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2019–20 Departmental Plan

Gender-based analysis plus

Governance structures

The nature of Elections Canada's service delivery mandate and approach has long been aligned with GBA+ principles. The agency proactively applies an analytical approach to assessing the potential range of impacts that its policy and service delivery have on the multiple factors that determine the identity of the people who benefit from its services.

In 2019–20, the agency will continue to work towards establishing structures and accountability frameworks to ensure that GBA+ analysis is conducted consistently across the organization and that the complex relationships between various aspects (such as an individual's gender, sexual identity, cultural background, disability, etc.) are considered in decision making at all levels.

In doing so, the agency will keep strengthening its internal capacity for such analysis, and, subsequently develop planning, monitoring and reporting frameworks to formalize this work.

Human resources

Rather than relying on dedicated full-time employees, Elections Canada promotes a decentralized approach that focusses on developing champions across various disciplines and building agency-wide capacities for integrating GBA+.

This approach aligns with and, leverages current agency initiatives that integrate user perspectives and other human-centered principles into its decision-making process at all levels.

Planned initiatives

Elections Canada operates and delivers services in highly complex settings. Many transformation initiatives are currently underway, including:

  • polling place enhancements involving digital technologies;
  • process enhancements that include both digital and paper-based changes;
  • service experience improvements, and
  • re-design of material.

The agency is proactively integrating qualitative and quantitative stakeholder research, diverse user perspectives, usability testing, best practices, and other human-centered service design, and design thinking principles into its decision making at all levels, as well as into the monitoring of these complex initiatives.

As a next step, Elections Canada will begin establishing metrics and performance frameworks that will align GBA+ analysis with current human-centered service design approaches.