Citizenship of Applicants and External Appointments from April 1, 2017 to March 31, 2023

Objective

This report examines how frequently, in comparison to Canadian citizens (referred to here as “citizens”), permanent residents and non-Canadian citizens (“non-citizens”) apply to and are appointed to federal government positions that are advertised to the public. The report also explores the employment equity representation of citizens, non-citizens and permanent resident applicants as well as those that are hired externally.

According to the Employment Equity Act, employment equity aims to achieve equality in the workplace and to correct conditions of disadvantage in employment for the 4 employment equity groups: women, Indigenous PeoplesFootnote 1, persons with disabilities and members of visible minorities. Non-citizens are eligible to work in the federal public service, whether they are permanent residents or not. However, prior to the amendments to the Public Service Employment Act (PSEA) in 2021, citizens were given preference over non-citizens in advertised external appointment processes for federal government jobs. The 2021 amendments to the PSEA now give equal preference to citizens and permanent residents in those external advertised appointments. This was intended to remove potential barriers to employment from the hiring process and to provide a level playing field at the federal level for permanent residents.

These changes are reflected in the current report, which extends the results of the previous report by two years, from March 31, 2021 to March 31, 2023, and which details changes in trends following the amendments to the Act. Please note that this report analyzes the trends of applicants and external hires by citizenship status; it is not intended to analyze the impact of the amendments specifically on permanent residents. The impact of the amendments on permanent resident hiring will be explored in a future separate report.

Key takeaways

The scope of this report covers the fiscal yearsFootnote 2 between April 1, 2017 and March 31, 2023. Results show the following:

Citizenship status of applicants and external appointments

Citizenship and employment equity

Non-citizens accounted for 35.4% of visible minority applicants, compared to 20.5% of non-visible minority applicants in 2022 to 2023 (see Graph 1). This is an increase from 27.3% and 13.7% respectively in 2020 to 2021.

Graph 1: Share of citizen versus non-citizen applicants among members of visible minorities and those who are not members of visible minorities fiscal year 2022 to 2023)

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Table 1: Share of citizen versus non-citizen applicants among members of visible minorities and those who are not members of visible minorities (fiscal year 2022 to 2023)
Employment equity group Citizens Non-citizens
Applicants who are members of visible minorities 64.6% 35.4%
Applicants who are not members of visible minorities 79.5% 20.5%

Visible minority applicants are more likely to be non-citizens than non-visible minority applicants.Footnote 3 Further, non-citizens overall are less likely to be hired than citizens. As a result, non-citizen visible minority applicants are less likely to be appointed relative to citizen visible minority applicants.

This can be seen in Graph 2, which breaks down visible minority applicants and appointments by citizenship.

Graph 2: Members of visible minorities as applicants and external appointments, citizens versus non-citizens (fiscal year 2022 to 2023)

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Table 2: Members of visible minorities as applicants and external appointments, citizens versus non-citizens (fiscal year 2022 to 2023)
Representation type Citizens Non-citizens Total percent
Applicants who are members of visible minorities 19.7% 10.8% 30.5%
Hires who are members of visible minorities 23.7% 4.9% 28.6%

Permanent residents and other non-citizens

There are different types of non-citizenship.Footnote 4 The following section describes applicant and appointment shares of permanent residents compared to other non-citizens.

Applicants

External Appointments

Graph 3: Representation of members of visible minorities among applicants and external appointments, Canadian citizens (April 1, 2017 to March 31, 2023)

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Table 3: Representation of members of visible minorities among applicants and external appointments, Canadian citizens (April 1, 2017 to March 31, 2023)
Fiscal Year 2017 to 2018 2018 to 2019 2019 to 2020 2020 to 2021 2021 to 2022 2022 to 2023
Applicants 20.0% 20.1% 21.7% 22.0% 25.7% 26.3%
Appointments 18.3% 20.0% 22.4% 22.3% 23.5% 25.7%
Workforce Availability 13.0% 15.3% 15.3% 15.3% 17.2% 17.3%

Graph 4: Members of visible minority representation among applicants and external appointments, permanent residents (April 1, 2017 to March 31, 2023)

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Table 4: Members of visible minority representation among applicants and external appointments, permanent residents (April 1, 2017 to March 31, 2023)
Representation type 2017 to 2018 2018 to 2019 2019 to 2020 2020 to 2021 2021 to 2022 2022 to 2023
Applicants 42.1% 38.4% 42.7% 44.2% 49.6% 49.3%
Appointments 44.9% 48.3% 49.6% 49.5% 59.3% 63.5%
Workforce Availability 13.0% 15.3% 15.3% 15.3% 17.2% 17.3%

Graph 5: Members of visible minority representation among applicants and external appointments, other non-citizens (April 1, 2017 to March 31, 2023)

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Table 5: Members of visible minority representation among applicants and external appointments, other non-citizens (April 1, 2017 to March 31, 2023)
Representation type 2017 to 2018 2018 to 2019 2019 to 2020 2020 to 2021 2021 to 2022 2022 to 2023
Applicants 28.0% 27.5% 29.1% 31.3% 36.7% 32.5%
Appointments 25.5% 44.4% 37.3% 40.2% 47.3% 48.3%
Workforce Availability 13.0% 15.3% 15.3% 15.3% 17.2% 17.3%

Intersectionality with gender

Non-citizen men make up a higher percentage of applicants among employment equity groups than women (Annex 2, Table A2-12).

There has been an increase in most of the appointment shares of non-citizen men and women who belong to an employment equity group between April 1, 2020 and March 31, 2023.

Conclusion

In this updated report, two more years of applicant and appointment data have been included. In line with our previous findings, there is an overall increase in non-citizens applying for jobs advertised to the public.  Non-citizens continue to make up a greater proportion of visible minority applicants than among non-visible minorities, and this proportion increased between April 1, 2020 and March 31, 2023. Non-citizens remain less likely to be appointed than Canadian citizens, but their appointment share has increased from 2.5% in 2020 to 2021 to 7.8% in 2022 to 2023.

The notable increase in the share of non-citizens applying to jobs open to the public and subsequently appointed in the fiscal years 2021 to 2023 corresponds with the June 2021 amendments to the Public Service Employment Act to help identify and mitigate biases and barriers that disadvantage persons belonging to equity seeking groups in appointment processes.. The analysis of the impact of the amendments will be explored in a future report. The PSC will continue monitoring the impact of these legislative changes on permanent resident hiring.

Annex 1 - Methodology

For this analysis, all jobs open to the public for indeterminate and term positions for a duration of three months or greater, that closed between April 1, 2017, and March 31, 2023, were evaluated. Similarly, all external appointments for indeterminate and term positions for a duration of three months or greater between April 1, 2017, and March 31, 2023, are included. The report provides information on applications and appointments to positions in federal public service departments and agencies that rely on the Commission’s authority to make appointments as set out in the Public Service Employment Act.

We assess the citizenship of external appointments by matching existing public servants to the Public Service Resourcing System (PSRS) applications using a deterministic record linkage process.

We assess the employment equity status of applicants based on the self-declaration provided in their applications on the PSRS. For external appointments, we analyze employees’ self-identification for the four employment equity groups as collected by the Treasury Board Secretariat in the Employment Equity Data Bank (EEDB). The most recent available data from the EEDB is up to March 31, 2023.

The workforce availability is aligned with the figures published in the Treasury Board Secretariat’s Annual Employment Equity Report.

Table A1-1: Workforce availability among employment equity groups (April 1, 2017 to March 31, 2023)
Employment equity groups 2017 to 2018 2018 to 2019 2019 to 2020 2020 to 2021 2021 to 2022 2022 to 2023
Women 52.5% 52.7% 52.7% 52.7% 53.3% 53.7%
Persons with disabilities 4.4% 9.0% 9.0% 9.0% 9.1% 9.2%
Members of visible minorities 13.0% 15.3% 15.3% 15.3% 17.2% 17.3%

Source: Treasury Board Secretariat, Employment Equity in the Public Service of Canada for Fiscal Year 2017 to 2023.

Annex 2 – Results

Table A2-1: Citizenship representation of applicants (April 1, 2017 to March 31, 2023)
Representation type 2017 to 2018 2018 to 2019 2019 to 2020 2020 to 2021 2021 to 2022 2022 to 2023
Applicants 247,035 368,763 314,830 375,473 330,434 348,520
    Citizens 217,078 (87.9%) 315,161 (85.5%) 264,973 (84.2%) 311,289 (82.9%) 268,574 (81.3) 261,113 (74.9)
    Non-citizens 29,957 (12.1%) 53,602 (14.5%) 49,857 (15.8%) 64,184 (17.1%) 61,860 (18.7%) 87,407 (25.1%)
Permanent residents 20,666 37,716 33,606 43,135 41,787 55,113
Other non-citizens 9,291 15,886 16,251 21,049 20,073 32,294

 

Table A2-2: Citizenship representation external appointments (April 1, 2017 to March 31, 2023)
Representation type 2017 to 2018 2018 to 2019 2019 to 2020 2020 to 2021 2021 to 2022 2022 to 2023
Appointments 16,628 20,012 20,427 19,065 22,303 24,727
Citizens 16,303 (98.0%) 19,517 (97.5%) 19,948 (97.7%) 18,594 (97.5%) 21,434 (96.1%) 22,786 (92.15%)
Non-citizens 325 (2.0%) 495 (2.5%) 479 (2.3%) 471 (2.5%) 869 (3.9%) 1,941 (7.8%)
Permanent residents 274 387 377 384 757 1,769
Other non-citizens 51 108 102 87 112 172

 

Table A2-3: Applicant shares by citizenship status and fiscal year, members of visible minorities versus not members of visible minorities (April 1, 2017 to March 31, 2023)
Employment equity group Citizenship Status 2017 to 2018 2018 to 2019 2019 to 2020 2020 to 2021 2021 to 2022 2022 to 2023
Members of visible minority Citizen 79.4% 77.1% 75.1% 72.7% 71.1% 64.61%
Members of visible minority Non-citizen 20.6% 22.9% 24.9% 27.3% 28.9% 35.4%
Not members of visible minorities Citizen 90.3% 87.9% 87.1% 86.3% 85.5% 79.5%
Not members of visible minorities Non-citizen 9.7% 12.1% 12.9% 13.7% 14.5% 20.5%

 

Table A2-4: Representation of members of visible minorities among applicants, citizens versus non-citizens (April 1, 2017 to March 31, 2023)
Representation type 2017 to 2018 2018 to 2019 2019 to 2020 2020 to 2021 2021 to 2022 2022 to 2023
All 22.2% 22.3% 24.3% 25.0% 29.4% 30.6%
Citizens 20.0% 20.1% 21.7% 22.0% 25.7% 26.3%
Non-citizens 37.7% 35.1% 38.3% 40.0% 45.4% 43.1%

 

Table A2-5: Representation of members of visible minorities among external appointments, citizens versus non-citizens (April 1, 2017 to March 31, 2023)
Representation type 2017 to 2018 2018 to 2019 2019 to 2020 2020 to 2021 2021 to 2022 2022 to 2023
All 18.8% 20.7% 23.0% 22.9% 24.9% 28.5%
Citizens 18.3% 20.0% 22.4% 22.3% 23.5% 25.7%
Non-citizens 41.8% 47.5% 47.0% 47.8% 57.8% 62.2%

 

Table A2-6: Representation of members of visible minorities among applicants by citizenship status (April 1, 2017 to March 31, 2023)
Representation type 2017 to 2018 2018 to 2019 2019 to 2020 2020 to 2021 2021 to 2022 2022 to 2023
Canadian citizens 20.0% 20.1% 21.7% 22.0% 25.7% 26.3%
Permanent residents 42.1% 38.4% 42.7% 44.2% 49.6% 49.3%
Other non-citizens 28.0% 27.5% 29.1% 31.3% 36.7% 32.5%

 

Table A2-7: Representation of members of visible minorities among external appointments by citizenship status (April 1, 2017 to March 31, 2023)
Representation type 2017 to 2018 2018 to 2019 2019 to 2020 2020 to 2021 2021 to 2022 2022 to 2023
Canadian citizens 18.3% 20.0% 22.4% 22.3% 23.5% 25.7%
Permanent residents 44.9% 48.3% 49.6% 49.5% 59.3% 63.5%
Other non-citizens 25.5% 44.4% 37.3% 40.2% 47.3% 48.3%

 

Table A2-8: Share of applicants self-assessed as bilingual by citizenship status (April 1, 2017 to March 31, 2023)
Citizenship Status 2017 to 2018 2018 to 2019 2019 to 2020 2020 to 2021 2021 to 2022 2022 to 2023
Citizens 43.1% 39.4% 40.7% 37.7% 39.8% 38.3%
Non-citizens 31.1% 26.0% 26.1% 24.6% 25.9% 22.4%

 

Table A2-9: External hire shares by citizenship status and fiscal years, members of visible minorities versus not members of visible minorities (April 1, 2017 to March 31, 2023)
Employment equity group Citizenship Status 2017 to 2018 2018 to 2019 2019 to 2020 2020 to 2021 2021 to 2022 2022 to 2023
Members of visible minorities Citizen 95.6% 94.3% 95.2% 94.9% 90.9% 82.9%
Members of visible minorities Non-citizen 4.4% 5.7% 4.8% 5.1% 9.1% 17.1%
Not members of visible minorities Citizen 98.6% 98.4% 98.4% 98.3% 97.8% 95.8%
Not members of visible minorities Non-citizen 1.4% 1.6% 1.6% 1.7% 2.2% 4.2%

 

Table A2-10: Share of applicants who are members of visible minorities applicants self-assessed as bilingual by citizenship status (April 1, 2017 to March 31, 2023)
Citizenship Status 2017 to 2018 2018 to 2019 2019 to 2020 2020 to 2021 2021 to 2022 2022 to 2023
Citizens 41.5% 37.7% 39.5% 36.5% 37.7% 35.9%
Non-citizens 33.5% 26.7% 26.5% 24.4% 25.7% 22.3%

 

Table A2-11: Employment equity representation among applicants by employment equity group and citizenship status (April 1, 2017 to March 31, 2023)
Representation type Citizenship Status 2017 to 2018 2018 to 2019 2019 to 2020 2020 to 2021 2021 to 2022 2022 to 2023
Persons with disabilities Canadian Citizens 3.1% 3.0% 3.4% 3.7% 5.6% 6.3%
Persons with disabilities Permanent Residents 0.9% 0.8% 1.0% 1.1% 1.6% 1.6%
Persons with disabilities Other Non-Citizens 1.1% 0.8% 1.0% 0.8% 1.4% 1.3%
Members of visible minorities Canadian Citizens 20.0% 20.1% 21.7% 22.0% 25.7% 26.3%
Members of visible minorities Permanent Residents 42.1% 38.4% 42.7% 44.2% 49.6% 49.3%
Members of visible minorities Other Non-Citizens 28.0% 27.5% 29.1% 31.3% 36.7% 32.5%
Women Canadian Citizens 55.4% 57.0% 57.6% 59.5% 59.3% 58.6%
Women Permanent Residents 44.7% 46.4% 47.0% 50.3% 51.4% 51.1%
Women Other Non-Citizens 36.8% 38.8% 37.4% 44.2% 44.2% 41.6%

 

Table A2-12: Applicant shares of non-citizens among employment equity groups by gender (April 1, 2017 to March 31, 2023)
Employment equity group by gender 2017 to 2018 2018 to 2019 2019 to 2020 2020 to 2021 2021 to 2022 2022 to 2023
Members of visible minorities - Women 20.1% 22.2% 23.6% 26.4% 28.1% 35.0%
Members of visible minorities – Men 24.4% 26.7% 29.0% 30.9% 32.4% 38.1%
Not members of visible minorities - Women 7.5% 9.5% 9.8% 11.1% 11.8% 16.4%
 Not members of visible minorities - Men 13.6% 16.6% 18.0% 18.2% 19.1% 27.0%
Persons with disabilities - Women 3.5% 3.3% 4.0% 4.1% 4.8% 5.9%
Persons with disabilities - Men 5.8% 6.8% 7.4% 7.9% 8.4% 10.4%
Persons without disabilities - Women 10.3% 12.5% 13.4% 15.2% 17.1% 23.0%
Persons without disabilities – Men 16.3% 19.2% 21.1% 21.9% 23.8% 31.4%

 

Table A2-13: External hires shares of non-citizens among employment equity groups by gender (April 1, 2017 to March 31, 2023)
Employment equity group by gender 2017 to 2018 2018 to 2019 2019 to 2020 2020 to 2021 2021 to 2022 2022 to 2023
Members of visible minorities– Women 3.3% 5.2% 4.1% 4.7% 7.7% 16.6%
Members of visible minorities– Men 5.7% 6.4% 5.7% 5.9% 10.9% 17.9%
Not members of visible minorities – Women 1.2% 1.5% 1.5% 1.4% 1.9% 3.8%
Not members of visible minorities – Men 1.7% 1.8% 1.8% 2.1% 2.6% 4.7%
Persons with disabilities – Women 0.3% 0.7% 1.1% 0.2% 1.1% 3.8%
Persons with disabilities – Men 0.8% 0.9% 0.5% 1.7% 1.3% 4.3%
Persons without disabilities – Women 1.6% 2.3% 2.2% 2.2% 3.5% 7.6%
Persons without disabilities – Men 2.5% 2.8% 2.8% 3.1% 4.9% 9.0%

 

Table A2-14: Employment equity representation among non-citizen applicants and external appointments by employment equity group (April 1, 2017 to March 31, 2023)
Representation type Applicants versus appointments 2017 to 2018 2018 to 2019 2019 to 2020 2020 to 2021 2021 to 2022 2022 to 2023
Persons with disabilities Applicants 1.0% 0.8% 1.0% 1.0% 1.5% 1.5%
Persons with disabilities Appointments 0.9% 1.2% 1.5% 1.5% 2.0% 3.9%
Members of visible minorities Applicants 37.7% 35.1% 38.3% 40.0% 45.4% 43.1%
Members of visible minorities Appointments 41.8% 47.5% 47.0% 47.8% 57.8% 62.2%
Women Applicants 42.3% 44.1% 43.8% 48.3% 49.0% 47.6%
Women Appointments 47.7% 51.7% 52.8% 51.6% 51.8% 57.1%

 

Table A2-15: Employment equity representation among appointments by employment equity group and citizenship status (April 1, 2017 to March 31, 2023)
Representation type Citizenship status 2017 to 2018 2018 to 2019 2019 to 2020 2020 to 2021 2021 to 2022 2022 to 2023
Persons with disabilities Canadian Citizens 3.7% 3.8% 4.2% 4.9% 6.3% 7.9%
Persons with disabilities Permanent Residents 0.7% 1.0% 1.9% 1.8% 2.1% 4.0%
Persons with disabilities Other Non-Citizens 2.0% 1.9% 0.0% 0.0% 0.9% 2.9%
Members of visible minorities Canadian Citizens 18.3% 20.0% 22.4% 22.3% 23.5% 25.7%
Members of visible minorities Permanent Residents 44.9% 48.3% 49.6% 49.5% 59.3% 63.5%
Members of visible minorities Other Non-Citizens 25.5% 44.4% 37.3% 40.2% 47.3% 48.3%
Women Canadian Citizens 58.6% 57.0% 58.3% 60.2% 60.4% 61.4%
Women Permanent Residents 47.4% 53.5% 54.1% 54.2% 52.0% 57.7%
Women Other Non-Citizens 49.0% 45.4% 48.0% 40.2% 50.0% 51.2%

 

Table A2-16: Representation of visible minorities among applicants and external appointments by gender and citizenship status (April 1, 2017 to March 31, 2023)
Representation type Citizenship Gender 2017 to 2018 2018 to 2019 2019 to 2020 2020 to 2021 2021 to 2022 2022 to 2023
Members of visible minorities Citizens Women applicants 10.3% 10.8% 11.9% 12.5% 14.8% 14.7%
Members of visible minorities Citizens Men applicants 9.1% 8.8% 9.5% 9.2% 10.8% 11.6%
Members of visible minorities Citizens Women appointments 10.7% 11.6% 13.2% 13.2% 14.1% 15.4%
Members of visible minorities Citizens Men appointments 7.6% 8.4% 9.2% 9.1% 9.3% 10.2%
Members of visible minorities Permanent Residents Women applicants 19.5% 18.8% 21.0% 23.0% 26.4% 26.6%
Members of visible minorities Permanent Residents Men applicants 22.4% 19.5% 21.7% 21.4% 23.4% 23.0%
Members of visible minorities Permanent Residents Women appointments 19.7% 25.1% 25.5% 27.9% 30.0% 36.8%
Members of visible minorities Permanent Residents Men appointments 25.2% 23.1% 24.1% 21.6% 29.3% 26.8%
Members of visible minorities Other non-citizens Women applicants 13.2% 13.1% 13.8% 16.6% 19.3% 16.4%
Members of visible minorities Other non-citizens Men applicants 14.6% 14.2% 15.2% 14.8% 17.6% 16.4%
Members of visible minorities Other non-citizens Women appointments 11.8% 24.1% 17.6% 14.9% 25.0% 27.3%
Members of visible minorities Other non-citizens Men appointments 13.7% 19.4% 19.6% 25.3% 22.3% 20.9%

 

Table A2-17: Shares of self-assessed bilingual applicants by citizenship and employment equity group (April 1, 2017 to March 31, 2023)
Representation type Gender 2017 to 2018 2018 to 2019 2019 to 2020 2020 to 2021 2021 to 2022 2022 to 2023
Citizens All 43.1% 39.4% 40.7% 37.7% 39.8% 38.3%
Citizens Members of visible minorities 41.5% 37.7% 39.5% 36.5% 37.7% 35.9%
Citizens Members of visible minorities - Men 40.1% 37.0% 38.5% 36.3% 37.2% 35.1%
Citizens Members of visible minorities- Women 41.6% 37.0% 39.4% 36.0% 37.6% 35.8%
Non-citizens All 31.1% 26.0% 26.1% 24.6% 25.9% 22.4%
Non-citizens Members of visible minorities 33.5% 26.7% 26.5% 24.4% 25.7% 22.3%
Non-citizens Members of visible minorities- Men 33.9% 26.7% 27.3% 24.7% 26.3% 23.6%
Non-citizens Members of visible minorities- Women 32.2% 25.8% 25.1% 23.8% 25.1% 20.9%

 

Table A2-18: Applicant shares of non-citizens among employment equity groups (April 1, 2017 to March 31, 2023)
Employment equity group 2017 to 2018 2018 to 2019 2019 to 2020 2020 to 2021 2021 to 2022 2022 to 2023
Members of visible minorities 20.6% 22.9% 24.9% 27.3% 28.3% 35.4%
Not members of visible minorities 9.7% 12.1% 12.9% 13.7% 14.5% 20.5%
Persons with disabilities 4.1% 4.4% 5.1% 5.4% 5.9% 7.3%
Persons without disabilities 12.4% 14.8% 16.2% 17.5% 19.4% 26.0%
Women 10.1% 12.2% 13.1% 14.8% 16.5% 22.0%
Men 16.1% 18.9% 20.8% 21.5% 23.1% 30.5%

 

Table A2-19: Share of applicants who are members of visible minorities and external hires by gender and citizens versus non-citizens, PSEA organisations (fiscal year 2022 to 2023)
Members of visible minorities – Gender Representation type Citizens Non-citizens Total
Women Applicants 10.9% 5.9% 16.8%
Women Appointments 14.2% 2.8% 17.0%
Men Applicants 8.6% 5.3% 13.9%
Men Appointments 9.4% 2.1% 11.5%

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