Employment equity (Canada)

Employment equity, as defined in federal Canadian law by the Employment Equity Act (French: Loi sur l’équité en matière d’emploi), requires federal jurisdiction employers to engage in proactive employment practices to increase the representation of four designated groups: women, people with disabilities, visible minorities, and Indigenous peoples. (The actual legislation uses the term "Aboriginal peoples" for Indigenous peoples). The act states that "employment equity means more than treating persons the same way but also requires special measures and the accommodation of differences".

The act requires that employers remove barriers to employment that disadvantage members of the four designated groups. Employers are required to institute positive policies for the hiring, training, retention, and promotion of members of the designated groups. Examples of positive policies include recruitment in Indigenous communities, job advertisements in minority-language newspapers, or an apprentice program directed toward people with disabilities.

History

The roots of employment equity are in the 1984 Abella commission, chaired by Judge Rosalie Abella. She considered a U.S. term, "affirmative action", but decided not to use it because of the emotions and ill will surrounding affirmative action. In its place she created the term "employment equity" for the Canadian context. Abella's report later became the foundation of the Employment Equity Act of 1986, later amended as the Employment Equity Act of 1995.