GenderBased Analysis and IRPA

1
Gender-Based Analysis and IRPA

• Presentation at ACTEW General Meeting, Toronto
• September 27 2002
• By Sandra Harder, Manager
• Gender-Based Analysis Unit CIC

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What is Gender-Based Analysis (GBA)?

• Analysis of the impacts (intended and/or
  unintended) of policies, programs, legislation
  and regulations on men and women and includes a
  diversity lens
• Allows decision makers to assess an initiative in
  lights of its impact and determine future action
• GBA leads to more effective public policy

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GBA in Federal Government

• CIC - one of 8 federal departments with dedicated
  Gender-Based Analysis (GBA) Units
• Units vary considerably in size, structure and
  operational focus
• CIC - one of smaller Units (2 full-time
  employees)

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GBA at Citizenship and Immigration

• Established - March 2000 as a pilot project in
  context of CICs legislative renewal process
• Now - permanent status with operational budget
  and permanent staff
• Unit - co-located in newly configured sector -
  Strategic Policy and Partnerships (SPP)
• Manager reports to the Director General of SPP
• Co-location with Strategic Policy advantages in
  terms of the Units mandate

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Mandate of the GBA Unit

• Unit is responsible for ensuring that gender is
  mainstreamed into the departments policies,
  programs, legislation/regulations, operations
  and research
• Accomplish this through
• 1) building internal capacity for GBA
• 2) providing analytical expertise and information
  from a GBA perspective

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Mandate contd

• 3) fulfilling CICs newly legislated mandate to
  report on GBA in its Annual Report to Parliament
• 4) maintaining working relationships with all
  sectors of the department
• 5) Pilot or take part in special initiatives to
  demonstrate the value-added nature of GBA
• 6) Develop and maintain contacts with NGOs,
  academics, researchers and experts in the field
  of gender and migration
• 7) Representing CIC on inter and
  intradepartmental committees

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GBA and Immigration andRefugee Protection Act
(IRPA)

• IRPA is the result of an extensive legislative
  renewal process that has been on-going for a
  number of years
• IRPA came into force June 28 2002
• The GBA Unit participated in the policy
  discussions and analysis that supported the new
  legislation, but the process was already well
  under-way when the Unit was established in March
  2000.
• The GBA Unit produced an analytical template to
  assist those working on the legislation and
  regulations in incorporating gender
  considerations in their work

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GBA and Immigration and RefugeeProtection Act
(IRPA) contd.

• The template provided a range of questions and
  issues for policy officers and legislative
  drafters to consider in their work (sample of
  template available)
• The GBA Unit produced an analytical chart of Bill
  C-31 that identified
• 1) areas where gender considerations could be
  important
• 2) potential gender/diversity impacts
• 3) areas that would require on-going monitoring
  and/or research over time
• The chart is posted on the CIC web site (IRPA
  homepage)
• C-31 became C-11 after prorogation

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GBA and Immigration and RefugeeProtection Act
(IRPA) contd.

• IRPA is framework legislation
• This means that much of the detailed content of
  the legislation is contained in the regulations
  that support IRPA
• The GBA Unit completed a similar analytical
  process for the regulations and produced a
  similar chart
• The chart will eventually be posted on the same
  web site

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GBA of IRPA - Some key areas of interest

• Family Reunification/Family Class issues
• Family Class identified for first time in IRPA as
  a distinct class
• Contains provision for the recognition of the
  principle of best interests of the child in HC
  determinations
• Parents are specifically included in the family
  class definitions
• Dependent children expanded to include children
  up to 22 years of age (not in a conjugal
  relationship, even though they may have been at
  one time) was 19 years of age in old legislation
• Common-law and same-sex relationships recognized
  - definition issues around common-law and same
  sex regarding co-habitation

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GBA of IRPA - Some key areas of interestcontd

• Sponsorship
• Reduce sponsorship period for spouses and
  common-law partners from 10 years to 3
• Sponsorship Bars
• in default on court-order support payments
  (differential gender impacts identified - men are
  more likely to be in default)
• convicted of a crime of domestic violence with a
  definition that is consistent with Criminal code
  definitions
• in receipt of social assistance for a reason
  other than disability (differential gender
  impacts identified and to be monitored over time)
  

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GBA of IRPA - Some key areas of interestcontd

• Economic Classes
• Skilled Worker - New Selection Grid
• Move to human capital approach - greater emphasis
  on certificates/degrees and years of education
• Change in skills levels in the NOC
• Minimum necessary income
• More points allocated for language abilities
• Change in points allocation for experience
• Adaptability points specified - change from
  person suitability
• Notation of accreditation/certification
  requirements

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GBA of IRPA - Some key areas of interestcontd

• Live-In Caregivers
• Almost exclusively used by women
• Issues around nurses using LCP
• Detailed employment contract - new requirement
• Jurisdictional issues of contract monitoring and
  enforcement remain
• Employment authorizations - interrupted work
  history
• Ongoing research/program improvement underway

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GBA of IRPA - Some key areas of interestcontd

• Refugees
• One-year window of opportunity (non-accompanying
  dependents) - avoids sponsorship process in some
  instances
• Exemption from the ability to successfully
  establish for vulnerable or in urgent need of
  protection
• Ability to establish - new factors identified
  (e.g. potential for employment VS. past
  employment)
• Special needs greater settlement assistance
  (e.g.large families, trauma, torture, systemic
  discrimination)

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GBA and IRPAOngoing Monitoring Research Areas

• Impacts of New Selection Grid for Skilled workers
  and labour market performance and integration of
  new-comers
• Live-In Caregiver Program - program improvement
  research and consultations
• Sponsorship default - disaggregated data by
  gender, age, source country
• Sponsorship Ban Issues - data disaggregated by
  reason for ban, gender, age, source country to
  determine differential impacts of the ban -
  particularly for those in receipt of social
  assistance

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GBA and IRPAOngoing Monitoring Research Areas

• Inadmissibility on health grounds excessive
  demand determination 5 years and in some
  circumstances extended to 10 years - differential
  impacts by gender and age
• HC considerations - monitor failed and
  successful HC applications by gender/age/source
  country for differential patterns or trends
• Refugees - patterns of claims - such as where
  claims are made gender - impacts of Safe Third
  Agreement