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38-549: 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. The roots of employment equity are in

76-482: A form of employment equity. However, while every province has human rights legislation to prohibit discrimination against women and various minorities, no province has a law that is an analogue to the federal Employment Equity Act . Oversight of employment equity is shared among three federal government agencies. For private sector employers that are federally regulated, Employment and Social Development Canada collects data from employers and conducts research related to

114-604: Is responsible for oversight of the Federal Contractors' Program. Employment equity is surrounded with controversy, as has occurred with similar programs in the U.S. and other countries. Opponents of employment equity argue that it violates common-sense notions of fairness and equality. Economists Cristina Echavarria and Mobinul Huq propose that employment equity be redesigned so that employers are required to remove barriers to men applying for female-dominated jobs, as well as barriers to women applying for male-dominated jobs. On

152-487: Is sometimes used as a euphemism for " non-white ". This is incorrect, in that the government definitions differ: Aboriginal people are not considered to be visible minorities, but are not necessarily white either. In some cases, members of "visible minorities" may be visually indistinguishable from the majority population and/or may form a majority-minority population locally (as is the case in Vancouver and Toronto ). Since

190-410: Is to integrate predominantly male occupations, and instead aims to increase the pay of predominantly female occupations. Employment equity addresses the situation of Indigenous peoples, visible minorities, and people with disabilities, whereas pay equity addresses solely the dilemma that predominantly female occupations tend to be underpaid. Abella commission The Abella commission , officially

228-517: Is used primarily as a demographic category by Statistics Canada , in connection with that country's Employment Equity policies. The qualifier "visible" was chosen by the Canadian authorities as a way to single out newer immigrant minorities from both Aboriginal Canadians and other "older" minorities distinguishable by language ( French vs. English ) and religion ( Catholics vs. Protestants ), which are "invisible" traits. The term visible minority

266-515: The Employment Equity Act limits its coverage to the aforementioned four protected groups. In Canada, employment equity is a specific legal concept, and should not be used as a synonym for non-discrimination or workplace diversity. Employment equity should not be confused with pay equity , which is an entirely distinct concept. Pay equity , as a Canadian legal term, refers to the legal requirement that predominantly female occupations be paid

304-401: The Employment Equity Act . The Treasury Board Secretariat oversees the administration of employment equity in the federal government itself. The Canadian Human Rights Commission deals with both private and public sector employers that are federally regulated, and is responsible for conducting audits of employers' compliance. In addition to the above, Employment and Social Development Canada

342-519: The Employment Equity Act . The key distinction between the two laws is that the Canadian Human Rights Act merely prohibits discrimination, whereas the Employment Equity Act requires employers to engage in proactive measures to improve the employment opportunities of the four specific groups listed above. Note that the Canadian Human Rights Act protects a wider range of minorities (such as sexual minorities and religious minorities), while

380-813: The Royal Commission on Equality in Employment , was a Canadian federal royal commission headed by Rosalie Abella in 1983 to 1984. Abella was the commission's sole commissioner. When she was appointed by Lloyd Axworthy , then the federal minister of employment and immigration , she was a family court judge in Ontario . The commission was charged with examining the employment practices of eleven federal Crown corporations , understood as exemplars of workplace conditions , with particular focus on women , Indigenous people , disabled people , and visible minorities . Its terms of reference required it to "inquire into

418-741: The Treasury Board of Canada, to announce a review of employment equity. Section 15 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms states in Subsection (1) that, "Every individual is equal before and under the law and has the right to the equal protection and equal benefit of the law without discrimination and, in particular, without discrimination based on race, national or ethnic origin, colour, religion, sex, age or mental or physical disability." Subsection (2) states that "Subsection (1) does not preclude any law, program or activity that has as its object

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456-471: The "visible minorities" label no longer makes sense in some large Canadian cities, due to immigration trends in recent decades. For example, "visible minorities" comprise the majority of the population in many municipalities across the country, primarily in British Columbia, Ontario, and Alberta. Yet another criticism of the label concerns the composition of "visible minorities". Critics have noted that

494-444: 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. The purpose of

532-1142: The 2021 census, of the provinces, British Columbia had the highest proportion of visible minorities, representing 34.4% of its population, followed by Ontario at 34.3%, Alberta at 27.8% and Manitoba at 22.2%. Additionally, as of 2021, the largest visible minority group was South Asian Canadians with a population of approximately 2.6 million, representing roughly 7.1% of the country's population, followed by Chinese Canadians (4.7%) and Black Canadians (4.3%). National average: 26.5% Source: Canada 2021 Census Alberta British Columbia Manitoba Ontario Quebec National average: 22.3% Source: Canada 2016 Census Alberta British Columbia Manitoba Ontario Quebec National average: 19.1% Source: Canada 2011 Census Alberta British Columbia Manitoba Ontario Quebec National average: 16.2% Source: Canada 2006 Census Alberta British Columbia Manitoba Ontario Quebec National average: 13.4% Source: Canada 2001 Census Alberta British Columbia Manitoba Ontario Quebec According to

570-584: The Black or South Asian counts respectively. However, the 2006 Census states that respondents that add a European ethnic response in combination with certain visible minority groups are not counted as visible minorities. They must add another non-European ethnic response to be counted as such: In contrast, in accordance with employment equity definitions, persons who reported 'Latin American' and 'White,' 'Arab' and 'White,' or 'West Asian' and 'White' have been excluded from

608-447: The Canadian constitution: banks, broadcasters, telecommunication companies, railroads, airlines, private businesses necessary to the operation of a federal act, maritime transportation companies, other transportation companies if inter-provincial in nature, uranium-related organizations, federal crown corporations , and corporations controlled by two or more provincial governments. Overall, federal employment equity legislation covers 10% of

646-509: The Canadian workforce. Thus the scope of the Employment Equity Act is quite limited, and the vast majority of employers, including nearly all retailers and manufacturing companies, fall outside its jurisdiction. The Canadian federal government also administers the Federal Contractors' Program (FCP). This is not under the Employment Equity Act , but rather is a non-legislated program that extends employment equity to organizations beyond

684-496: The Elimination of Racial Discrimination has stated that they have doubts regarding the use of this term since this term may be considered objectionable by certain minorities and recommended an evaluation of this term. In response, the Canadian government made efforts to evaluate how this term is used in Canadian society through commissioning of scholars and open workshops. Since 2008, census data and media reports have suggested that

722-640: The Employment Equity Act of 1995, the definition of visible minority is: "persons, other than aboriginal peoples, who are non-Caucasian in race or non-white in colour". This definition can be traced back to the 1984 Report of the Abella Commission on Equality in Employment . The Commission described the term visible minority as an "ambiguous categorization", but for practical purposes interpreted it to mean "visibly non-white". The Canadian government uses an operational definition by which it identifies

760-438: The act has been criticized as an example of "soft-law", meaning token penalties combined with an overly casual use of compliance statistics. Other researchers have argued for a more conciliatory approach based on self-regulation, employee participation, and appeals to employers’ sense of self-interest. Some have also contended that employment equity is in conflict with the Canadian Human Rights Act which prohibits discrimination on

798-435: The act, as stated in the legislation itself, is: The purpose of this Act is to achieve equality in the workplace so that no person shall be denied employment opportunities or benefits for reasons unrelated to ability and, in the fulfillment of that goal, to correct the conditions of disadvantage in employment experienced by women, aboriginal peoples, persons with disabilities and members of visible minorities by giving effect to

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836-424: The advent of its multiculturalism policies. Statistics Canada projects that by 2041, visible minorities will make up 38.2–43.0% of the total Canadian population, compared with 26.5% in 2021. Statistics Canada further projects that among the working-age population (15 to 64 years), meanwhile, visible minorities are projected to make up 42.1–47.3% of Canada's total population, compared to 28.5% in 2021. As per

874-444: The amelioration of conditions of disadvantaged individuals or groups including those that are disadvantaged because of race, national or ethnic origin, colour, religion, sex, age or mental or physical disability." In July 2010, controversy arose when a Caucasian woman, Sara Landriault, was barred from applying for employment in a federal agency because she was not in a racial minority. This incident led Stockwell Day , then president of

912-420: The amelioration of conditions of disadvantaged individuals or groups including those that are disadvantaged because of race, national or ethnic origin, colour, religion, sex, age or mental or physical disability." The Canadian Human Rights Act has long prohibited discrimination on the basis of gender, race, ethnicity, and certain other grounds. The Canadian Human Rights Act continues to be in force alongside

950-474: The basis of gender, race, ethnicity, and certain other grounds, since biasing hiring practices to prefer designated groups is necessarily discriminatory against non-designated groups. However, the equality section of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms explicitly permits (but does not require) affirmative action type legislation. Subsection 2 of Section 15 states that the equality provisions do "not preclude any law, program or activity that has as its object

988-570: The federal Employment Equity Act , which was passed in 1986 by the 33rd Canadian Parliament under Prime Minister Brian Mulroney . The report was grounded in the idea, expressed among other places in the American Supreme Court decision Griggs v. Duke Power Co. , that discriminatory actions should be understood in terms of their impact , not in terms of people's intention . It endorsed an expansive concept of equality , according to which equality may sometimes mean treating people

1026-409: The following groups as visible minorities: "Chinese, South Asian, Black, Filipino, Latin American, Southeast Asian, Arab, West Asian, Korean, Japanese, Visible minority, n.i.e. ( n.i.e. means "not included elsewhere"), and Multiple visible minority". If census respondents write-in multiple entries, like "Black and Malaysian", "Black and French" or "South Asian and European", they would be included in

1064-406: The groups comprising "visible minorities" have little in common with each other, as they include both disadvantaged groups and groups who are not economically disadvantaged . The concept of visible minority has been cited in demography research as an example of a statistext , meaning a census category that has been contrived for a particular public policy purpose. As the term "visible minorities"

1102-418: The most efficient, effective, and equitable means of promoting employment opportunities, eliminating systemic discrimination , and assisting all individuals to compete for employment opportunities on an equal basis". The commission's report was released in 1984. Abella wrote all of it, except for a section dealing with statistics. The Abella commission developed the idea of employment equity and inspired

1140-541: The other hand, proponents maintain that employment equity is necessary to amend historic wrongs and to ameliorate the economic differences among groups. A particular point of contention has been the category visible minorities , which lumps together numerous ethnic groups, some of whom are affluent and some of whom are severely disadvantaged. Some argue that the act should have been stricter. Others have argued that employment equity should rely more on moral suasion rather than legal remedies. Among those who argue for strictness,

1178-400: The principle that employment equity means more than treating persons in the same way but also requires special measures and the accommodation of differences. The Employment Equity Act designates four groups as the beneficiaries of employment equity: The Employment Equity Act is federal legislation, and as such, applies only to a narrow group of industries that are federally regulated under

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1216-465: The reform of Canada's immigration laws in the 1960s , immigration has been primarily of peoples from areas other than Europe, many of whom are visible minorities within Canada. 9,639,200 Canadians identified as a member of a visible minority group in the 2021 Canadian Census , for 26.53% of the total population. This was an increase from the 2016 Census , when visible minorities accounted for 22.2% of

1254-634: The same , while it may also mean treating people differently . Among other recommendations, the report suggested that the federal government create mandatory employment equity programmes in Crown and other corporations that showed evidence of systemic employment discrimination . Visible minorities In Canada , a visible minority ( French : minorité visible ) is defined by the Government of Canada as "persons, other than aboriginal peoples, who are non-Caucasian in race or non-white in colour". The term

1292-466: The same as predominantly male occupations of equal importance within a given organization. One way of understanding the distinction between employment equity and pay equity (comparable worth) is to note that they take different approaches to dealing with the problem of predominantly female occupations being underpaid. Employment equity aims to increase the number of women in well-paid occupations. In contrast, pay equity implicitly recognizes how difficult it

1330-534: The scope of the act that provide eligible goods and services to the federal government. The FCP states that suppliers of goods and services to the federal government (with some specified exceptions) must have an employment equity program in place. Some provinces use the term "employment equity" in conjunction with their enforcement of provincial-level human rights legislation (for example, British Columbia). The government of Quebec requires that employers show preference to people with disabilities, which could be considered

1368-494: The total population; from the 2011 Census , when visible minorities accounted for 19.1% of the total population; from the 2006 Census , when the proportion was 16.2%; from 2001 , when the proportion was 13.4%; over 1996 (11.2%); over 1991 (9.4%) and 1981 (4.7%). In 1961, the visible minority population was less than 1%. The increase represents a significant shift in Canada's demographics related to record high immigration since

1406-472: The visible minority population. The term "non-white" is used in the wording of the Employment Equity Act and in employment equity questionnaires distributed to applicants and employees. This is intended as a shorthand phrase for those who are in the Aboriginal and/or visible minority groups. The classification "visible minorities" has attracted controversy, both nationally and from abroad. The UN Committee on

1444-425: The visible minority population. Likewise, persons who reported 'Latin American,' 'Arab' or 'West Asian' and who provided a European write-in response such as 'French' have been excluded from the visible minority population as well. These persons are included in the 'Not a visible minority' category. However, persons who reported 'Latin American,' 'Arab' or 'West Asian' and a non-European write-in response are included in

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