A wealth of initiatives in the public sector

Last year's Employment Equity Report noted that the year 2000 had seen an important shift in attitude in the public service. The report highlighted, among other things, the strong commitment of the Clerk of the Privy Council, as well as the leadership shown by the Treasury Board Secretariat (TBS) in its response to the Embracing Change report (the Perinbam report).

This pattern continued in 2001, with a wealth of initiatives by the Treasury Board Secretariat, the Public Service Commission (PSC), and numerous departments. The Commission also notes some clear progress in the representation of persons with disabilities and visible minorities in the public service (see section 10 for further details).

Treasury Board Secretariat

Under the Employment Equity Act, the Treasury Board Secretariat and the Public Service Commission are responsible for carrying out the employer's obligations for all federal departments, and most federal agencies.

In 2001, the TBS promoted employment equity in the public service on several fronts.

Embracing Change

The Embracing Change action plan was developed by the Task Force on the Participation of Visible Minorities in the Federal Public Service, and was endorsed by the president of the Treasury Board in June 2000. This task force had been led by Lewis Perinbam, and focused on a significantly under-represented designated group within the public service: visible minorit

This action plan includes a key benchmark: by 2003, one in five new public service employees will be a member of a visible minority. Such a bold goal was necessary to correct the large under-representation of visible minorities, and to keep up with demographic change

In 2001, the Treasury Board Secretariat advanced this action plan by advising departments and agencies on ways to implement it, by sharing best practices among departments, and by setting up an accountability and reporting mechanism to follow progress. The Commission is pleased to note that the overall representation of visible minorities in the public service has increased significantly from 5.5% in March 2000 to 6.1% just one year later. In 2000-2001, visible minorities represented 8.1% of all new public servants, an improvement over the previous year. However, considerable progress is needed before the public service reaches the visible minorities' current 10.3% availability and the 20.0% hiring goal set for 2003. More significantly, visible minorities' share of permanent hires rose from 8.3% in 2000 to 11.5% in 2001, higher than the Census benchmark (of 10.3%) for the first time ever.

Improving the representation of persons with disabilities

The Commission believes that the Embracing Change initiative is a positive step forward for visible minorities. It recommends that similar bold steps be taken to increase the representation of persons with disabilities, who are also under-represented in several occupational categories in the public service.

Employment Equity and Diversity Award

The Treasury Board Secretariat has re-instituted the Employment Equity and Diversity Award to recognize organizations and individuals who are helping the public service become representative and inclusive. Three awards were given in 2001: to Public Works and Government Services Canada, the Department of Justice Canada, and the National Parole Board. These three departments have also been found in compliance with the Employment Equity Act by the Commission's audits.

Public Service Commission (PSC)

As noted earlier, the Public Service Commission is the joint employer of the federal public service, together with the Treasury Board Secretariat.

The Public Service Commission is responsible for hiring new public service employees, and managing the staffing of its senior executives (the Executive Group). In 2001, it promoted employment equity on those two fronts.

Employment Systems Reviews (ESR)

In 2000-2001, the Public Service Commission carried out an employment systems review on the recruitment and development of its Executive (EX) Group. The study had some key findings.

• Executives' actual representation fell short of expected labour market availability for all designated groups from 1997 to 2000.
• Nine of every 10 hirings in the Executive category came from within the public service.
• There is a qualified pool of candidates in the designated groups at feeder levels who can be chosen to fill the gaps. However, these gaps are so large that they cannot be filled without using special programs targeting designated groups.

In response to these findings, the public service has begun restricting access to some EX competitions to certain designated groups, and has developed a Career Assignment Program for Aboriginal peoples and visible minorities. It recognizes, though, that more special programs are needed.

The Public Service Commission also conducted an employment systems review of its Post-Secondary Recruitment program (PSR). It found the following.

• The program plays an important role in appointing external recruits to entry-level indeterminate positions within professional categories.
• The PSR generally meets or exceeds the labour market for availability for three designated groups, but not for persons with disabilities.
• As an encouraging sign, the one-in-five benchmark for recruiting members of visible minorities among new hires by 2003, adopted with the Embracing Change initiative, is being achieved right now in post-secondary recruitment. This bodes well for the public service renewal.

Workforce surveys

Still in 2000-2001, the Public Service Commission undertook two surveys to find the factors influencing decisions of summer students and new hires about pursuing careers in the public service. The surveys found, among other things, that:

• members of visible minorities are more likely than others to leave the public service, in order to earn a better salary and to find increased opportunities for advancement; and
• more than 25% of new hires indicated an intention to leave the public service within five years (most of the risk is within the Scientific and Professional category, of which members of visible minorities make up a large part).

The survey results indicate that the public service will face a hard task in bringing the representation of visible minorities to levels found in the Canadian labour market.

Barriers affecting persons with disabilities

In its 2000-2001 report, the Public Service Commission also found that persons with disabilities face barriers preventing them from being hired and promoted in an equal manner. The data on hirings of persons with disabilities (see section 10 of this report) support these findings.

Special inventory and employment equity job fair

The Public Service Commission maintains an inventory of designated group members across the country, providing a good pool of candidates to departments.

In addition, in February 2001, the Public Service Commission organized a job fair in Ottawa for managers looking to fill vacancies with candidates from visible minority groups, Aboriginal peoples, and persons with disabilities. Candidates in the local inventory were invited to participate, along with employers and employment equity outreach organizations.

The Employment Equity Positive Measures Program (EEPMP)

A good number of positive practices in the public service have stemmed from the Employment Equity Positive Measures Program. The Treasury Board Secretariat set up the EEPMP in 1998 as a four-year program to assist departments and agencies in meeting their obligations under the Employment Equity Act. The Public Service Commission manages the program.

In 2000-2001, 87 projects had been funded by the EEPMP, for a total of 158 since its inception in 1998. Just for 2000-2001, investments in these projects exceeded $9 million.

The EEPMP was designed as a temporary program, scheduled to end in 2002. The Treasury Board Secretariat has committed to evaluate its results before contemplating extending it. For its part, the Canadian Human Rights Commission encourages these practices, and believes that similar programs will be needed as long as some groups continue to be consistently under-represented in this country's public service.

Case study 1 in the public sector

Early Compliance and Significant Progress at Public Works and Government Services Canada

Public Works and Government Services Canada (PWGSC) is one of the few federal departments that was able to achieve compliance within the first phase of the CHRC audit. During the approximately 20 months over which the audit was conducted, this department also achieved real progress in reducing the under-representation of designated groups.

The department has several positive policies and special measures, including approval from the Public Service Commission for a Special Measure Aboriginal Employment Equity Program to recruit Aboriginal people externally. The current plan also addresses the department's commitment that one in five of its external term hires will be visible minorities, in response to the Perinbam Task Force Report.

PWGSC has developed various communication tools, a consultative Joint Committee on Employment Equity, and five networks at the national level. Designated group networks have also been established in some regions.

Case study 2 in the public sector

A Sound Self-identification Survey at Canadian Heritage

The Department of Canadian Heritage conducted a new employee survey in April 2000 with a 92.5% return rate.

This new survey provided a more accurate picture of the workforce, and as a result, drastically reduced the number of gaps in the workforce analysis. The analysis revealed only small under-representation gaps. However, the CHRC asked the department to look at the causes of under-representation in the EX category, where three of the four designated groups (except women) were under-represented. The department did not limit itself to this legislative requirement, but also voluntarily reviewed employment systems relating to visible minorities in the AS and CR groups.

This shows how a well-managed campaign can lead to an improved return rate, and help focus both the employment systems review and the plan.

Case study 3 in the public sector

Enabling Resource Centre for Persons with Disabilities (ERC)

The Enabling Resource Centre is one of the four components of the Treasury Board's Employment Equity Positive Measures Program, and is housed at the Public Service Commission. It offers support and advice to managers and employees about physical accommodation of persons with disabilities. Its facilities were designed to meet the various needs of persons with disabilities, including those with a vision, hearing, and/or mobility impairment/coordination disorder.

The Centre conducts approximately 20 demonstrations a month, to raise awareness among managers, human resources professionals, and computer specialists about accommodation needs. Each month, it responds to about 35 requests for equipment loans, and more than 400 telephone enquiries. It has the most recent assistive technologies and videoconferencing equipment.

As an example, some persons with restricted forearm mobility find it difficult to use a keyboard; to overcome this barrier, the Centre provides a voice recognition system. Similarly, persons with a visual disability are provided with large print software, close circuit television (CCTV), and voice synthesizers. Each solution is designed to meet the clients' individual needs.

During CHRC audits, several human resources specialists have singled out the Centre as one of the more useful resources they can count on to accommodate employees with disabilities.

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