Employment Equity Policy In Canada

This report presents findings from research comparing employment equity policies in Canada's 10 provinces and the federal government. The study is based on policy analysis and on a series of qualitative interviews with equity policy stakeholders. The report contains: a comparative analysis of employment equity policy administration in provincial governments; an overview of the history and context of employment equity policy in Canada; a specific consideration of the rise and fall of employment equity policy in Ontario as a case study; consideration of the employment equity policy debate in Canada; an assessment of research findings from the perspective of senior governmental administrators and public servants responsible for employment equity policy implementation; an assessment of research findings from the perspective of those involved with labour and community employment equity issues; recommendations.

In the mid-1980s, the Abella Commission on Equality in Employment and the federal Employment Equity Act made Canada a policy leader in addressing systemic discrimination in the workplace. More than twenty-five years later, Employment Equity in Canada assembles a distinguished group of experts to examine the state of employment equity in Canada today. Examining the evidence of nearly thirty years, the contributors – both scholars and practitioners of employment policy – evaluate the history and influence of the Abella Report, the impact of Canada’s employment equity legislation on equality in the workplace, and the future of substantive equality in an environment where the Canadian government is increasingly hostile to intervention in the workplace. They compare Canada’s legal and policy choices to those of the United States and to the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, and examine ways in which the concept of employment equity might be expanded to embrace other vulnerable communities. Their observations will be essential reading for those seeking to understand the past, present, and future of Canadian employment and equity policy.

This is the report of a task force whose basic objective was to conduct a comprehensive review of the current equal pay provisions of the Canadian Human Rights Act, section 11, as well as the Equal Wages Guidelines of 1986. Work of the task force included consultations, public hearings, roundtables, private meetings, research, and a symposium to provide information about the wide range of issues relevant to a review of pay equity legislation. The first four chapters review wage inequalities in Canada & within designated groups in the labour market, the Canadian legislative response to wage inequality, the current pay equity model and its limitations, and proactive models & legislation in the public sectors of various provinces. Chapter 5 outlines a model that the task force recommends to replace the current legislation. Subsequent chapters address issues which arise in connection with this proposed model, including the scope of application, the elements of a pay equity plan, employee participation, predominance of certain groups in job classes, evaluating gender-predominant job classes, estimating & correcting wage gaps, allowable exemptions, maintenance of pay equity, enforcement, timelines & transition to new legislation, pay equity and collective bargaining, and the role of oversight agencies. Recommendations made throughout the report are also listed at the end. Appendices include excerpts from relevant legislation.

From the Introduction: The purpose of this research paper is to provide an understanding of employment equity and outline its recent development in Canada. Section II discusses the concept and dimensions of employment equity including a definition of how it relates to affirmative action, occupational segregation and equal pay...Section III discusses the legislative and public policy framework relating to employment equity and includes Canadian federal and provincial anti-discrimination legislation...Section IV discusses the mandate, the terms of reference and recommendations of the Royal Commission on Equality in Employment...there is also a summary of the reactions of business, labour and other groups...Section V deals with policy initiatives to date including highlights of Bill C-62.

Each June, employers covered under the Employment Equity Act submit annual reports. These reports describe the employment situation of the four designated groups (women, aboriginal peoples, persons with disabilities, and members of visible minorites), and the progress that these employers have made toward achieving an equitable workforce during the year. This document consolidates and analyses these reports. It consists of four chapters that present: the steps that employers took to achieve a representative workforce; economic and labour market conditions; the designated group profiles; and the assessment of employers' results. A consolidation of employers' reports is also presented.

Certain adjustments to employment systems, practices, and policies are necessary to ensure equal access to employment opportunities for all individuals. The purpose of employment equity is to open the access and competition to all who would have been eligible but for the existence of discrimination, whether conscious or unconscious. This paper explains employment equity, its history in Canada, and its potential implications.