Public Accounts committee  We do, in fact, agree with the Auditor General's findings. I would talk a bit about the evolution of GBA+. It is not something that is static. We need to continue to evolve our approaches to GBA+. I think what you would have seen—and certainly we could table with the committee the report of the Auditor General—is a timeline there that demonstrates concerted actions over a 30-year period.

Public Accounts committee  Thank you for the question. We talked earlier about the training we provide. In that regard, we work very closely with the Canada School of Public Service. As you know, some departments are very large and have offices across the country. At the Department for Women and Gender Equality, we play a role in building their capacity.

Public Accounts committee  Maybe just before I talk about some numbers around uptake, I'd like to talk about a couple of very specific examples that you asked about, around whether we are seeing intersectionality being incorporated. MP Vecchio mentioned, for example, rurality. What we're working on to incorporate rural voices in the federal government is a collaboration with the centre for rural economic development.

Public Accounts committee  I'd be pleased to explain GBA+. Gender-based analysis plus is an important tool for us to be advancing equality in Canada. Some of you will be aware that we started with the term GBA, and the plus was added over the years. That was partly because what we're actually asking people to do on gender-based analysis is think about a whole range of issues; it's not only gender.

Public Accounts committee  I'll just go back to the two points that Carey raised. One was on capacity. We find that we are building quite strong capacity throughout the system. Our finding, though, is that it can't be just a small group of experts. I think, in the past, there was a view that if you had a few GBA experts in your organization, you could manage.

Public Accounts committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair. Before I begin, I would like to acknowledge that I am here on the traditional, unceded territory of the Algonquin Anishinabe people. It's where I live and work. Mr. Chair and members of the committee, thank you for your invitation to discuss our work that we have under way in response to the Auditor General's 2022 report on the implementation of gender-based analysis plus.

Human Resources committee  The employer survey is indeed an essential part of the program. For young people, taking part in the survey is optional. That said, we do have some information that we can share.

Human Resources committee  I will just say for purposes of information sharing that all information related to the program in terms of uptake and employers is posted on opencanada.ca. That's something that members might be interested in. In terms of information sessions, we do currently run them in English and French, as the member notes.

Human Resources committee  Mr. Chair, I want to thank the member for her question. As to providing information to employers, we do that in a number of ways. We rely in particular on MPs and their staff to promote the program. In addition, there is always some public information: as the minister said, the fall economic statement includes public information.

Human Resources committee  The number of jobs for next year is 70,000, the same number as has been publicly stated.

Human Resources committee  This number has been announced, it is nothing new.

Human Resources committee  As you know, the fall economic statement is created by the finance department, so we do not have any information about what this year's fall statement will contain. In the past five years, the number of applications for this program has increased by 200% to 300%, so it has been very popular in recent years.

Human Resources committee  Mr. Chair, the process we have.... In fact, we are not even quite finished Canada summer jobs 2023. The process we have will launch Canada summer jobs 2024 in the coming weeks. We do our best to try to make sure we can have an early launch. We know that those weeks are really critical for both employers and members of Parliament.

Human Resources committee  I think we've talked about the nature of the jobs and the length of the jobs. You're talking about a specific kind of gap and whether that would be possible. I'm going to turn to my colleagues and see whether that can be accommodated in the program. I will say that we will be very interested in what the committee has to say about that kind of advice as you complete your report.

Human Resources committee  On the questions, it depends on the complexity, I would say.