Employment Equity Forward Plan Fiscal Years 2021/22 – 2023/24

The Employment Equity Act

The purpose of the Employment Equity Act (the Act) is to achieve equality in the workplace so that no person shall be denied employment opportunities or benefits for reasons unrelated to ability. The Act seeks to correct the conditions of disadvantage in employment experienced by women, persons with disabilities, Indigenous people and racialized people ^{Footnote 1} by giving effect to the principle that employment equity means more than treating people in the same way, but also requires special measures and the accommodation of differences.

There are nine legislative requirements under the Act:

1. Collection of workforce information
2. Workforce analysis
3. Review of employment systems, policies and practices
4. Employment equity plan
5. Implementation and monitoring of employment equity plan
6. Periodic review and revision of employment equity plan
7. Information about employment equity
8. Consultation and collaboration
9. Employment equity records

Over the next three years, the Commission will conduct three types of audits: (1) employer-specific audits, (2) blitz audits, and (3) horizontal audits.

Employer-Specific Audits

Employer-specific audits focus on one employer and look at whether or not that employer is meeting the requirements of the Act. The Commission sends notification letters to selected employers indicating that they are being audited. Employers will then receive an audit questionnaire and are required to send their responses, the related evidence, and their most recent workforce analysis to the Commission. The Commission will then analyze the evidence, setup interviews with employees from different levels of the organization and conduct on-site visits, where possible or necessary. If employers do not meet all the requirements of the Act, the Commission requires employers to sign an undertaking agreeing to put in place remedial actions within a specific deadline. Employers must then provide the Commission with proof of completion of the undertaking for evaluation. During this monitoring phase, the Commission will also validate employers’ employment equity goal setting as part of their employment equity plan.

Once validation is complete and employers have provided evidence of meeting all nine requirements of the Act, the Commission will send employers a letter confirming that the audit is closed.

Pilot Blitz Audit

The Commission will soon pilot a new type of audit, which will focus on two of the nine requirements of the Act: collection of workforce information; and, workforce analysis. The Blitz Audit pilot project will focus on private sector employers with less than 300 employees. Employers will be required to submit their most recent workforce analysis and self-identification survey. Based on these submissions, the Commission will analyze the representation gaps based on labour market availability. Depending on the representation gaps identified, the Commission will develop action items for the employer to implement. Action items could range from launching a new self-identification survey to a full audit of the employer’s employment equity program.

Horizontal or Issue-based Audits

In 2018, the Commission modernized the way it supports employers by introducing a horizontal audit model. This model focuses on systemic issues faced by designated group members in a specific sector. Each horizontal audit seeks to better understand the situation and experiences of women across designated groups, and includes a diversity and leadership lens to promote a higher representation of designated group members in management.

More specifically, horizontal audits aim to:

• address persistent representation gaps for a designated group in particular sectors;
• ensure employers have adequate plans to correct under-representation;
• identify specific barriers that impede progress;
• gather best practices that increase representation and help retain employees; and
• allow for the sharing of best practices with all federally-regulated employers through the publication of sector-wide reports.

A horizontal audit has two stages. In stage one, the Commission sends a survey to all employers in a sector. Survey results are then used to randomly select a specific number of employers to participate in the second stage of the audit, which consists of a full compliance audit of their employment equity program. The employers selected for stage two will be required to provide information and documentary evidence related to lines of inquiry, which are linked to each of the nine requirement of the Act. Interviews are then conducted with employees from different levels of the organization, to validate the Commission’s initial findings. On-site visits may also occur during that process.

The Commission then prepares a confidential audit report for each employer who participated in the second stage of the audit. The report provides a summary of findings related to the audit and, in necessary cases, a Management Action Plan (MAP), which includes a mandatory list of items that require remedial action. Once the MAP is complete and employers provide evidence of meeting all remedial actions, the Commission will send employers a letter confirming the audit is closed.

At the completion of a horizontal audit, the Commission publishes an anonymized sector-wide report that includes an analysis of the Employment Equity Survey results as well as a summary of barriers and good practices uncovered during the audit.

In 2018/19, the Commission piloted its first horizontal audit looking at the employment of Indigenous people in the banking and financial sector. In 2019/20, the Commission launched its second horizontal audit looking at the employment of persons with disabilities in the communication sector. In 2020/21, the Commission launched its first horizontal audit in the public sector looking at the employment of racialized people in management and executive positions.

The Commission always strives to work collaboratively with employers in each of its audit processes to achieve the ultimate goal of employment equity i.e.: to promote fairness; realize the benefits of diversity; and, promote better representation. The Commission can however, apply enforcement measures if it is of the opinion that an employer is not complying with the requirements Act ^{Footnote 2} .

Schedule of Audits – FY 2021/22 to FY 2023/24

This plan sets out the audits the Commission intends to undertake from FY 2021/22 to FY 2023/24. The Commission used a rigorous methodology to select the employers to be audited. The selection process included many variables, such as: overall representation gaps; 10-year persistent gaps; barriers uncovered during previous audits; previous audit results, etc.

Note: Not every employer listed in the tables below will necessarily be audited during FY 2021/22 to FY 2023/24. Moreover, the Commission may decide to audit employers not listed below.

Employer-Specific Audits – Private Sector

Employer-Specific Audits – Public Sector

Horizontal Audit

Blitz audit