2019-20 Departmental Results Report (DRR)

Supplementary Information Tables

Gender-based analysis plus

Institutional GBA+ Capacity

The Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada (OPC) recognizes and supports the implementation of Gender-Based Analysis Plus (GBA+) across the Office.

In order to build and maintain GBA+ capacity, the OPC nominated a GBA+ Champion (Senior Executive) and two co-champions in 2019 (collectively, the GBA+ co-champion network), to raise awareness among OPC employees and disseminate GBA+ information across the office. This co-champion network has engaged in numerous discussions about how best to incorporate GBA+ into both internal and external functions across the OPC and participates in government wide working groups on GBA+.

To assist the co-champion network with its work, and to ensure implementation of GBA+ within each respective Directorate, a GBA+ Working Group has been formed, which includes representatives from each directorate across the Office. One of the goals of the Working Group is to promote GBA+ as a community of practice. This work feeds into Government of Canada wide GBA+ activities led by the Department of Women and Gender Equality Canada (WAGE) and other departments, as required.

Highlights of GBA+ Results by Program

Protection of Privacy Rights

As noted above, the OPC is advancing its examination of how to best incorporate GBA+ in its various processes and procedures. Numerous directorates have initiated GBA+ initiatives within their activities already, outside of a formal implementation framework, which is currently under development.

The following are examples of some of these GBA+ related initiatives.

1. The Communications Directorate has been particularly active in integrating GBA+ in their programs and processes by participating in a number of events in 2019-20 as part of its Communications and Outreach Strategy for the Public:
   • The OPC exhibited at three Pride events to reach individuals that may not have heard of our office but that could potentially benefit from our services (Fête arc-en-ciel in Québec City, Ottawa Capital Pride Community Fair, Toronto Pride Street Fair). We interacted with a total of 1250 people at Pride events.
   • The OPC prepared targeted bag inserts at a number of events we attended. This included inserts to reach women entrepreneurs, and at the Girls Conference 2020, which has a goal of empowering and celebrating girls and women.
2. The Government Advisory Directorate has updated the way it triages incoming Privacy Impact Assessments (PIAs) to include GBA+ considerations as a factor when determining how to respond to submitting departments. Considerations of how government programs and initiatives will impact vulnerable populations have now been formalised in our review process and have been set out in a separate section to ensure that is not overlooked.
3. The Compliance Sector has started incorporating GBA+ considerations, particularly those related to vulnerable populations, when determining which completed investigations should be made public.
4. As part of its policy work, the Policy, Research and Parliamentary Affairs Directorate considers the impacts of new technologies and other privacy impactful measures on vulnerable populations and diverse groups of people, among other related activities. Over the last year this included the potential use of IOT devices for domestic abuse in its IOT guidance for manufacturers under PIPEDA, and consideration of the potential use of AI to create/perpetuate bias/discrimination and an appropriate legal framework for addressing such risks.
5. Various directorates across the OPC are engaged in discussions about removing all gendered honorifics from our correspondence and considering switching to the use of positon titles or full names when addressing individuals in our correspondence.

Given the OPC’s mandate to oversee compliance with Canadian privacy laws, as well as to promote privacy best practices, the OPC is adopting a cautious approach to any new data collection and/or analysis to ensure privacy rights are appropriately considered and protected and no new data is unnecessarily collected.

Nevertheless, the OPC is committed to incorporating GBA+ into its work wherever possible and is engaging across the Office to determine the best way of doing so.

2019-20 Departmental Sustainable Development Strategy

1. Introduction to the Departmental Sustainable Development Strategy

The 2016 to 2019 Federal Sustainable Development Strategy (FSDS) presents the Government of Canada’s sustainable development goals and targets, as required by the Federal Sustainable Development Act. The Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada (OPC) adheres to the principles of the FSDS, and while not bound formally by the Act, supports reporting on the implementation of the Departmental Sustainable Development Strategy.

2. Departmental performance by FSDS goal

Low-Carbon Government: The Government of Canada leads by example by making its operations low-carbon. 

FSDS goal: low-carbon government

FSDS target(s)	FSDS contributing action(s)	Corresponding departmental action(s)	Starting point(s) Performance indicator(s) Target(s)	Results achieved	Contribution by each departmental result to the FSDS goal and target
Reduce greenhouse gas emissions from federal government buildings and fleets by 40% below 2005 levels by 2030, with an aspiration to achieve it by 2025.	Support the transition to a low-carbon economy through green procurement.	Integrate environmental considerations into procurement management processes and controls.	Use, where appropriate, Public Services and Procurement Canada’s (PSPC) procurement instruments into which environmental performance considerations are already integrated, and continue to promote environmental considerations in our daily workplaces.	The OPC continued to use PSPC procurement instruments to procure services and office furniture and supplies.	The OPC is a small organization and its few greening procurement activities have limited contribution towards the broader Government of Canada’s FSDS goal and target.
		Ensure that decision-makers have the necessary training and awareness to support green procurement.	Percentage of procurement and materiel management specialists who have taken training on green procurement.	100%

3. Report on integrating sustainable development

During the 2019-20 reporting cycle, the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada had no proposals that required a Strategic Environmental Assessment and no public statements were produced.