Many workers continue to be disadvantaged by ‘outdated legislation and systemic discrimination,’ says group
Canada’s unions are intensifying pressure on the federal government to overhaul the Employment Equity Act (EEA), accusing Ottawa of dragging its feet on long-promised reforms aimed at tackling systemic discrimination in the labour market.
In a statement marking the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination on 21 March, the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC) renewed its call for “concrete action” to modernise the Act, describing it as a “vital tool for workers facing entrenched, systemic barriers to employment.”
“Alongside other laws that advance real equality in the workplace—including human rights, pay equity and accessibility legislation, as well as collective bargaining protections—the EEA is a vital tool for workers facing entrenched, systemic barriers to employment,” the group said in a press release. “At its core, employment equity is about ensuring workers have fair and equal access to good, stable jobs—also known as decent work.”
For HR professionals in federally regulated sectors, changes to this framework would directly affect how equity, diversity and inclusion obligations are defined and enforced.
Task force’s 187 recommendations still shelved
The renewed pressure comes three years after the federal government’s Employment Equity Review Task Force released a landmark report in 2023 with 187 recommendations to update and strengthen the Act. According to the CLC, the recommendations “outline concrete steps to tackle systemic discrimination in hiring, promotion, and retention practices, and provide strong enforcement and compliance measures to hold employers accountable.”
Following the report, the then-Liberal government pledged to move ahead with several changes to the EEA’s designated groups and core definitions.
These included creating two new designated groups under the Act: Black workers and 2SLGBTQI+ workers, the CLC noted. The government also promised to replace the term “Aboriginal Peoples” with “Indigenous Peoples” and update the definition to include First Nations, Métis and Inuit people in a way consistent with the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act, according to the group.
Other proposed changes included replacing “visible minorities” with “racialized people” and updating that definition, as well as aligning the definition of “persons with disabilities” with the Accessible Canada Act to make it more inclusive. For HR departments, such revisions would require updates to self-identification processes, HR information systems, workforce reporting and equity plans.
‘No more waiting’ on employment equity
The CLC is calling on the federal government to fully implement the Task Force’s “comprehensive recommendations” and to “quickly introduce an updated Act,” backed by sufficient funding for employers and for the Canadian Human Rights Commission to enforce and evaluate compliance.
Larry Rousseau, Executive Vice-President of the CLC, said: “No more waiting. A strengthened Act that reflects the current realities of Canada’s workforce and labour market is a critical tool for overcoming workplace barriers faced by workers from the existing designated equity groups, as well as those from the proposed new ones.”
While the Act alone “cannot eliminate systemic discrimination and racism in the workplace and labour market,” he said, it “is of a broader framework of laws designed to advance fairness and inclusion” and, when enforced, can help ensure workers “who have been historically excluded from opportunity are fully represented in Canada’s workforce.”
Consultations on EEA modernization
In 1986, the EEA was created to overcome the barriers preventing marginalised communities from achieving their full potential in the workplace. The legislation mandates fairness, equality and equitable inclusion for employees in federally regulated workplaces.
In 2024, the federal government held a public consultation on the possible changes to the EEA.
The Chartered Professional in Human Resources (CPHR) Canada then submitted a document detailing its stance on the matter to Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC).
The group broadly supports modernising the EEA and endorses the new purpose clause, but urged lawmakers to define “equitable inclusion” precisely and to build in clear indicators, criteria and mechanisms to assess whether disadvantages are actually being corrected. It stressed that government must provide far stronger, ongoing guidance, tools and training to help employers implement the Act effectively, pointing to the Pay Equity Act rollout as a useful model.
A central theme is data. CPHR Canada said it is “essential” for organisations to collect information on employees from underrepresented groups in order to advance equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI), but noted that legal ambiguity outside the current Act has deterred some employers from using self-identification questionnaires. It called for a specific mechanism that allows organisations to collect disaggregated data for EDI purposes without fear their practices will be judged discriminatory, and highlighted the need for robust benchmarks and labour-market availability data by occupation, region and sector.
On designated groups and terminology, CPHR Canada backed the creation of separate categories for Black people and 2SLGBTQI+ workers, the shift from “visible minorities” to “racialized people,” alignment of the disability definition with the Accessible Canada Act, and replacing “Aboriginal Peoples” with “Indigenous Peoples,” explicitly including First Nations, Métis and Inuit. It also supported ongoing study of other potential groups, such as religious minorities and people with criminal records.
2SLGBTQIA+ 'excluded from protections'
Meanwhile, Pride at Work Canada previously noted on its website that employment equity has been a priority for 2SLGBTQIA+ communities in Canada for over 50 years.
“Despite this long term advocacy, 2SLGBTQIA+ workers remain excluded from the Employment Equity Act’s protections, leaving them underrepresented in data and equity initiatives, and facing persistent barriers such as wage gaps, precarious work, and higher unemployment,” the group said.
“It’s time for the Employment Equity Act to explicitly include 2SLGBTQIA+ and Black communities as designated groups, and to include stronger intersectional, transparent, and accountable mechanisms that reflect today’s workplace realities.”=
In a Dec. 11, 2023 news release, then–Labour Minister Seamus O’Regan Jr. said the government “broadly supports” the Employment Equity Act Review Task Force’s recommendations and called the report “an opportunity for reflection, for assessment, and for action.” He announced initial commitments to:
- create two new designated groups under the Act: Black people and 2SLGBTQI+ people
- replace “Aboriginal Peoples” with “Indigenous Peoples,” updating the definition to include First Nations, Métis and Inuit and align with the UNDRIP Act
- replace “members of visible minorities” with “racialized people” and update the definition
- align the definition of “persons with disabilities” with the Accessible Canada Act
