Summary

GBA+ is a valuable method for systematically including gender, sex and other factors in the development of federal initiatives. It can be used by all departments and for all federal functions.

GBA+ is a critical part of public policy. While it may not in fact apply to your particular initiative, you cannot automatically rule it out without an investigation. If you find that GBA+ does not apply, you will still need to document any initial investigations and be able to justify your decision.

You may be able to conclude from the GBA+ process that an initiative will have no negative impacts on different groups of men and women. Providing you document the GBA+ process and qualify your options, your approach is still gender-sensitive.

Remember from Module 3 that you will need to check your assumptions about an issue and its possible effects on diverse groups of women and men. Your assumptions might inadvertently influence the option you choose. Ultimately you will want to choose the option that reduces the possible negative impacts on the Canadian population.