GBA + in Canada's immigration system: Opportunities and limitations

Abstract This exploratory study investigates the use of Gender‐based Analysis Plus (GBA+) in Canada's immigration programme development. The objectives of the article are as follows: first, to provide insight into the structures within the Immigration Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) that support GBA+ and understand how it is applied in practice; second, to evaluate the transformative potential of GBA+ in this context. Drawing on IRCC's policy, guidelines, Annual Reports to Parliament and self‐assessments, the article makes a preliminary finding that GBA+ is unlikely to prompt transformation of key tenets of the immigration system, but it can stimulate incremental changes, particularly in areas that are already more responsive to systemic barriers (such as the refugee class). However, more in‐depth study is needed into the IRCC's culture and attitude towards GBA+ as well as full content analysis of GBA+ of a larger sample of recent initiatives.