Persons with Disabilities

In the private sector: Of all the designated groups, persons with disabilities in the private sector have least benefited from the Act. Persons with disabilities make up only 2.3% of the private sector workforce, only a slight increase over the 1.6% share reported in 1987 and far below the 6.5% labour market availability for this group. In 2001, the share of hires received by persons with disabilities increased slightly to 1.2% from 1.0% the previous year. In sharp contrast to the other three designated groups, the number of persons with disabilities hired was substantially lower than the number who left the workforce.

In 2001 persons with disabilities experienced under-representation in all industrial sectors. Only in the transportation sector did the representation of persons with disabilities rise from 2.2% in 2000 to 2.5% in 2001. And only in the transportation sector, and for the first time, the number of persons with disabilities hired exceeded the number whose employment was terminated.

In the "other" sector, persons with disabilities held 2.7% of all jobs, a proportion relatively unchanged since 1989. In communications, representation was 2.3%, slightly lower than the year before, and in the banking sector, representation of persons with disabilities was the lowest, with a decrease from 2.3% in 2000 to 2.0% in 2001. The banking sector has the lowest representation of persons with disabilities (0.8%) of any private sector.

In the public sector: Representation of persons with disabilities in the federal public sector increased to 5.3% as of March 31, 2002, up from 5.1% in the previous year. Although higher than the 4.8% benchmark used by the Treasury Board, this share still falls short of this group’s 6.5% availability based on the 1991 Health and Activity Limitation Survey (HALS).

As of March 31, 2002, of the 41 federal departments and agencies with more than 200 employees, 8 met the 6.5% HALS benchmark, compared to 7 the previous year, and 26 met the 4.8% benchmark set by the Treasury Board, up from 22 the year before. Compared with the previous year, persons with disabilities increased their share of jobs in 14 departments, lost ground in 20, and remained the same in seven.

The increase in the number of persons with disabilities in the federal public service is mainly attributable to increased self-identification, not hires. In fact, in 2001–2002, more persons with disabilities left the public service than were hired. Persons with disabilities made up 2.8% of hires during that year, down from 3.1% the previous year. In the same year, only one person with a disability was appointed to the Executive group. The share of hires received by persons with disabilities in all other occupational categories was substantially lower than both the Treasury Board benchmark of 4.8% and a labour market availability of 6.5%. During the course of its audits, the Commission is carefully evaluating hiring goals for this designated group. As with other employment equity goals, the Commission will monitor the implementation of goals for hiring people with disabilities.

Overview

In the private sector, women made gains in the management and professional occupations and visible minorities made gains overall, with substantial differences among industrial sectors. Aboriginal peoples registered increases in all sectors except banking. Persons with disabilities received far fewer hires than expected based on their availability, remaining severely under-represented in all sectors.

In the federal public sector, women achieved a significant share of executive positions and Aboriginal peoples and persons with disabilities made progress as well. Although it is encouraging to note the increased share of hires going to visible minorities, a considerable distance remains before this group achieves full representation in the public service.

Once departments are in compliance with the Employment Equity Act, the Commission still continues to monitor the implementation of their hiring and promotion goals. If employers fail to achieve reasonable progress, further action will be taken by the Commission to ensure that all four designated groups are fairly represented under the terms of the Employment Equity Act.

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