Requirements.

Integrated throughout all defence activities across the Department of National Defence (DND) and the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF), Gender Based Analysis Plus (GBA+) is a guiding principle that affects decision-making from the design and implementation of personnel support programs and services to equipment procurement and operational planning. In tandem, DND and CAF engage, collaborate, and/or partner with Indigenous groups on a range of operational and policy matters in full support of the Government of Canada’s commitment to advancing reconciliation and renewing its relationship with Indigenous peoples.

Customer Requirements:

Integral component of Canada’s defence policy, Strong Secure, Engaged. DND and CAF are fully committed to using GBA+ in the development, execution, and evaluation of operations, policies and programs.

Crucial Procurement Component. Technology companies that observe GBA+ in their design, training, operation, and maintenance are well positioned for future government procurement, as mandated and recommended by Canada’s Defence Policy, Strong, Secure, Engaged (SSE), Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED), and Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC) partners.

Exemplary aerospace and defence companies with workforce diversity and inclusiveness programs. Boeing’s ‘Women Make Us Better’, Honeywell’s ‘Inclusion & Diversity’, and L3Harris’ ‘Catalyst CEO Champions For Change’.

Indigenous Groups rights, respect, cooperation, and partnership. Engage, collaborate, and/or partner on a range of operational and policy matters, including environmental remediation, land access, consultation, procurement, and major construction projects. Per PSPC, at least 5% of federal contracts awarded to businesses managed and led by Indigenous Peoples; all areas of green procurement consider Indigenous businesses.

Gender and Diversity Plans, Procurement Strategy for Aboriginal Business, ITB Policy. Requires bidders describe their approach as a prime contractor to achieve gender balance and increasing diversity within their Canadian corporate structures and broader supply chains in Canada.

Opportunities.

Integral to the contract solicitation and bid evaluation of the ITB Policy, DND procurement is cultivating greater market opportunity growth for companies exercising GBA+. The CAF is a leader in military gender balance by increasing the representation of women by 1% annually over a 10 year duration to achieve 25% representation of women throughout the forces by 2026. Market opportunities involving Indigenous business and peoples are significant and continue to see growth that supports the Canadian aerospace and defence supply chain. This is supported by the ITB Policy, Gender and Diversity Plans, and the Procurement Strategy for Aboriginal Business.

Market Opportunities:

Future Aircrew Training (FAcT) program. Aircrew training program for the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF), NATO partners, and allies. Contract is expected to be at least 20 years and may exceed $10 billion involving the delivery of aircraft, simulators, civilian instructors and classroom training systems, as well as other essential services, such as aircraft and airfield maintenance, accommodation, and food services. Proposals for the FAcT evaluated under the ITB Policy may include both mandatory and rated evaluation criteria to advance gender equality and diversity, requirements for a gender and diversity plan and skills and training programs for Indigenous People within the aerospace and defence industry, and a rated requirement for commitments to skills and training programs for under-represented groups (women, visible minorities, persons with disabilities and Indigenous People). An Indigenous Benefits Plan (IBP) and rated criteria to evaluate proposals that address technological barriers that disproportionately affect targeted segments of the population may also be required by Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC).

Avionics and other integrated components bias against women’s physiology. Aircraft cockpit and uniform designs, speech recognition technologies, and other components that are required to meet female body specifications. Women will represent 25% of the CAF by 2026 resulting in 7.7% CAGR based on 16% representation in February 2020.

Space-based North Warning System (NWS) and NORAD Modernization. Legacy North Warning System and Distant Early Warning Line resulted in environmental degradation and ecological disturbances. Requirements for space-based NWS and NORAD modernization technologies that present less probable risks of environmental damage and negative societal impact on Indigenous peoples in the Arctic than terrestrial-based infrastructure across this region.

Consulting.

A powerful analytical tool that has been embraced by Aero Polaris Consulting Ltd. and adds value to our research, analysis, and strategic advisements offered. Greater situational awareness is crucial to NORAD modernization and North American defence and this is enabled by leading-edge technologies, such as avionics and unmanned aerial systems, and by forward-thinking practices, such as GBA+. Greater interoperability of people, much like technologies, is a force-multiplier and this is exemplified by the Indigenous peoples that constitute the Canadian Rangers of the CAF, which support NORAD and the North Warning System.

Consulting Services in GBA+

Assessing GBA+ practices of companies and organizations. Analyzing and evaluating the integration and use of workforce diversity and inclusion throughout the lifecycle of a product or service, identifying and assessing key issues from an economic, social and cultural perspective, parsing specific experiences of individual affected groups and highlighting their unique experiences, researching and consulting with experts and affected groups, developing options and recommendations, and monitoring and evaluating diversity and inclusion programs and impacts throughout the lifecycle of an offering.

Aerospace technology companies that practice GBA+ and involve Indigenous groups are necessary and in demand. Consulting companies develop Gender and Diversity Plans that describe their approach as a prime contractor to achieve gender balance and increasing diversity within their Canadian corporate structures and broader supply chains in Canada. DND and CAF fully support Public Services and Procurement Canada’s (PSPC) commitment for all departments to have at least 5% of federal contracts awarded to businesses managed and led by Indigenous Peoples and consider Indigenous businesses in all areas of green procurement including when purchasing clean electricity or developing energy performance contracts, whenever capacity and capability allow. Market success supported by Gender and Diversity Plans and the Procurement Strategy for Aboriginal Business is showcased by Opaskwayak Cree Nation and its manufacturing of aerospace parts for Boeing Canada and Magellan Aerospace.

Ensuring an inclusive workforce. Diverse perspectives and inclusion is a key consulting service that is offered by Aero Polaris Consulting Ltd. Directly engaging, surveying, and evaluating companies that exercise gender equality and other similar policies that are committed to upholding comprehensive identity factors, such as gender, race, ethnicity, religion, age, and mental or physical disability.