Canadian Race Relations Foundation

This report provides an overview of employment equity programs that have received commission approval. The programs which are chronicled in this report have the common feature of a policy which embraces the diverse workforce, and creates a workplace which includes women, Aboriginal people, people with disabilities and visible minority people, rather then excluding them. The main conclusion reached by this report is that despite the advances made in these particular programs, overall, the employment equity movement is not advancing, especially in the private sector.

Employment equity is a process of systemic change. It usually involves a shift in organizational culture and perceptions. The under-representation of designated groups in the workplace, especially in senior decision making, limits the ability of an organization to identify internal trouble-spots and take effective action to change the corporate climate. (p.13)