Employment Equity in the Public Service of Canada for Fiscal Year 2020 to 2021

Audit of employment equity representation in recruitment

The PSC published an audit report on employment equity representation in January 2021. This study examined more than 15,000 job applications from 181 externally advertised appointment processes from 30 departments and agencies to determine where there may be potential barriers in the staffing system for members of employment equity groups. The conclusions were that employment equity groups were not represented proportionally throughout the five key stages of the appointment process (job application, automated screening, organizational screening, assessment, appointment).

In response to the results and recommendations of the audit, the PSC updated directives on staffing options to increase representation. The PSC also issued three recommendations to ensure that barriers and biases are identified and eliminated in appointment processes:

1. Deputy heads should review their staffing framework and practices to ensure that appointment processes are barrier-free for employment equity groups, including subgroups of visible minorities.
2. The PSC should work with other central agencies and employment equity groups to identify factors in the hiring process that affect the success rate of those groups and of subgroups of visible minorities to implement the established solutions.
3. The PSC should redouble its efforts to design and promote systems, tools and guidance that will support inclusive external recruitment processes by focusing on barrier-free assessment approaches.

Support for departments: more disaggregated data

The Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat has made significant progress by publishing eight sets of disaggregated data, thus offering a first-ever overview of the composition of 21 employment equity subgroups, including Black, Métis and Inuit employees, and employees with hearing impairment or mobility issues. This type of data responds to requests from stakeholders to facilitate more specific analysis. It also provides a basis for better evidence-based decision-making. These data are available to the public on the Human resources statistics web page. In addition, a data visualization tool has been put online to guide the development of departmental plans and make it easier to meet obligations under the Employment Equity Regulations. The PSC has created an interdepartmental working group on research for employment equity experts, economists and statisticians to discuss and share information on barriers that affect employment equity groups. The PSC’s workforce macrosimulation tool projects the renewal and representation of the public service based on various scenarios, including employment equity representation.

Modernizing the self-identification process

As noted, access to disaggregated data is key to understanding the gaps in representation of subgroups and equity sub-issues, and to determining the measures that are needed. They are a condition for the effective and efficient evolution of our evidence-based policies and initiatives.

However, our data is based on people who chose to identify. The effectiveness of the voluntary self-identification process is therefore essential for measuring the actual situation and the progress achieved. In September 2020, the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat launched the Self-Identification Modernization Project to increase the accuracy of data and reduce the perception of the risk associated with voluntary self-identification. With this project, there is hope for collecting more comprehensive data for persons with disabilities and for other equity-seeking groups. For example, the Canadian Survey on Disability conducted by Statistics Canada in 2017 revealed that 15.6% of the Canadian workforce are persons with disabilities. However, in the 2017–18 fiscal year, only 5.3% of public service employees self-identified as persons with disabilities, and only 2.9% self-identified as persons with disabilities when applying for a position. Therefore, a new questionnaire is being designed to capture more relevant data.

Senior officials responsible for employment equity, diversity and inclusion

As part of the reset of Treasury Board human resources policies, the Policy on People Management came into effect on April 1, 2021, and introduced the requirement that deputy heads designate a senior official responsible for employment equity, diversity, and inclusion (SDOEEDI) within their organization. The accompanying Directive on Employment Equity, Diversity and Inclusion also describes the responsibilities of SDOEEDIs. This emphasis on the accountability of deputy heads and SDOEEDIs highlights the importance of the employment equity program and the steps needed to implement it consistently and effectively across the public service. At the same time, members of equity-seeking groups created several employee networks as well as formal and informal committees. These forums offered employees opportunities to discuss and better understand the issues and barriers encountered by members, discuss best practices, and propose solutions.

Unite efforts to diversify senior levels

To achieve greater representation at all levels and in all occupational groups, the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat supported the creation of a pool of talented candidates at all levels of the public service and developed a system-wide approach for succession planning, in two streams, one at the EX-01 to EX-03 levels and one at the EX-04 and EX-05 levels. In September 2020, the Executive Leadership Development Program was modified to include a requirement that at least 50% of program participants from a department at the EX-01 to EX-03 levels must be persons with disabilities, Indigenous peoples or members of visible minorities. As a result, the 2020 cohort was the most diverse since the program was created in 2016, with 52% of participants being from at least one of the most under-represented employment equity groups, 7% being Black executives and 63% being women.^{Footnote 3}

Creation and activities of the Centre on Diversity and Inclusion

The Centre on Diversity and Inclusion was created in August 2020 to co-develop programs, help coordinate other diversity and inclusion initiatives across the public service, and support the SDOEEDI community of practice. One initiative launched by the Centre in 2020–21 is the Mentorship Plus program, which supports leadership development for employees at the EX minus-one level and fosters access to the EX group for equity-seeking employees. That program improves upon traditional mentoring by adding the senior executive sponsor element.

Engagement and awareness

Another initiative launched by the Centre in 2020–21 is the Federal Speakers’ Forum on Diversity and Inclusion, which provides a platform for public servants who want to share their expertise and lived experience. The purpose of the initiative is to increase awareness on topics related to diversity and inclusion and change attitudes and behaviours.

Ensuring the right benchmarks

The Office of the Chief Human Resource Officer (OCHRO) has reviewed the benchmarks used for measuring representativeness in the public service and how they could be modernized to reflect the current context. Given the increase in diversity in the Canadian population and commitment by the government to achieve a representative workforce, modernized benchmarks may be more effective for the federal public service. OCHRO expects more work on this will be reflected in the 2021–22 report.

Pilimmaksaivik

In 2020–21, Pilimmaksaivik, the Federal Centre of Excellence for Inuit Employment in Nunavut, worked to advance measures to increase Inuit employment in the federal public service in Nunavut through outreach and promotional activities with Inuit people in Nunavut. This was done by coordinating across the federal public service, providing advice and support to departments and agencies, and monitoring progress. Thus, Pilimmaksaivik coordinated the third cohort of the Inuit Learning and Development Program, a pre-employment training initiative that recruits Inuit individuals for professional placements in four federal departments and agencies in Nunavut. In response to the under‑representation of Indigenous peoples in scientific positions, a scientific stream was added to the cohort.

Pilimmaksaivik supports the retention of Inuit employees in Nunavut by coordinating learning events and opportunities that celebrate Inuit cultures and traditions. In 2020–21, public service employees took part in interdepartmental learning events designed to celebrate the Inuit culture. Pilimmaksaivik also ensures that Inuit people in Nunavut have access to culturally sensitive talent management practices and opportunities for advancement. The organization indicated that most Inuit candidates not selected in external hiring processes were not selected because their resumé or application did not sufficiently meet the screening criteria (for example, education, experience and so on), and it is addressing the gap in education of Inuit people in Nunavut through the Education Support fund, which helps Inuit employees complete their post-secondary education.

For its part, the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat has begun to develop diversity and inclusion strategies related to, for example, the financial management and internal audit communities, the goods and services community, and the communications professionals community, and has continued to partner with Indigenous employee networks to develop various measures related to diversity and inclusion.

Official Languages Centre of Excellence

The 2020–21 fiscal year was also characterized by engagement and reflection on issues that affect Indigenous federal employees. Included in the initiatives are some that stem in particular from requests from Indigenous employees to eliminate barriers to employment due to official languages requirements and to better understand the scope and value of the use of Indigenous languages by employees in the public service. As a result, the Working Group for Amendments to Official Language Requirements for Indigenous Employees was created in the fall of 2020 to eliminate barriers related to official languages and promote career advancement for Indigenous employees. It is made up of the Indigenous Federal Employees Network, the Indigenous Executive Network, representatives of PSC and OCHRO, and chaired by the Knowledge Circle for Indigenous Inclusion.

The Working Group for the Incentivization of Inuktitut in the Federal Public Service in Nunavut, co‑chaired by OCHRO and Pilimmaksaivik (Federal Centre of Excellence for Inuit Employment in Nunavut), was also created in the summer of 2020. The group examined how incentivizing the use of Inuktitut in the federal government workplace could help advance Inuit representativeness objectives.

Finally, the Joint Committee on the Use of Indigenous Languages in the Public Service, co-chaired by OCHRO and the Public Service Alliance of Canada, in cooperation with Parks Canada, was created to obtain information on the extent to which Indigenous languages are used in the public service, in accordance with a commitment made as part of collective bargaining.

Office of Public Service Accessibility, Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat

With respect to accessibility, the Office of Public Service Accessibility is leading efforts to eliminate barriers to accessibility and inclusion of persons with disabilities in the public service. The Accessible Canada Act, which came into force in 2019, aims to make Canada barrier-free by January 1, 2040. In May 2020, in response to the legislation, the Government of Canada launched the Accessibility Strategy for the Public Service of Canada, also known as “Nothing Without Us,” as a roadmap for the public service to be an example and become a model of accessibility.

This year, to support the strategy, the Office of Public Service Accessibility:

• Continues to manage the Centralized Enabling Workforce Fund (2019–2024). That fund supports departments and agencies through workplace accommodation projects to develop new tools and advice, improve existing processes, and experiment with innovative solutions to allow employees to contribute to their full potential. Led by Shared Services Canada, one example of a project funded by the Centralized Enabling Workforce Fund is the library loan service, which provides employees with quick access to short-term accommodation, adaptive technology and services, at no cost to their department.
• Promotes the new GC Workplace Accessibility Passport that follows employees when they change jobs and documents the support measures they need to succeed in their work.

The President of the PSC and the Deputy Minister, Public Service Accessibility, sent letters to all deputy heads of federal departments to indicate the number of employees with disabilities that they should hire to address their gaps in representation and provide them with concrete tools and support to comply with the commitment to hire 5,000 persons with disabilities by 2025.

The Digital careers for persons with disabilities website is intended to facilitate hiring in specific areas. Three targeted pools were launched to recruit persons with disabilities in the public service in the following areas:

• policy and data analysis (EC positions)
• digital and information sciences (CS positions)
• financial analysis (FI positions)

Since the launch of the Accessibility Strategy, organizations across the government have begun examining accommodation practices, and some have established centralized accommodation processes to help reduce wait times and improve results for employees. However, new data gathered through the Management Accountability Framework in 2020 indicate that departments and agencies continue to face some operational challenges in adopting an effective approach to accommodation. For instance, some organizations reported the following difficulties:

• lack of knowledge and lack of expertise in complex cases
• lack of centralized data collection to identify barriers
• difficulty obtaining feedback (no employee network, no use cases)

It is therefore clear that more work is needed on workplace accommodation practices to support a consistent and timely approach across the public service. Such work includes more in-depth data collection and analysis, and the sharing of best practices between federal organizations.^{Footnote 4}

Federal Internship Program for Canadians with Disabilities

The Federal Internship Program for Canadians with Disabilities (FIPCD) supports the Government of Canada’s commitment to hire 5,000 new people with disabilities by 2025 through 125 two-year internships over a five-year period (2019–24).

Through assessment, coaching and training boards, the FIPCD helps Canadians with disabilities who have little or no professional experience to develop their skills while providing hiring managers with experience in the integration and development of people with disabilities in the workplace and in their teams. Moreover, the FIPCD contributes to increased diversity through intersectionality, given that many interns also self-identify as visible minorities, Indigenous peoples and/or women.

The Employment Opportunity for Students with Disabilities (EOSD), which is part of the Federal Student Work Experience Program (FSWEP), is a program designed to reduce barriers to the full participation of post-secondary students in the public service and improve their workplace experience. In 2020–21, students hired under the EOSD participated in activities such as training activities, a mentoring program and networking events.

The online portal for disability talent facilitates the hiring of former FSWEP students with public service work experience who can be hired through student bridging after graduation. Candidates establish a profile in which they specify their field of study, preferred workplaces, spoken and written languages, and skills, and managers can review and select suitable candidates for potential positions. In the context of a pilot project, the inventory includes graduates who participated in the EOSD, and several have received job offers with the public service.

The Human Resources Council and PSC created and co-chaired a working group in 2020 to establish inventories targeted throughout the government to help departments and agencies hire individuals with disabilities. In 2020–21, two new inventories were launched for persons with disabilities in the data and political fields. In the spring of 2021, these inventories were widely promoted on the PSC self-reporting web page, on social media, and with educational institutions and associations through an advertising campaign that was also designed to encourage candidates to self‑declare when applying for government jobs. In March 2021, the proportion of candidates across the government of Canada where candidates self-identified as individuals with disabilities exceeded the 5% mark for the first time.

Canada School of Public Service

The Canada School of Public Service launched a variety of learning products related to accessibility and inclusion of persons with disabilities to highlight the barriers that people with disabilities face every day and how public servants can reduce, remove and report barriers to foster a more inclusive public service.

Note on workforce availability for persons with disabilities and visible minorities

The estimate of the WFA for persons with disabilities increased significantly between the two censuses (as a result of the Canadian Survey on Disability), from 4.4% in 2011 to 9.0% in 2017. This is because the 2017 Canadian Survey on Disability expanded the definition of persons with disabilities to include persons with disabilities related to pain and mental health. As this more inclusive definition has not yet been incorporated into the federal public service voluntary reporting exercise, it is impossible to predict the variance when the new definition is reflected in voluntary reporting. Significant work has been done on the new reporting form in 2021–22.

For visible minorities, it should be noted that the current WFA does not yet reflect the potential workforce of permanent residents. In fact, until recently (June 2021), the Public Service Employment Act required that Canadian citizens be given a hiring preference over permanent residents for selection processes advertised to the public, which will no longer be the case and will impact representation and the WFA for subsequent years’ reports.