Supplementary information tables: 2021–22 Departmental Results Report

Details on transfer payment programs

Assessed Contribution to the Bureau International des Poids et Mesures (BIPM)

Start date: Canada signed the Metre Convention and became a member state of BIPM in 1907
End date: Ongoing
Type of transfer payment: contribution
Type of appropriation: Estimates
Fiscal year for terms and conditions: 2018-19

Link to departmental results

• Scientific and technological knowledge advances
• Innovative businesses grow
• Evidence-based solutions inform decisions in Government priority areas

Link to the department's Program inventory

• Core responsibility: Science and Innovation
• Program: Metrology

Purpose and objectives of transfer payment program Purpose and objectives of transfer payment program

The assessed contribution to the BIPM is an obligation accepted by Canada as a signatory to the international treaty known as the Metre Convention. By representing Canada on the international metrology stage through its affiliation with the BIPM and associated regional metrology organization Sistema Interamericana de Metrologia (SIM), the NRC can more effectively and efficiently respond to its mandated responsibility for maintenance of national measurement standards, as articulated in the NRC Act and the Weights and Measures Act.

Results achieved

• By maintaining international recognition in measurement science through its interactions with the BIPM and SIM, the NRC continues to provide metrology research and services that help transform ideas into market-ready technologies that benefit Canadian society, the economy, and the environment.
• In 2021–22, this included the SIM Quality System Task Force (QSTF) approval of the NRC Quality Management System (QMS) transition to ISO/IEC 17025:2017 before the June 2021 deadline. Additionally the NRC QMS for Electrical Standards was presented to SIM regional task group and gained continued acceptance supporting its internationally recognized Calibration and Measurement Capabilities. The peer review for Photometry and Radiometry was successfully completed and submitted to SIM for April review and approval.

Findings of audits completed in 2021-22: N/A

Findings of evaluations completed in 2021-22

The 2021‑22 evaluation of the NRC's Metrology Program found that it demonstrates scientific excellence, contributes to government policy solutions, and supports business innovation. The Metrology Program is engaging with national and international stakeholders and has the expertise to meet stakeholder needs and shift focus as required to address changing needs and priorities; it has also been integral to Canada's response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Opportunities identified to strengthen the Metrology Program's position were in the areas of tracking performance measurement, strategic client engagement, and increasing partnerships in order to access needed competencies, equipment and facilities.

Engagement of applicants and recipients in 2021-22

• The NRC participates in the activities and meetings relative to the Bureau international des poids et mesures and associated regional metrology organization Sistema Interamericana de Metrologia (SIM)
• In 2021-22 engagement included attending virtual meetings of all the Consultative Committees and associated working groups, leading regional level workshops, leading pilot studies and key comparisons involving other international NMIs (National Metrology Institutes), as well as producing 153 peer‑reviewed publications in Chemical and Physical Metrology.

Financial information (dollars)

Type of transfer payment	2019–20 Actual spending	2020–21 Actual spending	2021–22 Planned spending	2021–22 Total authorities available for use	2021–22 Actual spending (authorities used)	Variance (2021–22 actual minus 2021–22 planned)
Total grants	-	-	-	-	-	-
Total contributions	612,603	650,198	659,000	608,795	608,795	(50,205)
Total program	612,603	650,198	659,000	608,795	608,795	(50,205)

Explanation of variances: N/A

Collaborative Science, Technology and Innovation Program (CSTIP)

Start date: April 1, 2018
End date: Ongoing
Type of transfer payment: Grants and contributions
Type of appropriation: Estimates
Fiscal year for terms and conditions: 2018-19

Link to departmental results

• Scientific and technological knowledge advances
• Innovative businesses grow
• Evidence-based solutions inform decisions in Government priority areas

Link to the department's Program Inventory

• Core Responsibility: Science and Innovation
• Program: Collaborative Science, Technology and Innovation Program

Purpose and objectives of transfer payment program

Provides grant and contribution funding for external collaborators with complementary capabilities [e.g. small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), post-secondary institutions and non-profit research organizations]. The program comprises:

1. NRC Collaborative Research & Development (R&D) initiatives: funding external collaborators working with NRC researchers on projects that make up a series of large-scale collaborative R&D programs in priority areas;
2. Ideation Fund: funding external collaborators working with NRC personnel to encourage, test and validate transformative self-directed, exploratory research ideas; and
3. Outreach Initiative: funding to support conferences, workshops, symposia or other outreach initiatives, in order to promote engagement of Canadians, particularly those in under-represented groups, interested in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM).

Results achieved

• Conducted significant stakeholder engagement to inform the development of the Applied Quantum Computing Challenge program announced through Budget 2021.
• Formally launched 3 new Challenge programs: Aging in Place, Internet of Things: Quantum Sensors and Arctic and Northern.
• Established strategic partnerships with the Canadian Institute of Health Research (CIHR), UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), Fonds de recherché du Québec (FRQ), Polar Knowledge Canada, Parks Canada, and Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami (ITK). These enabled coordinated calls for proposals with national and international partners, including a joint CINUK (Canada-Inuit Nunangat-United Kingdom Arctic Research Programme) call with UKRI.
• Continued to advance research into secure telecommunications through collaborative R&D in optical and quantum communications, while working closely with the Optical Satellite Consortium and the Canadian Space Agency.
• The Quantum Sensors Challenge program (QSP) is highly engaged with the National Quantum Strategy and is working on quantum technologies across the TRL scale with emphasis on commercialization. To date, the QSP program has signed collaborative research agreements with 5 Canadian SMEs providing $3.8 million in CSTIP funding for projects with a total value of $7.6 million.

Findings of audits completed in 2021-22: N/A
Findings of evaluations completed in 2021‑22: First evaluation scheduled for 2022‑23 (five-year cycle).

Engagement of applicants and recipients in 2021–22

• The NRC continues to partner with private and public sector, academic and other research organizations in Canada and internationally through seven active Challenge programs and 5 active Cluster support programs (formerly named Supercluster support programs).
• The NRC held direct consultations with over 40 external stakeholders in addition to public communications and social media outreach in the development on the Applied Quantum Computing Challenge program, which provided a better understanding of the challenges and opportunities facing stakeholders in the quantum sector.
• There were 6 open calls for proposals issued in 2021‑22 across Challenge programs and Cluster support programs.
• To date, the NRC has supported 356 projects and over $114 million in funding through its Challenge programs and Cluster support programs with 93 unique collaborators.
• Two Small Teams projects were selected for funding through an open call within the NRC to work with external research collaborators.

Financial information (dollars)

Type of transfer payment	2019–20 Actual spending	2020–21 Actual spending	2021–22 Planned spending	2021–22 Total authorities available for use	2021–22 Actual spending (authorities used)	Variance (2021–22 actual minus 2021–22 planned)
Total grants	6,997,744	18,359,497	24,000,000	27,060,242	24,159,401	159,401
Total contributions	7,115,625	9,542,593	7,655,610	7,731,419	7,731,419	75,809
Total program	14,113,369	27,902,090	31,655,610	34,791,661	31,890,820	235,210

Explanation of variances: Variance is immaterial

Industrial Research Assistance Program (IRAP)

Start date: September 1, 2018 (terms & conditions renewal date; original start date: April 1, 1965)
End date: Ongoing
Type of transfer payment: Contribution
Type of appropriation: Estimates
Fiscal year for terms and conditions: 2018‑19

Link to departmental results

• Scientific and technological knowledge advances
• Innovative businesses grow
• Evidence-based solutions inform decisions in Government priority areas

Link to the department's Program Inventory

• Core Responsibility: Science and Innovation
• Program: NRC Industrial Research Assistance Program (NRC IRAP)

Purpose and objectives of transfer payment program

• The program contributes to the growth and prosperity of Canadian SMEs by stimulating innovation, adoption and/or commercialization of technology-based products, services, or processes in Canada. This is done through:
  1. technical and related business advice and networking facilitated by a cross-Canada network of field professional staff;
  2. cost-shared merit-based contributions; and
  3. contributions supporting employment of post-secondary graduates.
• This program has the following streams: Contributions to Firms; Contributions to Organizations; and Youth Employment Program. NRC IRAP supports the placement of graduates in SMEs through its participation in the delivery of the Youth Employment Program sponsored by Employment and Social Development Canada's Youth Employment and Skills Strategy.
• With the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, NRC IRAP established a suite of ten temporary Subject Expert Teams to coordinate and accelerate support to Canadian SMEs who presented viable solutions to detect, prevent and treat COVID-19. NRC IRAP supported projects to further technology development, capacity building and manufacturing scale-up in response to COVID-19.
• Recipients are not required to repay funds obtained under this transfer payment program.

Results achieved

• Stimulation of innovation in SMEs in Canada.
• Growth of innovative SMEs
• Creation of wealth for Canada.

See the Main portion of the NRC's Departmental Results Report for additional results pertaining to NRC IRAP.

Findings of audits completed in 2021‑22: N/A
Findings of evaluations completed in 2021‑22: Next evaluation scheduled for 2022‑23 (five-year cycle).

Engagement of applicants and recipients in 2021‑22

NRC IRAP is a national program managed on a regional basis with over 260 Industrial Technology Advisors (ITAs) located in 106 points of service across the country, who provide customized advice to growth oriented technologically innovative SMEs. ITAs engage with firms over a period of time, creating a plan to work with the firm to support their plans for innovation and growth. Support may be in the form of advisory services and/or financial support for innovative projects.

At the end of their funded project, recipients are required to complete an online Post-Project Report. This assessment captures information on the recipient's experience with NRC IRAP and, along with published service standards, is used by the program to develop continuous program improvements.

NRC IRAP has an Advisory Board composed of 10 to 12 members from the industry sector and industry associations. This Board provides advice to NRC IRAP management and brings an external perspective on the strategic direction and management of the program.

NRC IRAP is actively engaged with the Treasury Board Secretariat (TBS) Grants and Contributions Reform. Participation in workshops and constant alignment with recent TBS policy and guidelines has enabled the program to steadily move toward principles such as a Recipient Engagement Strategy and Policy on Service and Digital.

Financial information (dollars)

Type of transfer payment	2019–20 Actual spending	2020–21 Actual spending	2021–22 Planned spending	2021–22 Total authorities available for use	2021–22 Actual spending (authorities used)	Variance (2021–22 actual minus 2021–22 planned)
Total grants	-	-	-	-	-	-
Total contributions	335,412,426	715,902,634	379,514,000	582,575,435	458,281,744	78,767,744
Total program	335,412,426	715,902,634	379,514,000	582,575,435	458,281,744	78,767,744

Explanation of variances: The significant variance between planned spending and actual spending is primarily due to the additional funding received for Medical Countermeasures. As a result, the NRC has reprofiled funds of $50.4 million of its 2021‑22 funding to future years.

Innovative Solutions Canada

Start date: 2017‑18. The first NRC challenge was posted in December 2017, to coincide with the program launch.
End date: 2021‑22
Type of transfer payment: Grant and Procurement
Type of appropriation: Estimates

Fiscal year for terms and conditions

The NRC received authority for the Innovation, Science and Economic Development (ISED)-led terms & conditions for Innovative Solutions Canada (ISC) grants in 2017‑18 (January 2018).

Link to departmental results

ISC is an ISED-led program, with the NRC as one of 20 federal departments mandated to participate. Program results will be reported by ISED.

Link to the department's Program Inventory

Within the NRC, this ISED-led program is administered by NRC IRAP.

Purpose and objectives of transfer payment program

ISC is a grant and procurement program that enables participating departments and agencies to support the scale-up of Canadian small and medium-sized businesses through early-stage, pre-commercial R&D. The program allocates a portion of departmental funding to:

• Fuel the development and adoption of technological innovation in Canada.
• Grow Canadian companies through direct funding to support early stage, pre-commercial R&D, late stage prototypes, and to accelerate commercialization.
• Encourage procurement from companies led by under-represented groups, such as women, Indigenous Peoples, youth, disabled individuals, 2SLGBTQ+ and others.
• Foster greater industry-research collaboration through the release of challenges for solutions that address key Government of Canada priorities.
• Provide federal departments and agencies with opportunities to develop new capabilities to meet their R&D needs and thereby advance government priorities.

Results achieved

NRC IRAP provided financial support for near-to-market solutions through ISED's ISC Challenge Program, investing $12.6 million in 2021‑22, to support 40 projects with 38 Canadian SMEs. The NRC continues to be the leading ISC department in the number of challenges posted, including the number of challenges issued in collaboration with other departments and awarded funded projects.

Findings of audits completed in 2021‑22: N/A
Findings of evaluations completed in 2021‑22: N/A – this is an ISED-led program
Engagement of applicants and recipients in 2021‑22: Results included above

Financial information (dollars)

Type of transfer payment	2019–20 Actual spending	2020–21 Actual spending	2021–22 Planned spending	2021–22 Total authorities available for use	2021–22 Actual spending (authorities used)	Variance (2021–22 actual minus 2021–22 planned)
Total grants	291,000	10,024,930	14,600,000	16,200,000	9,697,295	(4,902,705)
Total contributions	-	-	-	-	-	-
Total program	291,000	10,024,930	14,600,000	16,200,000	9,697,295	(4,902,705)

Explanation of variances: The significant variance between planned spending and actual spending is primarily due to the additional funding received for Medical Countermeasures. As a result, the NRC has reprofiled $6.5 million of its 2021‑22 funding to future years.

International Affiliations Program

Start date: 1958
End date: Ongoing
Type of transfer payment: Grant
Type of appropriation: Estimates
Fiscal year for terms and conditions: 2011‑12

Link to departmental results

Scientific and technological knowledge advances

Link to the department's Program Inventory

• Core Responsibility: Science and Innovation
• Program: International Affiliations

Purpose and objectives of transfer payment program

Canada's membership in international science and technology (S&T) organizations promotes international research and innovation, networking, advocacy, leadership opportunities as well as access to benchmarking possibilities, enabling Canadian science, technology, and industry to remain competitive.

Results achieved

• Enhanced the NRC's international visibility and Canada's reputation as a global leader in science, technology and innovation (STI), noting in particular that the International Science Council (ISC) awarded Dr. Sherilee Harper (Canada Research Chair in Climate Change and Health and an Associate Professor in the School of Public Health at the University of Alberta) the prestigious Early Career Scientist Award for North America.
• Enhanced Canadian influence in solidifying interdisciplinary science-based global policy making – including the election of Dr. Francoise Bayliss (Research Professor, Department of Philosophy and Special Advisor to the Vice-President Research and Innovation at Dalhousie University) to the ISC Board.
• Contributed to Canadian STI leader development via ISC opportunities for leadership development and leadership opportunities implementing equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) approaches.
• Increased market-oriented innovation opportunities to Canadian SMEs and export growth via global value chains to ensure Canadian excellence and competitiveness. Canada was invited to be one of the first countries outside the European area to join the Eureka network for international co-innovation as a full-member, providing greater future opportunities for Canadian companies to access international networks and expertise to accelerate their innovative products and services to the market.

Findings of audits completed in 2021‑22: N/A
Findings of evaluations completed in 2021‑22: Next evaluation scheduled for 2025‑26.

Engagement of applicants and recipients in 2021‑22

• Ongoing in-depth engagement with representatives of each Canadian National Committee (CNC) that has assessed evolving priorities, most valued benefits of the program to participants and perceived needs of each international affiliation's CNC was continued.
• Dialogue continues with existing CNCs to gauge their desired level of international participation as well as with other potential applicants.
• An advisory committee for the program has now met through three full fiscal years, drawing on cross government science departments and agencies and deploying expertise to leverage Canadian international science objectives. Regular, frequent interaction ensures continuous engagement and coordination. The ISC was introduced to the committee and noted that processes for engagement across government as well as with CNCs were exemplary.
• Engagement with international affiliations management has intensified and will continue to better gauge impact and plans. This will inform the Canadian STI management community of the science diplomacy needs of Canadian practitioners in light of track records of international affiliations and of associated level of required support.
• Moreover, a regular engagement will continue to take place including completion of a reporting questionnaire.

Financial information (dollars)

Type of transfer payment	2019–20 Actual spending	2020–21 Actual spending	2021–22 Planned spending	2021–22 Total authorities available for use	2021–22 Actual spending (authorities used)	Variance (2021–22 actual minus 2021–22 planned)
Total grants	588,917	608,896	560,000	565,368	564,958	4,958
Total contributions	-	-	-	-	-	-
Total program	588,917	608,896	560,000	565,368	564,958	4,958

Explanation of variances: variance is immaterial.

International Astronomical Observatories Program

Start date: 1978
End date: Ongoing
Type of transfer payment: Contribution
Type of appropriation: Estimates
Fiscal year for terms and conditions: 2015‑16

Link to departmental results

Scientific and technological knowledge advances
Innovative businesses grow
Evidence-based solutions inform decisions in Government priority areas

Link to the department's Program Inventory

• Core responsibility: Science and Innovation
• Program: Herzberg Astronomy & Astrophysics

Purpose and objectives of transfer payment program

Astronomy is a global science. The increasing cost of leading-edge observatories and the scarcity of ideal observation sites have led to a greater focus on international collaboration for large‑scale astronomy projects which lead to advances in our knowledge and understanding of the universe.

The NRC, in collaboration with other international bodies, provides financial contributions to support the management and operations of offshore ground-based observatories and their related facilities, including the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope (CFHT), the twin telescopes of the Gemini Observatory and the Atacama Large Millimetre-submillimetre Array (ALMA). The NRC participates in the oversight and direction of these facilities and their research capabilities. The NRC also represented Canada in the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) consortium for the pre‑construction phase of the telescope and signed a cooperation agreement in November 2021 to continue Canada's participation in the Square Kilometer Array Observatory (SKAO). In 2015, Canada joined the international partnership to participate in the Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT).

International agreements governing these observatories are long-term commitments that specify contributions to support preconstruction design and development, construction, operation and maintenance, capital improvements (e.g., development of new astronomical instruments and other facility upgrades) and decommissioning the international ground-based observatories and their related facilities. These agreements also include commitments to support the university‑based user communities to ensure a fair and progressive use of these observatories. The NRC participates in the governance of these international facilities on behalf of the Canadian astronomy research community and provides appropriate support, including sophisticated data management services and instrumentation. Through the NRC's financial and in‑kind contributions, the Canadian astronomy community is assured merit-based access to these facilities with appropriate support.

Recipients are not required to repay funds obtained under this transfer payment program.

Results achieved

Demand by Canadian astronomers for international observatories continued to exceed time available, an indicator of the relevance of the observatories and their instrumentation. 230 scientific papers were published by Canadian astronomy users enabled by the NRC based on data obtained using the CFHT, 244 based on data from the Gemini Observatory, and 483 based on data from ALMA.

With construction of two of the world's largest radio telescopes underway, the NRC signed a 2-year cooperation agreement with the international SKAO in November 2021, to allow Canada's scientific and engineering communities to continue their participation in the project while Canada considers its future role in the construction phase. Canada has been involved in the SKA project from its earliest stages. Canadian data processing technology, developed by the NRC and industry partner MDA Ltd., is behind the extraordinary effort to identify and measure the weak signals from space in the large data stream coming from the SKA telescope in South Africa. The NRC's Canadian Astronomy Data Centre (CADC) implemented streamlined access to high-performance computing resources via a web browser. There has been significant uptake by the Canadian astronomical community. CADC's application of machine learning has increased significantly. The same machine learning methods were also applied in other fields, such as finding the most important parameters in some cancer cases.

As an example of the widespread implementation of machine learning in astronomy, NRC researcher Hossen Teimoorinia used a random forest-based approach to reassess the metallicities of galaxies, i.e., the amounts of elements heavier than helium within them. These results were used in a recent benchmark determination of the expansion rate of the universe where the uncertainties in the measured value were dramatically reduced.

The Canadian Hydrogen Intensity Mapping Experiment (CHIME), located at the NRC's Dominion Radio Astrophysical Observatory (DRAO) site, continued to characterize the mysterious Fast Radio Burst (FRB) sources it now discovers routinely. A notable paper, which included NRC postdoctoral fellow Jane Kaczmarek, provided fresh insight into the character of the FRBs that repeat, as their signals were found to be longer in duration and narrower in bandwidth than those that do not, helping to constrain their possible origins.

Findings of audits completed in 2021‑22: N/A

Findings of evaluations completed in 2021‑22

The NRC completed a formal 2021‑22 evaluation of its Herzberg Astronomy and Astrophysics (HAA) Program, covering 2016‑17 to 2020‑21. Key findings included that HAA is an internationally recognized leader in scientific excellence, is aligned with both the strategic objectives of the federal government and the needs of the Canadian astronomy community, and has a strong record of research publication and impact. HAA's activities and strategic priorities are closely aligned with the needs of the Canadian astronomy community. A survey found that 84% of respondents engaged in ground based observational research considered the telescopes supported by Canada to be critical to their research. The international telescopes supported by Canada are critical to users, however the value of annual grants and contributions for Canadian access to international observatories have remained static since 2011, which could reduce the amount of time designated to Canadian astronomers in the future. HAA's facilities are unique in Canada, however some are in need of maintenance or upgrading. Finally, HAA is highly capable in managing both national facilities and Canada's participation in international facilities.

Engagement of applicants and recipients in 2021‑22

The NRC manages observatories established or maintained by the Government of Canada for the benefit of the Canadian astronomy research community, aligning its contributions to the priorities of the community's Long Range Plan for Astronomy and Astrophysics. The NRC participates on the boards which oversee the observatories to ensure that the science directions and programs of the facilities reflect Canadian strengths and interests. In addition, the NRC ensures that these activities increase opportunities for Canadian researchers and firms to develop relevant instrumentation for the observatories.

To carry out its roles effectively, the NRC provides current information about each observatory to research community-based committees of scientists, which provide expert advice on observatory operations and development. The NRC provides extensive support to the user community through numerous services extending from administering the time allocation process for Canadian researchers, to delivery of science‑ready data (through the CADC).

Financial information (dollars)

Type of transfer payment	2019–20 Actual spending	2020–21 Actual spending	2021–22 Planned spending	2021–22 Total authorities available for use	2021–22 Actual spending (authorities used)	Variance (2021–22 actual minus 2021–22 planned)
Total grants	-	-	-	-	-	-
Total contributions	29,044,279	25,495,440	53,126,691	57,998,565	27,537,242	(25,589,449)
Total program	29,044,279	25,495,440	53,126,691	57,998,565	27,537,242	(25,589,449)

Explanation of variances: The significant variance between planned spending and actual spending is primarily due to project delays associated with Canada's participation in the construction of the TMT that are outside the NRC's control. As a result, the NRC has reprofiled $20 million of its 2021‑22 funding for Canada's contribution to the TMT to future years.

TRIUMF

Start date: April 1, 1977
End date: Ongoing
Type of transfer payment: Contribution
Type of appropriation: Estimates
Fiscal year for terms and conditions: 2020‑21

Link to departmental results

Scientific and technological knowledge advances
Innovative businesses grow
Evidence-based solutions inform decisions in Government priority areas

Link to the department's Program Inventory

• Core responsibility: Science and Innovation
• Program: TRIUMF

Purpose and objectives of transfer payment program

TRIUMF is Canada's particle accelerator centre. The laboratory is one of Canada's key investments in large-scale research infrastructure. It provides world-class facilities for research in sub‑atomic physics, accelerator science, life sciences, and materials science. An incorporated non‑profit with charitable status, TRIUMF is owned and operated by a consortium of Canadian universities, with its core operations funded through five-year contribution agreements. The NRC plays an important oversight and stewardship role for TRIUMF on behalf of the Government of Canada.

Recipients are not required to repay funds obtained under this transfer payment program.

Results achieved

• TRIUMF contributed to 285 scientific publications in scientific journals, and hosted 187 scientific visitors and users, 90 of which came from international institutions.
• The TRIUMF Life Sciences team produced, purified, and delivered its largest batch ever of actinium‑225 from the spallation of thorium‑232, and shipped the material to a radiopharmaceutical provider for further testing.
• TRIUMF commissioned the unique station for FLASH irradiation at the ARIEL superconducting electron linear accelerator. This new type of radiotherapy being explored for cancer treatment is using a unique electron convertor target developed for ARIEL.
• TRIUMF's DRAGON facility performed the first direct measurement of an astrophysical reaction using a radioactive beam of isomeric nuclei. The reaction rate is important for the interpretation of astronomical observations that provide direct evidence for ongoing nucleosynthesis in our galaxy – findings were published in Physical Review Letters.
• TRIUMF implemented policies and procedures intended to safeguard the health and safety of staff and visitors, including limiting site‑access at times, implementing vaccination requirements, and promoting remote engagement where possible – all measures to lessen the impact of COVID-19 while still supporting active research programs across the lab.
• TRIUMF reached a very important milestone in the ARIEL project with the completion of the Target Ion Source Acceptance (TISA) test stand. Thermal and mechanical testing was started and the prototype of an important component of the ARIEL target stations, the High Voltage Feedthrough, was prepared for high voltage operation at the test stand.
• For Canada's contribution to the High Luminosity LHC (HL-LHC) upgrade at CERN (European Organization for Nuclear Research), the TRIUMF Superconducting Radiofrequency (SRF) group completed the preparation of the test infrastructure required for the 2 Kelvin operation of the dressed crab cavities that will be provided by Fermilab.
• TRIUMF scientists with the ATLAS collaboration delivered new detector components to CERN. The New Small Wheels (NSW) constitute a major upgrade of the ATLAS detector to prepare for the increased luminosity and will enable continued work on the Higgs and new physics programs at ATLAS. TRIUMF, in a consortium with five Canadian universities (Carleton, McGill, Montreal, Simon Fraser, and Victoria) have contributed to the NSW detector.
• TRIUMF trained more than 300 highly qualified personnel, including undergraduate and graduate students, and post-doctoral researchers.
• For the first time since the beginning of the pandemic, TRIUMF and its Japanese counterpart, KEK, relaunched the Exchange Program for Early Career Researchers – a bilateral program to support the sharing of young talent between Canada and Japan.
• TRIUMF filed for patent protection for a new chelator patent, expanding its portfolio of chelators available for licensing to three. These chelators are being out-licensed on a non-exclusive basis to Canadian and global drug development partners.
• TRIUMF spinoff, Ideon, is leading a $13.5 million Digital Supercluster Project, "Earth X-ray for Low-Impact Mining" in partnership with Simon Fraser University, Dias Geophysical, Microsoft, Fireweed Zinc, and Mitacs. The project will enable mining exploration companies to identify density and magnetic anomalies with greater resolution and certainty up to 1 kilometre beneath the Earth's surface.
• TRIUMF spinoff, ARTMS (Alternative Radioisotope Technologies for Medical Science), filed with Health Canada to produce gallium-68, a critical medical isotope of significant clinical importance in nuclear medicine diagnostic procedures utilizing PET imaging. On the basis of the filing, ARTMS entered into partnership with POINT Biopharma and the Canadian Molecular Imaging Probe Consortium (CanProbe), a joint venture between the Centre for Probe Development and Commercialization (CPDC) and the University Health Network (UHN), for the development and clinical use of innovative radiopharmaceuticals in Canada.
• TRIUMF, in collaboration with international partners and key Canadian research collaborators, leveraged its expertise in the gas exchange systems used in experimental physics to develop a novel ventilator in response to the early COVID-19 shortages. The Mechanical Ventilator Milano (MVM) ventilator received Interim Order approval from Health Canada and was produced and delivered by an industry partner, Vexos.
• On June 1, 2021, TRIUMF incorporated as a federal not-for-profit entity with registered charitable status. This provides TRIUMF the ability to efficiently manage legal and financial matters related to the organisation. It has also allowed the implementation of a skills-based Board of Governors, while a Members' Council overseeing the interests of TRIUMF's university stakeholders. The skills-based board has improved the connection between laboratory management and TRIUMF's governance structures.
• To ensure strong performance across key regulatory areas, many management system procedures were augmented and rewritten to streamline and improve processes associated with work planning and execution. In addition, TRIUMF's organizational structure was also reconfigured to more clearly align with contemporary governance and oversight requirements. This includes clear configuration around science, infrastructure and support divisions, and streamlining and consolidating the leadership structure.

Findings of audits completed in 2021‑22: N/A

Findings of evaluations completed in 2021‑22: Next evaluation scheduled for 2022–23.

Engagement of applicants and recipients in 2021–22

The NRC chairs the Agency Committee on TRIUMF (ACT), which includes the federal agencies that fund and oversee activities at TRIUMF, providing TRIUMF management the opportunity to present progress and discuss future directions for the facility.

The NRC also manages the Advisory Committee on TRIUMF (ACOT), composed of international experts within disciplines that span the research and technology activities of TRIUMF. ACOT reports its findings to the NRC and TRIUMF senior management twice annually, making recommendations on programs and management as well as reporting on the scientific and technological achievements of TRIUMF programs and facilities. Observer representatives from the National Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, the Canada Foundation for Innovation, the Canadian Institute of Nuclear Physics, the Canadian Institute of Particle Physics, the materials science community and TRIUMF's user community ensure that TRIUMF's directions are well aligned with the research community's needs and that TRIUMF is working with all its constituencies across Canada. The Committee considers all aspects of the TRIUMF program, with a particular emphasis on science and technological issues to ensure the relevance, impact, and world-class standing of TRIUMF's activities. Through NRC activities in ACT and ACOT, the NRC maintains a close relationship with TRIUMF. Dialogue ensures that investments are optimal, the NRC meets the needs of its recipient, and provides a vehicle for feedback on the transfer payment management process.

TRIUMF has approximately 410 staff and students supported via the NRC's contribution agreement, with roughly 140 additional positions supported through other sources for specific designated purposes, including temporary funds to operate new capital infrastructure. Annually, TRIUMF provides training for more than 200 undergraduates, graduate students, and postdoctoral fellows. TRIUMF has numerous programs aimed at young people, students, teachers, and the general public to ensure that as many as possible share the wonder of discovery and experience the excitement generated by one of Canada's premier laboratories. In addition, TRIUMF offers a suite of programs to aide in the growth and development of professional skills for its graduate students and postdocs.

Financial information (dollars)

Type of transfer payment	2019–20 Actual spending	2020–21 Actual spending	2021–22 Planned spending	2021–22 Total authorities available for use	2021–22 Actual spending (authorities used)	Variance (2021–22 actual minus 2021–22 planned)
Total grants	-	-	-	-	-	-
Total contributions	55,162,800	59,443,659	60,748,372	62,225,000	62,225,000	1,476,628
Total program	55,162,800	59,443,659	60,748,372	62,225,000	62,225,000	1,476,628

Explanation of variances: The significant variance between planned spending and actual spending is primarily due to changes to the annual funding in the contribution agreement signed with TRIUMF, however the NRC is cash managing the variances over the five year period of the agreement.

Response to parliamentary committees and external audits

Response to parliamentary committees

There were no parliamentary committee reports requiring a response in 2021‑22.

Response to audits conducted by the Office of the Auditor General of Canada (including audits conducted by the Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development)

There were no audits in 2021‑22 requiring a response.

Response to audits conducted by the Public Service Commission of Canada or the Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages

There were no audits in 2021‑22 requiring a response.

Gender-based analysis plus

Section 1: Institutional GBA Plus capacity

As one of Canada's leading research and development organizations, the NRC partners with Canadian industry to take research impacts from the lab to the marketplace, where people can experience the benefits. This approach delivers innovation faster, enhances people's lives and addresses some of the world's most pressing problems. It also fits with the NRC's mission to have an impact by advancing knowledge, applying leading-edge technologies, and working with other innovators to find creative, relevant and sustainable solutions to Canada's current and future economic, social and environmental challenges.

The NRC's research benefits all Canadians, including multiple gender and demographic groups with intersecting characteristics. The NRC is using a GBA Plus lens to make its research more inclusive of equity deserving groups and to improve how the NRC's research helps the lives of all Canadians.

The NRC's GBA Plus framework

The goal of the NRC's GBA Plus Framework is to build GBA Plus organizational capacity and sustain the practice of GBA Plus at the NRC in 3 areas: the NRC workplace, NRC research, and funding for innovative small- and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) through the NRC's Industrial Research Assistance Program (NRC IRAP).

The NRC workplace

The NRC is committed to employing a diverse and representative workforce and to fostering an open, accessible, inclusive, and anti-racist work environment and culture. This commitment extends to the creation of a more inclusive Canadian innovation system, recognizing that diversity fuels innovation.

The NRC has integrated GBA Plus into its workplace to build and expand diverse Canadian Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) capacity in its areas of research and development. One of the ways this is accomplished is through training students and highly qualified personnel, in order to improve the quality of scientific and technical outputs produced by a diverse workforce and the broader Canadian STEM community.

For a number of years, the NRC has monitored the representation of groups designated under the Employment Equity Act relative to the available workforce in Canada. As of March 31, 2022, the representation for women in the NRC's overall workforce surpassed labour market availability, while steady progress in addressing representation gaps was noted for the remaining designated groups (Indigenous Peoples, racialized persons, and persons with disabilities).

In the hiring of new resources, the NRC has adopted measures with a GBA Plus lens to build and expand diverse Canadian STEM capacity, including:

• Focus hiring activities on the NRC's representative groups, including identifying targeted post-secondary institutions and associations with whom the NRC may establish long term relationships to build a diverse talent pipeline;
• Implement targeted actions to include more diversity in the next generation of STEM talent, including students;
• Consider representation gaps when developing talent (via workforce planning and leadership development programs).

In 2020-21, the NRC conducted a thorough review of its hiring, promotion and retention practices using principles in line with GBA Plus with a view to identify systemic barriers faced by equity deserving groups, in addition to an accessibility assessment to determine readiness for the implementation of the Accessible Canada Act requirements. The results of these reviews informed the development of the NRC Workforce and Workplace Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Strategy 2021-2024. Through a suite of initiatives, this strategy aims to build a diverse and representative NRC workforce, and foster an open, accessible, inclusive, and anti-racist work environment and culture across NRC workplaces. The strategy provides an enabling framework to integrate GBA Plus into the NRC workplace with the expectation that all employees must be engaged in a shared responsibility for bringing the strategy to life, adopting practices that promotes inclusion, and helping to influence positive change.

The NRC's Five-Year Strategic Plan, launched in 2019, includes employment equity targets for all research centres and NRC IRAP. These targets require each business unit to achieve at least labour market availability for each of the equity deserving groups (women, Indigenous Peoples, racialized persons, and persons with disabilities) by 2024. This, in turn, facilitates the adoption of GBA Plus principles to make NRC's research more inclusive of equity deserving groups.

NRC research

The NRC incorporates GBA Plus into research initiatives at all stages of the process from ideation to evaluation, including budget proposals, memoranda to Cabinet (MCs), and Treasury Board (TB) submissions; research centre planning; program design; and evaluation. To measure progress and impact, the NRC monitors and tracks statistics on equity deserving groups and women in STEM, and collects success stories on research that impacts diverse populations.

The NRC is making further efforts at the program level to encourage EDI in the formulation of collaborative research programs. The NRC considers language in calls for proposals to promote different and varied partnerships, and recognizes diverse attributes in teams when reviewing projects. Researchers developing projects under these programs are encouraged to use GBA Plus tools to increase the impact of research on diverse groups and are provided workshops on integrating EDI and GBA Plus into proposals within NRC.

NRC funding for innovative SMEs

NRC IRAP uses an Inclusivity, Diversity, Equity and Accessibility lens to review policies and programs, in order to remove barriers to growth for firms led by equity deserving groups by providing focused support through its Contribution to Organization (CTO) funding mechanism and developing tools to support SMEs in assessing, developing and operationalizing a plan to foster the progression of their EDI maturity journey.

NRC IRAP also amplifies recruitment activities to attract, retain and advance a more diverse workforce, leveraging modern recruiting tools and recruitment marketing techniques. This is done while refining organizational design to meet evolving program delivery requirements to further efforts to support an empowered world-class workforce.

GBA Plus governance structure and engagement

The responsible centre for GBA Plus at the NRC has been established in the Secretary General's division, with the NRC's Secretary General fulfilling the role of GBA Plus champion for the organization. The Secretary General division represents the NRC on the Government of Canada's Interdepartmental Working Group for GBA Plus and the GBA Plus Focal Point Network. The division also develops and provides guidance to enable GBA Plus integration into program design and delivery.

The NRC has established an intra-departmental network dedicated to EDI, called the EDI Community of Practice. This group brings together staff from across the NRC that are involved in EDI-related work to discuss initiatives, events, and progress made to advance EDI efforts within the department, including GBA Plus work. Members include the NRC's EDI Advisor, GBA Plus Focal Point, and an extensive network of NRC employees involved in human resources, planning, real property and accessibility, communications, NRC IRAP, and research.

Building a diverse and representative workforce, removing barriers, and fostering an inclusive culture continue to be key priorities for the NRC. Engagement is an important tool in making progress in these areas, and the NRC actively works to engage on GBA Plus with its employees, in its research, and with its innovative SME clients.

The NRC workplace

The NRC recently developed a strategic framework to guide its work in supporting research advancements within Indigenous communities. Aligned with the Truth and Reconciliation Commission Calls to Action, this framework includes 4 pillars: research partnerships (build research and development partnerships with Indigenous partners); Indigenous business innovation (support Indigenous businesses through NRC IRAP); Indigenous STEM workforce (increase outreach, recruitment and retention of Indigenous talent); and intercultural competency (raise awareness, knowledge and recognition of the diversity of First Nations, Métis and Inuit cultures and issues). An NRC Indigenous Engagement Network was established to support this framework with activities tailored to the 4 pillars, using an engagement lens and an overarching focus on culture.

In 2021-22, the NRC began preparatory work to inform the development of a new NRC Talent Attraction Strategy. The NRC employer value proposition included consultations with the NRC Committee on Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (CEDI) and the NRC Women in STEM Committee. Input was collected from Indigenous employees and the NRC Black Employee Resource Community (BERC) in the preliminary phases of the development of an NRC sponsorship program for diverse employees, to be piloted in 2022-23. The preparatory work included GBA Plus analysis of the process to implement improvements to the onboarding process with the aim of reducing barriers to participation of equity deserving groups.

NRC research

To gather views from a broad range of stakeholders, NRC research centres have an advisory board made up of a broad range of stakeholders that provides strategic and independent advice to NRC senior management on overall strategic direction and priorities, while helping to ensure alignment with the NRC's objectives of supporting business innovation and advancing scientific knowledge. The NRC has worked extensively to ensure that these groups are as balanced as possible and representative of the Canadian population.

NRC funding for innovative SMEs

In terms of engagement with the broader innovation ecosystem, NRC IRAP participates in the Women's Entrepreneurship Strategy Assistant Deputy Minister Committee and Working Group collaborating on strategies in support of women entrepreneurs. NRC IRAP is also represented on TAFTI E-The European Network of Innovation Agencies Diversity and Inclusivity reviewing best practices in this space. NRC IRAP collaborates with UK Research and Innovation to support government initiatives including EDI.

In addition, NRC IRAP supports the 50-30 Challenge and has taken action to improve equity and increase the diversity within the organization and its collaborators.

GBA Plus integration into program design and delivery

The NRC has integrated GBA Plus into many areas of its operations to assess the potential impacts of its policies, programs, and initiatives on diverse groups from ideation through to outcome measurement. This approach includes the application of GBA Plus on proposed initiatives, organizational planning, and program evaluation. These efforts fall into 2 areas most commonly associated with program delivery: NRC research and NRC IRAP.

In each of these areas, the NRC meets its obligations to conduct GBA Plus analysis on Cabinet documents (e.g. MCs, TB submissions and Budget 2-pagers), as well as during program design (including NRC's collaborative challenge programs) and in the evaluation of initiatives. The NRC also monitors and tracks statistics on equity deserving groups, as well as women in STEM, supported by a streamlined set of EDI standards and performance indicators, and has established a regular routine for reporting on EDI progress.

As part of yearly operational planning, the NRC asks its research centres, branches and NRC IRAP to consider GBA Plus. Considerations include specific initiatives or projects to benefit equity deserving groups, which groups in Canadian society benefit from NRC activities, which groups benefit indirectly, barriers to participation, potential negative impacts, and mitigation measures.

The NRC has worked with Treasury Board Secretariat (TBS) to make changes to the terms and conditions of its Collaborative Science, Technology and Innovation Programs (CSTIP) to further enable flexibilities for Indigenous recipients and remove barriers to collaboration. Examples include enabling capacity-building grants and allowing for the costs of Indigenous ceremonies and honoraria for elders to be eligible under the program. The NRC has also initiated discussions with TBS to leverage their collaborative statistical program on Business Innovation and Growth Support (BIGS) with Statistics Canada. The BIGS database covers government support to enterprises linked to the Linkable File Environment (LFE) of Statistics Canada to better understand the performance and conduct impact assessments for growth and innovation-related programs. The NRC will be part of TBS' ongoing research project of "Understanding BIGS beneficiaries". The project will allow NRC access to aggregate data in 2022-23 to improve the understanding of the business ownership and workforce composition of enterprises.

Advancing NRC's GBA Plus capacity and awareness

The NRC continues to build capacity and expand awareness of GBA Plus across the organization. The NRC is also increasing efforts to promote an environment where all individuals can achieve their full potential, and foster communities, networks and mentoring that support a diverse organization.

In 2021-22, the GBA Plus Focal Point developed and advanced a plan to improve and expand the application of GBA Plus at the NRC. Under the direction of the NRC's GBA Plus Champion, the branch responsible for GBA Plus at the NRC inventoried the NRC's GBA Plus resources and current practices; consulted other government departments on their use of GBA Plus and best practices; compiled GBA Plus resources and approaches; and developed a 2-year action plan to increase engagement, understanding and application of GBA Plus throughout the organization.

To engage employees in applying GBA Plus, the NRC currently offers GBA Plus training on demand, and completed a refresher course to engage NRC planners in using GBA Plus as a tool in their yearly planning cycle.

Within the organization, the NRC's EDI Strategy serves as a tool to increase diversity and inclusiveness in the NRC workforce and NRC engagements as a partner/collaborator. As part of this strategy, the NRC has developed 2 mandatory online courses for all staff in areas related to EDI, including a fundamentals course and unconscious bias training. A mandatory course on managing bias in hiring was created for all supervisors and moving forward, plans are in development for training in targeted areas of the organization.

For internal communication, the NRC has established an internal portal for EDI information, tools and resources to assist employees in applying GBA Plus in their work (e.g. checklists, guides, templates). The NRC Committee on Recruitment and Retention of Women in STEM organizes quarterly meet-ups to explore the broad range of experiences, challenges and opportunities facing women in STEM which raises awareness about the importance of integrating GBA Plus into program design and delivery. The NRC has also made progress in ensuring that diversity and inclusive language are reflected in NRC images, posters and materials; adopting inclusive practices such as land acknowledgements in formal gatherings; and supporting the formation and promotion of grassroots networks and communities of federal public service employees.

Building on the roll-out of a grassroots speaker series and antiracism training for senior leaders and all staff, moving forward the NRC will analyze the organization's needs/approach to address anti-racism/discrimination, including providing additional training and awareness to address racism, and leveraging work underway in the federal public service. This type of training helps reduce bias, which in turn prepares employees to better adopt a GBA Plus lens in NRC programming.

Overview of major initiatives

The group(s) receiving direct benefits from NRC programs are generally the science and technology research/academia sector and/or small- and medium-size enterprises (SMEs). In general, these groups are predominantly male and Caucasian and have acknowledged gaps in the representation of women, gender-diverse people, Black people, other racialized groups, Indigenous Peoples and persons with disabilities. In the Canadian SME community, which makes up the vast majority of Canadian businesses, Statistics Canada's 2020 Survey on Financing and Growth of SMEs shows that 16.8% of businesses are owned by women, 9.3% by racialized persons and SMEs equally owned by females and males represented 14.3% of businesses. While women-owned firms are fewer, they are more innovative. A 2018 study by ISED shows that these firms are slightly more likely to engage in innovation activities.

The NRC currently has several research initiatives that benefit equity deserving groups. These initiatives are often implemented by multiple research centres and elaborated below. Specific initiatives implemented by research centres are included in Section 2.

• In collaboration with Indigenous communities and language experts, the Canadian Indigenous Languages Technology (ILT) project continues to support the revitalization of Indigenous languages. The project has adopted an empowerment based approach, where collaboration with communities and fulfillment of their goals is central. Since many of the technologies developed were in response to community needs, the project has a collection of diverse subprojects including new speech- and text-based resources for Indigenous language students, educators, translators, transcribers and other language professionals, and work to increase the accessibility of audio and video recordings. The project has also actively recruited for a diverse, representative project team by building trust, over several years, with respected Indigenous educators. A key element of building trust was assuring Indigenous collaborators that the NRC would not own the data or the software developed collaboratively with communities, and that the software could actually be useful. Once Indigenous educators were comfortable with the approach taken, the project attracted several talented Indigenous recruits.
• The AI for Logistics (AI4L) Cluster Support program has made efforts to address challenges faced by Indigenous communities in remote areas. The clearest example that is currently ongoing is an AI4L project led by NRC-Aerospace AI-enabled navigation of unmanned aircraft systems in remote northern areas which focuses on enabling beyond visual line of sight navigation of cargo drones to deliver medical supplies to remote communities. As access to medical supplies are increased, the project will contribute to improved health outcomes for vulnerable populations, including Indigenous communities. Partners include Toronto Metropolitan University (funded), a drone company and the St. Theresa Point Nursing Station (in coordination with the Oji-Cree First Nation St. Theresa Point community).
• Through the AI for Design (AI4D) Challenge program, the NRC sponsored the Canadian Council of Academies Leaps and Boundaries report. This report explores the opportunities, challenges, and implications of deploying AI technologies to enable scientific and engineering research design and discovery in Canada and includes a detailed overview of the legal, ethical, social and policy implications of deploying AI for science. The report will be utilized to strengthen AI4D's approach to GBA Plus analysis in the program, and broad dissemination of the report will allow others (including collaborators and partners) to consider its important findings and recommendations.
• In 2021-22, the NRC developed an interactive web-enabled digital atlas of tidal energy resources in northern Canada, which is now being used by communities in the north. The NRC's work could lead to future development of tidal energy resources to supply the energy needs of remote northern communities.
• In 2021-22, the NRC commissioned the study of "Intersectional Gender Based Analysis, and EDI in the NRC Quantum Sensors Challenge program (QSP)". GBA Plus was integrated as part of the evaluation of project proposals and was taken into account in the formation of various committees. The implementation of the recommendations from the study is underway and will be included in the monitoring of project progress. GBA Plus issues have been part of the engagement by QSP management with the public and quantum sensing ecosystem.
• Efforts continued in 2021-22 to ensure the clinical development of the Haemophilus influenzae type a (Hia) vaccine. Hia can cause severe and debilitating disease in children and is emerging as a pathogen of concern, especially to Indigenous populations in northern Canada and Alaska. The clinical trial material was prepared at InventVacc Biologicals GMP (Good Manufacturing Practices) facility in Seattle, and GMP toxicology studies in Ontario have been initiated, to comply with Health Canada requirements.
• Since 2021-2022, the NRC's Engineering Division is conducting an Indigenous student recruitment pilot project, which identified and is implementing strategies to improve engagement with Indigenous offices and outreach to Indigenous students in targeted Canadian post‑secondary institutions, as well as exploring ways to offer more meaningful short term work opportunities to Indigenous students.

Program links to Gender Results Framework (GRF)

In general, NRC activities contribute to either Education and Skills Development or Economic Participation and Prosperity.

Section 2: Gender and Diversity Impacts, by Program

Programs

• Advanced Electronics and Photonics
• Aerospace
• Aquatic and Crop Resource Development
• Automotive and Surface Transportation
• Construction
• Digital Technologies
• Energy, Mining and Environment
• Herzberg Astronomy & Astrophysics
• Human Health Therapeutics
• Medical Devices
• Metrology
• Nanotechnology
• Ocean, Coastal and River Engineering
• Security and Disruptive Technologies
• Genomics Research & Development Initiative Shared Priority Projects
• Collaborative Science, Technology and Innovation Program
• Industrial Research Assistance Program
• International Affiliations
• TRIUMF
• National Science Library
• Four Enabling Programs

Core Responsibility: Science and Innovation

Program Name: Advanced Electronics and Photonics

Target Population:

All Canadians / Sectors: manufacturing, telecommunications photonics industry, science & technology industry

Distribution of Benefits:

By gender (1 to 5) – Third group: Broadly gender-balanced

By income level (1 to 5) – Third group: No significant distributional impacts

By age group (1 to 3) – Second group: No significant inter-generational impacts or impacts between youth and seniors

Key Program impacts on Gender and Diversity:

The NRC's Advanced Electronics and Photonics (AEP) program has integrated GBA Plus into many aspects of its program activities, including the design and delivery of a challenge program to improve telecommunications in rural and remote areas, efforts to build, expand and diversify Canadian STEM capacity in the fields and sectors it supports, and representation of diverse views on its research advisory board.

Through its High-throughput and Secure Networks (HTSN) Challenge program, AEP and other NRC programs are partnering with external collaborators to develop disruptive technologies and technologies that improve the cost and performance of delivering secure, affordable, and high-speed internet services in rural and remote communities across Canada. The program aims to move beyond the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission's universal service objective of 50 Mbps download and 10 Mbps upload with unlimited data, and to develop technology that can enable service providers to offer affordable 1 Gbps or better connectivity to users in all rural and remote communities in Canada. This would benefit Indigenous communities in remote areas significantly, providing increased access to economic development, employment, health care, education, cultural exchanges, and safety and security. New Canadians are being incentivized to settle in rural and remote areas, and connectivity will be a key driver in support of this goal. Affordable, high speed internet can also lead to improved outcomes for vulnerable populations through better access to education, jobs and health services through distance education, virtual jobs and telehealth. GBA Plus has been integrated into the governance of the HTSN program through external committees involved in design, implementation and, strategic guidance. The members of these committees were selected from across Canada for their areas of expertise with a view to providing broad technical and geographical representation. The program is working towards ensuring that the composition of these committees are consistent with the representation of the 4 employment Equity (EE) groups. In addition, for all research proposals, HTSN requires teams to articulate at least 1 concrete practice to eliminate systemic barriers in addressing team composition and recruitment, training and development opportunities, or inclusion, as well as to describe measures taken to integrate GBA Plus into their research proposal. For approved projects, collaborators are asked to provide updates on EDI and GBA Plus progress.

The AEP program has also integrated GBA Plus into its operations through the training of students and highly qualified personnel, in order to improve the quality of scientific and technical outputs produced by a diverse workforce. By hiring students and early career STEM professionals from equity deserving groups and providing them with practical training opportunities, the NRC is helping to strengthen the pipeline for Canadian industry, academia and other STEM employers and improve the workforce representation within traditionally under-represented fields. An observed result for the AEP program last year was the ratio of women new hires relative to the Canadian average labour market availability, which was 0.76 in 2021-22. An action plan was developed in 2021-22 to support the attraction and retention of highly qualified personnel from equity deserving groups. The action plan lays out a set of best practices, including: organizing succession planning sessions focused on women; increasing representation of women on hiring boards; ensuring panels are diverse; adopting long-term strategies to increase the number of applicants from equity deserving groups by participating in career fairs targeting equity deserving groups and sending job opening notifications to specific groups to target equity deserving groups (Women in STEM, Indigenous student groups, Women of Color LinkedIn group); and providing awareness training to help foster an inclusive and respectful work environment.

Finally, the AEP program has an advisory board, made up of a group of industry representatives that provide strategic and independent advice on its overall strategic direction and priorities. When forming the advisory boards for all NRC programs, the NRC worked extensively to ensure that they were as balanced and representative of the Canadian population as possible to ensure that diverse views were considered in research planning.

GBA Plus Data Collection Plan:

The AEP program's efforts to integrate GBA Plus are significant steps given the challenges to measure and report observed impacts on gender and diversity as the program provides indirect support to final beneficiaries, through research and technical services to clients and collaborators supporting science and innovation in Canada. The program is making efforts to overcome these challenges by adopting different strategies to collect GBA Plus data from its different streams of work. In 2021-22, the program collected GBA Plus data on hiring and career advancement of STEM professionals from equity deserving groups who receive practical training opportunities at the NRC. The program also collects GBA Plus data on the gender representation of members appointed to its advisory board in a confidential manner to facilitate efforts to achieve equal representation of women. The program plans to collect GBA Plus data in 2022-23 about the business ownership and workforce composition of enterprises it supports. GBA Plus data on longer term impacts on gender and diversity will be collected through a planned program evaluation. Finally, in 2022-23, the NRC plans to engage other science based departments and agencies to exchange information on the challenges to collect GBA Plus data and strategies to overcome them.

Building on the NRC's objectives and targets laid out in the NRC Five-Year Strategic Plan, AEP is setting targets and collecting data on its work to build and expand diverse Canadian STEM capacity in its field and sector. Data is collected on the Canadian Labour Market Availability (LMA) for each of the 4 designated EE groups as well as specific EE occupational groups (EEOGs). This data is drawn from corporate HR systems and Statistics Canada census information and collected through the annual operational planning process.

AEP's 2023-24 operational planning process will also include internal workforce planning which prioritizes the identification of high potential employees from designated groups to help address EE gaps and enable the advancement of equity deserving group members. As another specific action for GBA Plus data collection, the AEP program is collecting data on a monthly and quarterly basis on the proportion of new hires that are women and racialized persons and plans to include all EE hires from 2022-23 onwards. Also, hiring targets for EE groups were introduced in 2022-23 and will be used as the basis to collect data on the proportion of newly hired staff from the 4 designated EE groups from 2022-23 onwards. The postings for hiring explicitly invite people to self-identify as being members of EE groups as a preference will be given to these candidates. As part of the operational planning process, the AEP program also compiles qualitative evidence of its research accomplishments and impacts on diverse groups in the form of success stories. These stories are used in NRC planning, reporting and communications activities as evidence of the success and impact of the AEP program's research efforts.

The NRC has initiated discussions with TBS to leverage their collaborative statistical program on Business Innovation and Growth Support (BIGS) with Statistics Canada as a specific action for GBA Plus data collection. The BIGS database covers government support to enterprises linked to the Linkable File Environment (LFE) of Statistics Canada to better understand performance and conduct impact assessments for growth and innovation-related programs. The NRC will be part of TBS' ongoing research project of "Understanding BIGS beneficiaries". The project will allow NRC access to aggregate data in 2022-23 to improve the understanding of the business ownership and workforce composition (e.g. majority women-owned enterprises and proportion of female employees) of enterprises supported by the AEP program. This specific action to collect GBA Plus data will enable the AEP program to understand how certain equity deserving groups based on gender, age and immigrant status may be disproportionately impacted, and to determine strategies to mitigate these impacts.

Future evaluation of the work undertaken will include an examination of EDI populations within the research centre/ program workforce as well as distribution across the various employee subgroups (researcher, management, administrative) and levels. Further, to ensure the perspectives of diverse populations are heard, the evaluation project will also include diverse populations in key informant interviews, peer review committees, and surveys. GBA Plus success stories, if identified, could also be included as case studies.

Program Name: Aerospace

Target Population:

All Canadians / Sectors: aviation, aerospace sector, manufacturing, transportation, science & technology industry

Distribution of Benefits:

By gender (1 to 5) – Third group: Broadly gender-balanced

By income level (1 to 5) – Third group: No significant distributional impacts

By age group (1 to 3) – Second group: No significant inter-generational impacts or impacts between youth and seniors

Key Program impacts on Gender and Diversity:

The NRC's Aerospace program has integrated GBA Plus into its research activities and operational planning, including the use of specialized facilities, work to support Cluster advances, efforts to build and expand diverse Canadian STEM capacity in its field and sector, and representation of diverse views on its research advisory board.

Using its Centre for Air Travel Research, the Aerospace program investigates opportunities to improve the safety, comfort and productivity for passengers and crew throughout the air travel experience, including Canadians with diverse physical attributes. An example is an ongoing study under the New Beginnings Initiative which supports small-scale exploratory research projects led by individual NRC employees working with external collaborators. The research team is studying the air travel experience of those living with obesity with the aim of designing systems, technologies and processes to address the issues identified. The research is being undertaken with collaborators from Carleton University, University of Alberta and Obesity Canada.

Under the AI for Logistics (AI4L) Cluster Support program, the Aerospace program is working on a project to address challenges faced by Indigenous communities in remote areas. The Aerospace program's AI-enabled navigation of unmanned aircraft systems in remote northern areas focuses on enabling beyond visual line of sight navigation of cargo drones to deliver medical supplies to remote communities. As access to medical supplies are increased, the program will contribute to improved health outcomes for vulnerable populations, including Indigenous communities. Partners include Toronto Metropolitan University (funded), a drone company and the St. Theresa Point Nursing Station (in coordination with the Oji-Cree First Nation St. Theresa Point community).

The Aerospace program has also integrated GBA Plus into this operations to build and expand diverse Canadian STEM capacity in its scientific field and the industry sectors it supports. One of the ways this is accomplished is through training students and highly qualified personnel, in order to improve the quality of scientific and technical outputs produced by a diverse workforce. By hiring students and early career STEM professionals from equity deserving groups and providing them with practical training opportunities, the NRC is helping to strengthen the pipeline for Canadian industry, academia and other STEM employers and improve the workforce representation within traditionally under-represented fields. An observed result for the Aerospace program last year was the ratio of women new hires relative to the Canadian average labour market availability, which was 0.93 in 2021-22.

Finally, the Aerospace program has an advisory board, made up of a group of industry representatives that provides strategic and independent advice on the overall strategic direction and priorities of the Aerospace program, while helping to ensure alignment with the NRC's objectives of supporting business innovation and advancing scientific knowledge. When forming the advisory boards for all NRC programs, the NRC worked extensively to ensure that they were as balanced and representative of the Canadian population as possible to ensure that diverse views were considered in research planning.

GBA Plus Data Collection Plan:

The Aerospace program's efforts to integrate GBA Plus are significant steps given the challenges to measure and report observed impacts on gender and diversity as the program provides indirect support to final beneficiaries, through research and technical services to clients and collaborators supporting science and innovation in Canada. The program is making efforts to overcome these challenges by adopting different strategies to collect GBA Plus data from its different streams of work. In 2021-22, the program collected GBA Plus data on hiring and career advancement of STEM professionals from equity deserving groups who receive practical training opportunities at the NRC. The program also collects GBA Plus data on the gender representation of members appointed to its advisory board in a confidential manner to facilitate efforts to achieve equal representation of women. The program plans to collect GBA Plus data in 2022-23 about the business ownership and workforce composition of enterprises it supports. GBA Plus data on longer term impacts on gender and diversity will be collected through a planned program evaluation. Finally, in 2022-23, the NRC plans to engage other science based departments and agencies to exchange information on the challenges to collect GBA Plus data and strategies to overcome them.

Building on the NRC's objectives and targets laid out in the NRC Five-Year Strategic Plan, the Aerospace program is setting targets and collecting data on its work to build and expand diverse Canadian STEM capacity in its field and sector. Data is collected on the Canadian Labour Market Availability (LMA) for each of the 4 designated EE groups as well as specific EE occupational groups (EEOGs). This data is drawn from corporate HR systems and Statistics Canada census information and collected through the annual operational planning process.

The Aerospace program's 2023-24 operational planning process will also include internal workforce planning which prioritizes the identification of high potential employees from designated groups to help address EE gaps and enable the advancement of equity deserving group members. As another specific action for GBA Plus data collection, the Aerospace program is collecting data on a quarterly basis on the proportion of new hires that are women and racialized persons and will include all EE hires from 2022-23 onwards. Also, hiring targets for EE groups were introduced in 2022-23 and will be as the basis to collect data on the proportion of newly hired staff from the 4 designated EE groups from 2022-23 onwards. The postings for hiring explicitly invite people to self-identify as being members of EE groups as a preference will be given to these candidates. As part of the operational planning process, the Aerospace program also compiles qualitative evidence of its research accomplishments and impacts on diverse groups in the form of success stories. These stories are used in NRC planning, reporting and communications activities as evidence of the success and impact of the Aerospace program's research efforts.

The NRC has initiated discussions with TBS to leverage their collaborative statistical program, Business Innovation and Growth Support (BIGS) with Statistics Canada as a specific action for GBA Plus data collection. The BIGS database covers government support to enterprises linked to the Linkable File Environment (LFE) of Statistics Canada to better understand performance and conduct impact assessments for growth and innovation-related programs. The NRC will be part of TBS' ongoing research project of "Understanding BIGS beneficiaries". The project will allow NRC access to aggregate data in 2022-23 to improve the understanding of the business ownership and workforce composition (e.g. majority women-owned enterprises and proportion of female employees) of enterprises supported by the Aerospace program. This specific action to collect GBA Plus data will enable the Aerospace program to understand how certain equity deserving groups based on gender, age and immigrant status may be disproportionately impacted, and to determine strategies to mitigate these impacts.

The Aerospace program is working on studying the air travel experience of those living with obesity that will enable the program to determine the tangible benefits that can be realized by this marginalized group through improved systems, technologies and processes. In addition, the evaluation of the Aerospace program has been tentatively scheduled to be initiated in 2024-25. The evaluation will include an examination of EDI populations within the research centre/ program workforce as well as distribution across the various employee subgroups (researcher, management, administrative) and levels. Further, to ensure the perspectives of diverse populations are heard, the evaluation project will also include diverse populations in key informant interviews, peer review committees, and surveys. GBA Plus success stories, if identified, could also be included as case studies.

Program Name: Aquatic and Crop Resource Development

Target Population:

All Canadians / Sectors: agricultural, marine, science & technology industry

Distribution of Benefits:

By gender (1 to 5) – Third group: Broadly gender-balanced

By income level (1 to 5) – Third group: No significant distributional impacts

By age group (1 to 3) – Second group: No significant inter-generational impacts or impacts between youth and seniors

Key Program impacts on Gender and Diversity:

The NRC's Aquatic and Crop Resource Development (ACRD) program has integrated GBA Plus principles into its research activities and operational planning, including work to support food security, develop sustainable technologies and combat climate change, which can affect diverse groups disproportionally. The ACRD program has also integrated GBA Plus into its operational and research planning with efforts to build and expand diverse Canadian STEM capacity in its field and sector, and representation of diverse views on its research advisory board.

ACRD's activities contribute to improving the lives of all Canadians, regardless of gender, race, socio-economic status, Indigenous identity, geographic location, language, education level, socio-economic or marital status, culture, or religion. However, the program activities naturally gravitate towards diverse groups based on the priority sectors and technologies aligned with ACRD's spheres of influence. For example, efforts supporting northern food production require meaningful engagement with Indigenous organizations, and projects carried out in collaboration with Indigenous communities allow for cross-fertilization of Indigenous and modern agricultural knowledge. Similarly, food insecurity is disproportionately felt by equity deserving groups and these sectors benefit from ACRD activities.

In isolated communities or remote locations, it can be difficult to access fresh fruits and vegetables. Working with the Arctic Research Foundation, the Canadian Space Agency, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, and the community of Gjoa Haven (in Nunavut), the ACRD program is leading the Sustainable Food System (SFS) initiative. The SFS initiative aims to develop a local food production system in the Arctic which would enable year-round production of fresh fruit and vegetables using renewable energy and controlled environment technologies. Through community input, methods for growing Indigenous plant species in the controlled environmental units will also be developed. Through the Arctic Research Foundation, members of the Gjoa Haven community have been hired and trained to help maintain the research pod. While this first collaboration is working on a food production system, the project will also help inform how growth technologies and infrastructure can be delivered in a number of harsh and isolated locations.

The ACRD program has integrated GBA Plus into its operations to build and expand diverse Canadian STEM capacity in its field and sector. One of the ways this is accomplished is through training students and highly qualified personnel, in order to improve the quality of scientific and technical outputs produced by a diverse workforce. By hiring students and early career STEM professionals from equity deserving groups and providing them with practical training opportunities, the NRC is helping to strengthen the pipeline for Canadian industry, academia and other STEM employers and improve the workforce representation within traditionally under-represented fields. An observed result for the ACRD program last year was the ratio of women new hires relative to the Canadian average labour market availability, which was 1.48 in 2021-22. ACRD continues efforts to develop equity in workforce representation, particularly when hiring new employees, and will continue to track the composition of its workforce with regard to the 4 EE groups. Efforts are directed at 3 levels:

1. program participation (internal teams and external collaborations),
2. priority setting of research projects and activities (impact on various groups), and
3. the social, cultural, and economic environment in which the program's outputs are intended to achieve impact.

Finally, the ACRD program has an advisory board, made up of a group of industry representatives that provides strategic and independent advice on the overall strategic direction and priorities of the ACRD program, while helping to ensure alignment with the NRC's objectives of supporting business innovation and advancing scientific knowledge. When forming the advisory boards for all NRC programs, the NRC worked extensively to ensure that they were as balanced and representative of the Canadian population as possible to ensure that diverse views were considered in research planning.

GBA Plus Data Collection Plan:

The ACRD program's efforts to integrate GBA Plus are significant steps given the challenges to measure and report observed impacts on gender and diversity as the program provides indirect support to final beneficiaries, through research and technical services to clients and collaborators supporting science and innovation in Canada. The program is making efforts to overcome these challenges by adopting different strategies to collect GBA Plus data from its different streams of work. In 2021-22, the program collected GBA Plus data on hiring and career advancement of STEM professionals from equity deserving groups who receive practical training opportunities at the NRC. The program also collects GBA Plus data on the gender representation of members appointed to its advisory board in a confidential manner to facilitate efforts to achieve equal representation of women. The program plans to collect GBA Plus data in 2022-23 about the business ownership and workforce composition of enterprises it supports. GBA Plus data on longer term impacts on gender and diversity will be collected through a planned program evaluation. Finally, in 2022-23, the NRC plans to engage other science based departments and agencies to exchange information on the challenges to collect GBA Plus data and strategies to overcome them.

Building on the NRC's objectives and targets laid out in the NRC Five-Year Strategic Plan, ACRD is setting targets and collecting data on its work to build and expand diverse Canadian STEM capacity in its field and sector. Data is collected on the Canadian Labour Market Availability (LMA) for each of the 4 designated EE groups as well as specific EE occupational groups (EEOGs). This data is drawn from corporate HR systems and Statistics Canada census information and collected through the annual operational planning process.

ACRD's 2023-24 operational planning process will also include internal workforce planning which prioritizes the identification of high potential employees from designated groups to help address EE gaps and enable the advancement of equity deserving group members. As another specific action for GBA Plus data collection, the ACRD program is collecting data on a quarterly basis on the proportion of new hires that are women and racialized persons and will include all EE hires from 2022-23 onwards. Also, hiring targets for EE groups were introduced in 2022-23 and will be used as the basis to collect data on the proportion of newly hired staff from the 4 designated EE groups from 2022-23 onwards. The postings for hiring explicitly invite people to self-identify as being members of EE groups as a preference will be given to these candidates. As part of the operational planning process, the ACRD program also compiles qualitative evidence of its research accomplishments and impacts on diverse groups in the form of success stories. These stories are used in NRC planning, reporting and communications activities as evidence of the success and impact of the ACRD program's research efforts. 

The NRC has initiated discussions with TBS to leverage their collaborative statistical program on Business Innovation and Growth Support (BIGS) with Statistics Canada as a specific action for GBA Plus data collection. The BIGS database covers government support to enterprises linked to the Linkable File Environment (LFE) of Statistics Canada to better understand performance and conduct impact assessments for growth and innovation-related programs. The NRC will be part of TBS' ongoing research project of "Understanding BIGS beneficiaries". The project will allow NRC access to aggregate data in 2022-23 to improve the understanding of the business ownership and workforce composition (e.g. majority women-owned enterprises and proportion of female employees) of enterprises supported by the ACRD program. This specific action to collect GBA Plus data will enable the ACRD program to understand how certain equity deserving groups based on gender, age and immigrant status may be disproportionately impacted, and to determine strategies to mitigate these impacts.

The ACRD program's Performance Information Profile identifies key indicators against which data will be collected. A recent evaluation of the ACRD program in 2021-22 concluded that the program has contributed to food security by developing different crop varieties and platforms, and is currently working on a project aimed at meeting the dietary needs of environmentally-challenged and remote populations. The next evaluation of the ACRD program has been tentatively scheduled to be initiated in 2026-27. The evaluation will include an examination of EDI populations within the research centre/ program workforce as well as distribution across the various employee subgroups (researcher, management, administrative) and levels. Further, to ensure the perspectives of diverse populations are heard, the evaluation project will also include diverse populations in key informant interviews, peer review committees, and surveys. GBA Plus success stories, if identified, could also be included as case studies.

Program Name: Automotive and Surface Transportation

Target Population:

All Canadians / Sectors: manufacturing, transportation, science & technology industry

Distribution of Benefits:

By gender (1 to 5) – Third group: Broadly gender-balanced

By income level (1 to 5) – Third group: No significant distributional impacts

By age group (1 to 3) – Second group: No significant inter-generational impacts or impacts between youth and seniors

Key Program impacts on Gender and Diversity:

The Automotive and Surface Transportation (AST) program has integrated GBA Plus into many aspects of its program activities, including in its research facilities, efforts to build and expand diverse Canadian STEM capacity in its field and sector, and representation of diverse views on its research advisory board.

The AST program leads the new Advanced Manufacturing Research Facility in Winnipeg, Manitoba. An Indigenous working group was engaged to ensure Indigenous representation in staff and student hiring, and within the scientific and research agenda, and interior of the facility.

The AST program has also integrated GBA Plus into its operations in order to build and expand diverse Canadian STEM capacity in its scientific field and the industry sectors it supports. One of the ways this is accomplished is through training students and highly qualified personnel, in order to improve the quality of scientific and technical outputs produced by a diverse workforce. By hiring students and early career STEM professionals from equity deserving groups and providing them with practical training opportunities, the NRC is helping to strengthen the pipeline for Canadian industry, academia and other STEM employers and improve the workforce representation within traditionally under-represented fields. An observed result for the AST program last year was the ratio of women new hires relative to the Canadian average labour market availability, which was 1.19 in 2021-22.

The AST program has an advisory board, made up of a group of industry representatives that provide strategic and independent advice on its overall strategic direction and priorities. When forming the advisory boards for all NRC programs, the NRC worked extensively to ensure that they were as balanced and representative of the Canadian population as possible to ensure that diverse views were considered in research planning.

GBA Plus Data Collection Plan:

The AST program's efforts to integrate GBA Plus are significant steps given the challenges to measure and report observed impacts on gender and diversity as the program provides indirect support to final beneficiaries, through research and technical services to clients and collaborators supporting science and innovation in Canada. The program is making efforts to overcome these challenges by adopting different strategies to collect GBA Plus data from its different streams of work. In 2021-22, the program collected GBA Plus data on hiring and career advancement of STEM professionals from equity deserving groups who receive practical training opportunities at the NRC. The program also collects GBA Plus data on the gender representation of members appointed to its advisory board in a confidential manner to facilitate efforts to achieve equal representation of women. The program plans to collect GBA Plus data in 2022-23 about the business ownership and workforce composition of enterprises it supports. GBA Plus data on longer term impacts on gender and diversity will be collected through a planned program evaluation. Finally, in 2022-23, the NRC plans to engage other science based departments and agencies to exchange information on the challenges to collect GBA Plus data and strategies to overcome them.

Building on the NRC's objectives and targets laid out in the NRC Five-Year Strategic Plan, AST is setting targets and collecting data on its work to build and expand diverse Canadian STEM capacity in its field and sector. Data is collected on the Canadian Labour Market Availability (LMA) for each of the 4 designated EE groups as well as specific EE occupational groups (EEOGs). This data is drawn from corporate HR systems and Statistics Canada census information and collected through the annual operational planning process.

AST's 2023-24 operational planning process will also include internal workforce planning which prioritizes the identification of high potential employees from designated groups to help address EE gaps and enable the advancement of equity deserving group members. As another specific action for GBA Plus data collection, the AST program is collecting data on a quarterly basis on the proportion of new hires that are women and racialized persons and will include all EE hires from 2022-23 onwards. Also, hiring targets for EE groups were introduced in 2022-23 and will be used as the basis to collect data on the proportion of newly hired staff from the 4 designated EE groups from 2022-23 onwards. The postings for hiring explicitly invite people to self-identify as being members of EE groups as a preference will be given to these candidates. As part of the operational planning process, the AST program also compiles qualitative evidence of its research accomplishments and impacts on diverse groups in the form of success stories. These stories are used in NRC planning, reporting and communications activities as evidence of the success and impact of the AST program's research efforts.

The NRC has initiated discussions with TBS to leverage their collaborative statistical program on Business Innovation and Growth Support (BIGS) with Statistics Canada as a specific action for GBA Plus data collection. The BIGS database covers government support to enterprises linked to the Linkable File Environment (LFE) of Statistics Canada to better understand performance and conduct impact assessments for growth and innovation-related programs. The NRC will be part of TBS' ongoing research project of "Understanding BIGS beneficiaries". The project will allow NRC access to aggregate data in 2022-23 to improve the understanding of the business ownership and workforce composition (e.g. majority women-owned enterprises and proportion of female employees) of enterprises supported by the AST program. This specific action to collect GBA Plus data will enable the AST program to understand how certain equity deserving groups based on gender, age and immigrant status may be disproportionately impacted, and to determine strategies to mitigate these impacts.

An evaluation of the AST program has been tentatively scheduled to be initiated in 2025-26. The evaluation will include an examination of EDI populations within the research centre/ program workforce as well as distribution across the various employee subgroups (researcher, management, administrative) and levels. Further, to ensure the perspectives of diverse populations are heard, the evaluation project will also include diverse populations in key informant interviews, peer review committees, and surveys. GBA Plus success stories, if identified, could also be included as case studies.

Program Name: Construction

Target Population:

All Canadians / Sectors: construction, infrastructure, science & technology industry

Distribution of Benefits:

By gender (1 to 5) – Predominantly men (e.g. 80 % or more men)

By income level (1 to 5) – Third group: No significant distributional impacts

By age group (1 to 3) – Second group: No significant inter-generational impacts or impacts between youth and seniors

Key Program impacts on Gender and Diversity:

The Construction program's work benefits 3 primary target client groups: the science and technology research workforce within the research centre that has acknowledged gaps in the representation of Indigenous Peoples and people with disabilities; the construction sector, which employs men at a higher rate than women and other equity deserving groups; and small- and medium-size enterprises (SMEs), which also employ men at a higher rate than women and other equity deserving groups.

It was observed that women made up 13.36% of those employed in the Canadian construction industry in 2021, compared to 13.28% the year before. Though modest, the increase in representation during a challenging year continues a slow, years-long shift toward more women in both on- and off-site roles. Between 2020 and 2029, around 131,000 workers in the residential construction industry are expected to retire, but only about 105,000 new workers are expected to enter the industry. This gap may force the industry to look for construction labour among women, Indigenous Peoples, and new Canadians.

The Construction program will continue efforts in reaching equity deserving groups, especially Indigenous Peoples, and people with disabilities. The benefits of the Construction program's work include an increase in research and innovation to bring more resilience and sustainability to communities experiencing disproportionate and differential impacts of climate change, including coastal areas prone to flooding and northern communities experiencing warming at a greater rate than the rest of Canada. This resilience and sustainability may also benefit marginalized low-income communities with more safe, secure housing, which would also address associated economic, social and health vulnerabilities.

Accessibility for persons with disabilities is 1 of the 5 stated objectives of the National Building Code of Canada. Through Codes Canada (which includes the National Building Code, National Fire Code, National Plumbing Code and National Energy Code), the Construction program continues to improve accessibility for all Canadians. The external committees involved in developing the Building Codes are selected from across Canada for their interests and expertise. The program is working towards ensuring that the composition of these committees are consistent with the representation of the 4 EE groups in the overall construction industry.

The Construction program has integrated GBA Plus into its governance structure through external committees involved in design and implementation. While encouraging a seismic shift in the construction industry toward decarbonisation and climate resilience, the program is working to encourage increased EDI in the construction industry along with sustainable supply chains, innovative Canadian businesses, job creation and lower GHG emissions. An important lever in this process is the Construction program's advisory board, a group of industry representatives that provides strategic and independent advice to NRC senior management on the overall strategic direction and priorities of the program, while helping to ensure alignment with the NRC's objectives of supporting business innovation and advancing scientific knowledge. When forming the advisory boards for all NRC programs, the NRC worked extensively to ensure that they were as balanced and representative of the Canadian population as possible to ensure that diverse views were considered in research planning.

Skills development and job opportunities that are provided to equity deserving groups can provide positive, lasting impacts on individuals and the overall Canadian economy. Through the NRC's Environmental Research Strategy, Construction researchers have been equipped with GBA Plus tools to inform the design of their environmental projects so as to increase the impact of their research on diverse groups. The Construction program has also integrated GBA Plus into this operations to build and expand diverse Canadian STEM capacity in its field and sector. One of the ways this is accomplished is through training students and highly qualified personnel, in order to improve the quality of scientific and technical outputs produced by a diverse workforce. By hiring students and early career STEM professionals from equity deserving groups and providing them with practical training opportunities, the NRC is helping to strengthen the pipeline for Canadian industry, academia and other STEM employers and improve the workforce representation within traditionally under-represented fields. An observed result for the Construction program last year was the ratio of women new hires relative to the Canadian average labour market availability, which was 0.63 in 2021-22.

GBA Plus Data Collection Plan:

The Construction program's efforts to integrate GBA Plus are significant steps given the challenges to measure and report observed impacts on gender and diversity as the program provides indirect support to final beneficiaries, through research and technical services to clients and collaborators supporting science and innovation in Canada. The program is making efforts to overcome these challenges by adopting different strategies to collect GBA Plus data from its different streams of work. In 2021-22, the program collected GBA Plus data on hiring and career advancement of STEM professionals from equity deserving groups who receive practical training opportunities at the NRC. The program also collects GBA Plus data on the gender representation of members appointed to its advisory board in a confidential manner to facilitate efforts to achieve equal representation of women. The program plans to collect GBA Plus data in 2022-23 about the business ownership and workforce composition of enterprises it supports. GBA Plus data on longer term impacts on gender and diversity will be collected through a planned program evaluation. Finally, in 2022-23, the NRC plans to engage other science based departments and agencies to exchange information on the challenges to collect GBA Plus data and strategies to overcome them.

Building on the NRC's objectives and targets laid out in the NRC Five-Year Strategic Plan, the Construction program is setting targets and collecting data on its work to build and expand diverse Canadian STEM capacity in its field and sector. Data is collected on the Canadian Labour Market Availability (LMA) for each of the 4 designated EE groups as well as specific EE occupational groups (EEOGs). This data is drawn from corporate HR systems and Statistics Canada census information and collected through the annual operational planning process.

The Construction program's 2023-24 operational planning process will also include internal workforce planning which prioritizes the identification of high potential employees from designated groups to help address EE gaps and enable the advancement of equity deserving group members. As another specific action for GBA Plus data collection, the Construction program is collecting data on a quarterly basis on the proportion of new hires that are women and racialized persons and will include all EE hires from 2022-23 onwards. Also, hiring targets for EE groups were introduced in 2022-23 and will be used as the basis to collect data on the proportion of newly hired staff from the 4 designated EE groups from 2022-23 onwards. The postings for hiring explicitly invite people to self-identify as being members of EE groups as a preference will be given to these candidates. As part of the operational planning process, the Construction program also compiles qualitative evidence of its research accomplishments and impacts on diverse groups in the form of success stories. These stories are used in NRC planning, reporting and communications activities as evidence of the success and impact of the Construction program's research efforts.

The NRC has initiated discussions with TBS to leverage their collaborative statistical program on Business Innovation and Growth Support (BIGS) with Statistics Canada as a specific action for GBA Plus data collection. The BIGS database covers government support to enterprises linked to the Linkable File Environment (LFE) of Statistics Canada to better understand performance and conduct impact assessments for growth and innovation-related programs. The NRC will be part of TBS' ongoing research project of "Understanding BIGS beneficiaries". The project will allow NRC access to aggregate data in 2022-23 to improve the understanding of the business ownership and workforce composition (e.g. majority women-owned enterprises and proportion of female employees) of enterprises supported by the Construction program. This specific action to collect GBA Plus data will enable the Construction program to understand how certain equity deserving groups based on gender, age and immigrant status may be disproportionately impacted, and to determine strategies to mitigate these impacts.

An evaluation of the Construction program has been tentatively scheduled to be initiated in 2024-25. The evaluation will include an examination of EDI populations within the research centre/ program workforce as well as distribution across the various employee subgroups (researcher, management, administrative) and levels. Further, to ensure the perspectives of diverse populations are heard, the evaluation project will also include diverse populations in key informant interviews, peer review committees, and surveys. GBA Plus success stories, if identified, could also be included as case studies.

Program Name: Digital Technologies

Target Population:

All Canadians / academia, OGDs, science & technology industry

Distribution of Benefits:

By gender (1 to 5) – Third group: Broadly gender-balanced

By income level (1 to 5) – Third group: No significant distributional impacts

By age group (1 to 3) – Second group: No significant inter-generational impacts or impacts between youth and seniors

Key Program impacts on Gender and Diversity:

The NRC's Digital Technologies (DT) program has integrated GBA Plus into many aspects of its program activities, including the design and delivery of research projects, a challenge and Cluster Support program, efforts to build and expand diverse Canadian STEM capacity in its field and sector, and representation of diverse views on its research advisory board.

The DT program has adopted key GBA Plus principles to serve the needs of Indigenous Peoples. An observed result was that in collaboration with Indigenous communities and language experts, the DT program's Indigenous Languages Technology (ILT) project continued to support the revitalization of Indigenous languages. The project has adopted an empowerment based approach, where collaboration with communities and fulfillment of their goals is central. Since many of the technologies developed were in response to community needs, the project has a collection of diverse subprojects including new speech- and text based resources for Indigenous language students, educators, translators, transcribers and other language professionals, and work to increase the accessibility of audio and video recordings. The DT program has also actively recruited for a diverse, representative project team by building trust, over several years, with respected Indigenous educators. A key element of building trust was assuring Indigenous collaborators that the NRC would not own the data or the software developed collaboratively with communities, and that the software could actually be useful. Once Indigenous educators were comfortable with the approach taken, the project attracted several talented Indigenous recruits.

The DT program has also integrated GBA Plus into its operations in order to build and expand diverse Canadian STEM capacity in its scientific field and the industry sectors it supports. One of the ways this is accomplished is through training students and highly qualified personnel, in order to improve the quality of scientific and technical outputs produced by a diverse workforce. By hiring students and early career STEM professionals from equity deserving groups and providing them with practical training opportunities, the NRC is helping to strengthen the pipeline for Canadian industry, academia and other STEM employers and improve the workforce representation within traditionally under-represented fields. The DT program is committed to increasing diversity in its workforce. An observed result for the DT program last year was the ratio of women new hires relative to the Canadian average labour market availability, which was 3.36 in 2021-22. 

Finally, the DT program has an advisory board, made up of a group of industry representatives that provide strategic and independent advice on its overall strategic direction and priorities. When forming the advisory boards for all NRC programs, the NRC worked extensively to ensure that they were as balanced and representative of the Canadian population as possible to ensure that diverse views were considered in research planning.

GBA Plus Data Collection Plan:

The DT program's efforts to integrate GBA Plus are significant steps given the challenges to measure and report observed impacts on gender and diversity as the program provides indirect support to final beneficiaries, through research and technical services to clients and collaborators supporting science and innovation in Canada. The program is making efforts to overcome these challenges by adopting different strategies to collect GBA Plus data from its different streams of work. In 2021-22, the program collected GBA Plus data on hiring and career advancement of STEM professionals from equity deserving groups who receive practical training opportunities at the NRC. The program also collects GBA Plus data on the gender representation of members appointed to its advisory board in a confidential manner to facilitate efforts to achieve equal representation of women. The program plans to collect GBA Plus data in 2022-23 about the business ownership and workforce composition of enterprises it supports. GBA Plus data on longer term impacts on gender and diversity will be collected through key indicators in its research project and challenge program and a planned program evaluation. Finally, in 2022-23, the NRC plans to engage other science based departments and agencies to exchange information on the challenges to collect GBA Plus data and strategies to overcome them.

Building on the NRC's objectives and targets laid out in the NRC Five-Year Strategic Plan, the DT program is setting targets and collecting data on its work to build and expand diverse Canadian STEM capacity in its field and sector. Data is collected on the Canadian Labour Market Availability (LMA) for each of the 4 designated EE groups as well as specific EE occupational groups (EEOGs). This data is drawn from corporate HR systems and Statistics Canada census information and collected through the annual operational planning process.

The DT program's 2023-24 operational planning process will also include internal workforce planning which prioritizes the identification of high potential employees from designated groups to help address EE gaps and enable the advancement of equity deserving group members. As another specific action for GBA Plus data collection, the DT program is collecting data on a quarterly basis on the proportion of new hires that are women and racialized persons and will include all EE hires from 2022-23 onwards. Also, hiring targets for EE groups were introduced in 2022-23 and will be used as the basis to collect data on the proportion of newly hired staff from the 4 designated EE groups from 2022-23 onwards. The postings for hiring explicitly invite people to self-identify as being members of EE groups as a preference will be given to these candidates. As part of the operational planning process, the DT program also compiles qualitative evidence of its research accomplishments and impacts on diverse groups in the form of success stories. These stories are used in NRC planning, reporting and communications activities as evidence of the success and impact of the DT program's research efforts.

The NRC has initiated discussions with TBS to leverage their collaborative statistical program on Business Innovation and Growth Support (BIGS) with Statistics Canada as a specific action for GBA Plus data collection. The BIGS database covers government support to enterprises linked to the Linkable File Environment (LFE) of Statistics Canada to better understand performance and conduct impact assessments for growth and innovation-related programs. The NRC will be part of TBS' ongoing research project of "Understanding BIGS beneficiaries". The project will allow NRC access to aggregate data in 2022-23 to improve the understanding of the business ownership and workforce composition (e.g. majority women-owned enterprises and proportion of female employees) of enterprises supported by the DT program. This specific action to collect GBA Plus data will enable the DT program to understand how certain equity deserving groups based on gender, age and immigrant status may be disproportionately impacted, and to determine strategies to mitigate these impacts.

The DT program's Indigenous Languages Technology (ILT) project is actively working with its Indigenous collaborators to monitor and ensure that the benefits of the project are in line with community goals. The revitalization of Indigenous languages have wide ranging impacts on Indigenous Peoples and represent broader community goals of self-determination.

Under the Artificial Intelligence for Design Challenge program led by DT, the NRC sponsored the Canadian Council of Academies Leaps and Boundaries report. This report explores the opportunities, challenges, and implications of deploying AI technologies to enable scientific and engineering research design and discovery in Canada and includes a detailed overview of the legal, ethical, social and policy implications of deploying AI for science. The report will be utilized in 2022-23 to strengthen AI for Design's approach to GBA Plus in the program and broad dissemination of the report will allow others (including collaborators and partners) to consider its important findings and recommendations. In addition, as part of its performance measurement framework, the Artificial Intelligence for Logistics (AI4L) Cluster Support program, also led by DT, will measure the number of discrete novel capabilities or capacity improvements in and for the Canadian North to demonstrate that Innovative AI tools are used to optimize and improve logistics operations in Canada, with data collection planned closer to the targeted dates in 2026-27 and 2027-28.

An evaluation of the DT program has been tentatively scheduled to be initiated in 2023-24. The evaluation will include an examination of EDI populations within the research centre/ program workforce as well as distribution across the various employee subgroups (researcher, management, administrative) and levels. Further, to ensure the perspectives of diverse populations are heard, the evaluation project will also include diverse populations in key informant interviews, peer review committees, and surveys. GBA Plus success stories, if identified, could also be included as case studies.

Program Name: Energy, Mining and Environment

Target Population:

All Canadians / Sectors: energy and utilities, mining, oil & gas exploration, science & technology industry

Distribution of Benefits:

By gender (1 to 5) – Third group: Broadly gender-balanced

By income level (1 to 5) – Third group: No significant distributional impacts

By age group (1 to 3) – Second group: No significant inter-generational impacts or impacts between youth and seniors

Key Program impacts on Gender and Diversity:

The NRC's Energy, Mining and Environment (EME) program has integrated GBA Plus into many aspects of its program activities, including the design and delivery of a challenge program to create a cleaner, more sustainable Canadian energy and chemical industry through materials innovation, efforts to build and expand diverse Canadian STEM capacity in its field and sector, and representation of diverse views on its research advisory board.

EME leads on the Materials for Clean Fuels (MCF) Challenge program, which has far-reaching impacts aimed at improving the lives of all Canadians, regardless of gender, race, socio-economic status, Indigenous identity, geographic location, language, education level, socio-economic or marital status, culture, or religion. EME is coordinating a national effort to collaborate with leaders in academia and industry from a diverse range of backgrounds to catalyze the discovery and development of materials for early-stage exploratory technologies to decarbonize Canada's oil and gas and petrochemical sectors. A case can be made that demographics that would experience first-hand impacts could be those that currently work in the oil and gas industry and the groups that value environmental stewardship. The program development process adopted a GBA Plus lens to determine that no major issues with respect to discrimination in the scientific directions have been identified.

Skills development and job opportunities that are provided to equity deserving groups can provide positive, lasting impacts on individuals and the overall Canadian economy. Through the NRC's Environmental Research Strategy, EME researchers have been equipped with GBA Plus tools to inform the design of their environmental projects so as to increase the impact of their research on diverse groups. The EME program has also integrated GBA Plus into its operations to build and expand diverse Canadian STEM capacity in its field and sector. One of the ways this is accomplished is through training students and highly qualified personnel, in order to improve the quality of scientific and technical outputs produced by a diverse workforce. By hiring students and early career STEM professionals from equity deserving groups and providing them with practical training opportunities, the NRC is helping to strengthen the pipeline for Canadian industry, academia and other STEM employers and improve the workforce representation within traditionally under-represented fields. The observed results for the EME program in 2021-22 was 0.77 for the ratio of women new hires relative to the Canadian average labour market availability. EME participated in NRCs Indigenous Student recruitment pilot project, resulting in new student hires from equity deserving groups.

The EME program has an advisory board, made up of a group of industry representatives that provide strategic and independent advice on its overall strategic direction and priorities. When forming the advisory boards for all NRC programs, the NRC worked extensively to ensure that they were as balanced and representative of the Canadian population as possible to ensure that diverse views were considered in research planning.

GBA Plus Data Collection Plan:

The EME program's efforts to integrate GBA Plus are significant steps given the challenges to measure and report observed impacts on gender and diversity as the program provides indirect support to final beneficiaries, through research and technical services to clients and collaborators supporting science and innovation in Canada. The program is making efforts to overcome these challenges by adopting different strategies to collect GBA Plus data from its different streams of work. In 2021-22, the program collected GBA Plus data on hiring and career advancement of STEM professionals from equity deserving groups who receive practical training opportunities at the NRC. The program also collects GBA Plus data on the gender representation of members appointed to its advisory board in a confidential manner to facilitate efforts to achieve equal representation of women. The program plans to collect GBA Plus data in 2022-23 about the business ownership and workforce composition of enterprises it supports. GBA Plus data on longer term impacts on gender and diversity will be collected through a planned program evaluation. Finally, in 2022-23, the NRC plans to engage other science based departments and agencies to exchange information on the challenges to collect GBA Plus data and strategies to overcome them.

Building on the NRC's objectives and targets laid out in the NRC Five-Year Strategic Plan, EME is setting targets and collecting data on its work to build and expand diverse Canadian STEM capacity in its field and sector. Data is collected on the Canadian Labour Market Availability (LMA) for each of the 4 designated EE groups as well as specific EE occupational groups (EEOGs). This data is drawn from corporate HR systems and Statistics Canada census information and collected through the annual operational planning process.

EME's 2023-24 operational planning process will also include internal workforce planning which prioritizes the identification of high potential employees from designated groups to help address EE gaps and enable the advancement of equity deserving group members. As another specific action for GBA Plus data collection, the EME program is collecting data on a quarterly basis on the proportion of new hires that are women and racialized persons and will include all EE hires from 2022-23 onwards. Also, hiring targets for EE groups were introduced in 2022-23 and will be used as the basis to collect data on the proportion of newly hired staff from the 4 designated EE groups from 2022-23 onwards. The postings for hiring explicitly invite people to self-identify as being members of EE groups as a preference will be given to these candidates. As part of the operational planning process, the EME program also compiles qualitative evidence of its research accomplishments and impacts on diverse groups in the form of success stories. These stories are used in NRC planning, reporting and communications activities as evidence of the success and impact of the EME program's research efforts.

The NRC has initiated discussions with TBS to leverage their collaborative statistical program on Business Innovation and Growth Support (BIGS) with Statistics Canada as a specific action for GBA Plus data collection. The BIGS database covers government support to enterprises linked to the Linkable File Environment (LFE) of Statistics Canada to better understand performance and conduct impact assessments for growth and innovation-related programs. The NRC will be part of TBS' ongoing research project of "Understanding BIGS beneficiaries". The project will allow NRC access to aggregate data in 2022-23 to improve the understanding of the business ownership and workforce composition (e.g. majority women-owned enterprises and proportion of female employees) of enterprises supported by the EME program. This specific action to collect GBA Plus data will enable the EME program to understand how certain equity deserving groups based on gender, age and immigrant status may be disproportionately impacted, and to determine strategies to mitigate these impacts.

An evaluation of the EME program has been tentatively scheduled to be initiated in 2023-24. The evaluation will include an examination of EDI populations within the research centre/ program workforce as well as distribution across the various employee subgroups (researcher, management, administrative) and levels. Further, to ensure the perspectives of diverse populations are heard, the evaluation project will also include diverse populations in key informant interviews, peer review committees, and surveys. GBA Plus success stories, if identified, could also be included as case studies.

Program Name: Herzberg Astronomy & Astrophysics

Target Population:

All Canadians / students, researchers, science & technology industry

Distribution of Benefits:

By gender (1 to 5) – Third group: Broadly gender-balanced

By income level (1 to 5) – Third group: No significant distributional impacts

By age group (1 to 3) – Second group: No significant inter-generational impacts or impacts between youth and seniors

Key Program impacts on Gender and Diversity:

The Herzberg Astronomy and Astrophysics (HAA) program has integrated GBA Plus into many aspects of its program activities, including in its leadership role in the Canadian astronomical community, efforts to build and expand diverse Canadian STEM capacity in its field and sector, and representation of diverse views on its research advisory board.

The HAA program primarily benefits individuals in the astronomy and astrophysics sector such as researchers in astrophysics and astronomy, and individuals with higher education. HAA also benefits Canadian industry through transfer of know-how and technology in support of facility and instrument development, and indirectly benefits all Canadians with enhanced understanding of the universe. Canada's participation in leading international observatories like the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) provides employment opportunities for students and post-doctoral fellows. However, under-representation and marginalization of women and minorities are a major concern in the astronomy field and the researchers who benefit from HAA are still predominantly male. Other challenges in the field include a lack of equity in compensation, funding, access to telescope time, and sociological issues associated with dependent caregiving. Linguistic identity is an additional equity issue in Canada because English is the international language of astronomy and Francophones are often required to work in a language that is not their native tongue.

The NRC is committed to listening to and learning from local Indigenous communities, to better understand how the organization can support Indigeneity at both domestic and international observatories, and in the research conducted. As recommended in the Canadian Astronomy Long Range Plan 2020-2030, through its HAA program, the NRC is working with the Canadian astronomical community and Indigenous partners to develop a set of guiding principles for the astronomy facilities and infrastructure in which Canada participates.

To ensure equitable allocation of the available observing time, fully anonymous processes for assessment of observing proposals are now in use for all the international observatories supported by the NRC. This includes the Gemini Observatory where in 2021–22, in the first round of observing time allocation using full, dual-anonymous review procedures, HAA observed that women-led proposals were 39% more likely to be approved than proposals led by men. This was the first time the acceptance rate was higher for women-led proposals since this rate has been monitored (over the last 6 years). At the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope (CFHT) and the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), women-led proposals were successful in the application cycles in 2021–22 at or above the rates expected (based on their proportion of the total number of applications.

A recent evaluation of the HAA program in 2021-22 recommended that HAA develop and implement a strategic EDI plan that focusses on research excellence, student engagement, reducing barriers for women to become future leaders, as well as those for minority group populations, and moving from consultation to empowerment for local Indigenous communities.

The HAA program has also integrated GBA Plus into its operations in order to build and expand diverse Canadian STEM capacity in its scientific field and the industry sectors it supports. One of the ways this is accomplished is through training students and highly qualified personnel, in order to improve the quality of scientific and technical outputs produced by a diverse workforce. By hiring students and early career STEM professionals from equity deserving groups and providing them with practical training opportunities, the NRC is helping to strengthen the pipeline for Canadian industry, academia and other STEM employers and improve workforce representation within traditionally under-represented fields. An example of efforts to increase representation was the mentoring of early-career female astronomers by 2 HAA researchers through the Women at NRC mentorship program. An observed result for the HAA program last year was the ratio of women new hires relative to the Canadian average labour market availability, which was 1.30 in 2021–22.

Finally, the HAA program has an advisory board, made up of a group of industry and academic representatives that provide strategic and independent advice on its overall strategic direction and priorities. When forming the advisory boards for all NRC programs, the NRC worked extensively to ensure that they were as balanced and representative of the Canadian population as possible to ensure that diverse views were considered in research planning.

GBA Plus Data Collection Plan:

The HAA program's efforts to integrate GBA Plus are significant steps given the challenges to measure and report observed impacts on gender and diversity as the program provides indirect support to final beneficiaries, through research and technical services to clients and collaborators supporting science and innovation in Canada. The program is making efforts to overcome these challenges by adopting different strategies to collect GBA Plus data from its different streams of work. In 2021-22, the program collected GBA Plus data on hiring and career advancement of STEM professionals from equity deserving groups who receive practical training opportunities at the NRC. The program also collects GBA Plus data on the gender representation of members appointed to its advisory board in a confidential manner to facilitate efforts to achieve equal representation of women. The program plans to collect GBA Plus data in 2022-23 through key indicators to track proposals for observing time at the international observatories supported by the HAA program. GBA Plus data on longer term impacts on gender and diversity will be collected through a planned program evaluation. Finally, in 2022-23, the NRC plans to engage other science based departments and agencies to exchange information on the challenges to collect GBA Plus data and strategies to overcome them.

Building on the NRC's objectives and targets laid out in the NRC Five-Year Strategic Plan, HAA is setting targets and collecting data on its work to build and expand diverse Canadian STEM capacity in its field and sector. Data is collected on the Canadian Labour Market Availability (LMA) for each of the 4 designated EE groups as well as specific EE occupational groups (EEOGs). This data is drawn from corporate HR systems and Statistics Canada census information and collected through the annual operational planning process.

HAA's 2023-24 operational planning process will also include internal workforce planning which prioritizes the identification of high potential employees from designated groups to help address EE gaps and enable the advancement of equity deserving group members. As another specific action for GBA Plus data collection, the HAA program is collecting data on a quarterly basis on the proportion of new hires that are women and racialized persons and will include all EE hires from 2022-23 onwards. Also, hiring targets for EE groups were introduced in 2022-23 and will be used as the basis to collect data on the proportion of newly hired staff from the 4 designated EE groups from 2022-23 onwards. The postings for hiring explicitly invite people to self-identify as being members of EE groups as a preference will be given to these candidates. As part of the operational planning process, the HAA program also compiles qualitative evidence of its research accomplishments and impacts on diverse groups in the form of success stories. These stories are used in NRC planning, reporting and communications activities as evidence of the success and impact of the HAA program's research efforts.

Anonymous processes for assessment of observing proposals have been adopted for all the international observatories supported by the NRC through its HAA program. As part of the specific actions taken for GBA Plus data collection for 2022-23, the HAA program will continue its annual tracking and over a several year period the proportion of women-led proposals that are approved to better understand the gender bias in the process and adopt strategies to mitigate this.

An evaluation of the HAA program has been tentatively scheduled to be initiated in 2025-26. The evaluation will include an examination of EDI populations within the research centre/ program workforce as well as distribution across the various employee subgroups (researcher, management, administrative) and levels. Further, to ensure the perspectives of diverse populations are heard, the evaluation project will also include diverse populations in key informant interviews, peer review committees, and surveys. GBA Plus success stories, if identified, could also be included as case studies.

Program Name: Human Health Therapeutics

Target Population:

All Canadians / Sectors: manufacturing, health care, social assistance, science & technology industry

Distribution of Benefits:

By gender (1 to 5) – Third group: Broadly gender-balanced

By income level (1 to 5) – Third group: No significant distributional impacts

By age group (1 to 3) – Second group: No significant inter-generational impacts or impacts between youth and seniors

Key Program impacts on Gender and Diversity:

The Human Health Therapeutics (HHT) program has integrated GBA Plus into many aspects of its program activities, including the design and delivery of a challenge program, efforts to build and expand diverse Canadian STEM capacity in its field and sector, and representation of diverse views on its research advisory board.

Through the Disruptive Technology Solutions for Cell and Gene Therapy (CGT) Challenge program, HHT will design and develop disruptive technology solutions for precision-engineered cell and gene therapies for the treatment and potential cure of chronic diseases and rare genetic disorders affecting Canadians, including diverse Canadians who are disproportionately impacted by these diseases and disorders. The extent to which diverse populations, gender and ethnicity play a role in cell therapy and characteristics and therapies for broad use may not have similar impacts on all individuals. While there are gender biases in science that could carry over into the technologies developed in the program and translated into later therapeutic use, the research projects comprising the CGT Challenge program are generally not expected to have a negative GBA Plus impact. The platform and multi-purpose nature of the outputs of the program are broadly applicable in a variety of disease settings, and should be independent of the social or cultural context in which the eventual products are applied. However, one platform technology, development of a universal cell product which could be the basis for generating cell therapy products for broad use, could conceivably be derived from one individual, or universal donor. With this in mind, the gender and ethnicity of that donor may have a poorly understood influence on the characteristics of the cell, so understanding the impact of gender or diverse ethnicity in designing a universal cell product will have to be considered and studied. A positive intended outcome of the program is an automated biodevice for the production and remote analysis of cell therapies for clinical use, which is deployable to remote locations. Such a device would be a tremendous benefit to deliver costly designer cell therapies to remote and northern communities.

The 2020–21 evaluation of HHT piloted a GBA Plus Lens for Evaluation, by using it in a case study for the NRC's Haemophilus influenzae type a (Hia) vaccine, focusing on its impact on Indigenous communities. Efforts have been ongoing to develop the Hia glycoconjugate vaccine. Hia can cause severe and debilitating disease in children and is emerging as a pathogen of concern, especially to Indigenous populations in northern Canada and Alaska. The clinical trial material was recently prepared at InventVacc Biologicals GMP facility in Seattle, and GMP toxicology studies in Ontario have been initiated, to comply with Health Canada requirements.

The HHT program has also integrated GBA Plus into its operations in order to build and expand diverse Canadian STEM capacity in its scientific field and the industry sectors it supports. One of the ways this is accomplished is through training students and highly qualified personnel, in order to improve the quality of scientific and technical outputs produced by a diverse workforce. By hiring students and early career STEM professionals from equity deserving groups and providing them with practical training opportunities, the NRC is helping to strengthen the pipeline for Canadian industry, academia and other STEM employers and improve the workforce representation within traditionally under-represented fields. An observed result for the HHT program last year was the ratio of women new hires relative to the Canadian average labour market availability, which was 1.64 in 2021-22.

The HHT program has an advisory board, made up of a group of industry representatives that provide strategic and independent advice on its overall strategic direction and priorities. When forming the advisory boards for all NRC programs, the NRC worked extensively to ensure that they were as balanced and representative of the Canadian population as possible to ensure that diverse views were considered in research planning.

GBA Plus Data Collection Plan:

The HHT program's efforts to integrate GBA Plus are significant steps given the challenges to measure and report observed impacts on gender and diversity as the program provides indirect support to final beneficiaries, through research and technical services to clients and collaborators supporting science and innovation in Canada. The program is making efforts to overcome these challenges by adopting different strategies to collect GBA Plus data from its different streams of work. In 2021-22, the program collected GBA Plus data on hiring and career advancement of STEM professionals from equity deserving groups who receive practical training opportunities at the NRC. The program also collects GBA Plus data on the gender representation of members appointed to its advisory board in a confidential manner to facilitate efforts to achieve equal representation of women. The program plans to collect GBA Plus data in 2022-23 about the business ownership and workforce composition of enterprises it supports. GBA Plus data on longer term impacts on gender and diversity will be collected through key indicators in its challenge program and a planned program evaluation. Finally, in 2022-23, the NRC plans to engage other science based departments and agencies to exchange information on the challenges to collect GBA Plus data and strategies to overcome them.

Building on the NRC's objectives and targets laid out in the NRC Five-Year Strategic Plan, HHT is setting targets and collecting data on its work to build and expand diverse Canadian STEM capacity in its field and sector. Data is collected on the Canadian Labour Market Availability (LMA) for each of the 4 designated EE groups as well as specific EE occupational groups (EEOGs). This data is drawn from corporate HR systems and Statistics Canada census information and collected through the annual operational planning process.

HHT's 2023-24 operational planning process will also include internal workforce planning which prioritizes the identification of high potential employees from designated groups to help address EE gaps and enable the advancement of equity deserving group members. As another specific action for GBA Plus data collection, the HHT program is collecting data on a quarterly basis on the proportion of new hires that are women and racialized persons and will include all EE hires from 2022-23 onwards. Also, hiring targets for EE groups were introduced in 2022-23 and will be used as the basis to collect data on the proportion of newly hired staff from the 4 designated EE groups from 2022-23 onwards. The postings for hiring explicitly invite people to self-identify as being members of EE groups as a preference will be given to these candidates. As part of the operational planning process, the HHT program also compiles qualitative evidence of its research accomplishments and impacts on diverse groups in the form of success stories. These stories are used in NRC planning, reporting and communications activities as evidence of the success and impact of the HHT program's research efforts.

The NRC has initiated discussions with TBS to leverage their collaborative statistical program on Business Innovation and Growth Support (BIGS) with Statistics Canada as a specific action for GBA Plus data collection. The BIGS database covers government support to enterprises linked to the Linkable File Environment (LFE) of Statistics Canada to better understand performance and conduct impact assessments for growth and innovation-related programs. The NRC will be part of TBS' ongoing research project of "Understanding BIGS beneficiaries". The project will allow NRC access to aggregate data in 2022-23 to improve the understanding of the business ownership and workforce composition (e.g. majority women-owned enterprises and proportion of female employees) of enterprises supported by the HHT program. This specific action to collect GBA Plus data will enable the HHT program to understand how certain equity deserving groups based on gender, age and immigrant status may be disproportionately impacted, and to determine strategies to mitigate these impacts.

The CGT Challenge program will collect data on identity factors across internal research teams within NRC, within collaborator teams applying for funding for contributions to the program, and in the management framework providing governance and oversight of the Challenge program. Consultation will be conducted with the stakeholder community to ensure that the program structure, governance model, and collaborative process is accessible and conducive to equal participation from diverse participants. As part of the specific actions taken for GBA Plus data collection for 2022-23, the HHT program is monitoring participant data to uncover equity deserving groups will be conducted over the life of the program, and on a regular frequency, to identify opportunities and strategies to enhance participation more broadly as needed. These monitoring and gap assessment activities will be extended to include highly qualified personnel (students, postdoctoral fellows) working within the NRC, within collaborating centres, or granted funding awards through the program's grants and contributions mechanism.

An evaluation of the HHT program has been tentatively scheduled to be initiated in 2023-24. The evaluation will include an examination of EDI populations within the research centre/ program workforce as well as distribution across the various employee subgroups (researcher, management, administrative) and levels. Further, to ensure the perspectives of diverse populations are heard, the evaluation project will also include diverse populations in key informant interviews, peer review committees, and surveys. GBA Plus success stories, if identified, could also be included as case studies.

Program Name: Medical Devices

Target Population:

All Canadians / Sectors: manufacturing, health care, social assistance, science & technology industry

Distribution of Benefits:

By gender (1 to 5) – Third group: Broadly gender-balanced

By income level (1 to 5) – Third group: No significant distributional impacts

By age group (1 to 3) – Second group: No significant inter-generational impacts or impacts between youth and seniors

Key Program impacts on Gender and Diversity:

The NRC's Medical Devices (MD) program has integrated GBA Plus into a range of its program activities, including its research projects to improve healthcare access to equity deserving groups, efforts to build and expand diverse Canadian STEM capacity in its field and sector, and representation of diverse views on its Research Centre advisory board.

A number of the projects led by MD within the Pandemic Response Challenge Program (PRCP) Pillar 3 (Digital Care and Analytics) have the goal of improving access to healthcare through contactless diagnostics, mental health tools, and development of standards for accessibility. Guidelines developed in collaboration with Health Canada for virtual care are online for public domain and industry use, including Enhancing Equitable Access to Virtual Care in Canada: Principle-based Recommendations for Equity. PRCP projects are also expected to have positive results for vulnerable populations and women significantly impacted by SARS-CoV-2.

The 2020-21 MD program evaluation made a number of observations on how the program impacts certain equity deserving groups. MD's work on latent tuberculosis has the potential to address an important need within the Indigenous community. Tuberculosis has a disproportionate burden in Indigenous communities, compared to the general population. Likewise, MD's work on Point of Care solutions and interactive remote care can provide benefits to Indigenous populations and/or vulnerable people living in remote areas. MD's work on forefoot deformity orthopedics has implications for people with disabilities. Molecular diagnostics and point-of-care testing done by MD in the In Vitro Diagnostic thrust has implications for the effective and convenient diagnosis of old age diseases. Similarly, MD's work on cognitive care and remediation may have implications for the elderly (e.g., managed care implications and triage).

The MD program has also integrated GBA Plus into its operations in order to build and expand diverse Canadian STEM capacity in its scientific field and the industry sectors it supports. One of the ways this is accomplished is through training students and highly qualified personnel, in order to improve the quality of scientific and technical outputs produced by a diverse workforce. By hiring students and early career STEM professionals from equity deserving groups and providing them with practical training opportunities, the NRC is helping to strengthen the pipeline for Canadian industry, academia and other STEM employers and improve the workforce representation within traditionally under-represented fields. The observed results for the MD program in 2021-22 was 0.85 for the ratio of women new hires relative to the Canadian average labour market availability.

Finally, the MD program has an advisory board, made up of a group of industry representatives that provide strategic and independent advice on its overall strategic direction and priorities. When forming the advisory boards for all NRC programs, the NRC worked extensively to ensure that they were as balanced and representative of the Canadian population as possible to ensure that diverse views were considered in research planning.

GBA Plus Data Collection Plan:

The MD program's efforts to integrate GBA Plus are significant steps given the challenges to measure and report observed impacts on gender and diversity as the program provides indirect support to final beneficiaries, through research and technical services to clients and collaborators supporting science and innovation in Canada. The program is making efforts to overcome these challenges by adopting different strategies to collect GBA Plus data from its different streams of work. In 2021-22, the program collected GBA Plus data on hiring and career advancement of STEM professionals from equity deserving groups who receive practical training opportunities at the NRC. The program also collects GBA Plus data on the gender representation of members appointed to its advisory board in a confidential manner to facilitate efforts to achieve equal representation of women. The program plans to collect GBA Plus data in 2022-23 about the business ownership and workforce composition of enterprises it supports. GBA Plus data on longer term impacts on gender and diversity will be collected through a planned program evaluation. Finally, in 2022-23, the NRC plans to engage other science based departments and agencies to exchange information on the challenges to collect GBA Plus data and strategies to overcome them.

Building on the NRC's objectives and targets laid out in the NRC Five-Year Strategic Plan, the MD program is setting targets and collecting data on its work to build and expand diverse Canadian STEM capacity in its field and sector. Data is collected on the Canadian Labour Market Availability (LMA) for each of the 4 designated EE groups as well as specific EE occupational groups (EEOGs). This data is drawn from corporate HR systems and Statistics Canada census information and collected through the annual operational planning process.

The MD program's 2023-24 operational planning process will also include internal workforce planning which prioritizes the identification of high potential employees from designated groups to help address EE gaps and enable the advancement of equity deserving group members. As another specific action for GBA Plus data collection, the MD program is collecting data on a quarterly basis on the proportion of new hires that are women and racialized persons and will include all EE hires from 2022-23 onwards. Also, hiring targets for EE groups were introduced in 2022-23 and will be used as the basis to collect data on the proportion of newly hired staff from the 4 designated EE groups from 2022-23 onwards. The postings for hiring explicitly invite people to self-identify as being members of EE groups as a preference will be given to these candidates. As part of the operational planning process, the MD program also compiles qualitative evidence of its research accomplishments and impacts on diverse groups in the form of success stories. These stories are used in NRC planning, reporting and communications activities as evidence of the success and impact of the MD program's research efforts.

The NRC has initiated discussions with TBS to leverage their collaborative statistical program on Business Innovation and Growth Support (BIGS) with Statistics Canada as a specific action for GBA Plus data collection. The BIGS database covers government support to enterprises linked to the Linkable File Environment (LFE) of Statistics Canada to better understand performance and conduct impact assessments for growth and innovation-related programs. The NRC will be part of TBS' ongoing research project of "Understanding BIGS beneficiaries". The project will allow NRC access to aggregate data in 2022-23 to improve the understanding of the business ownership and workforce composition (e.g. majority women-owned enterprises and proportion of female employees) of enterprises supported by the MD program. This specific action to collect GBA Plus data will enable the MD program to understand how certain equity deserving groups based on gender, age and immigrant status may be disproportionately impacted, and to determine strategies to mitigate these impacts.

An evaluation of the MD program has been tentatively scheduled to be initiated in 2024-25. The evaluation will include an examination of EDI populations within the research centre/ program workforce as well as distribution across the various employee subgroups (researcher, management, administrative) and levels. Further, to ensure the perspectives of diverse populations are heard, the evaluation project will also include diverse populations in key informant interviews, peer review committees, and surveys. GBA Plus success stories, if identified, could also be included as case studies.

Program Name: Metrology

Target Population:

All Canadians / SMEs, science & technology industry

Distribution of Benefits:

By gender (1 to 5) – Third group: Broadly gender-balanced

By income level (1 to 5) – Third group: No significant distributional impacts

By age group (1 to 3) – Second group: No significant inter-generational impacts or impacts between youth and seniors

Key Program impacts on Gender and Diversity:

The Metrology program has integrated GBA Plus into its program activities, including conducting targeted GBA Plus analysis in the design and delivery of its research projects, efforts to build and expand diverse Canadian STEM capacity in its field and sector, and representation of diverse views on its research advisory board.

Based on Metrology's expanding footprint in quantum-related technologies as an example, a GBA Plus analysis made the observation that the immediate and short-term benefits from the deployment of new quantum technologies are initially susceptible to have links between gender and socio-economic factors such as wealth, education, occupation and decision-making power. In developing Metrology projects, it is recognized that various aspects of emerging quantum technologies such as areas of application, distribution channels, as well as the above mentioned socio-economic factors will all have an impact on benefits realization. However, similar to the development of the transistor, medium- and longer-term benefits realization is expected to be improved through economies of scale as quantum technologies become more mainstream and more affordable. In response, projects are being designed with the understanding that as network quantum sensing becomes more pervasive (i.e., from demonstration to a scalable quantum technology), similar to the transistor, this potentially revolutionary technology should contribute to the reduction of current major structural inequities in potential end-user communities and in society.

The Metrology program has also integrated GBA Plus into its operations in order to build and expand diverse Canadian STEM capacity in its scientific field and the industry sectors it supports. One of the ways this is accomplished is through training students and highly qualified personnel, in order to improve the quality of scientific and technical outputs produced by a diverse workforce. By hiring students and early career STEM professionals from equity deserving groups and providing them with practical training opportunities, the NRC is helping to strengthen the pipeline for Canadian industry, academia and other STEM employers and improve the workforce representation within traditionally under-represented fields. An observed result for the Metrology program last year was the ratio of women new hires relative to the Canadian average labour market availability, which was 0.79 in 2021-22. To support the removal of obstacles to women, racialized persons and other equity deserving groups, the Metrology program promotes shared project leadership, particularly for competitive funding opportunities (internally and externally). Recognizing that equity deserving groups may experience barriers to access in these competitions and to build capabilities, Metrology provided the support of a project manager experienced in designing and executing competitive research and development programs to accompany project teams. In support of gender equality, the program actively monitors its activities to ensure opportunities to lead projects and attend conferences and other activities that support career progression are equitably assigned. Metrology also encourages and supports the participation of 2 female research fellows at the NRC-uOttawa Joint Centre for Extreme Photonics.

The Metrology program has integrated GBA Plus into its governance structure through its advisory board, made up of a group of industry representatives that provide strategic and independent advice on its overall strategic direction and priorities. When forming the advisory boards for all NRC programs, the NRC worked extensively to ensure that they were as balanced and representative of the Canadian population as possible to ensure that diverse views were considered in research planning.

GBA Plus Data Collection Plan:

The Metrology program's efforts to integrate GBA Plus are significant steps given the challenges to measure and report observed impacts on gender and diversity as the program provides indirect support to final beneficiaries, through research and technical services to clients and collaborators supporting science and innovation in Canada. The program is making efforts to overcome these challenges by adopting different strategies to collect GBA Plus data from its different streams of work. In 2021-22, the program collected GBA Plus data on hiring and career advancement of STEM professionals from equity deserving groups who receive practical training opportunities at the NRC. The program also collects GBA Plus data on the gender representation of members appointed to its advisory board in a confidential manner to facilitate efforts to achieve equal representation of women. GBA Plus data on longer term impacts on gender and diversity will be collected through identifying potential benefits from its research projects through GBA Plus analysis and a planned program evaluation. Finally, in 2022-23, the NRC plans to engage other science based departments and agencies to exchange information on the challenges to collect GBA Plus data and strategies to overcome them.

Building on the NRC's objectives and targets laid out in the NRC Five-Year Strategic Plan, the Metrology program is setting targets and collecting data on its work to build and expand diverse Canadian STEM capacity in its field and sector. Data is collected on the Canadian Labour Market Availability (LMA) for each of the 4 designated Employment Equity (EE) groups as well as specific EE occupational groups (EEOGs). This data is drawn from corporate HR systems and Statistics Canada census information and collected through the annual operational planning process.

Metrology's 2023-24 operational planning process will also include internal workforce planning which prioritizes the identification of high potential employees from designated groups to help address EE gaps and enable the advancement of equity deserving group members. As another specific action for GBA Plus data collection, the Metrology program is collecting data on a quarterly basis on the proportion of new hires that are women and racialized persons and will include all EE hires from 2022-23 onwards. Also, hiring targets for EE groups were introduced in 2022-23 and will be used as the basis to collect data on the proportion of newly hired staff from the 4 designated EE groups from 2022-23 onwards. The postings for hiring explicitly invite people to self-identify as being members of EE groups as a preference will be given to these candidates. As part of the operational planning process, the Metrology program also compiles qualitative evidence of its research accomplishments and impacts on diverse groups in the form of success stories. These stories are used in NRC planning, reporting and communications activities as evidence of the success and impact of the Metrology program's research efforts.

As part of the specific actions taken for GBA Plus data collection for 2022-23, the Metrology program will build on the GBA Plus analysis of Metrology's work in quantum-related technologies to gather more data and draw conclusions about immediate and short-term benefits from its deployment. This information will enable the Metrology program to understand how certain equity deserving groups based on gender, age and immigrant status may be disproportionately impacted, and to determine strategies to mitigate these impacts.

An evaluation of the Metrology program has been tentatively scheduled to be initiated in 2026-27. The evaluation will include an examination of EDI populations within the research centre/ program workforce as well as distribution across the various employee subgroups (researcher, management, administrative) and levels. Further, to ensure the perspectives of diverse populations are heard, the evaluation project will also include diverse populations in key informant interviews, peer review committees, and surveys. GBA Plus success stories, if identified, could also be included as case studies.

Program Name: Nanotechnology

Target Population:

All Canadians / Sectors: mining, oil & gas exploration, transportation, science & technology industry

Distribution of Benefits:

By gender (1 to 5) – Third group: Broadly gender-balanced

By income level (1 to 5) – Third group: No significant distributional impacts

By age group (1 to 3) – Second group: No significant inter-generational impacts or impacts between youth and seniors

Key Program impacts on Gender and Diversity:

The NRC's Nanotechnology program has integrated GBA Plus into many aspects of its program activities, including efforts to build and expand diverse Canadian STEM capacity in its field and sector, and representation of diverse views on its research advisory board.

The Nanotechnology program has engaged in the University of Alberta's iSTEAM pathways program and one of the results observed was that at least 1 Indigenous undergraduate student from the University of Manitoba worked with the NRC on environmental science-based projects and gained valuable research experience. In addition, a Nanotechnology supervisor undertook the iSTEAM training program, which is tailored to provide tools for supervising and mentoring Indigenous students. The program also promotes, educates and monitors EDI best practices with respect to hiring and seeking out experts, including an advisory board and seminar speakers which facilitates an understanding of barriers to access faced by equity deserving groups.

The Nanotechnology program has integrated GBA Plus into its operations in order to build and expand diverse Canadian STEM capacity in its scientific field and the industry sectors it supports. One of the ways this is accomplished is through training students and highly qualified personnel, in order to improve the quality of scientific and technical outputs produced by a diverse workforce. By hiring students and early career STEM professionals from equity deserving groups and providing them with practical training opportunities, the NRC is helping to strengthen the pipeline for Canadian industry, academia and other STEM employers and improve the workforce representation within traditionally under-represented fields. An observed result for the Nanotechnology program last year was the ratio of women new hires relative to the Canadian average labour market availability, which was 0.32 in 2021-22.

The Nanotechnology program has an advisory board, made up of a group of industry representatives that provide strategic and independent advice on its overall strategic direction and priorities. When forming the advisory boards for all NRC programs, the NRC worked extensively to ensure that they were as balanced and representative of the Canadian population as possible to ensure that diverse views were considered in research planning.

GBA Plus Data Collection Plan:

The Nanotechnology program's efforts to integrate GBA Plus are significant steps given the challenges to measure and report observed impacts on gender and diversity as the program provides indirect support to final beneficiaries, through research and technical services to clients and collaborators supporting science and innovation in Canada. The program is making efforts to overcome these challenges by adopting different strategies to collect GBA Plus data from its different streams of work. In 2021-22, the program collected GBA Plus data on hiring and career advancement of STEM professionals from equity deserving groups who receive practical training opportunities at the NRC. The program also collects GBA Plus data on the gender representation of members appointed to its advisory board in a confidential manner to facilitate efforts to achieve equal representation of women. GBA Plus data on longer term impacts on gender and diversity will be collected through a planned program evaluation. Finally, in 2022-23, the NRC plans to engage other science based departments and agencies to exchange information on the challenges to collect GBA Plus data and strategies to overcome them.

Building on the NRC's objectives and targets laid out in the NRC Five-Year Strategic Plan, the Nanotechnology program is setting targets and collecting data on its work to build and expand diverse Canadian STEM capacity in its field and sector. Data is collected on the Canadian Labour Market Availability (LMA) for each of the 4 designated Employment Equity (EE) groups as well as specific EE occupational groups (EEOGs). This data is drawn from corporate HR systems and Statistics Canada census information and collected through the annual operational planning process.

The Nanotechnology program's 2023-24 operational planning process will also include internal workforce planning which prioritizes the identification of high potential employees from designated groups to help address EE gaps and enable the advancement of equity deserving group members. As a specific action for GBA Plus data collection, the Nanotechnology program is collecting data on a quarterly basis on the proportion of new hires that are women and racialized persons and will include all EE hires from 2022-23 onwards. Also, hiring targets for EE groups were introduced in 2022-23 and will be used as the basis to collect data on the proportion of newly hired staff from the 4 designated EE groups from 2022-23 onwards. The postings for hiring explicitly invite people to self-identify as being members of EE groups as a preference will be given to these candidates. As part of the operational planning process, the Nanotechnology program also compiles qualitative evidence of its research accomplishments and impacts on diverse groups in the form of success stories. These stories are used in NRC planning, reporting and communications activities as evidence of the success and impact of the Nanotechnology program's research efforts.

Future evaluation of the work undertaken will include an examination of EDI populations within the research centre/ program workforce as well as distribution across the various employee subgroups (researcher, management, administrative) and levels. Further, to ensure the perspectives of diverse populations are heard, the evaluation project will also include diverse populations in key informant interviews, peer review committees, and surveys. GBA Plus success stories, if identified, could also be included as case studies.

Program Name: Ocean, Coastal and River Engineering

Target Population:

All Canadians / academia / Sectors: marine transportation, marine & coastal infrastructure, manufacturing, science & technology industry

Distribution of Benefits:

By gender (1 to 5) – Third group: Broadly gender-balanced

By income level (1 to 5) – Third group: No significant distributional impacts

By age group (1 to 3) – Second group: No significant inter-generational impacts or impacts between youth and seniors

Key Program impacts on Gender and Diversity:

The Ocean, Coastal and River Engineering (OCRE) program's work benefits 3 primary target client groups: the science and technology research workforce within the research centre that has acknowledged gaps in the representation of women, gender-diverse people, Indigenous Peoples, Black people, other racialized groups and people with disabilities; the marine sector (marine transportation, oil and gas, renewable energy) and the resilient infrastructure development sector, which employs men at a higher rate than women and other equity deserving groups; and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), which also employ men at a higher rate than women and other equity deserving groups.

The OCRE program's work is expected to benefit all Canadians by contributing to economic growth and prosperity in industry sectors implicated in lowering carbon emissions – i.e., increased innovation and resilience in marine operations (including marine transport and renewable energy) and in resilient infrastructure development. There are benefits to overall population health by researching fate and transport of microplastics and other pollutants in the marine/aquatic environment. Other benefits to all Canadians include contributing to safe and efficient marine transport of people and goods, and Canadian sovereignty in the North.

OCRE specifically benefits populations in coastal and inland flood-land areas, all across Canada. A particular focus of the program is the emphasis on harsh environments characterized by ice, waves and wind (i.e., Canadian north) which will benefit northern Canadian communities. As a result of the work done by OCRE in 2021-22 to benefit these communities, an interactive web-enabled digital atlas of tidal energy resources in northern Canada is now being used by communities in the North. The NRC's work could lead to future development of tidal energy resources to supply the energy needs of remote northern communities, which would also address associated economic, social and health vulnerabilities.

While working to encourage the shift towards decarbonization and climate-resilience in the marine and coastal sectors, the NRC will also be working to reduce barriers for participation of equity deserving groups in the ocean and freshwater sectors. An important lever in this process is OCRE's advisory board, a group of representatives from industry, government and academia that provide strategic and independent advice on its overall strategic direction and priorities. When forming the advisory boards for all NRC programs, the NRC worked extensively to ensure that they were as balanced and representative of the Canadian population as possible to ensure that diverse views were considered in research planning. This was similarly the case for a recent evaluation of the OCRE program (2021–22) in which a Peer Review Committee of independent national and international experts providing diverse perspectives were engaged in the process.

Gender parity, inclusion of minority groups, and the meaningful participation of Indigenous groups are priorities for the Ocean program, which is led by OCRE. Indigenous representation is particularly important for coastal communities, where fishing and aquaculture are important means of livelihood. Training on GBA Plus principles is planned for the program team. GBA Plus has been integrated into the governance of the Ocean program through external committees (including the Program advisory board) involved in the design and implementation. Additionally, efforts are being made to link Indigenous traditional knowledge to the NRC's research capacity. A key objective of the NRC Ocean Program is to develop environmental technologies that have economic appeal, and it is believed that Canada's First Nations, Métis and Inuit have the most wisdom to offer.

OCRE's research project on Indigenous clothing ensemble investigated how Indigenous clothing could be part of harsh weather personal protective equipment (PPE), leading to increased personal safety and security in Arctic environments. This project brought together Indigenous knowledge and western science in order to identify the components of traditional clothing ensembles that are most suitable for operational activities in cold climates. Women have been the driving force behind the fabrication of northern harsh weather garments. Indigenous garments have been developed with natural items, through observations that the component materials have properties that promote water resistance, wicking, and heat retention, all properties required for northern survival.

Skills development and job opportunities that are provided to equity deserving groups can provide positive, lasting impacts on individuals and the overall Canadian economy. Through the NRC's Environmental Research Strategy, OCRE researchers have been equipped with GBA Plus tools to inform the design of their environmental projects so as to increase the impact of their research on diverse groups. The OCRE program has also integrated GBA Plus into its operations to build and expand diverse Canadian STEM capacity in its field and sector. One of the ways this is accomplished is through training students and highly qualified personnel, in order to improve the quality of scientific and technical outputs produced by a diverse workforce. By hiring students and early career STEM professionals from equity deserving groups and providing them with practical training opportunities, the NRC is helping to strengthen the pipeline for Canadian industry, academia and other STEM employers and improve the workforce representation within traditionally under-represented fields. These efforts are being guided by OCRE's HR and operational plans which identify strategies to increase recruitment of equity deserving individuals such as the Indigenous Internship Program, EDI pre-screening/checklist for all hiring actions etc. Furthermore, the HR Plan identifies strategies to create an inclusive environment to retain this talent. OCRE is near its overall target for representation of women, and in 2021-22 an observed result was that it exceeded sub-targets for management, administrative, and senior clerical roles. With respect to overall program development and execution of specific initiatives, OCRE is focusing on its engagement with Indigenous Peoples and rights holders, which is formalized in the program's communications and engagement strategy. The program has addressed the barrier of exclusively virtual engagement (COVID-imposed travel restrictions are not culturally appropriate) through training (Virtual Blanket ceremony) and will be remediated with focused travel in 2022-23.

GBA Plus Data Collection Plan:

The OCRE program's efforts to integrate GBA Plus are significant steps given the challenges to measure and report observed impacts on gender and diversity as the program provides indirect support to final beneficiaries, through research and technical services to clients and collaborators supporting science and innovation in Canada. The program is making efforts to overcome these challenges by adopting different strategies to collect GBA Plus data from its different streams of work. In 2021-22, the program collected GBA Plus data on hiring and career advancement of STEM professionals from equity deserving groups who receive practical training opportunities at the NRC. The program also collects GBA Plus data on the gender representation of members appointed to its advisory board in a confidential manner to facilitate efforts to achieve equal representation of women. The program plans to collect GBA Plus data in 2022-23 about the business ownership and workforce composition of enterprises it supports. GBA Plus data on longer term impacts on gender and diversity will be collected through key indicators in its Ocean program and a planned program evaluation. Finally, in 2022-23, the NRC plans to engage other science based departments and agencies to exchange information on the challenges to collect GBA Plus data and strategies to overcome them.

Building on the NRC's objectives and targets laid out in the NRC Five-Year Strategic Plan, OCRE is setting targets and collecting data on its work to build and expand diverse Canadian STEM capacity in its field and sector. Data is collected on the Canadian Labour Market Availability (LMA) for each of the 4 designated EE groups as well as specific EE occupational groups (EEOGs). This data is drawn from corporate HR systems and Statistics Canada census information and collected through the annual operational planning process.

OCRE's 2023-24 operational planning process will also include internal workforce planning which prioritizes the identification of high potential employees from designated groups to help address EE gaps and enable the advancement of equity deserving group members. As another specific action for GBA Plus data collection, the OCRE program is collecting data on a quarterly basis on the proportion of new hires that are women and racialized persons and will include all EE hires from 2022-23 onwards. Also, hiring targets for EE groups were introduced in 2022-23 and will be used as the basis to collect data on the proportion of newly hired staff from the 4 designated EE groups from 2022-23 onwards. The postings for hiring explicitly invite people to self-identify as being members of EE groups as a preference will be given to these candidates. As part of the operational planning process, OCRE also compiles qualitative evidence of its research accomplishments and impacts on diverse groups in the form of success stories. These stories are used in NRC planning, reporting and communications activities as evidence of the success and impact of OCRE's research efforts.

The NRC has initiated discussions with TBS to leverage their collaborative statistical program on Business Innovation and Growth Support (BIGS) with Statistics Canada as a specific action for GBA Plus data collection. The BIGS database covers government support to enterprises linked to the Linkable File Environment (LFE) of Statistics Canada to better understand performance and conduct impact assessments for growth and innovation-related programs. The NRC will be part of TBS' ongoing research project of "Understanding BIGS beneficiaries". The project will allow NRC access to aggregate data in 2022-23 to improve the understanding of the business ownership and workforce composition (e.g. majority women-owned enterprises and proportion of female employees) of enterprises supported by the OCRE program. This specific action to collect GBA Plus data will enable OCRE to understand how certain equity deserving groups based on gender, age and immigrant status may be disproportionately impacted, and to determine strategies to mitigate these impacts.

Over its 7-year timeframe, the Ocean program led by OCRE will compile available data on identity factors across internal research teams within the NRC, within collaborator teams applying for funding for contributions to the program, and in the management framework providing governance and oversight of the program. Consultation will be conducted with the stakeholder community to ensure that the program structure, governance model, and collaborative process is accessible and conducive to equal participation from diverse participants. As part of specific actions taken for GBA Plus data collection for 2022-23, the OCRE program is monitoring participant data to uncover equity deserving groups will be conducted over the life of the program, and on a regular frequency, to identify opportunities and strategies to enhance participation more broadly as needed. These monitoring and gap assessment activities will be extended to include highly qualified personnel (students, postdoctoral fellows) working within the NRC, within collaborating centres, and recipients of grant funding awards through the Ocean program's grants and contributions mechanism.

An evaluation of the OCRE program has been tentatively scheduled to be initiated in 2027-28. The evaluation will include an examination of EDI populations within the research centre/ program workforce as well as distribution across the various employee subgroups (researcher, management, administrative) and levels. Further, to ensure the perspectives of diverse populations are heard, the evaluation project will also include diverse populations in key informant interviews, peer review committees, and surveys. GBA Plus success stories, if identified, could also be included as case studies.

Program Name: Security and Disruptive Technologies

Target Population:

All Canadians / academia / Sectors: manufacturing science & technology industry

Distribution of Benefits:

By gender (1 to 5) – Third group: Broadly gender-balanced

By income level (1 to 5) – Third group: No significant distributional impacts

By age group (1 to 3) – Second group: No significant inter-generational impacts or impacts between youth and seniors

Key Program impacts on Gender and Diversity:

The NRC's Security and Disruptive Technologies (SDT) program has integrated GBA Plus into many aspects of its program activities, including the design and delivery of a challenge program, efforts to build and expand diverse Canadian STEM capacity in its field and sector, and representation of diverse views on its Research advisory board.

The SDT program is leading the implementation of the Quantum Sensors (QSP) Challenge program to enable the development of revolutionary sensors that harness the extreme sensitivity of quantum systems to provide enhanced precision, sensitivity, rates, and range of measurable phenomena. The SDT program commissioned a GBA Plus assessment for the QSP program which highlighted some of the representation gaps in the field of physics. An observation made in this assessment was that women and black, Indigenous Peoples, and people of colour (BIPOC) researchers are under-represented in physics. As men have historically comprised the majority of physics researchers and academicians, physics departments and research labs may be implicitly designed with their interests in mind. Intersectional gender inequality in STEM fields is a persistent issue as women's rates of representation remain low. Within the physical sciences, computer science, engineering, and mathematics (PCEM) more broadly in Canada, women represent 15% of all faculty. At the high school level in Canada, young women represent 38% of those enrolled in advanced placement physics courses. These insights have helped the SDT program to develop strategies to address these disproportionate impacts on equity deserving groups.

The SDT program has also integrated GBA Plus into it operations to build and expand diverse Canadian STEM capacity in its field and sector. One of the ways this is accomplished is through training students and highly qualified personnel, in order to improve the quality of scientific and technical outputs produced by a diverse workforce. By hiring students and early career STEM professionals from equity deserving groups and providing them with practical training opportunities, the NRC is helping to strengthen the pipeline for Canadian industry, academia and other STEM employers and improve the workforce representation within traditionally under-represented fields. The observed results for the SDT program in 2021-22 was 1.11 for the ratio of women new hires relative to the Canadian average labour market availability.

Finally, the SDT program has an advisory board, made up of a group of industry representatives that provides strategic and independent advice on the overall strategic direction and priorities of the SDT program, while helping to ensure alignment with the NRC's objectives of supporting business innovation and advancing scientific knowledge. When forming the advisory boards for all NRC programs, the NRC worked extensively to ensure that they were as balanced and representative of the Canadian population as possible to ensure that diverse views were considered in research planning.

GBA Plus Data Collection Plan:

The SDT program's efforts to integrate GBA Plus are significant steps given the challenges to measure and report observed impacts on gender and diversity as the program provides indirect support to final beneficiaries, through research and technical services to clients and collaborators supporting science and innovation in Canada. The program is making efforts to overcome these challenges by adopting different strategies to collect GBA Plus data from its different streams of work. In 2021-22, the program collected GBA Plus data on hiring and career advancement of STEM professionals from equity deserving groups who receive practical training opportunities at the NRC. The program also collects GBA Plus data on the gender representation of members appointed to its advisory board in a confidential manner to facilitate efforts to achieve equal representation of women. GBA Plus data on longer term impacts on gender and diversity will be collected through a planned program evaluation. Finally, in 2022-23, the NRC plans to engage other science based departments and agencies to exchange information on the challenges to collect GBA Plus data and strategies to overcome them.

Building on the NRC's objectives and targets laid out in the NRC Five-Year Strategic Plan, SDT is setting targets and collecting data on its work to build and expand diverse Canadian STEM capacity in its field and sector. Data is collected on the Canadian Labour Market Availability (LMA) for each of the 4 designated EE groups as well as specific EE occupational groups (EEOGs). This data is drawn from corporate HR systems and Statistics Canada census information and collected through the annual operational planning process.

SDT's 2023-24 operational planning process will also include internal workforce planning which prioritizes the identification of high potential employees from designated groups to help address EE gaps and enable the advancement of equity deserving group members. As another specific action for GBA Plus data collection, the SDT program is collecting data on a quarterly basis on the proportion of new hires that are women and racialized persons and will include all EE hires from 2022-23 onwards. Also, hiring targets for EE groups were introduced in 2022-23 and will be used as the basis to collect data on the proportion of newly hired staff from the 4 designated EE groups from 2022-23 onwards. The postings for hiring explicitly invite people to self-identify as being members of EE groups as a preference will be given to these candidates. As part of the operational planning process, the SDT program also compiles qualitative evidence of its research accomplishments and impacts on diverse groups in the form of success stories. These stories are used in NRC planning, reporting and communications activities as evidence of the success and impact of the SDT program's research efforts.

An evaluation of the SDT program has been initiated in 2022-23. The evaluation will include an examination of EDI populations within the research centre/ program workforce as well as distribution across the various employee subgroups (researcher, management, administrative) and levels. Further, to ensure the perspectives of diverse populations are heard, the evaluation project will also include diverse populations in key informant interviews, peer review committees, and surveys. GBA Plus success stories, if identified, could also be included as case studies.

Program Name: Genomics Research & Development Initiative Shared Priority Projects

Target Population:

All Canadians / OGDs

Distribution of Benefits:

By gender (1 to 5) – Third group: Broadly gender-balanced

By income level (1 to 5) – Third group: No significant distributional impacts

By age group (1 to 3) – Second group: No significant inter-generational impacts or impacts between youth and seniors

Key Program impacts on Gender and Diversity:

The Genomics Research and Development Initiative (GRDI) is a funding program that carries out vital genomics research. Participating federal government departments include the NRC and Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, Environment and Climate Change Canada, Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Health Canada, Natural Resources Canada, and the Public Health Agency of Canada. GRDI collaborates with universities and the private sector, creating economic, environmental and social benefits for Canadians. Research areas include agriculture, environment, fisheries, forestry and health (including developing treatments for diseases such as cancer). The NRC's role in the GRDI is to provide the coordination function, through program coordination, communication, networking and outreach support. In this role, the NRC aims to promote analysis of the potential benefits of the GRDI on various stakeholders including equity deserving groups.

An evaluation of the GRDI in 201920 identified the primary users and potential benefits that can be experienced by them. One of the observations made was that the end-users for GRDI-funded projects include both internal and external end-users. Internal end-users are the most common type for GRDI-funded projects and include people working inside the federal government, such as laboratory scientists, field inspectors, border agents, trade negotiators and resource managers. External end-users are outside the federal government, and may include industry using a patented technology or revising their processes due to a policy change, and international regulatory agencies using and/or adopting the technology.

GBA Plus Data Collection Plan:

The NRC's role in the GRDI includes the responsibility to conduct studies and analyses to serve as input in the determination of GRDI-wide research priorities, and providing management and administration support, as well as support for performance management, reporting, evaluation, and communications. In this capacity, the NRC has tentative plans to coordinate a review of the annual performance report template for GRDI-funded Shared Priority Projects in 2022-23 to facilitate knowledge transfer, which could include GBA Plus data considerations. The NRC also aims to integrate GBA Plus considerations in future evaluations and analysis of the program. The next evaluation of the GRDI program is tentatively scheduled to be initiated in 2024-25 and will provide insights and data on GBA Plus.

Program Name: Collaborative Science, Technology and Innovation Program

Target Population:

All Canadians / academia, SMEs, science & technology industry

Distribution of Benefits:

By gender (1 to 5) – Third group: Broadly gender-balanced

By income level (1 to 5) – Third group: No significant distributional impacts

By age group (1 to 3) – Second group: No significant inter-generational impacts or impacts between youth and seniors

Key Program impacts on Gender and Diversity:

Under the Collaborative Science, Technology and Innovation Program (CSTIP), the NRC continues to integrate GBA Plus in its activities to partner with private and public sector, academic and other research organization in Canada and internationally through 7 active Challenge programs and 5 active Cluster Support programs. CSTIP provides grant and contribution funding for external collaborators with complementary capabilities (e.g. SMEs, post-secondary institutions and non-profit research organizations). The program has 3 main components: NRC Collaborative Research & Development (R&D) initiatives, the Ideation Fund and the Outreach Initiative.

The research community and targeted challenge program sectors in Canada benefit from CSTIP funding, in particular highly qualified personnel in specific fields and sectors. Secondary beneficiaries are the academics and SMEs that benefit from the intellectual property created through funded projects. The impact on diverse groups depends on the demographic make-up of post-secondary students and their chosen fields of study. In Canada, some demographic groups show lower rates of participation in post-secondary education, including Indigenous youth, youth from low-income backgrounds, and youth from rural areas. Moreover, due to the demographic composition of the pipeline for STEM fields, it is likely that there will be more male participants.

The Outreach initiative, which provides funding to support conferences, workshops, symposia or other outreach initiatives in order to promote engagement of Canadians, specifically targets equity deserving groups in an effort to promote more participation in STEM. The Challenge and Cluster Support programs support the Government of Canada goals and the intent it is to positively benefit Canada and the Canadian population. The Challenge and Cluster Support programs and Ideation Fund projects have significant flexibility in their terms and conditions, which allows for targeting the participation of equity deserving groups. For example, the Artic and Northern Challenge Program targets northern Indigenous populations and the Small Teams Indigenous Languages project seeks to digitalize endangered Indigenous languages.

The main barriers to participation in the program's activities are associated with the need to be trained and employed in the STEM research and development ecosystem, which CSTIP programs leverage to advance science and technology to solve pressing issues for Canadians. CSTIP aims to identify these barriers to participation faced by equity deserving groups and find solutions to remove them. As a result of the barriers identified by the NRC to collaboration with Indigenous recipients, CSTIP sought changes to its terms and conditions which were officially approved by the Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry in December 2021. In addition, special attention was paid in the calls for proposals launched in 2022-23 targeting Indigenous participation. Specific activities include ensuring that the timing of the call launch respects time on the land and making templates short and clear to remove application barriers. A result highlighted in the call for proposals launched in 2022-23, was that for the first time, the external peer review included an entirely Inuit peer review panel (who were compensated for their time) paired with a non-Inuit panel that enabled scientific review and a distinctions-based approach with regional priorities to be factored into final selection.

In addition, each CSTIP program develops a GBA Plus framework, commits to providing equal opportunities and strives to hire 50% of equity deserving groups. Some notable examples include:

• The Aging in Place Challenge (AiP) program aims to support a sustainable model for long-term care by shifting the focus toward preventive home and community-based care. The program's objectives focus on improving the quality of life of older adults and their personal caregivers through technology and innovation that will support safe and healthy aging. The aim is to enable nursing homes to concentrate on older adults with the highest needs while reducing costs to the Canadian health care system. The ultimate goal of the program is to increase the proportion of older Canadians who are living in homes and communities of their choice by 20% in the next decade through technologies that support safe, healthy and socially connected living.
• AiP allocates resources to support the ethical participation of "Experts by Experience" (older adults and their caregivers) at the program, project and community levels and ensuring representation from across Canada, including racialized persons, official language groups, indigenous communities, 2SLGBTQ+ and persons with disabilities.
• The Arctic and Northern Challenge program has been working on several projects addressing various areas of importance to Indigenous communities in Canada's north, including making shipping operations safer in ice-covered waters, reinforcing ice roads for a longer operational lifespan, detecting and cleaning up oil spills in the Arctic, reducing permafrost degradation, and developing new techniques for sewage treatment in challenging Arctic conditions. By providing both research funding and scientific expertise, the program aims to support strong and sustainable northern communities through applied technology and innovation to solve pressing issues confronting Northerners, specifically in the areas of housing, health, food, and water. The program is also committed to prioritizing northern-led research projects that have a strong focus on northern capacity building.

All challenge programs under CSTIP have integrated GBA Plus into their operations in order to build and expand diverse Canadian STEM capacity in the scientific field and the industry sectors they support. One of the ways this is accomplished is through training students and highly qualified personnel, in order to improve the quality of scientific and technical outputs produced by a diverse workforce. By hiring students and early career STEM professionals from equity deserving groups and providing them with practical training opportunities, the NRC is helping to strengthen the pipeline for Canadian industry, academia and other STEM employers and improve the workforce representation within traditionally under-represented fields.

GBA Plus Data Collection Plan:

In 2021-22, CSTIP incorporated GBA Plus data collection plans into several aspects of its planning and reporting activities. All CSTIP challenge programs are co-developed through significant stakeholder engagement with GBA Plus considerations factored into program design and the composition of the external peer review and advisory committees. Furthermore, as part of the specific actions taken for GBA Plus data collection for 2022-23, all CSTIP proposal templates request information on GBA Plus considerations and recipients are asked to report back on their GBA Plus strategies. GBA Plus analyses are included in Ideation Fund proposals and this is an unscored element of the project selection process. Project-level data is collected and reported at the researcher level. GBA Plus data collection and analysis has been done on New Beginnings Initiative (a stream of CSTIP) for NRC applicants, with plans to extend this to other CSTIP programs from 2022-23 onwards.

An evaluation of CSTIP has been initiated in 2022-23. A specific indicator in the evaluation matrix will assess the integration of GBA Plus into program processes and tools at all stages of the program life cycle and the extent to which CSTIP encourages partners/collaborators to include GBA Plus considerations in their hiring, stakeholder engagement processes and the expected differential impact of the program on diverse groups of Canadians will also be assessed. The evaluation will also include an examination of EDI populations within the program workforce as well as distribution across the various employee subgroups (researcher, management, administrative) and levels. Further, to ensure the perspectives of diverse populations are heard, the evaluation project will also include diverse populations in key informant interviews, peer review committees, and surveys. GBA Plus success stories, if identified, could also be included as case studies.

Building on the NRC's objectives and targets laid out in the NRC Five-Year Strategic Plan, CSTIP is setting targets and collecting data on its work to build and expand diverse Canadian STEM capacity in its field and sector. The NRC's National Program Office collects EE representation data on applicants to the New Beginnings Initiative and will collect data on the breakdown of successful applications within the 4 designated EE groups.

Data collection on the representation of equity deserving groups is done internally on an annual basis to inform decision making. The 2023-24 operational planning process for the NRC branches, under which this program exists, will include internal workforce planning which prioritizes the identification of high potential employees from designated groups to help address EE gaps and enable the advancement of equity deserving group members in the branch. As another specific action for GBA Plus data collection, the branch under which this program exists is collecting data on a quarterly basis on the proportion of new hires that are women and racialized persons and will include all EE hires from 2022-23 onwards. Also, hiring targets for EE groups were introduced in 2022-23 and will be used as the basis to collect data on the proportion of newly hired staff from the 4 designated EE groups from 2022-23 onwards. The postings for hiring explicitly invite people to self-identify as being members of EE groups as a preference will be given to these candidates.

CSTIP also compiles qualitative evidence of its Challenge and Cluster Support programs' accomplishments and impacts on diverse groups in the form of success stories. These stories are used in NRC planning, reporting and communications activities as evidence of the success and impact of CSTIP's efforts.

Program Name: Industrial Research Assistance Program

Target Population:

All Canadians / SMEs, science & technology industry

Distribution of Benefits:

By gender (1 to 5) – Second group: 60% - 79% men

By income level (1 to 5) – Fourth group: Somewhat benefits high income individuals (somewhat regressive)

By age group (1 to 3) – Second group: No significant inter-generational impacts or impacts between youth and seniors

Key Program impacts on Gender and Diversity:

NRC IRAP has made efforts to diversify participation in its programs and build on work already underway to provide support to firms owned or led by women, Indigenous Peoples, racialized persons and persons living with disabilities through a number of agreements with not-for-profit organizations. NRC IRAP uses an EDI lens in its operations in building its programs and policies for clients. Since 2018, NRC IRAP has aligned its program activities with its EDI Strategy. Through outreach, advisory services, and funding, NRC IRAP has made efforts to:

• Increase the diversity of NRC IRAP's portfolio of clients;
• Increase service offerings to address and reduce barriers through Contributions to Organizations for SMEs owned or led by members of EE groups;
• Engage Indigenous Band Councils through the IRAP Indigenous Support Network (IISN), to discuss future project funding;
• Achieve gender parity in its Youth Employment and Skills Strategy (YESS) Program; and
• Support access to global value chain for SMEs owned or led by members of EE groups.

NRC IRAP has taken a number of actions to support these objectives. For example, NRC IRAP committed to ensure 50% of participants in the Youth Employment Program were women. In 2021-22, an observed result was that 53% of the participants in YESS were women.

NRC IRAP provided targeted support through the program's Contribution to Organization (CTO) funding mechanism. Based on the observed results, 4 CTOs targeting women, racialized persons and Indigenous entrepreneurs supported 140 firms in 2021-22 with a total contribution of $1.1M. Clients are invited to share feedback through a Post Service Assessment (PSA) after engaging with NRC IRAP partners through these CTOs. PSA results indicate 93% of the 140 clients who were supported through these CTOs were satisfied with the services, 95% indicated the CTO had a positive impact on their business, and 88% indicated plans to implement the results within one month.

NRC IRAP has signed on to the 50-30 Challenge and has taken action to improve equity and increase the diversity within the organization and its collaborators.

In 2021-22, NRC IRAP completed a high level Accessibility Review of external facing documents and web presence to identify content and messaging that unintentionally reduces the participation of equity deserving groups in NRC IRAP programs and services. Equity deserving groups is defined as being in alignment with the defined EE groups for the purpose of the assessment. A report was produced which includes findings and recommendations which will be turned into an action plan for future implementation.

NRC IRAP continues to use modern recruiting tools to attract, retain and develop a diverse workforce. Summary statistics of NRC IRAP hires between 2018 and  2021 was obtained and analyzed for new employees. Results indicate that between fiscal years 2018 and 2022, 42% of new NRC IRAP hires identified with 1 or more of the 4 EE groups, in most cases the EE group they self-identified with was "Women". In the same timeframe, 58 of new managers hired at NRC IRAP self-identified with 1 of the 4 EE groups for the same time period.

NRC IRAP developed a proposal for a training program scheduled for 2022-23 which will increase field staff readiness to understand EDI as a business tool, to develop the skillset to communicate the benefits of EDI to IRAP clients and to engage with clients on their own EDI journey. Participants from internal and external facing roles, will complete scenario based micro-learning activities with topics that will be discussed in more detail in an expert speaker series. Participants will also be equipped with resources and toolkits to apply and reference in conversations with clients.

NRC IRAP continues to participate and be represented on the Women's Entrepreneurship Strategy Assistant Deputy Minister Committee and Working Group collaborating on strategies in support of women entrepreneurs. NRC IRAP is also represented on TAFTI E-The European Network of Innovation Agencies Diversity and Inclusivity reviewing best practices in this space. NRC IRAP collaborates with UK Research and Innovation to support government initiatives including EDI.

GBA Plus Data Collection Plan:

NRC IRAP served over 9000 clients in 2021-22 and has a voluntary data collection process for clients to self-declare Employment Equity information about their business ownership, leadership and board composition. In 2022-23, NRC IRAP will continue collecting and analyzing data to understand how equity deserving groups are experiencing unintended barriers to NRC IRAP support, and to develop mitigation strategies to address these barriers. Of the NRC IRAP clients who received funding in the last 5 years, 47% had provided a response about the EDI footprint of their ownership and leadership however some chose to respond with "I don't know" or "Choose not to answer".

NRC IRAP continues to be part of TBS' ongoing research project of "Understanding Business Innovation and Growth Support (BIGS) beneficiaries" with Statistics Canada as a specific action for GBA Plus data collection. The BIGS database covers government support to enterprises linked to the Linkable File Environment (LFE) of Statistics Canada to better understand performance and conduct impact assessments for growth and innovation-related programs. BIGS project will allow NRC IRAP access to aggregate data in 2022-23 to improve the understanding of the business ownership and workforce composition (e.g. majority women-owned enterprises and proportion of female employees) of enterprises supported by NRC IRAP.

Building on the objectives and targets laid out in the NRC Five-Year Strategic Plan, NRC IRAP is collecting data against the Canadian Labour Market Availability (LMA) for each of the 4 designated EE groups as well as specific EE occupational groups (EEOGs). This data is drawn from corporate HR systems and Statistics Canada census information and collected through the annual operational planning process.

NRC IRAP's 2023-24 operational planning process will also include internal workforce planning which prioritizes the identification of high potential employees from designated groups to help address EE gaps and enable the advancement of equity deserving group members. NRC IRAP has a designated hiring team whose primary mandate is to source candidates from EE groups. As another specific action for GBA Plus data collection, data is collected and reported on a quarterly basis by corporate HR on the proportion of new NRC IRAP hires from EE groups.

Program Name: International Affiliations

Target Population:

All Canadians / researchers, international organizations or alliances

Distribution of Benefits:

By gender (1 to 5) – Third group: Broadly gender-balanced

By income level (1 to 5) – Third group: No significant distributional impacts

By age group (1 to 3) – Second group: No significant inter-generational impacts or impacts between youth and seniors

*The Grants for International Affiliations (GIA) program funds flow not to individuals, but to organizations that are transparent and committed to equity. Therefore there are no benefits skewing to any particular group.

Key Program impacts on Gender and Diversity:

The Grants for International Affiliations (GIA) program has a target of 100% of funded organizations that have programs to support equity, diversity and inclusion. The GIA program funds a wide variety of scientific discipline based international unions or committees with varying equity, diversity and inclusion goals. It is notable that all organizations are now sensitized to these issues and moving from data tracking to actions that will address EDI issues. Each of the 28 funded organizations submits a mandatory annual performance review questionnaire and 26 of the 28 were interviewed as well in 2020-21. The GIA program funds organizations (scientific discipline based international unions or committees) that are committed to transparency and equity and it did not fund any individuals in 2020-21.

The International Affiliations program is responsible for Canada's membership in international science and technology (S&T) organizations which promotes international research and innovation, networking, advocacy, leadership opportunities as well as access to benchmarking possibilities, enabling Canadian science, technology, and industry to remain competitive. The program has integrated GBA Plus into many aspects of its activities including analyses of benefits to equity deserving groups from its initiatives and projects and representation of diverse views in its advisory committee and selection process.

The program engages with representatives of each Canadian National Committee (CNC) responsible for specific international affiliations to assess evolving priorities, most valued benefits of the program to participants and understand the needs of each CNC. GBA Plus has been integrated into the annual performance review process to track the initiatives and projects of the CNCs that benefit equity deserving groups. The 2020-21 program evaluation also gathered data on these benefits to provide the following observations on the program:

• International organizations receiving support have created opportunities and are building capacity for demographic groups traditionally excluded from STEM fields and for early career scientists, as well as working to include affected communities and developing and emerging country citizens as partners.
• In 2021, 100% of supported international organizations or their respective CNC had programs to support increased participation by early career scientists, women and other equity deserving groups (e.g., travel grants, dedicated awards, co-op placements, community consultations).
• CNCs also reported that their international organizations made supporting developing and emerging nations a priority as well (e.g., education and exchange programs).

In addition, the International Affiliations program has integrated GBA Plus into its governance structure. An advisory committee for the program has now met through 3 full fiscal years, drawing on cross government science departments and agencies and deploying diverse expertise to leverage Canadian international science objectives. In 2021, the program piloted an EDI Subcommittee to provide input for any nominations, awards or positions to support diversity and inclusion and address under-representation of certain groups, and the intention is to make this Subcommittee permanent.

GBA Plus Data Collection Plan:

The International Affiliations program has incorporated GBA Plus data collection in its planning and reporting activities to ensure participation of equity deserving groups and understand the benefits to diverse groups.

The program will continue to engage with the CNCs managing international affiliations to better gauge impacts and plans, and ensure continued recipient engagement in the program. This will inform the Canadian STI management community of the science diplomacy needs of Canadian practitioners in light of track records of international affiliations, and the associated level of required support. Moreover, as part of the GBA Plus data collection plan, regular engagement will continue to take place in 2023, including completion of a reporting questionnaire and short interviews to assess performance and program direction. Finally, the program's next evaluation scheduled for 2025–26 will provide further insights on the benefits experienced by equity deserving groups.

Data collection on the representation of equity deserving groups is done internally on an annual basis to inform decision making. The 2023-24 operational planning process for the NRC branches, under which this program exists, will include internal workforce planning which prioritizes the identification of high potential employees from designated groups to help address EE gaps and enable the advancement of equity deserving group members in the branch. As another specific action for GBA Plus data collection, the branch under which this program exists is collecting data on a quarterly basis on the proportion of new hires that are women and racialized persons and will include all EE hires from 2022-23 onwards. Also, hiring targets for EE groups were introduced in 2022-23 and will be used as the basis to collect data on the proportion of newly hired staff from the 4 designated EE groups from 2022-23 onwards. The postings for hiring explicitly invite people to self-identify as being members of EE groups as a preference will be given to these candidates.

Program Name: TRIUMF

Target Population:

All Canadians / academia, students, researchers

Distribution of Benefits:

N/A

Key Program impacts on Gender and Diversity:

N/A

A consortium of Canadian universities own TRIUMF Inc., which receives funding from several federal government organizations, including operational funding through a contribution agreement with the NRC. TRIUMF Inc. has its own governance and management team who operate and manage TRIUMF Inc. The NRC plays an important oversight and stewardship role for TRIUMF Inc. on behalf of the Government of Canada, but is not directly involved in designing and running the organization's operations. As part of this role, NRC serves on the governance committees of TRIUMF Inc. and provides advice on its implementation of GBA Plus data collection activities.

GBA Plus Data Collection Plan:

Through NRC's oversight and stewardship role in the governance structure of TRIUMF Inc., it was noted that the organization has implemented activities for GBA Plus data collection. While TRIUMF Inc. supports the requirements related to monitoring the advancement of equality across gender and other dimensions, its current systems do not allow for data collection in that regard on an ongoing basis. TRIUMF Inc. has put in place an ombudsperson, reporting to the executive director, whose mandate includes supporting students and postdoctoral fellows involved with TRIUMF Inc. In addition to campaigns to raise awareness about their activities among youth and equity deserving groups, TRIUMF Inc. also has put in place an undergraduate fellowship (Richard E. Azuma Summer Fellowships) which actively recruits members of equity deserving groups. Data collected on activities are reported within TRIUMF Inc. annual reports to its Board of Governors. Equity Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) has recently been reframed as a core value and a central theme in TRIUMF Inc. strategic planning. As part of NRC's regular evaluation of its TRIUMF program, tentatively scheduled to be initiated in 2027-28, the progress of TRIUMF Inc. on their strategic goals will be evaluated.

Program Name: National Science Library

Target Population:

All Canadians / OGDs

Distribution of Benefits:

By gender (1 to 5) – Third group: Broadly gender-balanced

By income level (1 to 5) – Third group: No significant distributional impacts

By age group (1 to 3) – Second group: No significant inter-generational impacts or impacts between youth and seniors

Key Program impacts on Gender and Diversity:

The NRC National Science Library (NSL) offers a range of information-related services to the public and other libraries. Services include online access to digital content through NRC's publicly available repositories (NRC Publications Archive and the Digital Repository), a searchable catalogue and information discovery platform, and reference/interlibrary loan services with other libraries. The NSL is committed to open science and open government principles in making its research outputs accessible through its repositories. The NSL is a member of the Federal Science Libraries Network (FSLN), a partnership of 7 federal science libraries that have joined together to establish a one-stop, self-serve portal where you can access library services and search the print collections and repositories of all the libraries from a single place.

With the impact of COVID on in-person and telephone services, the NRC has been increasing digitization of its historical research products to reduce barriers in accessing federal research efforts and increasing accessibility to all Canadians, including those facing financial barriers. NRC historical records are scanned request and provided to clients, and high demand collections have been digitized to make them publically available online in the digital repository. The FSLN public site, the NRC Publications Archive, and the Digital Repository provide access to Government of Canada scientific information and research, with all sites meeting requirements under the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines. The NRC is also making improvements to NSL and FSLN services through the development and promotion of a service catalogue to increase access to services for internal clients and expanded access to global library collections through inter-library loans.

The NRC made efforts to increase anti-racism resources for NRC employees, and content specific to equity deserving groups such as women in STEM and Indigenous Peoples. The NRC purchased library resources related to anti-racist and Indigenous engagement practices, developed resource guides related to anti-racist and Indigenous engagement practices in research and the workplace, including books, reports, statistics and academic articles, and replaced library of Congress and Canadian subject headings in the FSLN catalog related to Indigenous Peoples with more current terminology to support reconciliation (e.g. replacing the term "Indians of North America" with Indigenous Peoples). The NRC also curated archival collections about NRC female scientists to support women in STEM and facilitated discovery by participating in the University of Ottawa's Canadian Archive of Women in STEM portal and supported national print preservation efforts to ensure access to federal STEM materials.

GBA Plus Data Collection Plan:

The NSL has a GBA Plus data collection plan to ensure participation of equity deserving groups and to understand the benefits to diverse groups. Data is collected on specific GBA Plus initiatives in the form of qualitative evidence of NSL's accomplishments and impacts on diverse groups. This includes an initiative to digitize NRC's annual reports since 1917 to reduce barriers in accessing information on NRC's historical activities and increase accessibility to all Canadians. The program is collecting data on the number of reports that are converted to a digital format by the end of 023-24. Data will also be collected in 2022-23 on the progress made under other initiatives such as the development and promotion of the service catalogue for NSL and FSLN and increasing library resources related to GBA Plus.

Data collection on the representation of equity deserving groups is done internally on an annual basis to inform decision making. The 2023-24 operational planning process for the NRC branches, under which this program exists, will include internal workforce planning which prioritizes the identification of high potential employees from designated groups to help address EE gaps and enable the advancement of equity deserving group members in the branch. As another specific action for GBA Plus data collection, the branch under which this program exists is collecting data on a quarterly basis on the proportion of new hires that are women and racialized persons and will include all EE hires from 2022-23 onwards. Also, hiring targets for EE groups were introduced in 2022-23 and will be used as the basis to collect data on the proportion of newly hired staff from the 4 designated EE groups from 2022-23 onwards. The postings for hiring explicitly invite people to self-identify as being members of EE groups as a preference will be given to these candidates.

Program Name: Four Enabling Programs:

• (1) Business Management Support
• (2) Design and Fabrication Services
• (3) Research Information and Technology Platforms
• (4) Special Purpose Real Property

Target Population:

NRC Employees (internal programs)

Distribution of Benefits:

N/A

Key Program impacts on Gender and Diversity:

N/A

GBA Plus Data Collection Plan:

N/A

These are internal programs providing client engagement, technology transfer and commercialization support to NRC employees, enabling the delivery of other NRC programs.

Data collection on the representation of equity deserving groups is done internally on an annual basis to inform decision making. The 2023-24 operational planning process for the NRC branches under which these programs exist will include internal workforce planning which prioritizes the identification of high potential employees from designated groups to help address EE gaps and enable the advancement of equity deserving group members in the branch. As another specific action for GBA Plus data collection, the branches are collecting data on a quarterly basis on the proportion of new hires that are women and racialized persons and will include all EE hires from 2022-23 onwards. Also, hiring targets for EE groups were introduced in 2022-23 and will be used as the basis to collect data on the proportion of newly hired staff from the 4 designated EE groups from 2022-23 onwards. The postings for hiring explicitly invite people to self-identify as being members of EE groups as a preference will be given to these candidates.