ARCHIVED – Annual Report to Parliament on Immigration, 2006

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Section 6
Gender-Based Analysis of the Impact of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act

IRPA includes a requirement to report annually on the impact of this legislation and the corresponding regulations from the perspective of gender-based analysis (GBA). The legislative requirement to report on gender-related impacts is unprecedented in federal statutes.

GBA is not a stand alone activity or product. While it is an ongoing analytical process that supports more informed decision making and better public policy, it represents only one aspect of the analysis undertaken in policy formulation, program development, management and evaluation. Gender impact analysis focuses on important social and economic differences between men and women and different groups of men and women over their life cycles, and seeks to examine existing and proposed policies, programs, and legislation to ensure that they are having their intended effects and producing fair results.

Strategic Framework for Gender-Based Analysis

In early 2005, CIC launched the Strategic Framework for Gender-Based Analysis (2005-2010). The Framework sets out the Department’s strategic objectives and principles for gender-based analysis and the steps that will be taken to strengthen capacity and performance throughout the department.

Central to the implementation of the Framework are the GBA Branch Plans, which identify priority issues for gender-based analysis of the impact of the IRPA. Five branches have developed GBA plans: Refugee Branch, Integration Branch, Selection (now Immigration) Branch, Risk Assurance Branch, and Strategic Policy.

Gender Impacts of IRPA: Group Refugee Processing and the Safe Third Country Agreement

The year 2005 marks the first time that CIC is able to demonstrate the results of its ongoing effort to integrate gender-based analysis into its programs and policies since this requirement was legislated in 2002. The two gender impact analyses in this section are derived from CIC’s Refugees Program, Group Refugee Processing and the Safe Third Country Agreement with the United States. While GBA initiatives in the Refugees Program have provided a best practice for the Department, they have also contributed to enhancing CIC’s ability to fulfil its humanitarian mandate.

Group Processing

Based on lessons learned from previous refugee group processing initiatives, the Resettlement Program undertook a review of the gender and diversity impacts related to the future arrival of 800 Karen refugees from Thailand, expected in the fall of 2006 and in early 2007. This group represents CIC’s third group processing initiative, a process whereby a group of refugees is accepted as Convention refugees as a group rather than on an individual basis. By conducting a GBA of the Karen refugee group resettlement project, CIC hoped that such an analysis would help to mitigate challenges that arise throughout the resettlement continuum.

The GBA for the Karen refugee group processing initiative identified factors, implications of these factors, and potential mitigating strategies for the first two stages of development: the preselection and post-selection stage. During the preselection stage, the possible gender and diversity issues were analyzed – based on the initial United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) group profile – and studied how they might be mitigated. Factors addressed included issues related to cases of women-at-risk, single, female-headed households, risk of permanent separation of family members, issues linked to age, implications of large numbers of de facto dependents, and the possible consequences of admissibility screening and selection of refugees with high needs. This process helped identify possible challenges and issues in advance of the group’s selection and played an essential role in raising awareness about the group and the individuals who comprise it. This analysis was also forwarded to UNHCR who is responsible for on-the-ground selection of refugees for governments with resettlement programs.

The post-selection analysis included gender and diversity variables and resulted in the following findings:

Breakdown by sex for all 805 persons in the group referral: 436 male/369 female, which represents a 54%/46% split between the sexes.

Breakdown of group by sex and age: There is no major difference between genders when broken down by gender alone, but when broken down by age and gender, some differences became apparent. In the zero to two years of age, and 17 to 21 years of age category, there seem to be far more males than females. For the first group, this represents a 65%/35% split between the sexes, and for the second group, a 63%/37% split.

Heads of household: Of the 239 cases, 51 are female principal applicants (29 are single women) and 188 are male principal applicants (68 are single men). Male and female heads of households are likely to have differing needs after they are resettled in Canada. Further monitoring in the integration and post- destining phases will be needed.

The post-selection analysis also followed-up on the factors identified in the preselection phase of the group processing GBA. As such, factors, their implications on policy and program developments, and possible mitigating strategies to minimize any risk on program outcomes were examined. The following chart examines the issues identified and provides possible mitigation strategies to avoid future risk.

Further analysis is planned for the destining and integration, and post-destining stages in late 2006 and early 2007. Gender and diversity variables will continue to be used.

Safe Third Country Agreement

CIC also undertook a preliminary gender-based analysis of data collected from individuals eligible to make a claim for refugee status and who entered Canada under the Safe Third Country Agreement signed by Canada and the United States in 2002 and which came into force in 2004. In addition to the Department’s legislative commitments to GBA, the Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration recommended that “GBA be part of the oNGOing monitoring of the Agreement to ensure that victims of domestic violence are not adversely affected.” Therefore, in light of stakeholder concerns about how the Agreement may affect women and girl refugee claimants, and the Government’s commitment to incorporating gender impact analysis into public policy development, this section provides a starting point for an ongoing gender-based analysis that will inform the various review processes associated with the Safe Third Country Agreement. The objective of this preliminary gender analysis is to establish a baseline of data in order to track gender impacts and trends over time.

Gender Breakdown of Claimants

Table 11 shows that the proportion of female claimants at the border has been comparable to that of the total claimants over the past four years. The proportion of female claimants at the border increased slightly in 2005 to 47% from the 44% proportion in 2004. This indicates that women continue to seek asylum at land borders and that this pattern has not changed as a result of the Agreement. That the proportion of women increased, rather than decreased, suggests that the Agreement did not act as a strong deterrent and that women continue to desire to make their asylum claim in Canada and were eligible to do so under the Agreement.

Table 11: Proportion of Applicants by Women and Minors, 2002-2005

Exceptions

Claims for refugee protection from persons who arrive at a Canadian land border port of entry from the United States are ineligible, unless they fall within an exception. These exceptions are consistent with the principles established in the IRPA that favour family reunification and protection of the best interests of the child.

From January 1 to December 31, 2005, there were 4,033 claims at the land border. Of the 3,254 that were determined to have qualified for an exception, the largest category of exception concerned claimants with relatives in Canada (1,577 or 39%). The second largest category consisted of claimants from countries to which Canada has temporarily suspended removals (1,218 or 30%).

According to Table 12, 46% of non-US citizen border claimants who were granted an exemption were female. This figure compares very closely with 47% of females among total border claimants and 47% among total exceptions. The proportions of women in each exception category are comparable and female claimants do not seem to have qualified under the exceptions differently from males.

Table 12: Exceptions by Gender 2005

In addition, 21 of the 49 unaccompanied minors granted an exception under the Agreement were girls. Given the particular vulnerability of this subgroup and the Government’s commitment to considering the best interest of the child, a case-by-case review is underway and this category will be closely monitored on an ongoing basis.

Domestic Violence

At the time of border crossing, the first step is the eligibility determination of the refugee claim. Since refugee claimants are only required to provide details of their claims at a hearing before the Immigration and Refugee Board, research into claims citing gender-based persecution must be part of a longer-term review process. However, the IRB continues to be guided by its Guidelines on Women Refugee Claimants fearing Gender-Related Persecution issued in 1993 and, therefore, includes domestic violence among its considerations.

Conclusion

Initial evidence has not shown that the Agreement had a significantly different impact on refugee claimants who were deemed eligible and entered Canada. A second phase of analysis will explore gender and age in relation to region or country of origin and patterns of flow for land border crossings. Future analysis will include a focus on dependents in order to better understand impacts on families in comparison to single principle applicants. A more comprehensive analysis of the way in which the U.S. asylum system handles asylum applications from individuals, and specifically women and girls, who are returned under the Agreement will follow when the Government updates the Governor in Council regarding the continuing designation of the U.S. under Section 102(3) of the IRPA scheduled for fall 2006.

Highlights of Other GBA Initiatives

As part of the GBA plans, a range of other initiatives are ongoing. For example, a preliminary assessment of gender issues for Francophone minority communities was identified as an initiative and effort will continue to ensure the collection of baseline data by gender within these communities. A project to facilitate the integration of French-speaking immigrant women in Alberta was completed in March 2005, another project to develop communication tools on diversity awareness and to facilitate the integration of French-speaking women from ethno-cultural communities in New Brunswick is underway. CIC along with the Status of Women Canada, has provided funding to the Canadian Council for Refugees to support the development of a tool that will help to build the capacity in the settlement sector to apply GBA in the advocacy for, and the development, implementation, and evaluation of settlement programs and services.

Gender has been included as a criterion for future evaluations of the federal skilled worker program. When sufficient data on skilled worker immigrants selected under the IRPA selection grid is available, it will then be disaggregated by gender and differences in economic outcomes can be analyzed. Having concluded a successful consultation process with stakeholders in 2005, CIC is continuing its review of the live-in caregiver program.

CIC moved forward with the implementation of gender-based analysis strategies as they related to initiatives not specific to the IRPA but part of the overall mandate of the Department. For example, the Biometrics Planning Project will incorporate gender in its analysis of the biometrics field study.

Finally, to further increase capacity, the Department will continue to provide GBA training and related information sessions.

The following two tables present an overview of key immigration statistics by gender. There is a similar representation of the sexes in terms of total new permanent residents admitted in 2005 (women were slightly higher at 51.27%). There are proportionately more women than men in the Family Class (60% as opposed to 40%). The total figures for Economic Class seem to indicate a relatively balanced mix of the two genders. Table 14 breaks these figures down further into principal applicants and dependants – the great majority of primary applicants were male (68.6%) while the majority of spouses and dependents were female (59%).

Table 13: New Permanent Residents in 2005, by Immigration Class and Gender

*“Other” includes Post-Determination Refugee Claimants, Deferred Removal Orders and Temporary Resident Permit Holders
Source: Citizenship and Immigration Canada, Facts and Figures 2005

Table 14: 2005 Permanent Residents in the Economic Class, by Principal Applicants versus Spouses/ Dependants and by Gender

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