Introduction to GBA Plus
Service delivery and operations
Service delivery includes activities focused on serving Canadians; everything from the design of delivery models, to direct interaction with the public.
GBA Plus is often mistakenly viewed as relevant to the social policy sectors, but it can also be applied in highly operational sectors, including, for example, military and defence, border management, corrections and other public security sectors.
The optional module, Building a framework to support GBA Plus in your organization, is a case study that illustrates how GBA Plus can be applied in an operational setting. When used in the context of developing human resources and diversity strategies, it can assist in analyzing systemic issues which may be affecting the make-up of certain sectors or workforces. Take a few minutes at the end of the course to review this case study.
Ensuring accessibility and meeting the needs of the client population are key considerations. Some questions to consider for incorporating GBA Plus in service delivery and operations are:
- What are the characteristics and factors of the population that a program or service intends to address?
- Is there diversity among those delivering a service directly to the public? Could this affect how a service is perceived by the public, or how it serves the public’s needs?
- Do all people have equitable access to the program or service? If not, what are the barriers to access?
- Is training available to those delivering services to ensure they are sensitive to the needs of all people?
- Have diverse perspectives been considered in developing an operational plan or a delivery model?
Here is an example of how GBA Plus is being applied to service delivery and operations:
Safer and Stronger Canada at Home and in the World
Safer and Stronger Canada at Home and in the World – Transcript
(The animated logo for GBA Plus appears.)
(TEXT ON SCREEN -
SAFER AND STRONGER CANADA AT HOME AND IN THE WORLD)
(NARRATOR:)
Air travel allows us to explore the world and brings more and more travellers to our doorstep.
(An outdoor airport scene appears with animated planes.)
In Canada, our airports are modernizing: streamlining services and increasing security to improve
air travel for everyone.
(An indoor airport scene appears, including Primary Inspection Kiosks, border service officers, and diverse travellers waiting in line for border security clearance.)
The Canada Border Services Agency's Primary Inspection Kiosk was created to improve border
services for international travellers at Canada's busiest airports.
(A traveller approaches a Primary Inspection Kiosk. The acronym "CBSA" appears on the kiosk screen.)
(TEXT ON SCREEN -
THE CANADA BORDER SERVICES AGENCY (CBSA)
PRIMARY INSPECTION KIOSK
IMPROVE BORDER SERVICES)
Upon arrival in Canada, most travellers will use a kiosk to verify their travel documents,
confirm their identity using facial authentication, and complete an on-screen declaration.
Seems simple, right?
(Live-action videos appear showing real Primary Inspection Kiosks in an airport; a traveller using the kiosk to verify travel documents; a traveller using the kiosk for facial authentication; a traveller receiving a receipt from the kiosk;)
(TEXT ON SCREEN -
MOST TRAVELLERS WILL USE A KIOSK
TO VERIFY THEIR TRAVEL DOCUMENTS
CONFIRM THEIR IDENTITY
COMPLETE AN ON-SCREEN DECLARATION)
Let's take a look behind the scenes.
Throughout the planning phase, CBSA used Gender-based Analysis Plus – or GBA Plus – to inform
the design and operation of the kiosk.
(An animated traveller using a Primary Inspection Kiosk appears.
The animated logo for GBA Plus appears on the kiosk screen.)
(TEXT ON SCREEN -
DESIGN AND OPERATION)
GBA Plus is an analytical process used to assess how diverse groups of people
may experience initiatives.
(Stairs with 3 steps appear. A stick-figure with a briefcase walks up the stairs. A stick-figure holding a cane rises out of the top step. Another stick-figure walks up the stairs. Another stick-figure pushing a stroller stops at the bottom step and looks up.)
(TEXT ON SCREEN -
ANALYTICAL PROCESS appears on the riser of the top step.
DIVERSE GROUPS OF PEOPLE appears on the riser of the middle step.
MAY EXPERIENCE INITIATIVES appears on the riser of the bottom step.)
We all have multiple factors that intersect to make us who we are
and impact our lived reality.
This is called intersectionality.
(A stick-figure appears inside a circle with several intersecting lines moving all around it.)
(TEXT ON SCREEN -
MULTIPLE IDENTITY FACTORS
INTERSECT
MAKE US WHO WE ARE)
(TEXT ON SCREEN -
The word INTERSECTIONALITY appears and a box is drawn around it.)
The "plus" in GBA Plus examines how sex and gender intersect with other identities such
as: race, ethnicity, religion, age or mental or physical disability.
(The GBA Plus logo appears. A new plus sign spins out from the plus sign in the GBA Plus logo as the GBA Plus logo disappears. Several intersecting lines appear around the plus sign. The words Sex and Gender appear on the horizontal bar of the plus sign.)
(TEXT ON SCREEN - The following words fly out from the centre of the plus sign:
INTERSECT, IDENTITIES)
(Four new bars appear on the plus sign forming a pin-wheel. The following 10 words appear on each arm of the pinwheel: Race, Ethnicity, Religion, Age, Disability, Geography, Culture, Income, Sexual orientation, Education.)
But what does this have to do with these airport kiosks?
(The screen zooms back to reveal the GBA Plus pinwheel on the kiosk screen.)
(Photos of diverse people appear on the screen. The photos transform into photos of other diverse people.)
(TEXT ON SCREEN -
NO GROUP OF PEOPLE WOULD BE UNFAIRLY DISADVANTAGED
CBSA EVALUATED TECHNICAL AND LOGISTICAL ELEMENTS)
To ensure that no group of people would be unfairly disadvantaged by this technology,
CBSA evaluated technical and logistical elements of the airport border inspection experience
by looking at gender and other intersecting factors – including age, mobility
and socio-economic considerations.
(TEXT ON SCREEN – The word AIRPORT BORDER appears in a box. The following words appear around the box: GENDER, AGE, MOBILITY, SOCIO-ECONOMIC)
(A piece of paper flips onto the screen. Digital and paper publications appear on the screen. Dotted lines travel from the publications to the word CBSA.)
(TEXT ON SCREEN –
CBSA ACCESSED
QUALITATIVE AND QUANTITATIVE DATA)
To do this, CBSA accessed qualitative and quantitative data from academic publications,
statistical sources, and research papers to help identify the different impacts on
different groups and plan potential responses and mitigation strategies.
(Another piece of paper flips onto the screen. A stick-figure appears and a thought bubble appears above the stick-figure. Inside the thought bubble, three icons appear: a notebook, a page with charts and graphs, and a book.)
(TEXT ON SCREEN –
CBSA IMPACTS
RESPONSES
STRATEGIES)
The GBA Plus showed that most of the kiosk's elements had minimal impacts on different groups.
But it did uncover a key difference: facial authentication has the potential to impact
people differently depending on their gender, age, mobility, and ethnicity.
(TEXT ON SCREEN –
KIOSK'S ELEMENTS MINIMAL IMPACTS)
(TEXT ON SCREEN – The word FACIAL AUTHENTICATION appears in a box. The following words appear around the box: GENDER, AGE, MOBILITY, ETHNICITY. Several diverse stick-figures appear below these words.)
For example, facial recognition technology does not work well on children, but its performance
rapidly improves as a person's age increases.
(Photos of a child, a teen and an adult appear. Next to each photo, a horizontal bar graph appears. The bar graph is shortest for the child, and longest for the adult.)
(TEXT ON SCREEN –
FACIAL RECOGNITION TECHNOLOGY
CHILD
TEEN
ADULT)
(A stick-figure appears next to a kiosk. The kiosk takes a photo of the stick-person and the stick-person's face appears on the kiosk's screen.)
(TEXT ON SCREEN – The acronym "CBSA" appears on the kiosk screen.)
With impacted groups, the use of the kiosk's technology could result in reduced or increased
scrutiny, OR delayed processing time, OR higher rates of false negatives (for example, someone
who should have been stopped makes it across the border).
So, what now?
Did CBSA abandon the technology or their GBA Plus?
No.
(A magnifying glass examines an identification card, then an animated stopwatch appears, then an animated question mark appears.)
(TEXT ON SCREEN –
REDUCED OR INCREASED SCRUTINY
DELAYED PROCESSING TIME
FALSE NEGATIVES
SO, WHAT NOW? DID CBSA ABANDON THE TECHNOLOGY OR THEIR GBA Plus?)
Instead, they used this information to develop strategies that mitigate these effects.
(A question mark appears and info-graphics, like charts and graphs, move into the question mark. The question mark grows and then turns into a checkmark.)
(TEXT ON SCREEN –
TO DEVELOP STRATEGIES
THAT MITIGATE THESE EFFECTS)
On the technology side, they adjusted facial match requirements to minimize negative impacts
on different groups.
(The screen zooms back to reveal the checkmark on the kiosk screen. The kiosk screen changes to pieces of stick-figure's face that come together to build the stick-figure's face.)
(TEXT ON SCREEN – The word POSITIVE appears on the kiosk screen.)
(TEXT ON SCREEN –
ADJUSTED FACIAL MATCH REQUIREMENTS TO MINIMIZE NEGATIVE IMPACTS)
From an operations standpoint, they redirected travellers with scores below the match requirement
to another area to undergo a visual inspection.
As technology continues to evolve,
CBSA will continue to evaluate the kiosks to identify any additional impacts –
making improvements along the way to meet the highest standards and
ensure the security of all air travellers.
(A border service officer appears in a circle and directs travellers to 2 different groups, one on each side of the screen. The indoor airport scene appears.)
(TEXT ON SCREEN –
REDIRECTED TRAVELLERS WITH SCORES BELOW THE MATCH REQUIREMENT)
(The GBA Plus logo appears. A stick-figure walks across the screen sits down at a desk. The stick-figure opens a laptop and types on it.)
(TEXT ON SCREEN - The following words fly out from the laptop: HIGHEST, STANDARDS, SECURITY)
Follow their lead and use GBA Plus to be more inclusive in your approach!
(TEXT ON SCREEN –
MORE INCLUSIVE IN YOUR APPROACH
COURTESY OF THE CANADA BORDER SERVICES AGENCY)
Visit Women and Gender Equality Canada and check out our Demystifying GBA Plus job aid on GCpedia.
(TEXT ON SCREEN –
VISIT
WWW.SWC-CFC.GC.CA
#GBAPLUS
#ACSPLUS)
Information is available upon request for those outside the Government of Canada.
(TEXT ON SCREEN – Copyright Her Majesty the Queen in Right of Canada, as represented by the Minister of Status of Women, 2017)
(TEXT ON SCREEN - Canada wordmark with waving flag)