organizational structure:

Several classification actions were taken towards stabilizing WAGE's organizational structure, including the implementation Generic Job Descriptions, and the creation of the Corporate Secretariat. These actions enabled the Department to ensure enabling functions required of a full department were in place to support the implementation of governmental and departmental priorities.

For example, the establishment of a Corporate Secretariat contributed to the optimization of key services within the Department and the Minister's Office, including Executive Services, Briefings and Correspondences Unit, Access to Information and Privacy, Cabinet Affairs, Parliamentary Affairs, and Governance. A governance structure for the organization was also established to provide oversight over the Department's operations and to facilitate effective policy and program decision-making within WAGE.

In 2019–20, the difference between actual and planned spending is a result of additional funding for internal services received during the reporting period to support departmental initiatives funded through Budget 2018 and 2019.

Analysis of trends in spending and human resources

Actual expenditures for Women and Gender Equality Canada

Departmental spending trend graph

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

Departmental spending trend graph
Text Description
2017-18 2018-19 2019-20 2020-21 2021-22 2022-23
$ thousands
Statutory 0 913 3,863 4,481 4,610 4,487
Voted 0 36,576 110,684 125,327 120,537 125,677
Total 0 37,489 114,547 129,808 125,147 130,164

Actual expenditures for Status of Women Canada

Departmental spending trend graph

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

Departmental spending trend graph
Text Description
2017-18 2018-19 2019-20 2020-21 2021-22 2022-23
$ thousands
Statutory 1,747 1,924 0 0 0 0
Voted 41,557 32,733 0 0 0 0
Total 43,304 34,657 0 0 0 0

The two graphs are presented to reflect the transition between Status of Women Canada and Women and Gender Equality Canada. Women and Gender Equality Canada was created on December 13, 2018. Therefore, there were no expenses to report for 2017-2018 and the expenses for 2018-2019 cover the period from December 13, 2018 to March 31, 2019. Status of Women Canada ceased to exist on December 12, 2018. Actual spending for 2018-2019 covers the period from April 2018 to December 12, 2018.

Budgetary performance summary for Core Responsibilities and Internal Services for Women and Gender Equality Canada* (dollars)
Core responsibilities and Internal Services 2019–20
Main Estimates
2019–20
Planned spending
2020–21
Planned spending
2021–22
Planned spending
2019–20
Total authorities available for use
2019–20 Actual spending (authorities used) 2018–19 Actual spending (authorities used) 2017–18 Actual spending (authorities used)
Advancing Gender Equality 91,394,939 91,394,939 116,149,982 111,332,772 101,036,991 99,260,478 31,326,456 Not applicable
Budget Implementation Vote: Unallocated Authorities 10,000,000 Not applicable Not applicable Not applicable 349,233 Not applicable Not applicable Not applicable
Subtotal 101,394,939 91,394,939 116,149,982 111,332,772 101,386,224 99,260,478 31,326,456 Not applicable
Internal Services 12,565,662 12,565,662 13,657,716 13,814,023 16,058,460 15,286,031 6,162,713 Not applicable
Total 113,960,601 103,960,601 129,807,698 125,146,795 117,444,684 114,546,509 37,489,169 Not applicable

*Note: The Department for Women and Gender Equality was created on December 13, 2018. As a result, there was no actual spending to report for 2017–18 and actual spending for 2018–19 is from December 13, 2018, to March 31, 2019.

The increase in planned spending for 2020–21 is primarily due to new funding announced in Budget 2018 and 2019 for advancing gender equality in Canada and for capacity building and the community-level work of Canadian LGBTQ2 service organizations.

The decrease in planned spending for 2021–22 is primarily attributable to time-limited Budget 2018 funding to support the sustainability of women's and equality-seeking organizations through the Women's Program, and the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls Commemoration Fund.

Budgetary performance summary for Core Responsibilities and Internal Services for Status of Women Canada* (dollars)
Core responsibilities and Internal Services 2019–20
Main Estimates
2019–20
Planned spending
2020–21
Planned spending
2021–22
Planned spending
2019–20
Total authorities available for use
2019–20 Actual spending (authorities used) 2018–19 Actual spending (authorities used) 2017–18 Actual spending (authorities used)
Mobilizing Partners and Promoting Equality for Women and Girls Not applicable Not applicable Not applicable Not applicable Not applicable Not applicable 27,216,004 33,587,902
Subtotal Not applicable Not applicable Not applicable Not applicable Not applicable Not applicable 27,216,004 33,587,902
Internal Services Not applicable Not applicable Not applicable Not applicable Not applicable Not applicable 7,441,193 9,716,331
Total Not applicable Not applicable Not applicable Not applicable Not applicable Not applicable 34,657,197 43,304,233

*Note: Status of Women Canada ceased to exist on December 12, 2018. Actual spending for 2018–19 is for April 2018 to December 12, 2018.

Actual human resources

Human resources summary for core responsibilities and Internal Services for Women and Gender Equality Canada*
Core responsibilities and Internal Services 2017–18 Actual full-time equivalents 2018–19 Actual full-time equivalents 2019–20
Planned full-time equivalents
2019–20 Actual full-time equivalents 2020–21 Planned full-time equivalents 2021–22 Planned full-time equivalents
Advancing Gender Equality Not applicable 47 194 208 222 231
Subtotal Not applicable 47 194 208 222 231
Internal Services Not applicable 29 95 92 99 101
Total Not applicable 76 289 300 321 332

*Note: The Department for Women and Gender Equality was created on December 13, 2018. As a result, there are no actual full-time equivalents to report for 2017–18 and actual full-time equivalents for 2018–19 are from December 13, 2018, to March 31, 2019.

Human resources summary for core responsibilities and Internal Services for Status of Women Canada*
Core responsibilities and Internal Services 2017–18 Actual full-time equivalents 2018–19 Actual full-time equivalents 2019–20
Planned full-time equivalents
2019–20 Actual full-time equivalents 2020–21 Planned full-time equivalents 2021–22 Planned full-time equivalents
Mobilizing Partners and Promoting Equality for Women and Girls 79 88 Not applicable Not applicable Not applicable Not applicable
Subtotal 79 88 Not applicable Not applicable Not applicable Not applicable
Internal Services 65 58 Not applicable Not applicable Not applicable Not applicable
Total 144 146 Not applicable Not applicable Not applicable Not applicable

*Note: Status of Women Canada ceased to exist on December 12, 2018. Actual full-time equivalents for 2018–19 is for April 2018 to December 12, 2018.

Additional funding received over the past three years has resulted in increases to the organizational workforce, which has more than doubled from 144 FTEs in 2017–18 (SWC) to 321 planned FTEs in 2020–21 (WAGE).

Expenditures by vote

For information on WAGE's organizational voted and statutory expenditures, consult the Public Accounts of Canada 2019–2020.

Government of Canada spending and activities

Information on the alignment of WAGE's spending with the Government of Canada's spending and activities is available in GC InfoBase.

Financial statements and financial statements highlights

Financial statements

WAGE's financial statements (unaudited) for the year ended March 31, 2020, are available on the departmental website.

Financial statement highlights

Condensed Statement of Operations (unaudited) for the year ended March 31, 2020 (dollars)
Financial information 2019–20
Planned results*
2019–20
Actual results
2018–19
Actual results*
Difference (2019–20 Actual results minus
2019–20 Planned results)
Difference (2019–20 Actual results minus
2018–19 Actual results)
Total expenses 110,208,000 117,472,819 39,167,505 7,264,819 78,305,314
Total revenues 0 176 15 (176) 161
Net cost of operations before government funding and transfers 110,208,000 117,472,643 39,167,490 7,264,643 78,305,153

*Note: The Department for Women and Gender Equality was created on December 13, 2018. As a result, spending for 2018–19 is from December 13, 2018, to March 31, 2019.

The 2019–20 planned results for WAGE are based on estimates known at the time of the Departmental Plan. The difference between total expenses for 2019–20 planned results and actual results is mainly due to additional funding received through Budget 2019 for advancing gender equality in Canada and for capacity building and community-level work of Canadian LGBTQ2 service organizations.

On an accrual accounting basis, WAGE's expenses for 2019–20 were $117.5 million. The spending difference of $78.3 million between 2018–19 and 2019–20 is due, in part, to the total expenses of $36.1 million presented in the Condensed Statement of Operations of Status of Women Canada for the period of April 1, 2018, to December 12, 2018. The remaining difference of $42.2 million is attributable to funding received in Budgets 2017, 2018 and 2019 to advance gender equality, to sustain the women's movement, to implement the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls Commemoration Fund and to support organizations working in the gender-based violence sector.

Condensed Statement of Financial Position (unaudited) as of March 31, 2020 (dollars)
Financial information 2019–20 2018–19 Difference
(2019–20 minus
2018–19)
Total net liabilities 9,264,885 6,564,071 2,700,814
Total net financial assets 6,591,932 4,783,905 1,808,027
Departmental net debt 2,672,953 1,780,166 892,787
Total non-financial assets 2,553,742 1,543,474 1,010,268
Departmental net financial position (119,211) (236,692) 117,481

WAGE total net liabilities are composed of accounts payable and accrued liabilities (68%), employee future benefits (11%), and employee vacation pay and compensatory leave (21%).

Total net financial assets consist of accounts receivable, advances, and amounts due from the Consolidated Revenue Fund (CRF) of the Government of Canada. The amount due from the CRF represents 79% of the total net financial assets and the remaining 21% is comprised of accounts receivable and advances. The amount due from the CRF represents the amount of net cash that WAGE is entitled to draw from the CRF in the future to discharge its current liabilities, without further appropriations.

Total non-financial assets consist of tangible capital assets, which make up 100% of the balance.

The Department's total liabilities increased by $2.7 million in 2019–20 compared with 2018–19. This is mainly the result of a net increase in accounts payable to third parties resulting from timing differences in the settlement of the payables.

Additional information

Organizational profile

Appropriate minister[s]: The Honourable Maryam Monsef

Institutional head: Guylaine Roy

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

"Raison d'être, mandate and role: who we are and what we do" is available on Women and Gender Equality Canada's website.

For more information on the mandate letter commitments, see the Minister's mandate letter.

Reporting framework

WAGE's Departmental Results Framework and Program Inventory of record for 2019–20 are shown below.

Departmental Results Framework Core Responsibility:
Advancing Gender Equality
Internal Services
Departmental Result 1:
The Department's interventions facilitate the advancement of gender equality
Indicator 1: Percentage of projects funded by the Department that have an impact on reducing systemic barriers to gender equality
Indicator 2: Percentage of stakeholders that applied knowledge or resources from the Gender-Based Violence Knowledge Centre
Indicator 3: Number of partnerships or coalitions with governments, and international, Indigenous, civil society, private sector, women's and equality-seeking organizations
Indicator 4: Number of federal government data and research gaps filled as identified by the Interdepartmental Committee on Gender Equality
Departmental Result 2:
The federal government systematically considers gender equality
Indicator 5: Percentage of federal organizations satisfied with the Department's tools and resources to incorporate gender equality considerations into their work
Indicator 6: Number of major new federal initiatives (e.g. policies and programs) that include specific measures to advance gender equality
Program Inventory Program: Expertise and Outreach
Program: Community Action and Innovation

Supporting information on the program inventory

Financial, human resources and performance information for WAGE's Program Inventory is available in GC InfoBase.

Supplementary information tables

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

Federal tax expenditures

The tax system can be used to achieve public policy objectives through the application of special measures such as low tax rates, exemptions, deductions, deferrals and credits. The Department of Finance Canada publishes cost estimates and projections for these measures each year in the Report on Federal Tax Expenditures. This report also provides detailed background information on tax expenditures, including descriptions, objectives, historical information and references to related federal spending programs. The tax measures presented in this report are the responsibility of the Minister of Finance.

Organizational contact information

For financial information, contact:

Stéphane Lavigne
Chief Financial Officer and Executive Director, Corporate Services Branch
Telephone: 819-420-6825
E-mail: Stephane.Lavigne@cfc-swc.gc.ca

For other information, contact:

Lisa Smylie
Director General, Research, Results and Delivery
Telephone: 819-420-6508
E-mail: 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 report on the plans and expected performance of an appropriated department over a 3‑year period. Departmental Plans are usually tabled in Parliament each spring.
departmental priority (priorité)
A plan or project that a department has chosen to focus and report on during the planning period. Priorities represent the things that are most important or what must be done first to support the achievement of the desired departmental results.
departmental result (résultat ministériel)
A consequence or outcome that a department seeks to achieve. 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 quantitative measure of progress on a departmental result.
departmental results framework (cadre ministériel des résultats)
A framework that connects the department's core responsibilities to its departmental results and departmental result indicators.
Departmental Results Report (rapport sur les résultats ministériels)
A report on a department's actual accomplishments against the plans, priorities and expected results set out in the corresponding Departmental Plan.
experimentation (expérimentation)
The conducting of activities that seek to first explore, then test and compare the effects and impacts of policies and interventions in order to inform evidence-based decision-making, and improve outcomes for Canadians, by learning what works, for whom and in what circumstances. Experimentation is related to, but distinct from innovation (the trying of new things), because it involves a rigorous comparison of results. For example, using a new website to communicate with Canadians can be an innovation; systematically testing the new website against existing outreach tools or an old website to see which one leads to more engagement, 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. For a particular position, the full‑time equivalent figure is the ratio of number of hours the person actually works divided by the standard number of hours set out in the person's collective agreement.
gender-based analysis plus (GBA+) (analyse comparative entre les sexes plus [ACS+])
An intersectional analytical process used to assess how diverse groups of women, men and gender-diverse people experience policies, programs and services based on multiple factors including race ethnicity, religion, age, and mental or physical disability.
government-wide priorities (priorités pangouvernementales)
For the purpose of the 2019–20 Departmental Results Report, those high-level themes outlining the government's agenda in the 2019 Speech from the Throne, namely: Fighting climate change; Strengthening the Middle Class; Walking the road of reconciliation; Keeping Canadians safe and healthy; and Positioning Canada for success in an uncertain world.
horizontal initiative (initiative horizontale)
An initiative where 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.
performance indicator (indicateur de rendement)
A qualitative or quantitative means of measuring an output or outcome, with the intention of gauging the performance of an organization, program, policy or initiative respecting expected results.
performance reporting (production de rapports sur le rendement)
The process of communicating evidence‑based performance information. Performance reporting supports decision making, accountability and transparency.
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 to the expected result.
planned spending (dépenses prévues)
For Departmental Plans and Departmental Results Reports, planned spending refers to those amounts presented in 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 the department and focus on a specific set of outputs, outcomes or service levels.
program inventory (répertoire des programmes)
Identifies all the department's programs and describes how resources are organized to contribute to the department's core responsibilities and results.
result (résultat)
A 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.

© Her Majesty the Queen in Right of Canada
As represented by the Minister for Women and Gender Equality (2020)
Catalogue No. SW1-12E-PDF
ISSN 2562-9220

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