Employment equity — How we help
Under the Employment Equity Act, the Commission is responsible for conducting audits to determine if federally regulated employers are meeting their legal obligations to create equal employment opportunities for the following designated groups: women, Indigenous people, persons with disabilities, and members of racialized groups.
Note: The Employment Equity Act uses the term visible minorities. The Commission is of the view that this is an antiquated term. The Commission is using the terms racialized groups and racialized people in the interim.
Since 1997, the Commission has conducted hundreds of audits in the federally regulated private and public sectors. Most employers have been audited at least twice, and sometimes more depending upon whether they are meeting the goal of adequate representation.
The Commission's approach to its audit activities reflects the knowledge gained and lessons learned over decades. When conducting audits, we take into account an employer's challenges, but also acknowledge their progress and encourage their success. Ultimately, we want to help create a human rights culture across federal workplaces by helping employers comply with the Employment Equity Act and their employment equity objectives and by promoting understanding of the benefits of a representative workforce.
When required, the Commission can apply enforcement measures, which can include — among other measures — referring a non-compliant organization to the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal.
About the Employment Equity Act
The Employment Equity Act helps ensure that everyone in Canada has the same access to the labour market. The Employment Equity Act requires that federally regulated employers take steps to eliminate barriers and maintain proportional representation in the workplace for members of following designated groups: women, Indigenous people, people with disabilities, and racialized people.
The Employment Equity Act requires federally regulated employers, including the federal public service, to investigate, identify and take concrete action to correct the conditions of disadvantage in employment for the designated groups.
Any organization or business (with at least 100 employees) that is regulated by the federal government has a legal obligation to comply with the Employment Equity Act.
Role of other organizations
The Commission shares the responsibility for giving effect to the Employment Equity Act with the following departments and commissions:
Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC)
Employment and Social Development Canada is generally responsible for administering the Employment Equity Act. It provides advice and training to private sector employers and ensures they submit their annual reports as required by the legislation. The types of resources available to employers include:
- a fact sheet to assist employers to understand their obligations under the Employment Equity Act
- a comprehensive set of guidelines and online training on how to:
- initiate an employment equity program
- conduct a workforce analysis
- conduct an employment systems review
- create an employment equity plan
- establish and sustain an employment equity program
- submit an annual report
ESDC also develops national workforce availability estimates for the four designated groups. Information about workforce availability is available to employers through the Workplace Equity Information Management System or WEIMS. Their website includes training on how employers can use WEIMS to calculate how many people in the four designated areas are available to work for them.
ESDC also administers the Employment Equity Act for the Federal Contractors Program and provides annual reports to parliament on employment equity.
Office of the Chief Human Resources Officer of the Treasury Board Secretariat
The Office of the Chief Human Resources Officer of the Treasury Board Secretariat, maintains an employment equity self-identification databank on public sector employers. It calculates the representation and availability rates for each department and agency in the federal public sector. Finally, it also consolidates public sector employment equity reports and tables an overall annual report on employment equity to Parliament.
Public Service Commission
The Public Service Commission develops employment policies for the public sector (i.e. government) in the areas of staffing and recruitment, and collects related data. Its mandate includes an oversight role for the proper application of the Public Service Employment Act by all federal departments and agencies. This legislation recognizes that Canada will “gain from a public service…that is representative of Canada's diversity.”