Introduction

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Employment Equity is a program that was designed by the government to encourage equal opportunities within the workplace for both prospective applicants and current employees. Employment Equity has been accomplished when no individual is denied employment for reasons unrelated to their skills.

This initiative aims to accomplish the following:

A workforce that represents the diversity of the available labour force
Employment structures, policies, and practices that facilitate the recruitment, retention, and promotion of Canadians
Employment structures that ensures equal opportunities for all workers to improve their talents, realize their goals, and contribute to the workplace

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Equitable Groups

Who does employment equity aim to protect?

Job equity encourages the equal representation of the following groups:

Women
Indigenous peoples
Persons with disabilities
Members of visible minorities

Individuals from the four designated groups have found to be victims of systemic discrimination and have been excluded from fair labour market participation. As a whole, higher levels of unemployment or underemployment, lower wages for equivalent skills, and lower representation in positions of authority were encountered for the four groups.

Assessment of Employment Equity

How is employment equity evaluated and assessed?

The assessment of employment equity is done through annual equity reports completed by employers in Canada. Employers will submit this information through the Workplace Equity Information Management System (WEIMS) online application. PDF formats of the workplace equity forms can be found here. The workplace analysis tools to aid in the completion of the workplace forms can be found here. The following categories are included in the report in order to provide a better understanding of employment equity in Canada:

Representation Rates

This best illustrates workplace diversity by directly accounting for the employment of women, Indigenous peoples, persons with disabilities, and members of visible minorities.
Occupational Distribution

This category accounts for representation in a variety of fields of employment. It considers the distribution of the four designated groups in different sectors of the economy. This is due to identified members (see above) having been historically under-represented in some fields and occupational areas.
Authority and decision-making

This category accounts for the distribution of members in the designated groups at the different levels of employment. This includes (1) entry-level, (2) intermediate, (3) mid-level, and (4) senior or executive level. Uneven representation between the four levels often signals workplace inequity.