Title: Desmystifying GBA + Job Aid
Course: Introduction to gender-based analysis plus GBA+ > Section: Module 3

Analyzing the full impacts of an initiative is a competency. Gender-based Analysis Plus – or GBA+ – is a tool developed by Status of Women Canada to guide this analytical process. Using GBA+ helps you assess the potential impacts – positive or negative – of initiatives on diverse groups of women, men and gender-diverse people, enabling you to identify risks and create mitigation strategies. Diversity helps us to innovate and to consider issues and policy in a different way.

Groups of people are not homogeneous. Although gender is usually conceptualized as a binary (girl/woman and boy/man), there is considerable diversity in how individuals and groups understand, experience, and express gender. The “plus” in GBA+ acknowledges that GBA goes beyond biological (sex) and socio-cultural (gender) differences. We all have multiple identity factors that intersect to make us who we are; GBA+ also considers many other identity factors, like race, ethnicity, religion, age, and mental or physical disability.

All of the work we do affects Canadians. GBA+ is a tool that will prompt you to consider the full impact of government initiatives from the perspectives of diverse people, and to identify potential challenges at an early stage. GBA+ is not something to be tacked on after the fact, nor can it be carried out by just one person. It is a tool that should be used at all stages of the policy cycle or projects, from conceptualisation to implementation. Start your GBA+ sooner – before you write your options or begin your design. Initiatives vary and there is no single GBA+ template, however there are some key considerations and questions to ask at each step of the process. In short, GBA+ is about effective analysis – and every public servant has a responsibility to complete GBA+ on all their work.