Portrait of the Four Designated Groups in the Canadian Workplace
A Summary of the Data
As part of its mandate to ensure compliance with the Employment Equity Act, the Commission tracks the progress in the private and the public sectors in representation levels of the four designated groups covered by the Act – women, visible minorities, Aboriginal peoples and persons with disabilities. The representation of the designated groups at the inception of the Act in 1997 is compared with the most recent data available from employers. For the private sector, this is December 31, 2005, and in the public sector, March 31, 2006. Progress is measured against the 2001 Census data on the employment availability of women, visible minorities and Aboriginal peoples. The availability estimates for persons with disabilities are from the 2001 Participation and Activity Limitation Survey (PALS). These are the most recent data currently available until data from the 2006 Census and PALS are released in 2007 and in 2008.
In the case of the private sector, statistics are based upon the Commission's analysis of 514 employer reports provided to the Minister of Labour as of September 2006. Since that time there have been some additions and adjustments to the employer reports submitted. Therefore there may be small discrepancies between the numbers appearing in this report and those in the Annual Report on Employment Equity 2006 tabled by the Minister of Labour which utilizes the data provided later.
In the case of the public sector, the Public Service Human Resources Management Agency of Canada (PSHRMAC) reconciles the Census results to take into consideration the composition of the public service workforce. These estimates include only Canadian citizens, since the Public Service Employment Act gives an absolute preference to Canadian citizens when hiring for the public service. This policy accordingly reduces the overall employment availability of members of visible minorities from 12.6% to 10.4%.
The Employment Equity Act also applies to "separate employers," such as the Canada Revenue Agency. They are also subject to audit and must put in place employment equity plans to increase the representation of designated groups in the workforce.
In 2005, in the private sector, members of visible minorities were fully represented overall, and the number of visibility minority members hired was in keeping with their availability. Their representation is highest in the banking sector where they continue to make gains and now hold 22.8% of jobs, including 8% in senior management, 16.2% in middle management and 25.9% in professional occupations. In the private sector, persons with disabilities and Aboriginal peoples benefitted the least from employment equity initiatives.
In the public service, women, Aboriginal peoples and persons with disabilities were fully represented overall. Members of visible minorities also made some progress in the public service where they now hold 8.6% of all jobs. However, they still remain under-represented when compared to their availability in the workforce. New hires among visible minority members have also increased, but remain just below availability.
Opportunities for Growth
In the Private Sector
The year 2005 provided many opportunities for members of designated groups in the private sector. A total of 514 employers filed data on their combined workforces of about 670,000 employees. Private sector organizations covered by the Act include banking, communication, transportation and "others," such as mining companies, museums, grain companies, and nuclear power corporations. There were over 100,000 individuals hired in the private sector in 2005, about 10,000 more than the previous year. In total, designated group members received about half of these hires. Among the four designated groups, only visible minority members received hires in line with their availability, while persons with disabilities continued to benefit the least.
In the Public Service
As of March 31, 2006, 77 federal departments and agencies employed about 177,000 persons compared to about 166,000 the previous year. This increase was largely due to the addition of the employees of the Canada Border Services Agency.
The public service filled over 13,000 job openings, 3,000 more than the previous year. There were encouraging signs of progress for all groups except visible minority members, who continue to be under-represented.
Designated Groups in the Public Service
Figure 5 Designated Groups in the Public Service
The overall representation of women is in line with women’s availability for the public service, according to Census data. Women’s share of positions in the executive group continues to increase. Women now occupy 38.8% of executive jobs, up from 25.1% in 1997. The representation of visible minority members stood at 8.6%, an improvement from the previous year when they held 8.1% of all jobs, but considerably lower than the public service availability of 10.4%. They received 9.9% of all hires, just slightly lower than availability. The proportion of Aboriginal peoples in the public service in March 2006 was unchanged from the previous year at 4.2%. This past year, Aboriginal peoples received 3.8% of all hires, down from 4.3% the previous year. The representation of persons with disabilities in the public service at 5.8% in March 2006 was the same as the previous year, and above the public service availability of 3.6%. However, persons with disabilities continue to receive less than their expected share of hires. This indicates that the higher representation is likely due to increased self-identification and aging of the workforce rather than to hires. They received just 2.6% of hires as of March 2006.