Minister's Message

I am pleased to present Status of Women Canada’s Report on Plans and Priorities for 2016-17.

The 2016-17 Report on Plans and Priorities of Status of Women Canada provides information on how the Agency will support the Government on achieving our agenda in the coming year and I am fully confident that the Agency is prepared to successfully support me and work with our partners inside and outside government to deliver for Canadians. However, given our commitment to more effective reporting, this year’s report will be the final submission using the existing reporting framework.

The Prime Minister and the President of the Treasury Board are working to develop new, simplified and more effective reporting processes that will better allow Parliament and Canadians to monitor our Government’s progress on delivering real change to Canadians. In the future, Status of Women Canada’s reports to Parliament will focus more transparently on how we are using our resources to fulfill our commitments and achieve results for Canadians.

These new reporting mechanisms will allow Canadians to more easily follow our Agency’s progress towards delivering our priorities, which were outlined in the Prime Minister’s mandate letter to me (http://pm.gc.ca/eng/minister-status-women-mandate-letter).

As is stated in my mandate letter, I will engage with key partners and stakeholders, with a spirit of collaboration and openness, to deliver on our priorities. With gender equality at the forefront of our Government’s agenda, I am committed to working with Cabinet colleagues to ensure that policy, legislation and regulations are sensitive to the different effects that decisions can have on women and men. I will also be leading a process to develop a federal strategy on gender-based violence, and to continue to support the development of a mandate for an inquiry into murdered and missing Indigenous women and girls. In addition, Status of Women Canada will continue to support the government’s priorities of achieving gender equality in leadership positions, and promoting economic opportunities for women.

As we move forward, I am confident that by working together with resourcefulness and determination, we will achieve our ultimate goal of advancing equality between women and men.

The Honourable Patty A. Hajdu, P.C., M.P.
Minister of Status of Women

Section I: Organizational Expenditure Overview

Organizational Profile

Appropriate Minister:

The Honourable Patricia A. Hajdu

Institutional Head:

Meena Ballantyne

Ministerial Portfolio:

Canadian Heritage

Enabling Instrument:

Order in Council (1976-779)

Year of Incorporation / Commencement:

1976

Organizational Context

Raison d’être

The Office of the Co-ordinator, Status of Women, known as Status of Women Canada (SWC), is a federal Government agency that promotes equality between women and men in all aspects of Canadian life. The mandate of SWC is “to coordinate policy with respect to the status of women and administer related programs” (1976).

SWC is responsible for exercising leadership and working in partnership to promote and advance equality by: supporting community-based action and innovation that will lead to equality by helping to create conditions for success for women and girls in Canada; providing expert advice on gender equality and Gender-based Analysis in the development of effective programs, policies and legislation for all Canadians; promoting commemorative dates relating to women and girls in Canada; and supporting Canada’s efforts to meet international obligations.

SWC works to promote and advance equality for women and girls, focusing its efforts in three areas: improving women’s and girls’ economic security and prosperity; ending violence against women and girls; and supporting the advancement and increased representation of women and girls in leadership and decision-making roles. While SWC focuses on these three areas, the agency is able to address specific issues, such as engaging men and boys in ending violence, increasing women’s participation in skilled trades and technical professions or assisting women in rural and remote communities.

Responsibilities

SWC is the primary federal agency responsible for supporting the Government’s agenda to achieve equality for women and girls. As issues affecting women and girls permeate every aspect of society, the agency works with a wide range of organizations, builds synergies with key stakeholders, collaborates with different levels of government and engages the private and voluntary sectors.

To bring about concrete results and enduring benefits for Canadians, the agency carries out its mandate strategically, ensuring that its policy interventions and program investments are aligned with Government of Canada priorities.

In its policy function, SWC plays the role of a knowledge broker and facilitator, offering input, advice and strategic support to other Government departments and agencies, conducting policy analysis, and making strategic interventions at both the domestic and international levels.

SWC also leads in building capacity across Government for the integration of Gender-Based Analysis Plus (GBA+). GBA+ is an analytical tool to systematically integrate gender and other identity factors throughout the decision-making process and to assess the potential impacts of policies, programs or legislation on diverse groups of women and men in order to inform the development and delivery of more responsive initiatives.

Through the Women’s Program, SWC supports community-based action and innovation by providing financial and professional assistance to organizations to carry out projects that work to bring about equality between women and men and have a clear potential for making a difference in the lives of women and girls in Canada.

To raise awareness of the key milestones in the history of women, SWC promotes commemorative dates such as: International Women’s Day (March 8), Women’s History Month (October), the International Day of the Girl (October 11), Persons Day (October 18) and the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women (December 6).

SWC’s regional offices are located in Montréal (serving Quebec), Moncton (serving New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and Labrador), and Edmonton (serving Alberta, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, British Columbia, Northwest Territories and Yukon). The National office, also serving Nunavut, and the Ontario regional office are located at SWC headquarters in the National Capital Region.

Strategic Outcome and Program Alignment Architecture (PAA)

1. Strategic Outcome: Equality between women and men is promoted and advanced in Canada

Organizational Priorities

Priority 1: Preventing and addressing violence against women and girls

Description: SWC will engage and collaborate with key partners and stakeholders in Government, communities and academia to raise awareness and develop knowledge and strategies to prevent violence against women and girls.

Priority Type^{Footnote 1} Ongoing

Priority 2: Preventing and addressing violence against Indigenous women and girls

Description: SWC will engage and collaborate with key partners and stakeholders in Government and communities – with a focus on Indigenous communities – to raise awareness and develop knowledge and strategies to address the disproportionately high rate of violence against Indigenous women and girls, including by addressing its root causes.

Priority Type: New

Priority 3: Strengthening implementation of Gender-based Analysis Plus (GBA+)

Description: SWC, in collaboration with central agencies, will support federal organizations to build capacity to integrate GBA+ into their decision-making processes, with the goal of ensuring that legislation, policies and programs meet the needs of diverse women and girls.

Priority Type: Ongoing

Priority 4: Increasing the representation of women in leadership roles

Description: SWC will engage and collaborate with key partners and stakeholders in Government, the private sector and communities to raise awareness and develop knowledge and strategies to improve the representation of women in leadership positions.

Priority Type: Ongoing

Priority 5: Promoting women’s economic security and prosperity

Description: SWC will engage and collaborate with key partners and stakeholders in Government, the private sector, and communities to raise awareness and develop knowledge and strategies to advance women’s economic security and prosperity and their participation in the economy, including in areas where they are traditionally under-represented.

Priority Type: Ongoing

For more information on organizational priorities, see the Minister’s mandate letter on the Prime Minister of Canada’s website.^{Footnote i}

Risk Analysis

Planned Expenditures

Alignment of Spending With the Whole-of-Government Framework

Departmental Spending Trend

Estimates by Vote

For information on SWC’s organizational appropriations, consult the 2016–17 Main Estimates.^{Footnote iii}

Date modified:

2017-02-14