Factsheet 1

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 Act. The types of resources available to employers include:

• A fact sheet to assist employers to understand their obligations under the 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. To learn more click here.

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 EE 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 EE reports and tables an overall annual report on EE to Parliament.

To learn more click here: Wellness, inclusion and diversity in the public service 

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. The Act recognizes that Canada will “gain from a public service…that is representative of Canada’s diversity.”