Legislation puts hiring focus on ‘skills, experience and qualifications’
Alberta’s United Conservative Party government has tabled legislation that would strip diversity, equity and inclusion criteria from public-sector hiring — placing HR compliance teams across the province on immediate alert.
Bill 33, the Justice Statutes Amendment Act, 2026 (No. 2), proposes amendments to the Alberta Human Rights Act to prohibit public institutions from using diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs when making hiring or promotion decisions. Mandatory DEI training would also be outlawed, subject to future regulatory exemptions.
The scope is broad. Employers affected include those under the Public Service Act, public agencies, Crown-controlled organizations, post-secondary institutions, school boards and municipalities. Some government-funded non-profits could also be captured — the Alberta Human Rights Commission (AHRC) would determine which ones, and only following a complaint.
What the law would and would not change
According to a government fact sheet, provincial bodies could no longer rely on programs, policies or activities under section 10.1 of the Alberta Human Rights Act when selecting or advancing employees. Existing protections — including the duty to accommodate and bona fide occupational requirements — would remain in force. Voluntary DEI training would still be permitted; mandatory attendance would not.
Premier Danielle Smith, in Edmonton, framed the changes as a merit-based correction. “Albertans expect public institutions to hire or promote the best-qualified people, and ensure that everybody has a fair opportunity to succeed based upon their skills, experience and qualifications,” she said, as reported by CBC News.
Justice Minister Mickey Amery, also in Edmonton, told reporters the amendments would support “consistent hiring practices across all of our public institutions.” Carve-outs would exist — post-secondary institutions could still design programs tied to immutable characteristics, such as training for Indigenous teachers or lawyers — though the full regulatory picture will not emerge until regulations are drafted.
Union pushback and the discrimination question
That regulatory uncertainty does not reassure labour advocates. Sandra Azocar, president of the Alberta Union of Provincial Employees (AUPE) in Edmonton, said DEI practices were designed to surface, not create, bias in hiring — and that removing them creates real risk.
“The checks and balances that [diversity, equity and inclusion] policies provide is to make sure that people are not discriminated against because of the colour of their skin or if they have a disability or their sexual orientation,” she said, as reported by CBC News.
The concern is grounded in data. A November 2024 Pollara Strategic Insights survey found Albertans are the most likely of any provincial population to report both hiring and workplace discrimination. Azocar warned the proposed changes could leave immigrants and other vulnerable workers with fewer structural protections against that discrimination.
Opposition NDP member of the legislative assembly for Calgary-Mountain View Kathleen Ganley, who serves as the NDP Whip, called the bill “a solution in want of a problem.”
What happens next
The bill has not yet passed, and officials say its full scope will only be known once regulations are written. The government says hiring will remain subject to the duty to accommodate and bona fide occupational requirements under the Alberta Human Rights Act, and confirmed those obligations will not be altered by Bill 33, according to reporting by Rebel News and CBC News.
The University of Alberta’s board voted in March 2026 to remove equity-based hiring preferences from its own policy before any provincial legislation was introduced — a development that, as HRD Canada reported at the time, illustrated how quickly hiring and recruitment policy can shift for Alberta’s public institutions. Bill 33 would extend that direction to the entire public sector by law.
Officials said some organizations could be captured under the bill only after a complaint is filed with the Alberta Human Rights Commission, with regulations to follow that will define which bodies are covered and what exemptions apply. Until those regulations are released, the precise compliance obligations for affected employers will remain unclear.
