Assessing the Canadian Employment Equity Act

A paper evaluating the success of the Canadian Employment Equity Act.

The text examines the assessment of the Employment Equity Act, which aims to address inequitable employment opportunities for specific segments of Canada's diverse population. The federal government's multiculturalism program has brought together individuals from different nations to join those already residing in Canada. To ensure equal opportunity within the public service, both federal and provincial governments have implemented programs such as equal employment and affirmative action initiatives. These initiatives seek to provide representation for underrepresented groups in the labor force, including women, Aboriginal peoples, disabled individuals, and visible minorities based on their race or color in Canada.

In 1984, Judge Rosalie Silberman Abella presented the Abella Report as part of a Royal Commission established to combat unfair treatment in employment for marginalized groups. Building upon this report's findings, the federal government introduced the Employment Equity Act in 1986. This paper will evaluate how effective this act has been in achieving its goal of accurately reflecting Canada's demographics within the workforce.

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Despite some progress being made, it argues that there is still a lack of representation. The Act primarily focuses on individuals or groups who face employment disadvantages, such as women, Aboriginal peoples, and persons with disabilities. These individuals can either self-identify or be identified by their employer to benefit from Employment Equity.Non-Caucasian members of visible minorities also self-identify as such for the purpose of the Act. Discrimination against designated groups, particularly women, has persisted over time. In 1977, a study found that almost 40% of federal government employees (excluding the Army) were employed by federal Crown Corporations.

During that period, these corporations were not subject to the Public Service Employee Act, which prohibits discriminatory practices in hiring and promotion. The study revealed that despite women constituting 37% of the Canadian labor force population and 33% of federal public service employees, they only made up 15.4% of total employees in federal Crown Corporations. The following charts illustrate gender underrepresentation, highlighting various employment disadvantages faced by women. According to data from the 1981 census, women experienced higher unemployment rates and lower participation rates while being concentrated in lower-paying jobs regardless of their educational attainment levels. The data further displays the number of men and women employed by different companies at that time along with the percentage representation rate for women - for instance CN had 71,369 men and 4,434 women with a representation rate of 5.9% for women; Air Canada had 14,867 men and 6,073 women resulting in a representation rate of 29.6% for women. Research indicates that other designated groups also encountered challenges when it came to accessing fair employment opportunitiesStudies have shown that aboriginal peoples in Canada had lower participation rates and higher unemployment rates compared to the general labor force. They also had lower levels of education and received lower average salaries. According to the 1981 census, only "50.4% of the total aboriginal population worked in the Canadian labor force." Similarly, individuals with disabilities faced disadvantages in terms of higher unemployment rates, lower participation rates, and lower educational attainment levels within the labor force during this period. However, detailed statistics on disabled individuals' presence in the labor force were not easily accessible from the 1981 census data. Between 1984 and 1986, there was an observed 11% increase in labor force participation for certain groups. Despite having higher education levels and participation rates, these visible minority groups tended to be concentrated in specific occupational fields. The Abella Commission identified a "systemic" issue as the main obstacle preventing women and other designated groups from fully benefiting from opportunities in the labor force. This unintentional discrimination stemmed from deeply ingrained social and political values and institutions within society's prevailing socio-economic system.The Abella Commission recommended comprehensive programs to address discrimination in employment, which led to the concept of "employment equity." In 1986, the federal government enacted the Employment Equity Act, which required federally regulated employers with 100 or more employees to establish equity programs and provide workforce census information to the Canada Employment and Immigration Commission. These employers were also mandated to develop their own employment equity program to combat systemic discrimination. On September 1 of that year, the Federal Contractors Employment Equity Program was introduced by the federal government, making it obligatory for contractors bidding for federal government contracts with 100 or more employees to implement employment equity within their organization. Both Acts strive to ensure that Canada's labor force reflects its overall demographics. Employment equity is a comprehensive planning process aimed at achieving equality in both opportunity and outcomes. The main objective of the Employment Equity Act is to ensure that the Canadian workforce accurately represents the composition of the Canadian population in terms of available skills, based on principles of fairness. Despite some progress, target groups still face underrepresentation and other challenges related to this Act. Reporting on their progress is required from all federally regulated companies with over 100 employees according to this Act. Approximately 350 companies contribute to an annual report compiled by the Minister of Employment and Immigration Canada, which examines compliance with and progress under this Act. For this analysis, we will focus on available reports from 1989, 1990, and 1992. The 1989 report reveals a rise in representation within each target group in the workforce. According to the Employment Equity Act, various groups have demonstrated some improvement in their representation. Women increased their representation from 40.90% to 42.12%, Aboriginal peoples from 0.66% to 0.73%, persons with disabilities from 1.59% to 1.71%, and members of visible minorities from 4.99% to 5.69%. However, despite these gains, women employees still make up a lower percentage of the workforce compared to their representation in the Canadian labor force (44%). The Act continues to result in underrepresentation of Aboriginal peoples and persons with disabilities in the workforce as well.Aboriginal peoples account for only 0.73% compared to their representation of 2.1% in the Canadian labour force, while employers report that persons with disabilities make up only 1.71% of all employees.Similarly,women ,Aboriginal peoples,and persons with disabilities are also underrepresented across provinces.The Annual Report for1992 demonstrates a slight increase in representation for visible minorities; however, they still remain generally underrepresented overallThe representation of women in the Canadian labour force now stands at approximately 44%, surpassing their previous level. The representation of Aboriginal peoples has increased to 0.96%, persons with disabilities have risen from 2.39% to 2.50%, and visible minorities have grown to 7.55%. However, it is important to consider other factors that may have contributed to the increased participation of women and visible minorities, rather than solely attributing it to the success of the program as claimed by the government. In fields like law and notary publics, which were traditionally dominated by men, women have been gradually reducing the gap thanks in part to an increase in female university graduates. In just one year, 1987, Canadian universities awarded over 103,000 bachelor's degrees - a growth of more than 21% since 1981. For seven consecutive years, female graduates outnumbered male graduates and made up 53% of bachelor's degree recipients in that year. This raises questions about whether the Employment Equity Act truly facilitated women's access to employment or if women themselves created their own opportunities through higher education. It would be unfair to solely credit the Employment Equity program for providing equal workforce access for women without acknowledging a lack of equity programs promoting university attendance. Despite some progress being made, there is still room for improvement as women continue to be underrepresented in certain occupations such as upper-level management positions compared to men.According to the Act, only 0.21% of women and 1.53% of men hold upper-level management positions. Conversely, women make up a majority (60.97%) of clerical workers while men account for only 14.59%. This gender disparity is also evident among visible minority groups. However, public servants and their unions criticize the Act, arguing that equal opportunity programs violate the merit principle and discriminate against candidates outside the target groups. This perception of reverse discrimination has led white males to feel like victims. As a result, some individuals respond by hiring less competent candidates from target groups, hindering their chances for advancement within companies. Furthermore, doubts arise among those not belonging to these groups when qualified candidates from target groups are promoted. They question whether their success is solely based on merit or their affiliation with a target group. Originally designed as a positive social policy to eliminate unjust barriers unrelated to ability, employment equity aimed at addressing underemployment faced by women, aboriginal peoples, visible minorities, and persons with disabilities. Despite government efforts, many individuals in target groups still face systemic barriers. It is possible that the government has not taken sufficient action to address this issue. Allowing employers to determine their own goals and timelines may have been an error and should be reconsidered.The Employment Equity Act's objective has only been partially achieved, according to data from annual reports and ongoing controversy. The bibliography includes sources such as Kernagan et al.'s "Public Administration in Canada" (1991), Kelly's "Human Resource Management and the Human Rights Process" (1991), and the Ministry of Supply and Services Canada's annual reports on The Employment Equity Act (1989, 1990, 1992).