Introduction A legislative review of the Employment Equity Act in 2002, together with an independent program evaluation and stakeholder consultations, revealed that the five-year-old legislation has gained wide support among employers, unions and organizations representing designated groups. The legislative review also found that the Act is generally working well, and that the Commission’s audit efforts are having a positive impact. In this annual report, the Commission would like to emphasize the following: First, it is clear that, were it not for the Commission’s audit efforts, few employers would be in compliance with the Act.
Second, preliminary results from employer monitoring indicate that members of designated employment equity groups are better represented in the workforces of audited employers than in the workforces of employers who have not yet been audited.
Third, despite this positive finding, initial monitoring also shows that not all employers in compliance are achieving their goals. These employers were found in compliance because they had put in place mechanisms to increase the representation of designated groups, and had set goals to do so, but not all of them are reaching these goals. As provided in the Act, the Commission will continue to assess these results and will conduct further audits of organizations that fail to achieve their goals.
Fourth, the rate of progress toward employment equity goals needs improvement in two specific areas: despite increasing representation of visible minorities in the public service, the ambitious goals of the government’s Embracing Change initiative are not being met and will require further action to achieve (see "Progress of Designated Groups" below for more details). In the private sector, the situation for persons with disabilities remains bleak; stronger action is required by employers. The government is proposing a comprehensive employment strategy to allow this group to integrate the labour market, and the Commission believes that this strategy should be given priority.
Finally, as the results from the 2001 Census become available, it is clear that the growing ranks of visible minorities and Aboriginal peoples in Canada’s workforce will necessitate even more aggressive employment equity strategies on the part of employers in the future.
The following pages expand on these points. The Commission is also publishing, in April 2003, a more in-depth examination of employment equity issues in its report entitled 2002 Employment Equity: A Year-End Review. Back to Top A Pivotal YearProgram evaluation and stakeholder consultations In October 2001, the Commission engaged Consulting and Audit Canada to review its compliance program and to conduct a mail survey of 177 employers who had either been audited or were under audit. This was followed in January 2002 by a round of consultations with stakeholders, such as employers, organizations representing designated groups, and unions. The Commission took these steps to enable it to contribute effectively to the parliamentary review of the Act conducted in 2002. This first independent assessment of the Commission’s work pronounced the Commission effective in fulfilling its mandate. The majority of recommendations endorsed the Commission’s current practices. An overwhelming majority of employers said they believed that the representation of designated groups in their workforce would increase as a result of the audit, that barriers to their employment will be eliminated, and that the Commission is providing useful information to help employers comply with the Act. Employers also found that the Commission uses the appropriate balance between persuasion and enforcement, and that its annual report on employment equity is helpful to them. The survey respondents also suggested improvements to the Commission’s compliance program. Employers said they want more consistency in the information provided by the Commission, Human Resources Development Canada and Treasury Board Secretariat; a simpler and more flexible audit process; and more information about how to comply with the Act and support for doing so. As a result, the Commission is increasing cooperation with these two departments to ensure that employers receive the help they need, and is developing a streamlined process for small employers, who make up the bulk of unaudited organizations. Back to Top The following were among key conclusions: Most employers comply with the Act only when audited.
Employers rely to a large extent on the Commission for information about audit requirements and find the Commission’s audit reports useful as they work to become compliant with the Act.
Employers should be provided with more education about how to comply with the Act, and the Commission’s role in education and promotion should be clarified.
Most employers consider the Commission’s efforts to enforce the Act appropriate.
Consultations with stakeholders yielded similar results. Stakeholders agreed that the Act is necessary and that it is generally working well. Most also agreed that the audit requirements were reasonable, that the obligations of employers under the Act should be clarified, and that more needs to be done to correct the under-representation of persons with disabilities. Back to Top Parliamentary Review The Act undergoes a parliamentary review every five years. On December 3, 2001, the House of Commons designated the Standing Committee on Human Resources Development and the Status of Persons with Disabilities to conduct the latest review. The Commission submitted a report on the Act, based on the employer survey and stakeholder consultations, to the Committee in April 2002. The Committee tabled its report on the Act in June 2002. The Committee’s conclusions were very similar to those reached by the Commission: that there is widespread support for the Act and that it should be maintained. The Committee made 29 recommendations for fine-tuning the legislation and endorsed the majority of the recommendations made by the Commission. One recommendation the Committee did not endorse was the strengthening of enforcement measures. Pointing to the Act’s emphasis on persuasion and negotiation, the Committee recommended instead that the Commission be given additional resources to accelerate the pace of audits and help employers fulfill their obligations. The Government’s Response On November 8, 2002, the Minister of Labour tabled the government’s response to the report issued by the House of Commons Committee. Overall, the government made few concrete proposals, and committed to further study most of the recommendations put forward by the Committee. The government also committed, among other things, to developing an employment strategy for persons with disabilities and Aboriginal peoples, to enhancing education and technical support for employers, and to breaking down barriers to the recognition of credentials obtained abroad. The Commission will work with the various federal departments involved to fulfill the government’s commitments. Back to Top |