At a Glance: 2021 Staffing and Non-Partisanship Survey: Perceptions of Federal Public Servants with Disabilities

Why we did this report

Understanding the perspectives of federal public servants is essential to fostering a truly diverse, accessible and inclusive public service.
As a follow-up to the 2021 Staffing and Non-Partisanship Survey: Highlights Report released in March 2022, the Public Service Commission of Canada (PSC) conducted a deeper analysis of the perceptions of staffing held by public servants with disabilities.
For the 2021 edition of the survey, the PSC updated its methodology. We used Statistics Canada’s disability screening questionnaire to identify employees with disabilities and the type and severity of the disability, which yielded a wealth of new data.

Federal public servants with disabilities generally have less positive perceptions of merit, fairness and transparency in staffing processes than federal public servants without disabilities. This gap is greater for those with more severe disabilities.
Two-thirds (66.8%) of persons with disabilities reported having received the accommodation they requested as part of a staffing process or a second language evaluation. For persons with more severe disabilities, that proportion was 57.4%.
Among persons with disabilities who received assessment accommodations during staffing processes or second language evaluations, 83.4% said they were satisfied with those accommodations, compared to 78.7% for employees with more severe disabilities.
Participation in advertised staffing processes for promotions is similar among persons with and without disabilities (28.1% versus 28.6%).

Findings will be reviewed over several survey cycles to identify trends that may emerge with continued use of the disability screening questionnaire.
The PSC will do more analysis, breaking down the data for the 3 other designated employment equity groups (women, Indigenous peoples and members of visible minorities).
We will also take a more detailed look at responses from people in multiple groups (for example, women who are members of a visible minority) to better understand how employment equity groups and sub-groups view staffing.

The Staffing and Non-Partisanship Survey used a disability screening questionnaire model for the first time in 2021. In previous years, the survey used an employee self-identification model. Both methodologies use the term “persons with disabilities,” but the objectives and approaches are different.
The disability screening questionnaire does not require respondents to view themselves as having a disability. A person is identified as having a disability if they report limitations in daily activities caused by a range of physical and mental health challenges.
Use of the questionnaire resulted in 39% of respondents reporting daily activity limitations and being identified as persons with disabilities.
The 2021 survey included questions about staffing during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Introduced in 2018, the survey is conducted every 2 years to seek perceptions on staffing from federal public servants subject to the Public Service Employment Act.
75 440 employees from 75 federal departments and agencies participated in the 2021 survey.