Content page

From [Institution name]

Gender-based analysis plus

Table 1: Institutional GBA+ Capacity

The Agency’s core responsibility is to support Atlantic Canada’s economic growth, wealth creation and economic prosperity through inclusive and clean growth. This is why the Agency integrated gender-based analysis plus (GBA+) into its various activities as part of its implementation strategy. To ensure accountability, the Agency used a GBA+ responsibility centre and working groups led by an executive-level GBA+ Champion to support and monitor the implementation of GBA+ throughout the Agency, and liaise with the broader Government of Canada GBA+ network. All ACOA programs were delivered with an inclusive lens to support groups that are under-represented in Atlantic Canada’s economy and among its entrepreneurs, including immigrants, Indigenous people and women.

In line with its mandate and core responsibility, ACOA engaged in initiatives that can be mainly linked to the Government of Canada Gender Results Framework key area entitled “Economic Participation and Prosperity” and objectives such as “Increased labour market opportunities for women, especially women in under-represented groups.” Below are a few examples.

COVID-19 Relief and Recovery Programs

Targeted initiatives such as the Black Entrepreneurship Program’s Ecosystem Fund marks a continued focus on important members of the business community. The COVID-19 pandemic affected some groups and regions more heavily than it did others.

The pandemic brought forward systematic biases in the economy and its workforce. ACOA went beyond its traditional client base with its Regional Relief and Recovery Fund to support small and medium-sized enterprises where women, immigrants, youth, Indigenous, and other under-represented groups were present. This broadened ACOA’s activities into new areas, new sectors such as retail, and new types of supports such as liquidity.

Diversity and Inclusion in ACOA’s workforce

The Agency placed a high priority on building an inclusive workforce, creating the Office of Inclusion, Equity and Anti-Racism, and making strong progress on the first year of ACOA’s two-year Employment Equity, Inclusion and Anti-Racism Action Plan. ACOA implemented its in-house dialogue session called “Diversity Inclusion Competency Excellence”, which was delivered to all ACOA executives and more than two-thirds of employees, with sessions also provided to other government departments and partners. Furthermore, the Agency’s Positive Space Network was revitalized with its new Vice-President-level Champion. In 2020-21, ACOA’s Accessibility Action Plan, aimed at making the Agency a more accessible workplace for all employees, was approved and shared Agency-wide. The newly designed Onboarding Program was implemented, with a focus on welcoming new employees into ACOA’s inclusive workplace culture.

The Agency also continued to make progress on its Official Languages Integrated Action Plan 2019-2022, with dedicated attention on the assessment and monitoring of the Agency’s current and new programs and services in terms of the needs of the official language minority communities.

GBA+ analysis in support of inclusive programs for Canadians

Through Budget 2020, ACOA was a delivery partner for a number of national and regional initiatives. For those initiatives, ACOA conducted GBA+ analyses for various Treasury Board submissions and internal documents. For example, the Regional Relief and Recovery Fund and the Canadian Seafood Stabilization Fund were created to help support regional economies and sectors heavily impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic and provisions were made to support rural and remote activities, as well as groups facing additional barriers by providing exceptional measures such as liquidity support. The Agency also ensured that GBA+ aspects were part of the performance measurement strategy.

GBA+ analysis in ACOA program evaluations

ACOA has been piloting a framework to incorporate GBA+ in all program evaluations, including questions on how the design and delivery of the program contributed to inclusive growth for one evaluation in 2020-21. The Business Innovation and Growth Support program evaluation found that the Agency has taken positive steps toward strengthening inclusive growth. There is growing awareness of the different needs of under-represented groups and the importance of leveraging program flexibilities to improve business growth results. For example, a senior-level champion for Indigenous economic development helped create proactive measures to advance Indigenous peoples priorities, increase awareness and better understand Indigenous history and culture among ACOA staff.

Awareness strategy

ACOA continued to build its GBA+ capacity by encouraging employees to take GBA+ training and delivering awareness-building sessions with senior management to highlight the value of GBA+ for economic development and to ensure that GBA+ is part of programs, planning and decision-making discussions.

To celebrate and raise awareness of women, Indigenous peoples, visible minorities and immigrant entrepreneurs,ACOA continues to publish success stories on its website. The stories feature exemplary business owners and focus on women in leadership positions who can inspire others to consider entrepreneurship as a career path.

Systems update

In 2020-21, ACOA continued to update its internal systems to capture microdata on GBA+ elements in order to facilitate monitoring and reporting. This will enable ACOA to carry out analyses on its programs using new and existing administrative data available. This will help the Agency take stock of the GBA+ elements of its programs, look at trends, and provide insight into areas that may be improved upon to strengthen inclusivity.

Table 2: Gender and Diversity Impacts, by Program

Core Responsibility: economic development in Atlantic Canada

Business Growth

Target Population: Atlantic Canadian small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), communities and organizations

Distribution of Benefits: Estimated benefits are for all ACOA clients using latest available data from Statistics Canada (2016).

Key Impacts: An evaluation of the Business Growth programming at ACOA found that the Agency has taken positive steps toward strengthening inclusive growth:

• During the period of the evaluation, ACOA invested $38.2 million in 172 Indigenous economic development projects; 110 since the Investing in Regional Innovation and Development framework target was established in 2017.
• It delivered targeted programs for women, most notably the Women Entrepreneurship Strategy and the Women in Business Initiative.
• The Agency’s participation in the Atlantic Immigration Pilot is an important step forward on immigration and finding international workers who can help meet the needs of SMEs.
• It offered targeted support for young business owners, primarily through a $7.3 million investment in the Youth Entrepreneur Development Initiative.

Supplementary Information Sources:

ACOA Business Growth and Trade and Investment Programming Evaluation Report 2020 - Canada.ca

GBA+ Data Collection Plan:

In 2020-21, ACOA continued to update its internal administrative data collection system to capture microdata on gender-based analysis plus (GBA+) elements in order to facilitate monitoring and reporting. This will enable the Agency to carry out analyses on its programs using new and existing administrative data available. This will help the Agency take stock of the GBA+ elements of its programs, look at trends, and provide insight into areas that can be improved upon to strengthen inclusivity.

As part of its Departmental Results Framework, the Agency ensured that it could report on its departmental result Communities are economically diversified in Atlantic Canada by adopting several GBA+ related indicators that were made public in the Government of Canada (GC) InfoBase and its Departmental Plan for 2019-20 and 2020-21, as well as part of its performance inventory profiles. Examples of the tags used are women-led and women-owned businesses, people living with disabilities, Indigenous groups, recent immigrants, visible minorities, official language minority communities, and people in rural or remote regions. This was done in accordance with Treasury Board Secretariat guidelines on Sex and Gender Information.

In addition to these tags, ACOA also added GBA+ indicators from its Performance Information Profiles to its reporting system to facilitate reporting. This now allows ACOA to collect microdata on GBA+ related to its programs. The Agency also purchases custom data analyses from Statistics Canada to report on indicators such as the percentage of ACOA-assisted firms that are majority-owned by women. ACOA requested that Statistics Canada provide further disaggregated data on its clients, where available. These additional data were further analyzed to help strengthen analysis and decision making within the Agency.

Diversified Communities

Target Population: Atlantic Canadian small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), communities and organizations

Distribution of Benefits: Estimated benefits are for all ACOA clients using latest available data from Statistics Canada (2016).

GBA+ Data Collection Plan:

In 2020-21, ACOA continued to update its internal administrative data collection system to capture microdata on GBA+ elements in order to facilitate monitoring and reporting. This will enable the Agency to carry out analyses on its programs using new and existing administrative data available. This will help the Agency take stock of the GBA+ elements of its programs, look at trends, and provide insight into areas that can be improved upon to strengthen inclusivity.

As part of its Departmental Results Framework, the Agency ensured that it could report on its departmental result Communities are economically diversified in Atlantic Canada by adopting several GBA+ related indicators that were made public in the GC InfoBase and its Departmental Plan for 2019-20 and 2020-21, as well as part of its performance inventory profiles. Examples of the tags used are women-led and women-owned businesses, people living with disabilities, Indigenous groups, recent immigrants, visible minorities, official language minority communities, and people in rural or remote regions. This was done in accordance with Treasury Board Secretariat guidelines on Sex and Gender Information.

In addition to these tags, ACOA also added GBA+ indicators from its Performance Information Profiles to its reporting system to facilitate reporting. This now allows ACOA to collect microdata on GBA+ related to its programs. The Agency also purchases custom data analyses from Statistics Canada to report on indicators such as the percentage of ACOA-assisted firms that are majority-owned by women. ACOA requested that Statistics Canada provide further disaggregated data on its clients, where available. These additional data were further analyzed to help strengthen analysis and decision making within the Agency.

Inclusive Communities

Target Population: Atlantic Canadian small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), communities and organizations

Distribution of Benefits: Estimated benefits are for all ACOA clients using latest available data from Statistics Canada (2016).

Key Impacts: A horizontal evaluation of the national Community Futures Program found that in the Atlantic region, 17% of loans were made to women; 15% to youth; 12% to francophones; and 1% each to Indigenous people and visible minorities. Other key highlights included:

• The Women in Business Initiative in Atlantic Canada is designed to improve the growth and competitiveness of women-owned businesses, and to increase their representation in emerging growth sectors. The initiative offers a variety of programs, including support tailored to the needs of emerging Indigenous entrepreneurs, through collaboration with the Joint Economic Development Initiative, and Ulnooweg.
• The Atlantic Association of Community Business Development Corporations offers youth internship or student business programs including a youth loan program.
• The Women in Business Initiative in Atlantic Canada provides financing and training to women.
• Work with organizations dedicated to female entrepreneurship, such as the Newfoundland and Labrador Organization of Women Entrepreneurs

Supplementary Information Sources:

GBA+ Data Collection Plan:

In 2020-21, ACOA continued to update its internal administrative data collection system to capture microdata on GBA+ elements in order to facilitate monitoring and reporting. This will enable the Agency to carry out analyses on its programs using new and existing administrative data available. This will help the Agency take stock of the GBA+ elements of its programs, look at trends, and provide insight into areas that can be improved upon to strengthen inclusivity.

As part of its Departmental Results Framework, the Agency ensured that it could report on its departmental result Communities are economically diversified in Atlantic Canada by adopting several GBA+ related indicators that were made public in the GC InfoBase and its Departmental Plan for 2019-20 and 2020-21, as well as part of its performance inventory profiles. Examples of the tags used are women-led and women-owned businesses, people living with disabilities, Indigenous groups, recent immigrants, visible minorities, official language minority communities, and people in rural or remote regions. This was done in accordance with Treasury Board Secretariat guidelines on Sex and Gender Information.

In addition to these tags, ACOA also added GBA+ indicators from its Performance Information Profiles to its reporting system to facilitate reporting. This now allows ACOA to collect microdata on GBA+ related to its programs. The Agency also purchases custom data analyses from Statistics Canada to report on indicators such as the percentage of ACOA-assisted firms that are majority-owned by women. ACOA requested that Statistics Canada provide further disaggregated data on its clients, where available. These additional data were further analyzed to help strengthen analysis and decision making within the Agency.

Innovation Ecosystem

Target Population: Atlantic Canadian small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), communities and organizations

Distribution of Benefits: Estimated benefits are for all ACOA clients using latest available data from Statistics Canada (2016).

Key Impacts: An evaluation of Innovation programming found that ACOA has taken positive steps toward strengthening inclusive growth. It found that the Agency made some efforts toward inclusive growth through funding and collaborations (e.g., immigrants, Indigenous people and women). However, there is growing internal recognition of the need to better support under-represented groups to facilitate economic growth, address skills and labour gaps, and better align with government priorities. Other key findings include:

• Between 2010 and 2015, female ACOA clients not only registered higher average growth rates than male ACOA clients in a number of employment and financial indicators but also outperformed female-owned businesses from the comparable group in most areas. Case studies indicated that there has been increased focus on supports to women in technology, computer science and entrepreneurship.
• ACOA’s involvement in the Atlantic Immigration Pilot (2017-2020), a key initiative under the Atlantic Growth Strategy, helps address labour and skills needs and ensures long-term economic growth in the region by attracting and retaining skilled immigrants.
• Key informants also indicated that ACOA’s 28 points of service across the region position the Agency to meet the unique needs of rural businesses.

Supplementary Information Sources:

GBA+ Data Collection Plan:

In 2020-21, ACOA continued to update its internal administrative data collection system to capture microdata on GBA+ elements in order to facilitate monitoring and reporting. This will enable the Agency to carry out analyses on its programs using new and existing administrative data available. This will help the Agency take stock of the GBA+ elements of its programs, look at trends, and provide insight into areas that can be improved upon to strengthen inclusivity.

As part of its Departmental Results Framework, the Agency ensured that it could report on its departmental result Communities are economically diversified in Atlantic Canada by adopting several GBA+ related indicators that were made public in the GC InfoBase and its Departmental Plan for 2019-20 and 2020-21, as well as part of its performance inventory profiles. Examples of the tags used are women-led and women-owned businesses, people living with disabilities, Indigenous groups, recent immigrants, visible minorities, official language minority communities, and people in rural or remote regions. This was done in accordance with Treasury Board Secretariat guidelines on Sex and Gender Information.

In addition to these tags, ACOA also added GBA+ indicators from its Performance Information Profiles to its reporting system to facilitate reporting. This now allows ACOA to collect microdata on GBA+ related to its programs. The Agency also purchases custom data analyses from Statistics Canada to report on indicators such as the percentage of ACOA-assisted firms that are majority-owned by women. ACOA requested that Statistics Canada provide further disaggregated data on its clients, where available. These additional data were further analyzed to help strengthen analysis and decision making within the Agency.

Policy Research and Engagement

Target Population: Atlantic Canadian small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), communities and organizations

Distribution of Benefits: Estimated benefits are for all ACOA clients using latest available data from Statistics Canada (2016).

Key Impacts: Other

This program, delivered through the Atlantic Policy Research Initiative (APRI), is the primary funding instrument through which ACOA supports policy research. It generates and disseminates knowledge that enhances policy information, including gender-based and diversity considerations, taking into account regional economic opportunities and challenges. These activities support and influence the policy research priorities that affect the Atlantic region, particularly those directly related to economic development including when it affects under-represented groups. They also help establish and promote networks among stakeholders.

Supplementary Information Sources:

The following are examples of publications relevant to GBA+ and supported by the Policy Research and Engagement Program through APRI:

• Employer Attitudes Toward Hiring Newcomers and International Students in the Atlantic Provinces – The Harris Centre, Memorial University of Newfoundland, 2021. https://www.mun.ca/harriscentre/ACOA_Immigration_Fang.pdf
• GEM Atlantic Canada Report 2019, The Centre for Innovation Studies, 2020. http://thecis.ca/wpdm-package/gem-atlantic-canada-report-2019/
• Immigration & Atlantic Revitalization – Public Policy Forum; 2020, https://ppforum.ca/project/immigration-atlantic-revitalization/
• Linking Indigenous communities with regional development, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, 2020. https://www.oecd.org/regional/indigenous-communities.htm

GBA+ Data Collection Plan:

In 2020-21, ACOA continued to update its internal administrative data collection system to capture microdata on GBA+ elements in order to facilitate monitoring and reporting. This will enable the Agency to carry out analyses on its programs using new and existing administrative data available. This will help the Agency take stock of the GBA+ elements of its programs, look at trends, and provide insight into areas that can be improved upon to strengthen inclusivity.

As part of its Departmental Results Framework, the Agency ensured that it could report on its departmental result Communities are economically diversified in Atlantic Canada by adopting several GBA+ related indicators that were made public in the GC InfoBase and its Departmental Plan for 2019-20 and 2020-21, as well as part of its performance inventory profiles. Examples of the tags used are women-led and women-owned businesses, people living with disabilities, Indigenous groups, recent immigrants, visible minorities, official language minority communities, and people in rural or remote regions. This was done in accordance with Treasury Board Secretariat guidelines on Sex and Gender Information.

In addition to these tags, ACOA also added GBA+ indicators from its Performance Information Profiles to its reporting system to facilitate reporting. This now allows ACOA to collect microdata on GBA+ related to its programs. The Agency also purchases custom data analyses from Statistics Canada to report on indicators such as the percentage of ACOA-assisted firms that are majority-owned by women. ACOA requested that Statistics Canada provide further disaggregated data on its clients, where available. These additional data were further analyzed to help strengthen analysis and decision making within the Agency.

Research and Development, and Commercialization

Target Population: Atlantic Canadian small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), communities and organizations

Distribution of Benefits: Estimated benefits are for all ACOA clients using latest available data from Statistics Canada (2016).

GBA+ Data Collection Plan:

In 2020-21, ACOA continued to update its internal administrative data collection system to capture microdata on GBA+ elements in order to facilitate monitoring and reporting. This will enable the Agency to carry out analyses on its programs using new and existing administrative data available. This will help the Agency take stock of the GBA+ elements of its programs, look at trends, and provide insight into areas that can be improved upon to strengthen inclusivity.

As part of its Departmental Results Framework, the Agency ensured that it could report on its departmental result Communities are economically diversified in Atlantic Canada by adopting several GBA+ related indicators that were made public in the GC InfoBase and its Departmental Plan for 2019-20 and 2020-21, as well as part of its performance inventory profiles. Examples of the tags used are women-led and women-owned businesses, people living with disabilities, Indigenous groups, recent immigrants, visible minorities, official language minority communities, and people in rural or remote regions. This was done in accordance with Treasury Board Secretariat guidelines on Sex and Gender Information.

In addition to these tags, ACOA also added GBA+ indicators from its Performance Information Profiles to its reporting system to facilitate reporting. This now allows ACOA to collect microdata on GBA+ related to its programs. The Agency also purchases custom data analyses from Statistics Canada to report on indicators such as the percentage of ACOA-assisted firms that are majority-owned by women. ACOA requested that Statistics Canada provide further disaggregated data on its clients, where available. These additional data were further analyzed to help strengthen analysis and decision making within the Agency.

Trade and Investment

Target Population: Atlantic Canadian small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), communities and organizations

Distribution of Benefits: Estimated benefits are for all ACOA clients using latest available data from Statistics Canada (2016).

Key Impacts: An evaluation of the Trade and Investment programming at ACOA found that ACOA has taken positive steps toward strengthening inclusive growth:

• During the period of the evaluation, ACOA invested $38.2 million in 172 Indigenous economic development projects; 110 since the Investing in Regional Innovation and Development framework target was established in 2017.
• Delivery of targeted programming for women, most notably the Women Entrepreneurship Strategy and the Women in Business Initiative.
• The Agency’s participation in the Atlantic Immigration Pilot is an important step forward on immigration and finding international workers who can help meet the needs of SMEs.
• Targeted support for young business owners, primarily through a $7.3 million investment in the Youth Entrepreneur Development Initiative.

Supplementary Information Sources:

GBA+ Data Collection Plan:

In 2020-21, ACOA continued to update its internal administrative data collection system to capture microdata on GBA+ elements in order to facilitate monitoring and reporting. This will enable the Agency to carry out analyses on its programs using new and existing administrative data available. This will help the Agency take stock of the GBA+ elements of its programs, look at trends, and provide insight into areas that can be improved upon to strengthen inclusivity.

As part of its Departmental Results Framework, the Agency ensured that it could report on its departmental result Communities are economically diversified in Atlantic Canada by adopting several GBA+ related indicators that were made public in the GC InfoBase and its Departmental Plan for 2019-20 and 2020-21, as well as part of its performance inventory profiles. Examples of the tags used are women-led and women-owned businesses, people living with disabilities, Indigenous groups, recent immigrants, visible minorities, official language minority communities, and people in rural or remote regions. This was done in accordance with Treasury Board Secretariat guidelines on Sex and Gender Information.

In addition to these tags, ACOA also added GBA+ indicators from its Performance Information Profiles to its reporting system to facilitate reporting. This now allows ACOA to collect microdata on GBA+ related to its programs. The Agency also purchases custom data analyses from Statistics Canada to report on indicators such as the percentage of ACOA-assisted firms that are majority-owned by women. ACOA requested that Statistics Canada provide further disaggregated data on its clients, where available. These additional data were further analyzed to help strengthen analysis and decision making within the Agency.

* 2020-21 or most recent

Table 3: Program Links to Gender Results Framework

Table 4: Program Links to Quality of Life Framework