Employment Equity

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Numerous studies have documented the prevalence of systemic discrimination in employment. Women, workers of colour, Aboriginal people, workers with disabilities and LGBTQ workers are subject to differential treatment in the labour market.

Good jobs should not include experiences of discrimination based on sex, gender, sexual difference, race, Aboriginal status, disability or youth. Because women, Aboriginal workers, racialized groups workers, immigrant workers, workers with disability, LGBTQ workers are subject to discrimination in employment, opportunities in the labour market are not evenly distributed. These workers are excluded, implicitly or explicitly, from job opportunities, key information networks, human resource investments, professional development through key assignments, team membership, or decision-making roles, because of their gender, race, ability status, LGBTQ, immigrant or Aboriginal status. This condition is exacerbated by deregulation in the labour market over the last thirty years. Aboriginal people, persons with disabilities, racialized people are under-represented in both the public and private sectors. Women are dramatically underrepresented in management in the public and private sector. Although these workers are covered by legislation that prohibits discrimination, evidence shows that discrimination is still occurring in the Canadian labour market.

Check out: The Best and Worst Place to be a Woman in Canada: An Index of gender Equality in Canada’s Twenty largest Metropolitan Areas, by Kate McIntuff

Check out: Government of Canada - Equality and Inclusion

Check out: Members of Employment Equity Groups: Chances of Promotion. A Statistical Study, by the Public Service Commission of Canada