Virtual workshop on Gender Budgeting and Covid-19

1. Gender Budgeting and Canada’s COVID-19
Economic Response Plan
OECD Virtual Workshop on Gender Budgeting and the COVID-19
July 10 2020
Lauren Keating, Economist,Budget Policy andAnalysis, Finance Canada
Thomas Larouche, Senior Director,Budget Policy andAnalysis, Finance Canada

2. 2
Overview
• Gender Budgeting in Canada: Core Principles
• COVID-19 Challenges
• Canada’s COVID-19 Economic Response Plan and Gender Budgeting Aspects (Gender
Results Framework (GRF) and Gender-Based Analysis Plus (GBA+))
• Looking Ahead - Gender Budgeting during COVID-19

3. 3
Gender Results Framework (Budget 2018)
The Gender Results Framework is aligned with the
Government of Canada’s policy of GBA+, ensuring that gender
is considered in relation to other intersecting identity factors.
3
Education and
Skills
Development
Equal opportunities and
diversified paths in
education and skills
development
Economic
Participation
and Prosperity
Equal and full
participation in the
economy
Leadership and
Democratic
Participation
Gender equality in
leadership roles and at all
levels of decision-making
Gender-Based
Violence and
Access to Justice
Eliminating gender-based
violence and harassment,
and promoting security of
the person and access to
justice
Poverty
Reduction,
Health and
Well-Being
Reduced poverty and
improved health
outcomes
Gender Equality
Around the
World
Promoting gender
equality to build a more
peaceful, inclusive, rules-
based and prosperous
world
Gender Budgeting in Canada: Core Principles
Gender Budgeting Act (Dec. 2018)
• Makes gender budgeting a permanent part
of the federal budget-making process
• Reporting requirements for new budget
measures (Gender-Based Analysis+
Template), tax expenditures, and existing
program expenditures
• Promotes principle of gender equality and
greater inclusiveness in society as part of
the annual federal budget
• Makes information available to the public
on the impacts of Government decisions in
terms of gender and diversity
The government is working on incorporating quality of life measurements into decision-making, including in the development and
implementation of Canada’s COVID-19 Economic Response Plan.

4. 4
4
COVID-19 Challenges
 Like most countries, the COVID-19 pandemic is the challenge of a
generation in Canada.
 Since mid-March, federal Government delivered a comprehensive
economic response equivalent to nearly 14 p. cent of Canada’s GDP.
 Government’s approach was to rapidly move forward with support
measures and to tailor them once the main elements were in place.
Priority was getting support out to Canadians as quickly as possible.
 Speed of action required some flexibility in the policy development cycle.
 Mainstreamed gender budgeting approach and strong political support
ensured gender equality and diversity outcomes informed priority-setting,
as well as collaboration across government (support from WAGE, Privy
Council Office, Departments, Statistics Canada, etc.).

5. Overview: Canada’s COVID-19 Economic Response Plan
• Strong, immediate, and effective
actions to protect Canadians and
businesses from the impacts of the
crisis – Detailed in Economic and
Fiscal Snapshot 2020 (July 8).
• Direct fiscal support measures alone
represent over 10 % of GDP, focused
on individuals and households.
• Bridge financing for businesses of all
sizes.
• Broad market liquidity and credit
support.

6. Focus on Income Support, Credit Support and Vulnerable
Canadians
• On aggregate, CERB payments made
from mid-March to May have largely
replaced all the employment income lost
by Canadians during the pandemic.
• For lower-income and vulnerable
Canadians, who were especially hard-hit
by the crisis, this support has been
critical in helping them afford essentials
like rent, groceries and medicine.
• Payment deferrals and interest rate relief
on both mortgage and non-mortgage
debt have provided added support.

7. 7
Response Plan aligns with the Gender Results Framework…
The Gender Results Framework was leveraged to examine the impacts of COVID-19 on diverse groups
of Canadians and how the Government is responding.
Gender Results
Framework Pillar
Key Indicators of the Impact of COVID-19 Government Response
Education and Skills
Development
• 35 per cent of post-secondary students had a work
placement cancelled or delayed, and 26 per cent had
some of their courses postponed or cancelled.
• Households in the lowest income quartile were 21 times
more likely to not have access than households in the
highest income quartile.
• Canada Emergency Student Benefit ($5.2 Billion)
• Canada Student Service Grant ($900 Million)
• Canada Student Loans Program ($1.9 Billion)
Economic Participation
and Prosperity
• Between February and April, 5.5 million Canadians were
affected by COVID-19 by either job losses or reduced
hours.
• Labour market impacts felt more strongly among low-
wage workers, youth and very recent immigrants.
• Closures of schools and child care services during COVID-
19 increased the amount of unpaid work in the home
which is disproportionately carried out by women.
• Canada Emergency Response Benefit ($80 Billion)
• Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy ($82.3 Billion)
• Supporting safe and sufficient supply of child care
(part of $14 Billion)
Leadership and
Democratic Participation
• Canadians trust their public health leaders.
• COVID-19 has brought many women leaders in
medicine and public health into the spotlight.
• In April, majority-owned by women and other under-
represented groups were more likely to report being highly
affected by lower demand for their products or services
and have their rent payments deferred.
• Women Entrepreneurship Strategy ($15 Million)
• Funding to help small and medium-sized Indigenous
businesses and to support Aboriginal Financial
Institutions ($307 Million)
• Canada Emergency Commercial Rent Assistance
($2.9 Billion)

8. 8
… which provides an effective mapping of response measures to
specific impacts of the crisis
Gender Results
Framework Pillar
Key Indicators of the Impact of COVID-19 Government Response
Gender-Based Violence
and Access to Justice
• 20 to 30 per cent increase in rates of gender-based violence
and domestic violence in some regions of the country.
• 7 per cent of respondents to a crowdsourcing survey felt that
race-based incidents had increased in their neighborhood
since the pandemic. Chinese respondents (30 per cent), were
significantly more likely to report increases in race-based
incidents.
• Support to existing women’s shelters and sexual
assault centres ($50 Million)
• Emergency Community Support Fund ($350
Million)
Poverty Reduction, Health
and Well-Being
• In May, 48 per cent of Canadians reported excellent or very
good mental health, fewer than in 2018 (68 per cent).
• Women, youth, and indigenous peoples were more likely to
report poorer mental health.
• In early May, almost 15% of Canadians reported that they lived
in a household where there was food insecurity.
• Households with children were more likely to be food
insecure than households without children.
• Canada Child Benefit top-up ($1.9 Billion)
• Virtual care and mental health tools ($241 Million)
• Support for food banks and local organizations
($100 Million)
Gender Equality around
the World
• Women perform three times more unpaid care work than
men; likely greater as a result of school and child care service
closures.
• Domestic, sexual, and gender-based violence increases
during public health and economic crises and disasters.
• Women make up 70 per cent of health care workers around
the world.
• COVID-19 Response Fund, to support
international efforts to fight the COVID-19
pandemic and investing in line with the feminist
international assistance policy ($442 Million)

9. 9
Gender-based Analysis Plus (GBA+)
• All proposals to the Minister, including
those in response to COVID-19, are
required to contain a GBA+.
• GBA+ Template and Guidance document.
• As measures began to be implemented and
data on measures became available, GBA+
were updated where possible.
Included in the Snapshot:
• GBA+ for each and every response
measure (68 in total) are published in
Annex 1.
• An aggregate GBA+ Summary and two
flagship measures’ GBA+, CERB and
CEWS, were included in the GBA+
Summary of Chapter 1.
14%
9%
77%
Chart 1.7 - Value of Direct Measures of the COVID-19 Economic
Response Plan by Gender
Women Men Broadly Gender Balanced
Gender and Diversity Impacts of Individual Response Measures and at the Aggregate Level
*Includes total value of direct and health spending of $232 billion as per Table 1.1

10. 10
Gender-based Analysis Plus (GBA+) - Example – Income Support
Measure

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Gender-based Analysis Plus (GBA+) - Example – Liquidity Support
Measure
• Liquidity support and capital relief
measures had GBA+ conducted in
much the same way as individual
support measures.
• The GBA+ Template and Guidance help
Analysts complete GBA+ for all types of
measures.

12. 12
Looking Ahead, Data will Continue to be a Key Priority
• Gender and diversity analysis is limited by the
availability of data, especially for certain identity
factors (race, sexual orientation, disability etc.).
• Crowdsourcing surveys were used for many of the
key indicators shown in the gender results
framework. Although important for obtaining timely
information on the impacts of COVID-19 on groups of
Canadians, the findings cannot be extended to the
overall Canadian population.
• Work will continue to ensure disaggregated data is
collected and policy measures are analyzed and
implemented from an intersectional lens.
• Focus will be to collect and share consistent and
timely administrative data on response measures and
inform the recovery.
• Will continue to leverage collaboration across
government.
Though improved, data availability continues to be
challenging
Focus on data collection and monitoring to improve
policy design going forward

13. 13
Annex: Evolution of Gender Budgeting in Canada
Fromhigh-levelcommitmenttointegratedbudgetpractice
2016 Fall Economic
Statement
Public Commitment to
GBA+ for Future
Budgets:
“… submit Budget 2017,
and all future budgets, to
more rigorous analysis
by completing and
publishing a gender-
based analysis of
budgetary measures”
• Previously, GBA+
was part of the
internal budget
briefing process,
with little-to-no public
exposure
Budget 2017 Gender
Statement
First public assessment
of the budget from a
gender perspective
• Concise picture of
gender in Canada
today: Presented key
socio-economic trends
and challenges
remaining in Canada
• High-level GBA+ of
Budget Measures:
Content informed
almost exclusively by
departmental gender-
based analysis
Budget 2018’s Equality
Chapter
Gender equality was a
central focus of the budget
• Focus on Results: Drive
gender equality objectives
in budget priority-setting
• Improved analysis:
Ongoing institutional (and
cultural) shift towards
gender mainstreaming in
policy
• More Transparency:
Consider further steps to
open analysis and data to
the public
Budget 2019
Canadian Gender
Budgeting Act (Dec. 2018)
Gender budgeting &
GBA+ has become a core
pillar
• Continued focus on
results (Gender
Results Framework)
• More comprehensive
GBA+ analysis
published for all
budget measures
(Gender Report)
• Gender and diversity
mainstreaming in policy
with a strong focus on
evidence-based
analysis
Snapshot 2020
Gender Budgeting
continues to be a core
pillar in the
Government’s COVID-19
Response
Gender Results
Framework
• Indicators were
adapted to the context
of COVID-19 and to
identify impacts on
diverse groups of
Canadians
GBA+
• As comprehensive as
possible with limited
data available, cover
all response measures