2025-2026 Gender-based analysis plus
Section 1: Institutional GBA Plus governance and capacity
Governance
Gender Based Analysis Plus (GBA Plus) considerations are discussed and application is determined by the Veterans Review and Appeal Board’s (VRAB, the Board) executive team, who is supported by the Board’s GBA Plus champion representative.
Capacity
GBA Plus training for staff and Members is key to the successful integration of GBA Plus throughout the Board. The Board continues to promote GBA Plus training and tools that are available through the Canada School of Public Service and the Women and Gender Equality website; and encourages staff and Members to take part in the GBA Plus Awareness Week activities hosted by Veterans Affairs Canada (VAC). GBA Plus training is included in the Board’s mandatory training curriculum for all new employees. In 2025-26, all employees will continue to be required to take the training so they understand more about GBA Plus and how this process is used to explore the changing realities and inequalities of diverse groups of people. The integration of GBA Plus will also be supported in 2025-26 through the launch of the Board’s latest Diversity and Inclusion Action Plan. The Plan supports the integration of GBA Plus into the work of the Board in advancing equitable outcomes for all Veterans.
The Board serves a diverse group of Veterans, including factors such as gender, race, ethnicity, religion, age, ability, etc. The organization continues to apply a GBA Plus lens to help ensure we take into consideration the variation in experiences and barriers that different groups face as we develop and improve our program and services, to be more responsive to the unique needs of those we serve.
Human resources (full-time equivalents) dedicated to GBA Plus
As a small organization, the Board does not have any full-time equivalents (FTE) dedicated to working on GBA Plus. However, we have FTEs who engage with GBA Plus adding up to 0.25 FTEs.
Section 2: Gender and diversity impacts, by program
Core responsibility: Appeals
Program name: Review and Appeal
Program goals: The Board provides an independent review and appeal program for disability benefits decisions made by VAC. The Board helps Veterans, Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) and Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) Members, and their families obtain the benefits to which they are entitled for service-related disabilities.
The Board produces monthly internal reports that include data related to language and biological sex to reinforce its commitment to gender parity in the review and appeal program and to adjust workloads as required.
GBA Plus data collection plan
As the Board continues to identify GBA Plus focal points, it will develop measures to successfully implement GBA Plus considerations in its operations. The Board is developing a reporting dashboard. The dashboard will allow the Board to monitor client program usage by GBA Plus data elements. This data will provide the Board with ready access to information required to better manage and track its program outcomes. The level of analysis and monitoring will also become more robust as we work to increase our reporting capacity, to ensure that gender and diversity are considered within our program, policies and service delivery.
The Board currently collects and uses several data points that enable GBA Plus, including biological sex, age, official language, and geography. The Board recognizes the need to move to gender by default, with a third gender marker to represent other, as well as expand our data collection practices to include other relevant intersectional data collection points. As VAC expands its capacity to collect data, the Board will be able to leverage this information to improve its ability to measure and assess the impacts that intersectional identity factors may have on how our program and services are accessed and experienced by diverse sub-groups of the Veteran population.