Supplementary Information Tables

Gender-based analysis plus

Institutional GBA+ Capacity

In the 2019-2020 fiscal year, the PPSC finalized the GBA+ Statement of Intent, which sets out PPSC's commitments to support GBA+ across all areas of the organization.

The PPSC Diversity and Inclusion Committee plays a critical role in supporting GBA+ initiatives and works in collaboration with the Human Resources and Corporate Planning and External Relations Divisions on raising awareness of GBA+ issues across the organization. The committee started the year with introducing a new organizational structure, which includes redefined member responsibilities and newly developed roles for five National Advisors in the following areas: persons with disabilities, visible minorities, Indigenous peoples, LGBTQ2+, and women. In addition, members of the committee have completed Ambassador Training offered by the Canada School of Public Service and have become ambassadors and allies of the LGBTQ2+ community.

To further promote diversity and inclusion, the PPSC has named a Champion for the Treasury Board Secretariat (TBS) Policy Direction on Modernization of Sex and Gender Information Practices. The organization has commenced work on mapping current information practices in its policies, procedures, guidelines and forms.

Highlights of GBA+ Results by Program

Federal Prosecutions

In its Statement of Intent, the PPSC committed to a review of its prosecutorial policy, the Deskbook, to ensure GBA+ factors are considered in the guidelines and directives that instruct and guide federal prosecutors. In 2019-2020, the PPSC launched the planning phase of this project.

The PPSC also committed to considering GBA+ in its activities and decision-making, as well as ensuring that employees' work takes into consideration and reflects diverse needs of different people. To support this commitment, the PPSC held a GBA+ Information Session for the Senior Advisory Board, and the Unconscious Bias training for the Supervisors' Network. Moreover, as part of the strategy to raise awareness, the Diversity and Inclusion Committee promoted commemorative events, learning activities and resources to all PPSC employees.

Furthermore, the Diversity and Inclusion Committee worked with PPSC regional offices to identify GBA+ initiatives that could be undertaken by each region. Some of the initiatives identified in this process included the following:

  • Engaging with Canadian universities to recruit indigenous law students for summer student positions;
  • Promoting of positive space training, antidiscrimination workshops, inclusive language and unconscious bias training; and
  • Creating regional Diversity and Inclusion Committees.

Several PPSC regional offices have since began implementing the GBA+ initiatives identified for their region.

Internal Services

The PPSC commenced the planning phase for implementation of the commitments from its GBA+ Statement of Intent. These commitments include:

  • Raising awareness of GBA+;
  • GBA+ training for select groups of employees;
  • Setting clear accountabilities and responsibilities for the following groups:
    •  PPSC officials to apply GBA+ in their work;
    • GBA+ Responsibility Center to provide advice on promotion, implementation and monitoring of GBA+;
    • PPSC Diversity and Inclusion Committee to support the work of the GBA+ Responsibility Center.
  • Review of the PPSC Deskbook; and
  • Modernization of Sex and Gender Information Practices.

Furthermore, in the 2019-2020 fiscal year, the PPSC achieved a number of important accomplishments in support of its third departmental priority: Fostering a Healthy and Respectful Workplace. In September 2019, the PPSC launched the Healthy Workplace Services offered through the Employee Assistance Services team at Health Canada. The service offers a series of confidential employee assistance services available to all PPSC employees, including informal conflict resolution, referrals to other services, resources, tools and supports. In addition, the PPSC created a working group to review the Code of Conduct. One of the goals of this review was to emphasize the importance of people and help foster a respectful and inclusive work environment. The Code of Conduct includes new diversity and inclusion elements as well as expected behaviors that support the organization's commitment to a harassment and discrimination-free workplace. In addition, the PPSC continues to successfully increase representation of visible minorities across various employment groups and levels. For example, over the past fiscal year the representation within the EC employment group was increased by 22%. The organization will continue to employ different strategies to reduce unconscious bias in staffing processes and make appointments based on workforce data. 

The PPSC has also taken action to implement the Accessibility Strategy by participating in the GC Workplace Accessibility Passport pilot. PPSC managers, supervisors, team leaders, and employees attended information sessions to support them in implementing the strategy. Employees who may benefit from adaptive tools or support measures have been encouraged to participate in the pilot project.

The TBS Policy Direction on Modernization of Sex and Gender Information Practices has become an important initiative for the PPSC with an aim to promote diversity and inclusion. Upon naming a Champion and a responsibility center for the initiative, the PPSC began mapping of its current sex and gender information practices, as well as planning to modernize information practices across the organization.
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