Gender-based analysis plus

Introduction

Gender-Based analysis plus (GBA Plus) is an analytical process used to assess how different 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. Taking into consideration GBA Plus principles in the development of policies, programs, and initiatives helps the government attain better results for all Canadians by being more responsive to specific needs and circumstances of underrepresented groups.

General information: Institutional GBA Plus capacity

Governance

NRCan is committed to facilitating diverse and inclusive outcomes for all Canadians through its work, including ensuring that diverse populations of Canadians benefit from our policies, programs, and initiatives. GBA Plus is essential in achieving this goal. In May 2023, a GBA Plus Action Plan for 2023-26 was created and endorsed by senior management. In 2024-25, the Centre will continue to implement key actions aimed at driving change in culture, building internal capacity, strengthening governance and reporting, collaborating and co-creating with partners, and applying results analytics to GBA Plus.

To drive change, the Centre will provide high quality strategic advice to all NRCan Memoranda to Cabinet, Treasury Board Submissions, and Budget Proposals, including early-stage policies, programs, and initiatives. The Centre will continue to perform a challenge function and provide recommendations to sectors on how to enhance their GBA Plus data collection plans and how to measure the impacts of their programs, policies, and initiatives on diverse groups of Canadians.

Capacity

To build capacity and awareness, the Centre created a “GBA Plus 101” training session. This introductory course provides an overview of GBA Plus as an analytical process to support decision-making in the development of responsive and inclusive policies, programs, and initiatives, and to build capacity around understanding the GBA Plus process, and its application in the NRCan context. The training officially launched in April 2023 and a total of 229 NRCan employees have attended. The Centre is developing an additional training module on GBA Plus Data to provide guidance on how to find and navigate datasets, and how to identify appropriate data collection methods for GBA Plus. This module is set to be launched in 2024.

In July 2022, the Centre established a GBA Plus Community of Practice to help build the department’s capacity in GBA Plus and to share information and lessons learned. The Community of Practice continues to grow and includes membership of approximately 200 NRCan employees from across different sectors, occupational groups, and employee networks. The Centre hosted informative presentations for the Community of Practice such as a presentation from the Stakeholder Engagement Unit, the Centre of Regulatory Expertise, The Pauktuutit Inuit Women of Canada, and the Centre for Gender, Diversity, and Inclusion Statistics from Statistics Canada. Future meetings will host speakers to discuss the Black-Centric Lens, as well as inclusivity and accessibility for 2SLGBTQI+ and Neurodivergent communities.

During GBA Plus awareness week, the Centre organized a large-scale hybrid panel discussion on the topic of intersections between gender equity, diversity, and climate change. The event was attended by over 400 NRCan employees.

Through internal consultations, the Centre has made advancements in developing results analytics capacity for GBA Plus data collection. The first step set out in the action plan was to establish a baseline of the state of GBA Plus data collection. As a result, the Centre consulted with sectors and created an internal report on NRCan’s best practices to facilitate the collection of disaggregated data. In 2024-25, the Centre will develop a GBA Plus disaggregated results framework which includes GBA Plus program profiles and a repository of GBA Plus indicators. This will allow for analysis and tracking of GBA Plus impacts in the policy lifecycle from cabinet submissions to Departmental Results Reporting.

Section 2: Gender and Diversity Impacts, by Program

Core Responsibility: Natural Resource Science and Risk Mitigation

Canadian Geodetic Survey: Spatially Enabling Canada

The Canadian Geodetic Survey program is improving digital services in underserved parts of the country through expansion of NRCan’s geospatial satellite observing network. This will serve to level the playing field for Canadians in more remote communities by improving access to the Canadian Spatial Reference System. These investments support improved weather forecasting and global climate modelling and could also support increasingly automated transportation services, which have the potential to help mobility-challenged Canadians.

The Space Based Earth Observation (SBEO) Project began in 2020 and aims to add 22 or more Global Navigation Satellite System stations across Canada. Two new stations were added in 2022-23 in British Columbia and Newfoundland while eight more have been completed in rural, remote, and Northern locations in 2023-24 and detailed planning is underway for nine additional installations in 2024-25. The program benefits a broad subset of Canadians by improving infrastructure that enhances Earth Observation data accessibility, availability, and usability. While addressing barriers to women and Indigenous career participation and progression in engineering fields are outside the scope of the SBEO initiative, GBA Plus considerations such as the Government of Canada’s efforts towards gender equality and diversity have been considered. As a leader in the geodetic community in Canada, the program has helped address this through hiring processes as more than half of recent CGS hires have been women and members of other groups facing equity barriers in this domain. Encouraging women and youth to participate in activities in this proposal will help to support opportunities for women in Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) fields more broadly. Women who may be hired to fill the Full-Time equivalent (FTE) positions created under the SBEO initiative can be formally matched with mentors within the Government to reduce barriers for career progression.

The Program is exploring a GBA Plus Data Collection Plan as the program develops its capacity to meet the needs of underserved Canadians. NRCan is in discussion with ISED and Transport Canada about improved positioning services. A data collection plan will be developed once there is clarity on the outcome of these discussions and the Government of Canada’s investment priorities.

A GBA Plus reassessment is proposed at the conclusion of the SBEO project in 2026 when impacts will be better understood. While the GBA Plus conducted at the close of the project would focus on the awarding and implementation of contracts, future GBA Plus may focus on how SBEO data meets user needs, as well as how SBEO data benefits Canadian society. GBA Plus impacts can only occur once a contract has been awarded and implemented.

Canada Lands Survey System

The Canada Lands Survey System (CLSS) provides the regulatory framework to delineate, demarcate, and legally recognize through publication in a land registry the boundaries and extent of real property rights on Canada Lands – the North, First Nations lands, national parks, and offshore. In addition, the program delivers Canada’s negotiated treaty implementation obligations respecting the surveying and demarcation of the treaty lands boundaries. The robust land survey system supports effective land management and land governance decision making by landowners and government organisations responsible for land management and governance.

The program does not have a formal and comprehensive data collection plan for global program impacts by gender and diversity. However, program plans to integrate GBA plus analysis into its cyclical client satisfaction survey every 5 years, particularly targeting better knowledge of Indigenous Peoples, the largest population base that the system serves.

The program is implementing best practices to foster reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples. Through engagement with key Indigenous stakeholder groups, the program is adapting its communications to be more inclusive of Indigenous knowledge about the land and their culture. A training program about engaging with First nations on land issues will be provided to all employees in the program that engage directly with First Nations. The goal of this initiative is to strengthen employee's awareness and knowledge of Indigenous people's culture and context to promote building stronger relationships with Indigenous communities.

The program instigated a Land Surveying Capacity Development Program for First Nations communities in 2018. The objectives of the program are to:

• Increase awareness and understanding of land surveying processes and techniques by First Nation communities to be informed consumers of land surveying services;
• Adapt the program to align with the needs of the community, as defined by the community;
• Raise awareness about the land surveying profession and encourage Indigenous participants to pursue a career in land surveying; and
• Build capacity of NRCan employees regarding Indigenous knowledge to incorporate in program delivery.

The Land Surveyor development program is a recruitment strategy to attract the land surveying professionals for a career with NRCan. The Department identified Land Surveyors as a shortage group and developed a Land Surveyor Development Plan for young professionals. The program provides a clear career progression path and on the job training for recent graduates to graduate the development program within 2-3 years and acquire the necessary training and experience to obtain a land surveyor commission and license. The recruitment process benefits from existing recruitment incentives to recruit candidates from underrepresented groups such as indigenous, black and new Canadians.

Canada-US International Boundary Treaty

The International Boundary Commission (IBC) is a bi-national treaty organization that is responsible for maintaining an effective boundary between Canada and the United States (US) in accordance with the terms of various treaties. The Surveyor General in NRCan is Canada’s commissioner. The Commissioners jointly report annually to the Minister of Global Affairs and the US Secretary of State.

The IBC workforce is diverse from an economic and geographic perspective. Hiring processes were initiated in 2021 and 2022. These processes were open to all Canadians residing within a 500 km radius of the Ottawa headquarters to fill positions within the Canadian section of the IBC and removed location as a barrier to the hiring process, and as permitted, the diffusion of our work offers a wider range of candidates from various locations and areas. It should be noted that this location restriction needs to be enforced for operational reasons. The hiring processes yielded 3 candidates from cities as well as rural areas. Qualitatively, even before these three last hirings, the Canadian section of the Commission had a diverse team, in terms of nationality, region of residence, first language, age, socio-economic background, academic training, and ethnic origins. IBC also hires several co-op students for the summer from all over Canada and with diverse backgrounds and origins to provide them training and out of the ordinary work experiences. In 2023, IBC hired two students from the University of New Brunswick and one from Laval University in Quebec City. Of these three interns one was of native origin. The Canadian section also welcomed two Land Surveyors from the Surveyor General Branch regional offices for an internship within the Land Surveyor development.

IBC’s operations imply frequent communications with Canadian and American citizens to raise awareness to the mandate as well as provides information on planned operations in various areas of the country. The joint IBC organization maintains a common website in both official languages that define the mandate as well as offer diverse information on the organization. The Commission publicizes employment and contracting opportunities on its website to reach a wide audience and raise awareness. During field operations, IBC meets with various landowners and stakeholders. In turn, due to IBC’s specific mandate and objectives of this program, tracking almost daily interactions with individuals is a challenge and would cause issues during one-on-one conversations.

Given the nature of the bi-national treaty organization in providing a service to governments, there are no plans to implement a GBA Plus Data collection Plan. As for diversity of the workforce, the IBC Canada section team is limited to a dozen of individuals and gathering data on its composition would pose a privacy risk. As a result, data collection will remain a qualitative gathering of information on an ad-hoc basis. For the recruitment of new talent and expertise, the IBC Canada section fully adheres to the departmental Human Resources policies and is striving for greater diversity and GBA Plus prerogatives.

Climate Change Adaptation

The Climate Change Adaptation Program’s (CCAP) objective is to build resilience to a diversity of climate change impacts to support more climate-resilient natural resource sectors and the communities that depend on them. A key principle of the work is that climate change impacts are not uniformly experienced, with marginalized communities experiencing disproportionate and more severe effects.

NRCan’s Climate Change Adaptation Platform, led by the Climate Change Impacts and Adaptation Division (CCIAD), enables collaboration from across civil society, including Indigenous organizations, the federal government, provinces and territories, industry, professional associations, municipalities, and academia, through working groups, and the Adaptation Plenary. The Platform will continue to explore the connections between climate change adaptation and social equity, given the unequal impact that climate change impacts can have on populations across Canada. Opportunities to increase diversity within the membership of the Adaptation Plenary and associated working groups will be explored in 2024-25.

CCAP will support continued delivery of Canada in a Changing Climate: Advancing our Knowledge for Action assessment series. The National Issues Report previously found that climate change impacts those who are already struggling more than others, including communities dealing with inequality due to institutional biases and the legacies of colonialism. The National Assessment Process is working to increase engagement with underrepresented groups, such as Indigenous Peoples, in all stages of the process. It is also bringing attention to GBA Plus issues with respect to climate change adaptation within its publications.

CCAP is seeking to address equity in several ways through its program design and delivery. The renewed Program includes efforts to better reflect how questions of social equity, inclusion, and accessibility contribute to solutions that both increase resilience and reduce disparities in climate change vulnerability due to systemic inequities. Priority topic areas included in the call for proposals include recognition of the need for work to advance adaptation for vulnerable and marginalized populations. CCAP includes a non-competitive Indigenous-led Projects Stream to reduce barriers for Indigenous applicants including providing additional support and flexible timelines.

Proposals submitted to the CCAP for funding are evaluated in part by the equity, diversity, and inclusion considerations contained in their workplans. The CCAP does not currently collect specific data to enable reporting on impacts by gender and diversity, however, will be working with funding recipients during the 2023-27 program cycle to collect information and data in support of monitoring and evaluation of GBA Plus-related project outcomes. This will include collecting data on who is receiving any adaptation skills training supported by the program and characterizing the audiences and uptake of various other adaptation capacity-building products and outcomes. The program is also tracking how many projects are Indigenous-led and how many include Indigenous partners.

Core Geospatial Data

In March 2022, NRCan implemented a content warning on the NRCan website to indicate certain geographical names available through web search tools and open data may be considered derogatory or offensive and proactively removed 20 instances of a derogatory and misogynistic place name from interactive maps. The department and NRCan initiated a working group of federal, provincial and territorial members of the Geographical Names Board of Canada to share and discuss anti-racism commitments and statements, best practices, and approaches to addressing derogatory geographical names across the country.

In October 2022, the department released an interactive map that highlights over 400 audio recordings of the pronunciation of place names in the Innu language. Recognition of Indigenous place names contributes to the preservation, revitalization and strengthening of Indigenous histories, languages and cultures, and is aligned with the adoption of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP).

The program aims to inspire girls into STEM and facilitate Indigenous inclusion projects through earth observation in support of flood risk management (pilot project for operational river ice breakup monitoring), building Northern capacity through women to collect and share Unmanned Aerial Vehicles-based mapping products, and community outreach and capacity building in Inuvik, NWT, among other activities, including:

• Women in diverse leadership roles participated in a career discussion with high school students. This discussion encouraged the students to pursue careers in STEM;
• The publication of an article featuring an Indigenous female employee who actively works on projects featuring Indigenous place names in mapping. This article was shared broadly on social media which increase awareness of this Indigenous female employee;
• Participation in a departmental social media campaign to feature some employees who are women supporting diverse STEM initiatives and building awareness;
• Co-chairing the Indigenous Technical Working Group on Flood Mapping; and
• Strongly encouraging direct engagement with Indigenous communities and provincial/territorial partners and supporting their data sovereignty under the flagship Flood Hazard Identification and Mapping Program.

NRCan’s Canada Centre for Mapping and Earth Observation (CCMEO) provides a platform to support Indigenous data sovereignty efforts through its initiatives to ensure that Indigenous knowledge and information remains in the possession of its rightful owners to plan land use and manage resources. Training sessions continue to be provided internally and externally and developed to support awareness and understanding of these principles, including the First Nations principles of Ownership, Control, Access, and Possession (OCAP). Additionally, guidance documents and knowledge products have been published and are in development to support Indigenous communities in the governance of their data resources.

A GBA Plus analysis has been completed in support of maintaining and improving existing ground segment antennas and satellite receiving stations, as well as existing digital platforms. Satellite data are critical to acting on and adapting to climate change by enabling applications and services in many areas with existing infrastructure supporting ongoing Government operations, scientific research, and public health and safety regarding the well-being of Canadians.

The improvement of infrastructure that enhances satellite data accessibility, availability, and usability will allow for the continued collection of high-quality data and development of information products. The analysis showed that economically advantaged groups are expected to directly benefit from the improvement of physical facilities, as this demographic tends to include the researchers, decision makers, and those with specialized skill sets who use these tools. This demographic is usually white male dominated.

The program continues to follow NRCan’s employment equity guidelines to address the barriers that contribute to the documented underrepresentation of women and other employment equity groups occupying STEM if and where possible. Additional barriers to the accessibility, availability, and usability of the data produced by this program include factors such as closed data licensing and inefficient data distribution, challenges with obtaining data in near-real time and a lack of cooperative agreements with data providers, and the large processing overhead of the data, difficulty integrating it with other data sets and applications, and a lack of knowledge or experience in applying the data efficiently. As the maintenance of these facilities does not include the modification of existing program design, the unequal access to these data and tools may continue.

We expect a list of qualitative outcomes and action items arising from the current Arctic Expo and capacity building workshop occurring in Inuvik in 2023.

CCMEO researchers continue to work in collaboration with Indigenous communities on scientific research projects to collect core geospatial (baseline) data related to impacts of mining, permafrost, and vegetation (e.g., lichen) among others. We work in affiliation with Nòkwewashk to ensure meaningful and respectful partnerships with Indigenous communities and include consideration of OCAP principles in data collection and sharing.

Explosives Safety and Security

NRCan’s Explosives, Regulatory and Business Branch (ERBSB) is the national regulator of explosives and the centre of expertise for commercial explosives testing and research. It contributes to the safety of the public and all workers involved in the explosives industry in Canada, as well as national security. Its Explosives Regulatory Division (ERD) issues licenses, permits, and certificates for a wide range of explosives including blasting explosives, ammunition, and fireworks to manufacturers, transporters, importers, exporters, sellers, and buyers of explosives. The Canadian Explosives Research Laboratory (CERL) is the only facility of its kind in Canada that conducts science and technology testing and research on commercial explosives and contributes to national security via expertise in blast effects and chemical precursors.

In 2021, ERBSB initiated a comprehensive review of its explosives regulatory regime which included significant outreach with sector stakeholders to seek views and input on current challenges with the regime. In the feedback received, stakeholders identified the need for an updated regime with a modern approach to oversight. In discussions, stakeholders identified their wish for more robust compliance and enforcement to address individuals and companies who may be operating unsafely or even illegally for economic advantage. They also expressed an interest for greater support from the Program’s Science and Technology capabilities in authorizing new explosives and explosives materials. In light of this, program officials have moved forward with a modernization agenda including bringing forward comprehensive regulatory amendments. While stakeholders support reduced administrative and regulatory burden and efficient transactions, they also see the economic and reputational advantages to addressing safety and security risks and addressing any unsafe or illegal activities in the explosives industry.

With regard to the Regulatory Review, ERBSB engaged and consulted regionally on proposed updates to the Explosive Regulations, 2013 and tracks the feedback received in all engagements and consultations on updated regulations. As regulatory proposals are brought forward for consultation, assessments related to the environment and Indigenous Reconciliation are conducted to ensure all rights are addressed and any downstream impacts are identified and mitigated.

This is an operational program which issues licences, permits, and certificates for a variety of actions involving explosives and their restricted components. In addition, a national inspector cadre (based across the country) conducts inspections and takes enforcement actions to ensure compliance with the Explosives Act and the Explosives Regulations, 2013. Monitoring of gender and diversity are not conducted as there is no requirement for doing so associated to the legal mandate of ensuring the safety and security of all Canadians. In staffing positions in this program, however, ERBSB follows departmental hiring practices and goals focused on diversity and inclusion.

ERBSB is moving forward with the development of a data strategy, as part of its modernization efforts, with the goal of enhancing its data collection and analytics to support risk-based decision-making, and which will enable the further collection and reporting of disaggregated administrative data. Ideally, the data strategy would identify the sources of information and analytics used to determine the number of women and gender-diverse individuals, age and education levels, the number of racialized people as well as the number of Indigenous people (separated into First Nation, Inuit and Métis) who participate in the explosives sector.

Forest Climate Change

The Forest Climate Change Program has established a dedicated science priority pertaining to develop and advance partnerships with Indigenous Peoples in forest climate adaptation research in preparation for the upcoming 2024-25 Common Call for Proposals funding process. Further, the program currently tracks data pertaining to gender distribution of researchers receiving program funds. The program is looking at approaches to improve on existing reporting capacity and to better understand GBA Plus impacts (including inclusion, equity, diversity, and accessibility) as research matures through time. Sector level discussions continue to examine GBA Plus reporting processes and any additional data that would be the most appropriate. In the upcoming funding processes for 2024-25 (Common Call for Proposals) additional GBA Plus related questions (such as how GBA Plus ideals will be included in a project and how Indigenous Knowledge can be incorporated in research design) have been added to collect data and reflect the GBA Plus component in the reporting processes.

The 2 Billion Trees (2BT) program’s co-benefits include the creation of green spaces for recreational activities and connecting with nature, better regulation of temperature in cities, improved mental health, and reduced risk of wildland fire and floods to our communities. Direct impacts of the program activities include the requirement of Diversity and Inclusion plans among medium and large funding recipients (it is recommended for small organizations), tracking of disaggregated data and representation of currently under-represented groups in tree-planting and related activity workforce among funding recipients, and the implementation of a co-developed $500 million Indigenous Funding Stream. Through engagement with national and regional Indigenous governments and organizations the program was able to ensure funding delivery reflects diverse Indigenous cultures and priorities and contributes to Indigenous leadership on climate change.

In summer 2023, the program announced that the $500M co-developed Indigenous Funding Stream would deliver distinctions-based funding. Indigenous governments and organizations were unanimous in their desire to see funding delivered using a distinctions-based approach. Distinctions-based funding allocates funding to each of the recognized Indigenous groups (First Nations, Inuit, and Métis), along with a dedicated stream for unaffiliated or cross-distinction. This funding approach is a first for Natural Resources Canada. The program will continue to implement this funding stream via allocations to First Nations, Métis, Inuit, and Unaffiliated/Cross Distinctions in 2024-25.

The program’s external Advisory Committee ensures Indigenous representation within program governance and will continue to prioritize Indigenous representation via its members. Additional mechanisms for tracking and monitoring GBA Plus data is currently being explored to implement in future years of the program. The 2 Billion Trees program will also continue to engage with the Programs Working Group on Diversity & Inclusion to collaboratively improve Diversity and Inclusion measures in Grants and Contributions programming.

Geoscience for Sustainable Development of Natural Resources

Targeted Geoscience Initiative (TGI)

By following federal guidelines for inclusive, merit-based hiring practices, TGI aims to have women and visible minorities hired and/or awarded bursaries by TGI at or above the proportion at which they are available in the Earth sciences sector. The program has a GBA Plus performance indicator that measures the percentage of opportunities (for students and early-career researchers) that are given to individuals who belong to one or more groups of people traditionally underrepresented in the earth sciences sector, particularly women and visible minorities. For this indicator, the program will collect information provided on a voluntary basis from applicants from equity seeking groups who are hired or given a bursary by TGI to support program research.

The program will establish annual data collection to report on its GBA Plus performance indicator through the voluntary disclosure of demographic information by applicants to student/early-career researcher opportunities. Feedback from stakeholders will be used to guide any adjustments to the data collection to best serve the Canadian public.

Geological Knowledge for Canada’s Onshore and Offshore Land

United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) Program

The UNCLOS program is a horizontal initiative involving NRCan, Global Affairs Canada and Fisheries and Oceans Canada. The program is tasked with collecting and analyzing the required scientific data to define Canada’s continental shelf, making a strong scientific case to the United Nations (UN) that it is a natural component of the Canadian landmass. This program promotes the participation of women and Indigenous individuals in scientific activities, engagement with the public and Indigenous communities, and will ensure that employment opportunities are equally available to women, men, minority groups, and Indigenous Peoples.

Women are underrepresented in STEM fields in the private sector as well as the federal government, however almost half of this program’s team of geologists and geophysicists are women. No negative impacts pertaining to gender and diversity were found on the direct work or operations of the program, the scientific research and analysis to support Canada’s Atlantic and Arctic oceans submissions to the UN.

During the fieldwork component of the program, more women and Indigenous individuals were introduced into the team to assist in the acquisition of scientific data and engagement with the public and Indigenous communities. At the conclusion of the surveys, science team members have visited the high school and elementary school in Kugluktuk to explain the science undertaken and to encourage students to consider careers in STEM. When in Kugluktuk, tours of the Coast Guard ship and the science labs are given to members of the Junior Canadian Rangers. The program also promoted and supported the participation of women at scientific conferences and international workshops, and all team members in professional development activities and the publication of scientific research.

The program also translated Canada’s Addendum to the Executive Summary of the 2019 Arctic Ocean submission into the two dominant dialects of Inuktitut, increasing access by Inuit people to Canada’s submission to the UN. The program expects to file the English, French, North Baffin, and Inuinnaqtun versions of the Addendum with the UN this autumn. Canada will become the first nation to file a submission in an Indigenous language under the UNCLOS Treaty process.

Future revamping of the program as team members retire will be carried out in accordance with the Public Service Employment Act to ensure employment opportunities are equally available to women, men, minority groups, and Indigenous Peoples.

Geo-Mapping for Energy and Minerals (GEM-GeoNorth)

The GEM-GeoNorth program is expected to facilitate increased labour market opportunities for rural and remote Northerners, Indigenous workers, and women. Focused on the region of Canada’s North, the program’s target client groups are scientists and technicians, Northern and Indigenous geoscience professionals, and universities and Northern educational institutions. Using strategies that promote gender equality in program hiring, the program seeks to increase the accessibility of these opportunities for diverse groups of marginalized individuals.

The program aims to directly create a small number of labour market opportunities in the physical sciences, and in computer and information systems. The program’s capacity-building opportunities, which are designed with the guidance of partners in Northern educational institutions, could also increase labour market readiness among Northerners and Indigenous Peoples.

GEM-GeoNorth expanded the membership of the Advisory Group of Northerners (AGN) from 7 to 12 members in 2021-22. This provides enhanced and diverse input from more Northerners and Indigenous participants from the remote North.

The GEM-GeoNorth Grants and Contributions program specifically targeted capacity building proposals during the 2022-23 Call for Proposals process to increase the number of grants awarded to promote geoscience training and capacity-building opportunities for Northerners. Grant funding has been earmarked for Northern academia to focus on capacity-building opportunities for students during 2024-27.

GEM-GeoNorth has focused the program to improve economic development outcomes for Northerners. Capacity building in the geosciences to increase the participation of people from underrepresented groups in the labour force as well as through procurement of services to support GEM-GeoNorth research. The program engages with local communities to build relationships and improve outcomes in the short- and long-term. The program continues to build upon previous geoscience training working towards improved geoscience capacity enabling Northern organizations to provide local training opportunities (e.g., Nunavut Government’s “Train the Trainers” project for the Nunavut Prospecting Course).

The GEM-GeoNorth program collects sufficient data to enable it to monitor and/or report program impacts by gender and diversity (depending on the voluntary disclosure of demographic information by applicants or people involved). The program is currently reviewing their GBA+ Plus indicators to ensure that they demonstrate a clear impact. In 2024-25, 60% of grant funds allocated at this time will be used to support initiatives led by Northern academic institutions or Indigenous governments.

Geoscience to Keep Canada Safe

The Geoscience to Keep Canada Safe will improve our understanding of hazards and their impacts. This will allow policy makers, planners, and emergency, managers to identify vulnerable populations and tailor preparedness and emergency response plans to assist these groups (i.e., specific regions, women, elderly, low-income, and children). Fundamentally, this means that the Program does not directly impact gender and diversity, but rather provides effective scientific knowledge to enable others to do that.

GBA Plus considerations are being applied through and consideration of actions that can reduce barriers Canadians may face when trying to access information provided, efforts to make information widely comprehensible, and provision of educational and employment opportunities to underrepresented groups. While the program does not collect sufficient data to monitor impacts by gender and diversity, information is collected for internal use for programs mid-year and end of year reports. It is working on a plan to collect data to enable it to monitor and report program impacts by gender and diversity.

The program is working to determine how to measure the downstream effects on GBA Plus of the science and research related to natural hazards. Across programs, the feedback on the usefulness of the data and science by stakeholders would be useful for planning and making any required adjustments toward data and science that best serves the Canadian public.

The Geoscience to Keep Canada Safe (GKCS) program comprises activities from the Canadian Hazards Information Service (CHIS), the Public Safety Geoscience Program (PSGP) and the Climate Change Geoscience Program (CCGP).

The CHIS program conducts monitoring and provides hazard information and products on an ongoing basis and in response to emergency situations (e.g., earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, geomagnetic storms, and radiological and nuclear incidents). CHIS is augmenting the information it provides for earthquakes through the development of an Earthquake Early Warning (EEW) system. Starting in 2024 this program will provide free-to-recipient alerts, in an easy-to-understand format, seconds to tens-of-seconds prior to the arrival of strong shaking from major earthquakes to help reduce impacts including to those most vulnerable to natural disaster events.

The PSGP aims to understand earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanoes, submarine, terrestrial landslides, and marine geohazards and their associated risks, while working closely with stakeholders to provide data and resources and inform them of safe development, land use planning, conservation efforts, and regulations. Stakeholders include emergency managers, municipal planners, utility owners and operators, regulators, private sector consultants, and others.

CCGP works in Northern Canada where the proportion of Indigenous residents is high. CCGP science activities have an influence on the communities and the citizens who reside there, from hiring local residents (including students) to assist with fieldwork, to how our final science outputs might contribute to community planning for climate change impacts. The CCGP conducts research and monitoring to better understand how climate change impacts permafrost, glacier melting, coastal erosion, and sea level rise to provide information and data to support land-use planning, infrastructure development, and to help industry and at-risk communities adapt.

The program is working with Indigenous groups in at-risk regions to ensure the research is useful in their decision making to protect their citizens. All three programs are national in scope and aim to provide all Canadians the necessary information needed to plan and prepare for and respond to hazard events.

Pest Risk Management

The Pest Risk Management (PRM) Program incorporates GBA Plus data collection into its annual call for proposals process. Applicants are required to answer questions related to GBA Plus, inclusion, equity, diversity, accessibility (IDEA), and Indigenous engagement. GBA Plus data is also being collected as part of the Spruce Budworm Early Intervention Strategy – Phase III Program. Information about the diversity of new hires is being collected and articulated in reports from recipients of federal contributions to measure representation of women and visible minorities in program activities and reduction of potential differential impacts of the initiative (i.e., employment) on these two groups. Information about impacts on Indigenous communities and the resolution of concerns raised by Indigenous groups is also being collected and reported as part of project proposals and reports to NRCan.

The PRM program also encourages recipients of contribution funding to report baseline workforce demography and diversity data as part of a voluntary survey. NRCan provides them with a template for a diversity and inclusion plan that can be considered to guide the development of specific employment equity measures for their respective organizations. Combined, these efforts will support the program in identifying new or enhanced ways to facilitate more equitable and equal opportunities and outcomes through its work, reporting capacity and improved database.

Polar Continental Shelf Program

The Polar Continental Shelf Program (PCSP) enables research across a number of disciplines in Canada’s Arctic and Northern regions through the provision of logistics services. The program’s activities contribute to evidence-based decision making, support Canada’s sovereignty in the Arctic, strengthen the resilience of northern and Indigenous communities through engagement, training, and employment opportunities and enhance economic benefits for Northerners.

The Polar Continental Shelf Program (PCSP) has incorporated measures into its project selection process to improve equity, diversity, and inclusion. University-based applicants who request logistics support from the PCSP must include details about how they consider Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) in their project planning and recruitment. In addition, all applicants are required to provide details about how Indigenous and local involvement and engagement would be incorporated into their project plans. The EDI and Indigenous and local involvement criteria combined make up 15% of the overall score awarded in the assessment of projects.

The PCSP has also implemented measures to ensure early career researchers and researchers with career interruptions (e.g., parental leave) are not disadvantaged in the selection process for supported projects. After the Project Review Committee evaluates and scores applications, an automatic bump up in specific scores is given to early career researchers (within 5 years of starting their academic career). Additionally, researchers who identify career interruptions are able to extend the evidence provided in their application by the equivalent amount of time prior to the career interruption. For example, if an applicant was off for one-year sick leave, they can extend their publication record back by one year.

In the fall of 2021, the program conducted a participant survey, which gathered data on gender, ethnicity, age, disability, career stage, Indigenous status, and location of residence for all project participants, which was an improvement on previous surveys that only captured information about project leaders and principal investigators. The results from this survey were used to guide next steps in the collection of disaggregated GBA Plus and diversity data and to support the development of a systematic method for data collection. In 2023-24, an ongoing systematic survey was launched to gather this data from all participants that access PCSP’s services.

The data collected will help PCSP to track the demographics of participants to signal groups that may not be equally accessing services, examine potential barriers and solutions to reduce barriers that can be addressed through program design changes, such as continuing or improving on the existing measures outlined above. Ultimately, equitable access will encourage equity, diversity, and inclusion in science and foster the next generation of scientists.

Wildfire Risk Management

The Wildland Fire Risk Management Program seeks to advance more equitable opportunities and outcomes in wildfire management through Indigenous engagement and collaboration, including through the development of the Blueprint for Wildland Fire Science in Canada (2019-29) which was developed by the Canadian Forest Service Wildfire program through broad consultations. This strategy recognizes the value and importance of Indigenous knowledge and the need to collaborate with Indigenous Peoples for better wildland fire management. This work will continue throughout 2024-25.

The program will continue to engage Indigenous partners and collaborate with Indigenous Nations and organizations on research projects, including co-development, fieldwork, data analysis, and knowledge exchange. Through the Emergency Management Strategy contribution program, the fire program will continue to support Indigenous fire-related research projects and proponents. The program has funded initial work towards the establishment of an Indigenous-led National Indigenous Fire Working Group. Additionally, the Fighting and Managing Wildfires in a Changing Climate (FMWCC) contribution program strengthens capacities and capabilities in fire management in Indigenous communities through investments in wildland firefighter training and the incorporation of Indigenous knowledge.

The Wildfire Resilient Futures Initiative will further increase wildfire prevention and mitigation actions in at-risk communities across Canada by supporting the establishment of a network of Firesmart™ governance structures in provinces and territories.

In order to maintain data on populations most impacted by wildfire in Canada, the program maintains a Canadian Wildland Fire Evacuation database that includes records of evacuation events since 1980. This database is updated annually.

The fire program will continue to foster the values of diversity and inclusion through national and international movements and related working groups such as the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre (CIFFC) and the North American Forestry Commission’s Fire Management Working Group (NAFC-FMWG).

The fire program has incorporated measures into its grant and contribution project selection process to better assess equity, diversity, and inclusion in project proposals. Applicants are required to detail how they consider the barriers, experiences and needs of a diverse range of individuals or groups in their project design and delivery. In addition, applicants are required to provide details about how their projects will benefit Indigenous Communities. The EDI and Indigenous criteria will be used to prioritize project selection in 2024-25.

Since 2023-24, an Activity and Performance Report has been used to collect GBA Plus and Indigenous data for training participants under the FMWCC. This information supports disaggregated data analysis of program uptake by gender, age, racialized groups, disability, and Indigenous. Analysis of this data each year will provide an indication of how uptake of the program by GBA Plus and Indigenous participants changes over time.

Core Responsibility: Innovative and Sustainable Natural Resources Development

Energy Innovation and Clean Technology

In 2023-24, the Office of Energy Research and Development (OERD) continued to implement a phased approach to Inclusion, Diversity, Equity and Accessibility (IDEA) for its grants and contributions programs to help understand the short-, medium-, and long-term impacts of its research, development and demonstration (RD&D) programs, and who benefits from the funded clean energy technologies. In 2024-25, OERD’s IDEA Community of Practice, which oversees the implementation of a cohesive approach to IDEA for the Branch, will continue advancing integration of GBA Plus into policy and program design and delivery, knowledge sharing, and appropriate data collection.

By leveraging a phased approach, OERD has taken steps to identify, assess, and implement actionable steps to address barriers to access and participation to its RD&D programs by different underrepresented groups and to integrate GBA Plus into program design and delivery in order to advance inclusion throughout program operations for both new and ongoing programs. This method is already supporting the application of GBA Plus to program analysis and evaluation for past and current programming.

Through the implementation of its phased approach to IDEA, OERD has adopted a methodical approach to increase the inclusion of IDEA in program scoping, design, delivery, implementation, reporting, and evaluation through GBA Plus.

The Phased Approach begins with establishing a baseline through data collection (requesting voluntary IDEA information in project proposals and requesting disaggregated employment and training data for women and gender-diverse people and Indigenous Peoples from funded proponents) in order to better understand the state of GBA Plus in the clean energy technology sector and identify gaps that need to be addressed. The IDEA data collected will then be used to explore possibilities for implementation of targeted interventions to reduce barriers to access and participation in OERD’s RD&D programs.

Cumulative Effects

The Cumulative Effects program continues to advance more equitable research opportunities in addressing the risks and impacts of cumulative effects on forest ecosystems including woodland caribou protection and habitat restoration. This includes the incorporation of Indigenous Knowledge.

The Program currently tracks data pertaining to gender distribution of researchers receiving program funds. The program is looking at approaches to improve on existing reporting capacity and to better understand GBA Plus impacts (including inclusion, equity, diversity, and accessibility) as research matures through time. Discussions continue to examine GBA Plus reporting processes and any additional data that would be the most appropriate. In the 2024-25 funding process (Common Call for Proposals) additional GBA Plus related questions (such as how GBA Plus ideals will be included in a project and how Indigenous Knowledge can be incorporated in research design) have been added to collect data and reflect the GBA Plus component in reporting processes.

Energy and Climate Change Policy

The Equality in Energy Transitions Initiative (EETI)

The Equality in Energy Transitions Initiative is an international framework, organized under the Clean Energy Ministerial (CEM) and the International Energy Agency (IEA). The initiative’s goal is to advance gender equality in the clean energy sector, globally. Canada - (NRCan) chairs the Executive Committee and leads on the Equal by 30 campaign and the Awards and Recognition work stream.

The Equal by 30 Campaign

The Equal by 30 Campaign is part of the Equality in Energy Transitions Initiative, which works to accelerate gender equality and diversity in clean energy transitions and close the gender gap by 2030.

The campaign has used international fora, such as the G7, the International Energy Agency, the Clean Energy Ministerial, and the UN, to mobilize support, increase participation in the initiative, and amplify messaging around the importance of advancing gender equality in the global energy sector.

In 2020-21, the Equal by 30 Campaign established a reporting framework and baseline metrics to help signatories measure their progress against their commitments and track advancements on the goals of the campaign and create a baseline of gender-disaggregated data for the energy sector. Signatories have developed over 325 commitments, in an effort to advance equity, diversity, and inclusivity in their respective organizations. These commitments have led to meaningful change for employees, particularly from marginalized communities, within individual workplaces, as well as aiding in changing the culture in the energy sector. Signatories have implemented policies and practices to support marginalized groups, including increasing representation, creating a more inclusive environment, ensuring fair management practices, supporting career development, and ensuring safe workplaces that are free of harassment and discrimination.

The Equal by 30 Campaign is exploring using these data-driven insights to accelerate progress, build momentum, and take targeted action to create a more equitable and inclusive energy sector. It will continue to use an intersectional lens to acknowledge that a person’s experience within the energy sector is influenced by a variety of identity factors, in addition to gender.

There is a persistent lack of disaggregated data around gender, as well as broader inclusion, diversity, equity, and accessibility metrics, in the global energy sector, which presents an obstacle to fully understanding the underlying barriers for designing and implementing policies to advance equality. To combat this challenge, the Equal by 30 campaign is continuing to develop data collection and reporting exercises, allowing the sector to identify and address key areas for improvement, while emphasizing the importance of a people-centered approach, and ensuring that marginalized communities are central to energy transition efforts.

In July 2023, the campaign launched a self-assessment tool, to help signatories evaluate their progress on implementing equity, diversity, accessibility, and inclusion practices within their workplace. Signatories are able to self-evaluate against the three main objectives of the campaign which includes equal pay, equal leadership, and equal opportunities, as well as the four main areas for improvement identified through the 2021 Equal by 30 Reporting Framework which includes inclusive culture, fair management, career development, and workplace safety/harassment, to track their progress on the road to 2030. To ensure that signatories understand how to use this evergreen tool, the campaign is looking into various information-sharing methods, including webinars and public events and workshops, to highlight the benefits of using the self-assessment tool and to increase completion rates.

The Equality in Energy Transitions Initiative Awards & Recognition Program

Awards are an integral workstream under the Equality Initiative because recognizing leadership and achievements promotes career advancement and inspires women of all ages to contribute to the clean energy field and help close the gender gap. The Awards Program has been recognized by Equality Initiative members, partners, and award winners as successfully achieving its goal to highlight the positive contributions that women and organizations are making to advance the energy transition, including efforts to improve equity, diversity, and inclusion in the sector.

Sustainable Jobs Plan

In February 2023, NRCan released the interim Sustainable Jobs Plan detailing concrete federal actions to advance economic prosperity and sustainable jobs in every region of the country, including efforts to advance skills development, promote Indigenous-led solutions, and gender equality in a low-carbon future. GBA Plus is applied through all aspects of the sustainable jobs initiative since its overarching objective is to help to make the labour market more inclusive and encourage the participation of previously underrepresented groups. As this initiative is new and not yet fully underway, no outcomes have been identified to date.

The Sustainable Jobs Plan details a new initiative currently being implemented. It lays out the Government’s approach and next steps to build economic prosperity and sustainable jobs across Canada. More specifically, the plan outlines 10 key federal action areas to help advance significant economic opportunities that create good jobs for Canadians across the country on our way to net-zero emissions by 2050. Notably, this plan aims to establish a federal framework for accountability, a governance structure, and engagement mechanisms, as outlined in the proposed sustainable jobs legislation introduced in the House of Parliament in June 2023 – Bill C-50, the Canadian Sustainable Jobs Act. This legislation will require the development of a new Sustainable Jobs Action Plan every five years, beginning in 2025.

While no direct program impacts on gender and diversity have been realized to date, the (proposed) Sustainable Jobs legislation includes a set of principles aimed at enshrining a people-centered approach to the Government’s actions in this area. Notably, the principles highlight that a sustainable jobs approach should be inclusive and address barriers to employment with an emphasis on encouraging the creation of employment opportunities for groups underrepresented in the labour market, including women, persons with disabilities, Indigenous Peoples, Black and other racialized individuals, 2SLGBTQI+ and other equity-seeking groups.

In partnership with Statistics Canada, the interim Sustainable Jobs Plan supports improving the collection, measurement, and reporting of data as well as indicators that can help track the creation of sustainable jobs across Canada. The Plan includes a commitment to:

• Identifying what data is currently tracked across the federal government and other accessible sources, including information related to equity and diversity, and where the gaps are, including data derived from programming;
• Leveraging ongoing work happening across the federal government and other relevant partners to address gaps; including the need for Indigenous specific metrics that are shared transparently with Indigenous communities; and
• Supporting continued investment in internal and external research and data developments to improve understanding of current and future labour market conditions.

Regional Energy and Resource Tables

The Regional Energy and Resource Tables will convene diverse and representative participants including provinces and territories, Indigenous organizations, and groups to foster inclusive collaboration. This will ensure diverse views are integrated into each initiative. The Regional Energy and Resource Tables initiative will track the number of contribution agreements put in place with Indigenous partners to facilitate Indigenous inclusion in priority setting and track the number of public deliverables/reports that Indigenous partners have had the opportunity to provide perspectives on.

Energy Efficiency

Energy efficiency and the responsible use of energy are essential parts of a net-zero future. Energy Efficiency Program (EEP) initiatives span multiple sectors and targets homes, buildings, communities, industry, transportation, appliances, and other equipment. Actions under the EEP include:

• Strengthening Energy Efficiency Regulations for energy-using products;
• Supporting the development and adoption of more stringent model energy building codes and retrofit codes;
• Developing and implementing a national approach for home energy labelling;
• Building capacity for deep retrofit projects;
• Developing energy efficiency tools and standards for industry;
• Reducing emissions from buildings to net-zero by 2050; and
• Helping homeowners and affordable housing providers make energy efficient retrofits and install heat pumps.

EEP initiatives have various data collection methods (e.g., contribution agreements, progress reports, service organizations, and anonymized and voluntary surveys). The aim is to enable better data collection and disaggregation. EEP conducts and commissions studies and engages with stakeholders to identify key barriers that diverse groups face when accessing energy efficiency projects and careers. Studies undertaken by EEP to identify GBA Plus impacts, as well as inclusion, diversity, equity and accessibility (IDEA) analysis inform policy and program delivery, design, and implementation to promote equities among gender-diverse and underrepresented groups, including Indigenous Peoples. The EEP initiatives, that follow, incorporate and elaborate on various GBA Plus measures.

The development of the Canada Green Buildings Strategy (CGBS) is prioritizing IDEA, using inclusive engagement measures, working with national and regional Indigenous organizations and governments, with particular consideration given to the realities in remote and northern regions, such as affordability, climate resilience and the need for holistic housing related support. In developing the CGBS, EEP undertook extensive stakeholder engagement and published an engagement report (PDF - 2.2 MB) in the summer of 2023 which explored Indigenous partners’ priorities regarding green buildings/housing. EEP commissioned the recently published Indigenous Clean Energy Social Enterprise (ICE) Enabling Energy Efficiency report (PDF - 2.7 MB), which expands upon the 2021-22 (PDF - 1.7 MB) ICE study, and will use the 10 recommendations outlined in the report to guide the development of the CGBS. EEP will continue to engage with Indigenous governments, organizations, and partners with a focus on relationship building and improving program design and delivery throughout the development and implementation of the CGBS.

The Canada Greener Homes Initiative (CGHI) is implementing more diverse outreach strategies and increased flexibility in program administration and participation and is supporting more collaborative proposal development through an Indigenous community application stream, advanced payments, easing eligibility requirements, and leveraging direct collaboration between communities and program officers. The CGHI looks for ways to reduce barriers to participation in Energy Advisor recruitment and training opportunities for underrepresented groups, specifically for Indigenous, women, and racialized Canadians, and to improve awareness of and access to energy efficiency programs in remote, Northern, and Indigenous communities.

The Oil to Heat Pump Affordability (OHPA) initiative is designed to help low to median income Canadian households save on their annual heating bills, while saving energy and avoiding greenhouse gas emissions, which includes Indigenous Peoples, women, youth under 30, and racialized people.

The Green Industrial Facilities and Manufacturing Program assesses proposals for the inclusion of Indigenous considerations and factors that contribute to inclusion, diversity, equity, and accessibility of underrepresented groups.

The Toward Net-Zero Homes and Communities Initiative supports the implementation of residential tools and methods to improve energy efficiency and capacity in Indigenous, rural, remote, and underresourced communities, and puts in place measures (i.e., funding and reporting flexibilities) to ease the challenges faced by Indigenous groups at program application.

EEP plans to commission a GBA Plus study for energy-using products that would inform future market studies and amendments to the Energy Efficiency Regulations. An Indigenous engagement plan and guidelines will be developed for the integration of GBA Plus in the regulatory process.

Electricity Resources

These programs help reduce Canada’s greenhouse gas emissions and encourage sustainable growth in the electricity sector by providing communities with job opportunities, skills, and training.

Wah-ila-toos

NRCan is part of a single-window approach with Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada (CIRNAC), Indigenous Services Canada, Environment and Climate Change Canada, and Infrastructure Canada to reduce barriers to accessing funding for implementing clean energy solutions to reduce diesel or other fossil fuels consumption in Indigenous, rural, and remote communities. Three programs delivered under Wah-ila-toos are the Clean Energy for Rural and Remote Communities (NRCan), the Indigenous Off-Diesel Initiative (NRCan), and the Northern Responsible Energy Approach for Community Heat and Energy (CIRNAC).

Clean Energy for Rural and Remote Communities (CERRC) program

The CERRC program will support the reduction of diesel and fossil fuels used for heat and power in Indigenous, rural, and remote communities by supporting communities in deploying and demonstrating renewable energy projects, building skills, and capacity. The program prioritizes Indigenous projects and the participation of women and youth. The program's four streams include capacity building, demonstration, deployment, and BioHeat. It is currently supporting 142 projects in 131 communities, of which 123 are Indigenous.

Each Indigenous, rural, and remote community is unique and requires different types of support as they transition from diesel and fossil fuels to clean energy. Complex factors such as location, weather systems, community priorities and capacity, provincial, territorial and utility policies, and Indigenous relationships with the Crown means that each community has diverse needs. Successful community-driven clean energy projects are the result of numerous iterative steps starting from building energy literacy and training to completing project-specific design and development activities.

The four streams work together to ensure that direct benefits impact a broad group of Indigenous, rural, and remote communities across Canada, including First Nations, Inuit and Métis women, men and gender-diverse people. NRCan has incorporated the following flexibilities into the CERRC program to increase participation of diverse groups:

• Using funding advances to enable recipients to start their projects;
• Offering honoraria for Indigenous Elders and Knowledge Keepers to facilitate participation in the projects;
• Ensuring that Indigenous Council members are foundational to program governance and participate in project decision-making process;
• Encouraging participation of youth in projects to help with their integration in the natural resources sector; and
• Including translation of project materials as an eligible cost.

The expected outcomes of CERRC related to advancing the goals of full and equal economic participation include increased participation of Indigenous Peoples in Canada’s renewable energy sector and reduced GHG emissions through a reduction in fossil fuel reliance, among others.

The CERRC program collects, disaggregates, and tracks data annually for renewable energy projects in rural and remote communities by region, Indigenous ownership, and participation. This includes measuring the percentage and number of projects led by or partnered with Indigenous groups. The program collects disaggregated data regarding participation of women and youth. The program also collects information on greenhouse gas reduction to understand the health impacts, of the program, on communities.

Indigenous Off-Diesel Initiative

The Indigenous Off-Diesel Initiative (IODI) is a clean energy training and funding program that supports Indigenous-led climate solutions in remote Indigenous communities that currently use diesel or fossil fuels for heat and power.

IODI supports two cohorts of participants, called Energy Champions, in their journey from training through to project implementation. Energy Champions are encouraged to work closely with a team of clean energy leaders and to engage with their communities to support community energy literacy and ensure that projects reflect their community’s priorities. Projects supported under IODI are Indigenous-led, community-driven and focused on supporting local capacity building, community energy planning, and the development of clean energy projects.

The first cohort runs from 2019 to 2026 and is currently supporting fourteen Energy Champions and their teams. In February 2023, ten Energy Champions were selected for Cohort 2, reaching more remote communities across the country.

IODI’s capacity building approach includes funding for training and community engagement to develop a community energy plan. This work empowers remote Indigenous communities to determine which resources work best for their community and supports communities in developing skills and training. As communities undertake these activities, they increase their capacity by:

• Creating green jobs and delivering training opportunities for the community;
• Increasing community resilience;
• Improving energy security; and
• Supporting other community benefits such as housing and food security.

Additional efforts to advance equity are integrated into the selection and application processes. For example, IODI has an all-Indigenous external jury that is gender-balanced, has a diversity of ages, has regional representation, and is responsible for the Energy Champion selection and project review. The jury for IODI Cohort 2 is the Wah-ila-toos Indigenous Council, many members of which are Energy Champions from IODI Cohort 1 and are thus well positioned to provide guidance and feedback to the incoming Energy Champions.

At the working level, program delivery is relationship-focused with regular check-ins with Energy Champions and opportunities for feedback. The program team works to create a culture of continuous staff learning about anti-racism and reconciliation to ensure programming supports relationship building and meets the needs of communities. IODI has culturally appropriate internal processes including honoraria for jury members, ceremonial protocol, and Elder guidance for events and jury decision-making.

Smart Renewables and Electrification Pathways Program (SREPs)

The Smart Renewables and Electrification Pathways Program (SREPs) includes measures to increase benefits to underrepresented groups within the electricity sector, where benefits skew towards non-racialized cis-gendered men. SREPs incorporated measures to enable the participation of underrepresented groups, for example:

• All deployment project applicants were required to submit an EDI plan or sign onto a relevant EDI commitment;
• Funding was set aside for Indigenous-owned projects; and
• Indigenous projects were able to access favourable funding limits.

Program funding was set aside for the Capacity Building stream which focuses on overcoming barriers to future deployment and includes activities such as knowledge sharing and studies (which could include technical studies and information), mentoring and apprenticeships, training or workshops, engagement opportunities, and the development of EDI plans. Budget 2023 proposed to provide nearly $3.0 billion over 13 years, starting in 2023-24, to Natural Resources Canada to recapitalize funding for the Smart Renewables and Electrification Pathways Program to support critical regional priorities and carve out funding specifically for Indigenous-led projects. Following this recapitalization, the program will sign contribution and grant agreements in 2024-25 that support further capacity building projects and Indigenous engagement activities to inform community decision-making for participation in clean energy projects.

Fibre Solutions

The Canadian Wood Fibre Centre (CWFC) Contribution Program targeted particular R&D priorities including:

• Broadly applicable approaches aimed at deploying operational Enhanced Forest Inventory (EFI) methods at tree- and plot-level using remote sensing data, targeted to forest practitioners;
• Data analytics and integration applications for unleashing the full value of forest resource information (e.g., EFI) to de-risk and optimize forest value chains; and
• Improved understanding of the factors underpinning social acceptability of research application.

NRCan’s Canadian Wood Fiber Center (CWFC) has started the collection of Diversity and Inclusion data from the 2020-23 Forest Innovation Program (FIP)-CWFC contribution program proponents. Final payment upon project completion also required recipients to submit results of their GBA Plus action plans on the project’s work. This data will be analyzed for changes and trends at the conclusion of this round of funding and project completion.

Data is also collected to evaluate the potential impacts of the FIP funding allocated through the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) and the Canadian Forest Sector (CFS) Workforce Diversity undergraduate supplement. The FIP’s contribution to this scholarship is another example of a CFS initiative that aims to improve representation and diversity in the forest sector. The program receives demographic data from NSERC on the recipients of this funding to get a sense of which equity seeking groups are benefitting from the scholarship and receiving support to pursue forest sector research projects and careers. Based on the results, additional information may be required from proponents in future calls for proposals, such as more definitive plans or requirements to apply GBA Plus principles and policies.

GBA Plus Action Plans have been put in place by FIP external partners. They have been encouraged to increase participation by women as research and project team members and address any barriers. Due to the need for specific expertise for projects, women research project members were not always available.

The program is committed to ensuring equity, diversity, and inclusion through our external partners in building their research teams and recruiting students for the duration of the proposed research and beyond. Our partners are committed to ensuring that current and future teams are representative of Canadian demographics, and that they benefit from the training, professional development and skills needed to work in a diverse team. The key priority is to provide equal opportunities for research team members and to provide students with a learning environment that values equity, diversity, and inclusion.

Green Mining Innovation

This strategic R&D program is delivered by NRCan’s CanmetMINING laboratories. The program has two key objectives that include reducing the environmental impacts of mining and to improve Canada’s competitiveness. Strong environmental performance is closely linked to the long-term economic growth of the mining industry and is essential for maintaining public trust in Canada’s development of its mineral resources. In undertaking this work, NRCan is focused on three priority areas including critical minerals, efficient mining practices, and climate resilient mining. Several specialized services such as the production of certified reference materials, ground control dynamic testing, radioactive waste stabilization, and diesel engine certification are also delivered by the program.

While CanmetMINING does not have data to-date to determine the degree to which GBA Plus has affected its outcomes and impacts for different groups, there may be opportunities in the future to improve the reporting capacity and understanding of GBA Plus impacts, as research matures through time. Following discussions in late fall to examine GBA Plus reporting processes that would be the most appropriate, it is proposed that CanmetMINING begin tracking participation in CanmetMINING-led stakeholder workshops through a gender/diversity lens using voluntary disclosure of demographic information by participants attending each individual workshop. In addition, it is proposed that as of April 2024, CanmetMINING begin the incorporation of GBA Plus data collection as part of the voluntary client satisfaction surveys that are regularly sent following the completion of each external client service contract.

Innovative Geospatial Solutions

Canada Centre for Mapping and Earth Observation

NRCan’s Canada Centre for Mapping and Earth Observation (CCMEO) incorporates principles of equality for all marginalized groups into the design of its programs, tools, innovation, and outputs. The successful implementation considers how all users of Earth Observation data and tools interact with CCMEO outputs, incorporating equal access, active engagement, and input to define tools and research and addressing barriers to improve such access. The program includes:

• Raising public awareness and building Indigenous capacity for Northern geographical place naming;
• Earth Observation in support of flood risk management – a pilot project for operational river ice breakup monitoring;
• Building Northern capacity and education to encourage women and girls to collect and share UAV-based mapping products;
• Community outreach and capacity building in Inuvik, Northwest Territories;
• Upcoming projects including Northern field work to further Indigenous inclusion in the Department and STEM; and
• Training women and girls, Indigenous youth, and community members in the field of geomatics through Indigenous Mapping Workshops that provide access to geospatial data, software, and analytic techniques.

GeoAI

CCMEO launched a new data series in November 2023 that allows the ability to identify trends and changes over time and provides a wealth of opportunities to data users. By training and using artificial intelligence to identify specific features in high-resolution images, most of the mapping process has been automated and is much more efficient. Outputs of algorithms are verified across a wide variety of Canadian contexts to check for bias, algorithms are trained across varied Canadian landscapes, and GeoAI algorithms are assessed using algorithmic impact assessment.

Less populated areas and marginalised communities may lack imagery, or high-quality imagery, leading in inequities in areas covered. CCMEO has included criteria for purchasing imagery from a subscription service that includes consideration for areas traditionally underserved by aerial and satellite imagery.

GeoAI Data Series currently requires a certain amount of familiarity with GIS and data science to leverage. Marginalised and underserved communities may not have the resources to hire outside experts, nor the internal expertise to fully benefit from this data. CCMEO is working to develop tools that would make the data more accessible to interested parties and policymakers.

GeoConnections

GeoConnections endorses a digital transformation process through its participation in innovation projects that lower barriers, promote inclusion, and increase the decision-making capacity for members of underrepresented groups.

We are lowering barriers by improving offline access to digital web map and location content which helps Indigenous and rural Canadians access and use information closer to where natural resources development occurs. Connectivity and bandwidth are more significant considerations for rural and Indigenous Canadians than for urban communities. Advancements in web standards will also impact users with accessibility challenges by providing visual and auditory web browser options embedded in maps to provide accessibility options to those with disabilities.

Through its contribution program, GeoConnections is currently funding innovative geospatial solutions that address geospatial issues within Indigenous communities and jurisdictions. These projects are focussing on resource management, climate change resilience, and Indigenous place names.

Indigenous communities are beginning to implement geospatial capabilities to enhance the preservation and proper stewardship of Traditional Indigenous Knowledge.

Data collected for this program is qualitative in nature, where case studies were previously used and provided information that has facilitated a better understanding of the program, but these case studies are no longer assisting the program. As such, the program is seeking guidance on the best way to enable future monitoring and results beyond narrative reports and/or case studies.

The beginning of 2023 saw the creation of a new stakeholder survey to evaluate the use of our Innovative Geospatial Solutions. Future iterations of this survey hope to provide more information on GBA Plus considerations.

Flood mapping specific GBA Plus data collection

Given that the focus of the Flood Hazard Identification and Mapping program (FHIMP) is to increase flood hazard information and maps, no data collection plan is being developed to assess the GBA Plus impacts of this initiative. However, the program will improve the resilience of vulnerable populations by increasing the availability and accessibility of flood hazard information and maps. In alignment with GBA Plus considerations, the following may be collected and monitored for the duration of the program:

• Equal access to flood hazard information and maps: FHIMP will track key parameters identified as contributing to an individual’s vulnerability to floods to ensure the program is reaching them. The main means to gather this information will be through census data (and possibly voluntary surveys). Data points gathered could include gender, ethnicity, location (urban vs. rural), housing situation, and level of education, etc. The surveys may be done in collaboration with PT partners, leveraging analytics collected from their dissemination platforms and their network of local project partners and contractors;
• Inclusion of traditional knowledge: FHIMP aims to leverage already existing Indigenous technical working-groups, governance structures, and internal Indigenous expertise to offer support to PTs to engage with Indigenous communities. Data will be collected by examining the extent of overall Indigenous engagement with the program, as well as by collecting qualitative information from Indigenous partners and stakeholders, which could include focus groups and surveys as well as oral histories and stories of community experiences; and
• Employment in STEM Fields: For its own internal hires, FHIMP will track how well it reflects departmental commitments on diversity and inclusion to increase representation of Black people and other racialized groups, Indigenous People, and persons with disabilities.

The FHIMP represents an opportunity to identify, in collaboration with Federal, Provincial, Territorial, and Indigenous jurisdictions, areas and communities vulnerable to floods. In the future, flood risk areas may be cross-referenced with socio-economic and demographic characteristics to derive more detailed information about the communities and used for further initiatives related to natural disasters and emergency management and help to address some of the current knowledge gaps.

Encompassed within the program components and in accordance with GBA Plus principals, NRCan will also work with its Federal, Provincial, Territorial, and Indigenous (FPTI) counterparts towards open data policies and data standards to ensure that the flood hazard data being produced by the program can be openly distributed following international geospatial data and web standards for all Canadians.

Lower Carbon Transportation

The Lower Carbon Transportation Programs’ objective is to increase energy efficiency in the transportation sector and to transition transportation to lower carbon options.

The various programs have taken several steps to further advance the integration of GBA Plus into program design and delivery, as well as data collection, analysis, and results. GBA Plus was integrated into program measures, applications, and reporting requirements through consultation, research, and analysis. For example, NRCan will accomplish this by collecting more disaggregated data from applicants and funding recipients, understanding the proportion of companies that have Workforce Gender and Diversity Plans, and providing funding recipients with information on ways to increase diversity and inclusiveness within their organizations to promote workforce diversity. The programs also asks if proponents to have Workforce Gender and Diversity Plans and promote workforce diversity by providing funding recipients with information on ways to increase diversity and inclusiveness within their organizations. There are also increased contribution limits for Indigenous proponents in most programs.

ZEV Awareness Initiative and Clean Fuel Awareness

Zero Emission Vehicle Awareness Initiative (ZEVAI) supports projects that aim to increase awareness, knowledge, and public confidence in zero-emission vehicles (ZEV), low-emission vehicles, and public charging and refuelling infrastructure. Clean Fuel Awareness supports innovative projects that aim to address awareness and knowledge gaps among Canadians on clean fuels and clean fuels technologies across all industry and commercial applications and in the general population.

ZEVAI and Clean Fuels Awareness award higher points to projects proposals that demonstrates impact and reach to marginalized or equity-seeking groups. Impactful projects include those that contribute to engagement/outreach or provide training opportunities for these communities. A project’s impact on equity, diversity, and inclusion accounts for 10% of its assessed score, effectively prioritizing the funding of these projects. Currently, one ZEVAI-funded project is using survey-based data collection to explore potential reasons for the gender gap in ZEV ownership and ZEV careers, with the intention of addressing this gap through education on ZEVs and opportunities, including a ZEV Career Fair.

Clean Fuels Awareness and ZEVAI also track participation and impact through all funded outreach, engagement, training, and events. These programs have also updated their key performance indicators to require reporting on the breakdown of attendance at events, engagement of underrepresented groups, the number of individuals trained, and other relevant indicators. These data would be available for progress monitoring in subsequent years.

Rural, Northern, remote and Indigenous communities and audiences are also a priority of Clean Fuels Awareness and ZEVAI. To date, much of the deployed charging and refuelling infrastructure for electric vehicles is in urban and/or “Southern” Canada. Many Indigenous Peoples live in rural, remote, and northern areas of the country, which may limit their access to and awareness of electric vehicles and charging infrastructure. Therefore, as part of NRCan’s commitment to supporting the installation of charging stations in Canada’s rural areas, NRCan`s ZEV awareness and deployment efforts provides funding to several projects focused on rural, Northern, remote and Indigenous communities. These projects engage local communities actively through events, publications, and/or direct exposure to raise awareness and education on the benefits of adopting clean fuels and ZEVs.

Furthermore, specialized initiatives have been designed to boost engagement of such communities with low participation. For example, the pilot funding stream for Indigenous-led awareness and education projects related to cleaner transportation and clean fuels is a continuous-intake call for proposals that enable Indigenous communities, businesses, and organizations to access funding for related projects without being confined to short application periods. This application process allows for greater community engagement and support of applicants throughout the entire application process.

Zero Emissions Vehicle Infrastructure Program

Zero Emissions Vehicle Infrastructure Program (ZEVIP) increases the densification and coverage of charging opportunities by supporting the deployment of charging and hydrogen refuelling stations in more localized areas where Canadians live, work, and play, including public places, MURBs, workplaces, on-street, and where EV fleet are serviced.

ZEVIP collects data on applicants who have equity, diversity, and inclusion plans in place and encourages applicants with no existing plans to develop Diversity and Inclusion Plans. Successful applicants are asked to report progress on their plan and share information such as describing activities that have been undertaken to promote greater diversity and inclusion and identifying opportunities and considerations for underrepresented groups in the organization.

The program also prioritizes projects by awarding more points to proposals with increased accessibility and visibility. Similarly, it also prioritizes proposals with greater indigenous participation by collecting info on the projects and awarding points accordingly. The program also runs an Indigenous stream, a continuous intake for Indigenous-led projects, and allots increased contribution limit amounts for indigenous-led projects. ZEVIP currently has several Indigenous projects selected for funding.

Clean Fuels Fund

Budget 2021 re-affirmed an investment of $1.5 billion, originally announced in the Strengthened Climate Plan, to establish a Clean Fuels Fund (CFF) to support the build out of new clean fuel production capacity ($1.38B), establish biomass supply chains ($30.4M), and develop enabling codes and standards ($19.4M). This program plays a key role in the Government’s fight against climate change and the production of clean fuels is essential to driving down emissions from sectors of the economy where electrification may not be technically or economically feasible. The transition to clean fuels also provides conventional energy companies an important opportunity to diversify their product offerings.

The program promotes diversity and inclusion by requiring all organizations that receive funding through the program to include Diversity and Inclusion Plans for their organizations in their proposals. Proponents receiving funding through these programs will have to report on how they have met their commitments identified in such plans through the lifecycle of their funding agreement. The program also requires that all proponents provide reporting information on engagement with community groups including indigenous groups or communities related to the project location and fuel distribution.

Furthermore, CFF has a separate dedicated stream for Indigenous-led projects. That stream recognizes the unique opportunity clean fuels present for Indigenous businesses and communities and encourages Indigenous participation on all projects. The Indigenous-led projects stream is designed to increase funding of Indigenous-led clean production capacity projects in Canada. CFF also offers stacking up to 100% for Indigenous groups, in addition to increased contribution limits.

Emissions Reduction Fund

The Emissions Reduction Fund will continue to support oil and gas companies by providing funds to invest in green solutions to reduce GHGs and retain jobs in the sector. The program will provide opportunities to improve our understanding of the oil and gas sector’s willingness and approach to advancing diversity. NRCan is accomplishing this by collecting more disaggregated data from applicants and funding recipients, understanding the proportion of companies that have Workforce Gender and Diversity Plans, and promoting workforce diversity by providing funding recipients with information on ways to increase diversity and inclusiveness within their organizations to promote workforce diversity.

Greening Government Operations

Greening Government Operations (GGO) continues to conduct readiness assessments of federal buildings and fleets required to facilitate the transition of the federal vehicle fleet to ZEVs. GGO ensures a collaborative design in its implementation processes, engaging stakeholder groups, and eliminating hurdles to participation and access for stakeholders.

Green Freight Program

Green Freight Program (GFP) supports fleet energy assessments, retrofits, engine repowers, logistical best practices, and the purchase of alternatively fueled vehicles of a greater diversity of fleet and vehicle types. GFP continues to collect data on the percentage of staff employed identified as Indigenous and percentage of women employed. The program also plans to launch a large media campaign in 2024/25, where GFP will work with trucking associations to promote our programs, specifically targeting underrepresented groups in the freight transportation sector (i.e. the Women in Trucking Association, the South Asian Trucking Association of Canada, and the Owner-Operator's Business Association of Canada, etc.).

Industrial facilities are actively seeking support both financially and in terms of building the diverse and skilled workforce that will help them make the transition to a low-carbon economy. From an employment perspective, increased investment in the low-carbon fuels industry will lead to overall job growth. Hydrogen alone could indirectly and directly employ over 350,000 Canadians by 2050. Hydrogen infrastructure is supported by both the CFF and ZEVIP.

Indigenous communities and businesses across Canada are already identifying hydrogen as a new opportunity for economic development with environmental benefits. Through the development of the Hydrogen Strategy, several Indigenous organizations and businesses were identified as having interest in partnering with the private sector and governments to establish and contribute to hydrogen production and deployment projects. In the medium- to longer-term, clean fuels, specifically hydrogen, can offer an opportunity for greater energy independence, as they can be made from local biomass and/or hydroelectric resources.

Since 2019-20, the program has been able to disaggregate data by province and territory, which has helped to determine how the uptake and impact of lower carbon transportation options and awareness efforts vary by location. The program plans to measure the number of job (years) of employment generated by funded projects. The program’s data collection methodology enables it to undertake analyses of employment in the low-carbon transportation sector (specific to employment generated by program-funded projects).

Sustainable Forest Management

The Sustainable Forest Management (SFM) Program is incorporating GBA Plus data collection into its annual call for proposals process. For the 2024-25 research proposals, researchers will demonstrate additional GBA Plus considerations in proposals, aligning with Government of Canada’s renewed commitments to implement GBA Plus in programs and policies. Applicants are required to answer questions related to GBA Plus, inclusion, equity, diversity, accessibility (IDEA), and indigenous engagement. To assist the applicants in incorporating Indigenous Knowledge (IK), IDEA and GBA Plus into research design, practice, reporting, and knowledge mobilisation, an “IDEA and IK in Research Self-Assessment Tool” was developed and distributed to researchers.

The SFM Program continues to fund some research in collaboration with Indigenous communities on forest ecosystems. The SFM program is incorporating some GBA Plus data collection into research proposals and reporting. The SFM program has applied GBA Plus to support projects that are advancing engagement and collaboration with Indigenous communities. The SFM Program funded several projects that collaborated with Indigenous groups on research activities or knowledge sharing. In addition, SFM program managers and researchers are advancing ways to engage with Indigenous partners and communities though the guidance of a new NRCan Policy on Ethics for Research Involving Indigenous Peoples and their Traditional Lands. The SFM program will continue working to improve mechanisms for reporting on GBA Plus.

Core Responsibility: Globally Competitive Natural Resource Sectors

Energy Safety and Security, and Petroleum Resources

The program has transferred a portion of its roles and responsibilities related to the Canada Energy Regulatory to Nòkwewashk specifically as it relates to Indigenous Ministerial Arrangement Regulations. Some responsibilities remain, such as the Designated Officer Regulations and Export-Import Regulations. Another responsibility to support Ministerial sign off on regulatory packages from the Canadian Energy Regulator (CER) was transferred to CPS.

Given the reduced work in this program, there are no actions currently underway or planned to enable further data collection, monitoring, or reporting of impacts based on gender and diversity.

Forest Sector Competitiveness

Collectively, the Forest Sector Competitiveness programs committed to collecting greater gender and diversity information from its proponents or program beneficiaries to monitor program impacts by gender and diversity.

CFS-TEIB created a Diversity Working Group (DWG) to support the sector in identifying measures that could contribute to addressing gender and other representation gaps in the forest sector. The DWG’s main objective was to ensure a better understanding of workforce diversity in the forest sector so that recommendations for program measures would be evidence-based, impactful, and align with other initiatives and actions.

In the summer of 2020, the Treasury Board Secretariat approved the four proposed measures outlined in the DWG’s Forest Sector Workforce Diversity that included barriers, opportunities, and a potential solutions report. The following proposed four measures would help the forest sector to improve its understanding and outcomes with regard to workforce diversity:

• Actively collecting better data;
• Requiring program recipients to have a Workforce Gender and Diversity Plan;
• Support efforts towards addressing education as a systemic barrier; and
• Promoting workforce diversity through collaboration.

The report committed the Forest Innovation Program, Investments in Forest Industry Transformation, Indigenous Forestry Initiative, and Expanding Market Opportunities to actions under these measures.

Programs have since been requesting that proponents develop a workforce diversity plan. This process has been evolving since implemented. For the 2021-22 call for proposals, Diversity & Inclusion (D&I) plans were optional, no template was provided, and submitted plans were awarded 5% of the evaluation score. As a result, 90% of applicants included a plan with their proposal submission package. For the 2022-23 call for proposals, D&I plans were mandatory, a sample template was provided, and submitted plans were now being evaluated. After the 2022-23 call for proposals, the D&I plan process was evaluated and further recommendations were made to improve the process.

Investments in Forest Industry Transformation (IFIT) requires every funding proponent to submit both a D&I plan and fill in a D&I questionnaire, which are used to collect information on each organization’s diversity-related measures and workforce demographics, respectively. IFIT continues to use these tools to better understand forest sector D&I performance and potential impacts on different groups and will monitor this data over time for program reporting and planning purposes.

The NRCan 2021 Economic Vulnerabilities Index indicates that there are 300 communities in Canada, mostly rural, that depend on the forest sector as an essential source of jobs and income. These communities, along with all others in which the forest sector generates jobs, need a resilient and sustainable forest sector to maintain their socio-economic well-being. The IFIT program has continued to support these communities and foster regional economic development, including for Indigenous recipients, who are eligible for full government assistance for project costs (including a maximum of 50% from IFIT).

To meet federal diversity commitments, the Indigenous Forestry Initiative (IFI) requests and analyzes self-reported data from program participants on gender and diversity (i.e., women, youth, and elders) in their projects. IFI applicants are invited to submit Diversity Plans with their applications, and when applicable, a Workplace Diversity Plan is added as a Year-1 task to successful proponents’ (except Indigenous governments) Contribution Agreement. Collectively, this data may support insights on the impacts of program funding on gender and diversity in the forest sector. The IFI program also prioritizes projects that involve women, youth and elders, and projects that emphasize non-timber forest products or the bioeconomy, which are aspects of the forest sector that are traditionally more inclusive for women.

It is important to note that with respect to the Indigenous government sovereignty in policy and law-making, the IFI does not require a Diversity Plan from its Indigenous Government proponents.

The IFI program also tracks gender and diversity representation on the IFI Expert Review Panel. Furthermore, panelists are selected to ensure an overall Indigenous majority as well as youth representation. An Advisory Review of the IFI conducted in 2022-23 confirmed that Indigenous involvement on the Expert Review Panel was an important feature and enhanced the certainty of decisions being made. The IFI program also encourages Regional Liaison Officers (RLOs) to intentionally engage diverse groups within communities during site visits (e.g., youth and elders) to support additional understanding of program impacts. Finally, CFS human resource processes prioritize hiring diverse candidates for the IFI/RLO team.

Indigenous Reconciliation and Regulatory Coordination

NRCan co-chairs and houses the Secretariats for the Indigenous Advisory and Monitoring Committees (IAMCs), the Trans Mountain Expansion Project and existing pipeline (IAMC-TMX), and the Enbridge and Line 3 Pipeline Replacement Project.

The Socioeconomic Subcommittee of the Indigenous Advisory and Monitoring Committee for the Trans Mountain Expansion Project looks closely at the gendered impacts of the project as experienced by Indigenous communities, as well as how GBA Plus can support communities as an analytical tool in the early identification, mitigation, and monitoring of risks and benefits. In 2023-24, the Socioeconomic Subcommittee:

• Continued to monitor a set of co-developed Indigenous socio-economic indicators related to Project construction. As construction winds down, the data is being consolidated by region where trends will be examined and may help inform future policy input/advice;
• Commissioned research, in conjunction with an impacted Indigenous community, related to construction and socio-economic risks as well as outcomes experienced by communities in the North Thompson Corridor (an area which hosted three work camps during project construction). Lessons learned from this research will inform policy advice on how to improve assessments, mitigation measures, and monitoring of socio-economic impacts; and
• Provided recommendations to the Canada Energy Regulator on how they could require companies to account for gender within their organizations in emergency management programs, including training and hiring Indigenous women and gender-diverse people.

The Indigenous Natural Resource Partnerships (INRP) program further advances the goals of the GBA Plus through active encouragement of projects that increase the participation of underrepresented groups, including Indigenous women, in the natural resource sector across Canada. The INRP program also includes a preferential assessment criterion on supporting the increased participation of underrepresented groups including Indigenous women.

The INRP Program collects data through its application and project reporting processes to measure engagement and access to financial resources of Indigenous communities. Data collected through the application helps to inform program guidelines along with broader policy and investment decisions moving forward.

Separate GBA Plus assessments are conducted for each individual resource project covered under the Impact Assessment Act through the regulatory review process. Further GBA Plus data, in addition to the assessments already conducted through the regulatory review process, will be collected by NRCan when necessary. GBA Plus information is collected through quantitative data on participant funding agreements. This distinctions-based data includes the number of Indigenous communities or individual participants that have benefitted from program initiatives and is aimed at enhancing Indigenous participation in the natural resource sector and helps to inform policy and investment decisions moving forward.

Resource Partnership Sector

The Indigenous Reconciliation and Regulatory Coordination (IRRC) program will further explore measures to improve the collection of disaggregated data in an effort to reveal deprivations and inequalities that may not be fully reflected in aggregate data, while still respecting the intellectual property provisions of Indigenous communities and data sovereignty. In doing so, the program will continue to support the Government of Canada’s distinctions-based approach to its federal policy and decision making focusing on the three federally recognized Indigenous groups in Canada: First Nations, Métis, and Inuit.

The IRRC program applies a GBA Plus lens to policy analysis and project tracking and solutions, including monitoring GBA Plus issues encountered in natural resource projects, such as Indigenous participation and underrepresentation of women in the natural resource sector.

Project tracking and coordination informs work on horizontal policy and helps identify solutions to emerging issues with respect to natural resource projects, including relevant GBA Plus data. NRCan will continue to support the engagement of Indigenous communities through a distinctions-based approach, which will tailor engagement based on each community’s capacity, concerns, and interests. This approach will continue to support ongoing Indigenous engagement on the Trans Mountain Expansion (TMX) Project and improve opportunities for Indigenous communities to benefit from TMX-related initiatives, including through the Government of Canada’s 8 accommodation measures and the CER’s 16 Recommendations. When coordinating Indigenous engagement and consultation on natural resource projects, NRCan’s approach will also consider diversity factors, including appropriate Indigenous economic participation and benefits that help reduce barriers for underrepresented groups.

Measures to improve and streamline Grants and Contributions funding delivery to Indigenous groups have been implemented, including consolidated proposal forms, flexible payment approaches, reduced demands on communities, and streamlined reporting requirements.

Provision of Federal Leadership in the Minerals and Metals Sector

The department provides federal leadership in the Minerals and Metals Sector through advancing several initiatives in collaboration with a variety of outside partners. These include the Canadian Minerals and Metals Plan (CMMP) and the Canadian Critical Minerals Strategy (CCMS).

The CMMP, launched in 2019, aims to make Canada the world’s leading mining nation. In addition to setting an aspirational target of 30% women in the mining sector by 2030 (compared to 17.3% in 2022), the CMMP is working towards other targets related to making Canada’s minerals and metals workforce more diverse, developing the pipeline of future talent, and advancing the participation of Indigenous Peoples in the sector.

The CMMP has been, and will continue to, work collaboratively with its partners to deliver initiatives to help meet the above goals, such as the Mineral Literacy Hub, supporting a National Career Ambassador Program, Indigenous mining webinars and procurement conferences, research on the state of Indigenous women in mining, Workforce of the Future actions, the Canadians of Mining campaign, and the Local Procurement Checklist. In 2024, the CMMP will carry out an exercise that will capture information on users, participants, and beneficiaries of these various initiatives, and in doing so, capture descriptive information to help monitor and/or report on the plan’s gender and diversity impacts. This information will be complemented by sector-wide statistics on employment.

As many of these actions are delivered through the provision of grants to external recipients, information relevant to GBA Plus is collected through discussions with grants recipients and project proponents following project completion. NRCan looks to proponents to report on their project outcomes as outlined in the grant and contract agreements with a view to release data that was collected through their activities (e.g., such as measuring the number of youths, diverse populations, or Indigenous Peoples engaged). The results help inform future program design and implementation to improve the impact of CMMP grants and initiatives. The CMMP follows trends in representation through reports and statistics published by the Mining Industry Human Resources Council and Statistics Canada.

The CCMS aims to increase the supply of responsibly sourced critical minerals and support the development of domestic and global value chains for the green and digital economy. The strategy addresses five core objectives that includes supporting economic growth, competitiveness and job creation, promoting climate action and environmental protection, advancing reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples, fostering diverse and inclusive workforces and communities, and enhancing global security and partnerships with allies.

Developing Canada’s critical minerals and associated value chains will create jobs and prosperity for communities across the country, including Indigenous communities. We want to help workers and communities thrive in the new economy, while fostering a diverse industrial sector that includes Indigenous Peoples, women, and racialized Canadians, and people from rural and urban areas across Canada.

To deliver on these commitments, the CMMS has put in place a robust performance measurement framework that will track our progress implementing the strategy, including with respect to GBA Plus indicators. Specifically, employment data will be tracked and disaggregated to better understand the impact of funding according to key GBA Plus related factors, such as gender, Indigenous status, racialized identity, and rural or urban location.

Youth Employment and Skills Strategy - Science and Technology Internship Program (Green Jobs)

Since 1997, NRCan has contributed to the Youth Employment and Skills Strategy (YESS) through the Science and Technology Internship Program (STIP – Green Jobs). The Program builds a diverse and qualified labour pool in science, technology, engineering, math (STEM), and other fields that advance environmental outcomes. The program provides funding to employers across Canada to hire, train and mentor youth (aged 15-30) across Canada in the natural resources sector. Using a further distribution of funds model, the program uses non-repayable contribution agreements to initial recipient organizations who deliver funding to employers.

STIP – Green Jobs applies a GBA Plus and Inclusion, Diversity, Equity and Accessibility lens to all aspects of program design and delivery and is continually improving access based on feedback from youth, employers, and delivery organizations. As a result, in 2022-23, the program:

• Exceeded its ambitious target of 60% participation by employment equity (EE) groups, achieving a 79% EE participation rate, including youth who were 47% women, 26% racialized, 34% Indigenous, and 8% living with disabilities; and
• Launched an inclusive call for proposal that allowed smaller and more regionally and Indigenous-focused organizations to apply, of which two new Indigenous delivery organizations were selected.

The program remains committed to finding solutions to respond to the age barrier (required by the Youth Employment and Skills Strategy) by working to identify opportunities to address the gap for those over 30 years old.

In 2024-25, the program aims to create 480 youth placements in the natural resources sector, with 60% of placements targeting youth from employment equity groups and those experiencing barriers to employment.

In 2019-20, STIP – Green Jobs adjusted the program to address several barriers identified by youth, through actions such as, removing the post-secondary education requirement, increasing wage subsidies for placements in Northern and remote communities to account for the higher cost of living, and adding training to support youth to qualify for internships. These changes have had an impact on program results, including increased participation rates by historically underrepresented groups. The Program remains committed to finding solutions on how to effectively address the age-barrier (i.e., participants cannot be older than 30 years old) to participate in the YESS.

STIP – Green Jobs collects disaggregated participant data from employers and youth at the beginning and the end of the placements. Self-identification is not mandatory and only information to determine eligibility is required (e.g., name, age, and legal status in Canada). STIP – Green Jobs invites video testimonials from youth and employers and delivery organizations provide feedback in annual final reports. The program collects data on the following indicators:

• Number of youth (ages 15-30) served;
• Where youth live;
• Where placements are located;
• Employment equity groups (i.e., women, Indigenous Peoples, visible minorities, and persons with disabilities);
• Official language spoken;
• Percentage of youth who were hired on full-time basis; and
• Percentage of youth who returned to school.

For each of these indicators, data is disaggregated by gender, including an option that permits interns to ‘not identify’ their gender. This enables the program to undertake an analysis based on age, location, employment status, employment equity groups, and gender.

Through inclusive design and ambitious targets, the program successfully serves most employment equity groups at a higher rate compared to their representation in the overall population according to the 2021 census. With women representing 20% of the natural resource workforce, women’s participation in STIP – Green Jobs (47% in 2022-23) is more than double.

Statutory Atlantic Offshore Payments

Under the offshore Accords with Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and Labrador, the provinces are the principal beneficiaries of offshore oil and gas resources. NRCan acts as a flow-through for these revenues and is not responsible for determining how these funds are utilized within the provincial fiscal framework. The Statutory Atlantic Offshore Program does not collect GBA Plus data related to how the provinces use these revenues, nor does it collect data to enable it to monitor and/or report program impacts by gender and diversity.

Given the program’s limited scope, there are currently no actions being taken to enable future monitoring or reporting of the Statutory Atlantic Offshore Program’s impacts as they relate to gender and diversity.