Public Service Commission of Canada
Letter on Implementation of the Call to Action on Anti-Racism, Equity and Inclusion

Summer 2021 update

Dear Ms. Charette:

I am pleased to share the following update from the Public Service Commission (PSC) on our implementation of the Call to Action. While I am proud of the work done by the PSC, I am keenly aware that our achievements to date represent only the beginning of what must be a sustained focus and effort in order to achieve meaningful and lasting change related to diversity and inclusion in the federal public service.

The PSC has a unique role to play in the Call to Action. In addition to adopting the Call to Action in its people management, and in its mandate to safeguarding and promoting a non-partisan, merit-based and representative public service, the PSC has also provided support across the public service to make tangible progress.

In our leadership role in public service hiring, diversity, inclusion and equity have been key components in all our work. This past year saw the release of the Audit of Employment Equity Representation in Recruitment. The findings were striking and should serve as a strong foundation for departments to advance the work outlined in the Call to Action. The audit also called for immediate action, which is why we have instituted new policy requirements for all deputy heads to review their employment systems for barriers and discrimination, and for mandatory unconscious bias training as a prerequisite for staffing delegation for all hiring managers.

Beyond our policy and oversight role, we also directly support departments in the recruitment of a diverse and talented workforce. While we continue to implement programs in support of the Accessibility Strategy, such as our Assessment Accessibility Ambassadors, the PSC also launched the Virtual Door to Talent with Disabilities, an inventory open to former students who participated in the Employment Opportunity for Students with Disabilities once they graduate.

We partnered with Pilimmaksaivik to develop a new Government of Canada Jobs inventory for Nunavut Inuit for all federal departments with positions in Nunavut. The process was designed to remove the barriers to the application process by supporting culturally competent information gathering and allowing candidates to communicate in Inuktitut. Furthermore, to support career advancement of Indigenous employees at senior levels across Canada, our Aboriginal Centre of Expertise and Personnel Psychology Centre partnered to provide detailed information on assessment instruments available for career development as well as executive counselling services. The PSC has been raising awareness and launched the Managers Toolkit for hiring Indigenous peoples. It has also continued to deliver on the Indigenous Career Pathway, an inventory of Indigenous applicants facilitating the matching between the hiring managers and the candidates, and the Indigenous Student Employment Opportunity.

As we look to recruit talent from across Canada, we must recognize a pervasive view that having inclusive recruitment practices is a must, and diversity is a value proposition for employment. The modernization of our GC Jobs recruitment platform is vital to advancing diversity and inclusion so that human resources and hiring managers can seek out and assess candidates from across the country. In addition, if we are to put “the full capacity of our entire pool of talent at the service of Canadians,” we must have a hiring system that is equitable and without barriers.

For this reason, the PSC is actively implementing the recent changes to the Public Service Employment Act aimed at identifying and eliminating bias and barriers in public service hiring. This includes the undertaking of a suite of oversight engagements to continue to assess not only representation levels of equity-seeking groups but also to provide a deeper view of the barriers and biases that impact representation. Through our recruitment and assessment expertise, policy guidance and oversight mechanisms, we will drive this change and ensure compliance in close collaboration and consultation with stakeholders.

As a department, we have taken a series of deliberate actions to increase the recruitment and development of Indigenous, Black and other racialized employees, informed by the voices of those groups, and supported by data to measure progress. These actions, highlighted in the appendix, recognize that we are not immune to systemic discrimination and racism, and that we must continue to learn from lived experiences and adjust our approaches and behaviours to address inequity.

If we are to change behaviours and improve representation and inclusion, we need to adapt the frameworks in place to enable success. For this reason, we are undertaking a review of our own internal staffing policy to identify opportunities to bolster recruitment of employees from Indigenous, Black and other racialized communities. We are also ensuring that we track and monitor progress as part of our People Management Strategy, as set out in the appendix.

I am pleased to report that our actions have already allowed us to close the gap in representation of persons with disabilities at the PSC. In fact, we now exceed workforce availability (WFA) for the 4 employment equity groups. But, as you have stated, we will treat WFA as a floor, not a ceiling, and continue in our efforts to recruit, retain and develop a truly representative workforce.

Looking beyond the data, we have taken steps to foster a dialog with employees on the issues and realities that affect them. Through events and discussions on topics such as anti-racism, supported by the engagement of employees who are members of equity-seeking groups on their experiences in the workplace, we have given a voice to the diverse communities within our workforce to enable the expression of their concerns, hopes and expectations, and we are acting on them. Myself and my leadership team have demonstrated our commitment to the elimination of systemic racism, biases and discrimination by signing a formal statement to this end.

You described this work as a true test of leadership, one we as public service leaders must meet head on, and I agree. From a government-wide perspective, dismantling systemic barriers in public service hiring will require changes alongside and among organizational leaders and managers. There is much work ahead and I look forward to mobilizing and leading the PSC in co-creating initiatives to address the concerns and needs of Black, Indigenous, other racialized employees, and persons with disabilities at the PSC and in the broader federal public service.

Thank you, Meegwetch.

Patrick Borbey

Appendix 1 – Activities Under Way at the PSC

Appoint Indigenous, Black and other racialized employees to and within the Executive Group through career development and talent management:

• Developing a staffing strategy aimed at enabling the appointment of Indigenous, Black and other racialized employees to executive positions.
• Piloting a new departmental Talent Management Program, with focus on executive feeder groups.
• Conducting an analysis of the representation of Indigenous employees in executive feeder groups aimed at increasing their representation at the executive level.
• Fostering participation in career advancement programs with a new central fund for external leadership development programs, and promotion of programs such as the Aspiring Directors and New Directors Programs, and the Executive Leadership Development Program.

Sponsor high-potential Indigenous, Black and other racialized employees to prepare them for leadership roles:

• Finalizing the development of a Sponsorship Program tailored to members of employment equity groups.

Support the participation of Indigenous, Black and other racialized employees in leadership development programs and career development services:

• Implementing a Second Language Training Program for the development of designated group members.
• Collaborating with internal Diversity and Inclusion Employee Subcommittees on the development of a departmental mentorship program.
• Implementing a new departmental Talent Management Program for non-executive employees.

Recruit highly qualified candidates from Indigenous communities and Black and other racialized communities from across all regions of Canada:

• Reviewing internal staffing policy to outline more specific requirements and flexibilities to foster the recruitment of Indigenous, Black and other racialized employees, as well as persons with disabilities.
• Established a hiring target for persons with disabilities and made significant progress in closing the representation gap and decreasing under-representation from 18 to 6 in fiscal year 2020-21.
• Developing a formal methodology to identify hiring targets for other employment equity groups; integrating these targets into the organization’s people management practices and policies.
• Encouraging the self-identification of students with a view towards leveraging student bridging as a means of recruiting Indigenous and racialized employees.
• Promoting the use of targeted inventories, such as the Indigenous Student Employment Opportunity, as standard hiring tools within the Department.

Commit to personally learning about racism, reconciliation, accessibility, equity and inclusion, and fostering a safe, positive environment where these conversations are encouraged throughout our workplaces:

• The senior leadership team has signed the Statement of Action Against Systemic Racism, Bias and Discrimination.
• Held three PSC-wide sessions on racism to raise awareness on the issues faced by racialized employees to enable employees and guest speakers to share their experiences, and to foster a dialogue on solutions and concrete actions.
• Held a Managers Network Leaders Forum on the theme of Conscious Inclusion with the view of encouraging a more inclusive mindset in management culture.
• Maintaining collaborative partnerships with the Diversity and Inclusion Committee to engage in consultations with equity-seeking groups to gather information on their “lived experiences.”

Combat all forms of racism, discrimination and other barriers to inclusion in the workplace by taking action on what we have learned, empowering employees to speak out about bias and oppression, and better equipping managers to address these issues:

• Initiating a review of all internal PSC people management-related systems and practices to identify and eliminate systemic barriers.
• Implementing Unconscious Bias training as a requirement for the delegation of staffing authorities to hiring managers within the organization.
• Piloting an approach to ensuring that hiring processes are culturally sensitive and driven to remove barriers through representative assessment boards; an organization-wide approach will be implemented.
• Finalizing the dialogue with employees related to “lived experiences” and identifying and implementing concrete actions to address the identified issues.

Enable and advance the work of grassroots networks and communities within the Public Service by providing necessary resources and bringing them into discussions at senior executive tables:

• Giving a voice to Diversity and Inclusion Subcommittees by being invited to present the results of their consultations on employees’ lived experiences and recommended actions to the Executive Management Committee (EMC).
• Reviewing the role of the organization’s Diversity and Inclusion Committee to position it more clearly as an advisory body that reports to the EMC.

Include voices from diverse backgrounds in the identification of systemic racism, discrimination and barriers to inclusion, and the design and implementation of actions to address them:

• The PSC Visible Minority and Indigenous Employee Committees conducted a survey on lived experiences, which was presented to senior management and the Employee Subcommittee.
• Committees drafted a proposed action plan designed around the Clerk’s 9 areas for action to be implemented in collaboration with Human Resources

Measure progress and driving improvements in the employee workplace experience by monitoring disaggregated survey results and related operational data (for example, promotion and mobility rates, tenure) and act on what the results are telling us:

• Developing a formal methodology to identify hiring targets for specific employment equity groups.
• Leveraging internal pulse surveys to gather additional qualitative and quantitative data on the experiences of Indigenous, racialized and other groups within the workplace.
• Administered a ‘Have your say’ employee pulse survey with Employment Equity and gender self-identification questions to apply a diversity lens to workplace health and worksite resumption.
• Commissioned a special report and analysis by the Diversity Committee on the 2020 Public Service Employee Survey results by Employment Equity group and subgroups.

In addition, we continue to implement initiatives in support of the Accessibility Strategy within our organization, including:

• Launching a revised integration program that includes reminders and links to information about accommodation, to facilitate the onboarding of persons with disabilities into the workplace.
• Leveraging various survey results and information collected on the lived experience of employees in order to identify accommodation measures and common learning needs related to accessibility, hiring and the integration of persons with disabilities, so that new tools can be developed to guide managers.
• Conducting a review of employment systems to advance people management policies and practices within the organization and to identify and address barriers (planned for the first to the third quarters of 2021–22).
• Promoting awareness and providing orientation sessions on the range of existing resources available to employees to ensure that their communications and documents are inclusive and accessible.
• Publishing updated guidelines, including a new approach and emphasis on managers’ accountability to take action quickly in order for employees to be accommodated as soon as possible, and developing tools and training material to support employees and managers on accommodation measures, including a step-by-step diagram of the process.
• Providing information to HR Advisors on the requirements of the Accessible Canada Act and the Accessibility Strategy so they can provide strong advice on accessible and barrier-free hiring practices.

We also support other Departments’ efforts in support of the Accessibility Strategy through various initiatives, such as:

• the Federal Internship Program for Canadians with Disabilities,
• the Employment Opportunity for Students with Disabilities (EOSD) and the Virtual Door to Talent with disabilities,
• promoting the importance of self-declaration and toolkits available for HR and Managers,
• advertising new Public Service-Wide Inventories of Persons with Disabilities in progress:
  • Digital Career Opportunities for Persons with Disabilities
  • Policy and Data Analyst - Careers for Persons with Disabilities

Appendix 2 – PSC Data Appendix

How many Indigenous, Black and other racialized employees, and persons with disabilities joined your organization in 2020-2021 compared with the total number of employees who joined in 2020-2021?

2019-2020:

• Total inflow: 181 employees
• Indigenous employee inflow: ≤ 5 employees
• Visible minority employee inflow: 38 employees
• Persons with disabilities employee inflow: 14 employees

2020-2021:

• Total inflow: 50 employees
• Indigenous employee inflow: ≤ 5 employees
• Visible minority employee inflow: 7 employees
• Persons with disabilities employee inflow: ≤ 5 employees

Methodology: Employees for an indeterminate period, or for a specified period of 3 months or more, who were appointed or deployed to a position within the PSC and who were not previously PSC employees (excluding appointees to the Federal Internship Program for Canadians with Disabilities who are seconded to other government organizations); and who have self-identified as members of the Indigenous Peoples or Visible Minorities Employment Equity groups.

How many Indigenous, Black and other racialized employees, and persons with disabilities left your organization in 2020-2021 compared with the total number of employees who left in 2020-2021?

2019-2020:

• Total outflow: 150 employees
• Indigenous employee outflow: ≤ 5 employees
• Visible minority employee outflow: 18 employees
• Persons with disabilities employee outflow: ≤ 5 employees

2020-2021:

• Total outflow: 85 employees
• Indigenous employee outflow: ≤ 5 employees
• Visible Minority employee outflow: 20 employees
• Persons with disabilities employee outflow: 7 employees

Methodology: Employees for an indeterminate period who left the PSC (excluding those on secondment-in); and who have self-identified as members of the Indigenous Peoples or Visible Minorities Employment Equity groups.

How many Indigenous, Black and other racialized employees, and persons with disabilities were appointed to Executive positions in 2020-2021 compared with the total number of employees appointed to Executive positions in 2020-2021?

2019-2020:

• Total executive appointments: 2 employees
• Indigenous executive appointments: 0 employees
• Visible minority executive appointments: 0 employees
• Persons with disabilities executive appointments: 0 employees

2020-2021:

• Total executive appointments: ≤ 5 employees
• Indigenous executive appointments: 0 employees
• Visible minority executive appointments: 0 employees
• Persons with disabilities executive appointments: ≤ 5 employees

Methodology: Employees for an indeterminate period, or for a specified period of 3 months or more, who were appointed to an executive position within the PSC and who were not previously executives (not including EX-01 equivalent positions counted as new executives), and who have self-identified as members of the Indigenous Peoples or Visible Minorities Employment Equity groups.

Additional data point – How many Indigenous, Black and other racialized employees, and persons with disabilities received a promotion in 2020-2021 compared with the total number of employees promoted in 2020-2021?

2019-2020:

• Total promotions: 112 employees
• Indigenous employee promotions: ≤ 5 employees
• Visible minority employee promotions: 28 employees
• Persons with disabilities employee promotions: 6 employees

2020-2021:

• Total promotions: 79 employees
• Indigenous employee promotions: ≤ 5 employees
• Visible minority employee promotions: 21 employees
• Persons with disabilities employee promotions: 6 employees

Additional data point – What is the representation of Indigenous, Black and other racialized employees, and persons with disabilities in 2020-2021 compared with the total number of employees in 2020-2021?

March 31, 2020 (per most recent calculation received from OCHRO):

• Total population: 863 employees
• Indigenous representation (WFA %): 3.9% (3.1%)
• Visible minority representation (WFA%): 22.6% (14.8%)
• Persons with disabilities representation (WFA%): 8.5% (9.2%)

June 30, 2021 (most recent departmental data calculated using internal demographic data from MyGCHR):

• Total population: 743 employees
• Indigenous representation (WFA %): 4.2% (3.1%)
• Visible minority representation (WFA %): 20.6% (14.8%)
• Persons with disabilities representation (WFA%): 9.3% (9.2%)

Methodology: Active employees for an indeterminate period, or for a specified period of 3 months or more, on the specified effective date and who have self-identified as members of the Indigenous Peoples or Visible Minorities Employment Equity groups; compared with the workforce availability, as estimated by the Office of the Chief Human Resources Officer, in parentheses.

Appendix 3 – PSC Activities Under Way to Support Federal Public Service-Wide Actions

The Public Service Commission is committed to developing an inclusive, barrier-free work environment where all persons have equal access to opportunities in the federal public service and the creation of a public service that is representative and reflective of our increasingly diverse society.

To support government-wide efforts to increase diversity and support inclusive hiring, we will focus on:

Increasing representation

We directly support efforts in recruiting a diverse public service workforce through our targeted recruitment programs, such as:

• Post-secondary recruitment campaign and inventories
• Indigenous Student Employment Opportunity (ISEO)
  • Indigenous Student Mentoring Program
• Indigenous Career Pathway (working with OCHRO)
• Employment Opportunity for Students with Disabilities (EOSD)
  • Students with Disabilities Mentoring Program
• Virtual Door to Talent with Disabilities
• Federal Internship Program for Canadians with Disabilities
• Public Service-Wide Inventory of Persons with Disabilities

Remove barriers

We identify and remove systemic barriers in public service staffing, and promote a shift to inclusive design, by:

• transforming GCJobs, to ensure that it is inclusively designed, and building its functionality to reduce potential bias
• offering EX and EX-feeder group individual Coaching/Counselling
• providing guidance on inclusive hiring
• providing guidance on Employment Systems Review (with OCHRO)
• strengthening Employment Equity obligations in our delegation instrument
• revising self-declaration forms and process (with OCHRO)
• providing assessment accommodation services for persons with disabilities and special needs
• advancing diverse selection boards in staffing processes
• providing targeted oversight on key systemic staffing barriers to provide information on areas of concern and data on progress being made

Shift culture

Building cultural awareness and confidence among candidates and hiring managers is central to the Commission’s work. We are committed to seeking out and eliminating biases and barriers embedded in the public service hiring culture, through:

• expanding and promoting the Assessment Accessibility Ambassadors network
• promoting the new landing page on Self-Declaration for Canadians
• developing and sharing a video series on hiring persons with disabilities with hiring managers
• sharing the Indigenous Recruitment Tool Box
• implementing Unconscious Bias in staffing training
• creating and updating guides on inclusive assessment and recruitment methods
• introducing a Managers’ Toolkit for Hiring Persons with Disabilities
• examining the impact of culture and its effect on staffing results in its oversight engagements

Supporting evidence-based decision making

We have a wealth of information that can inform staffing strategies and are committed to sharing that data in a timely manner and in a format to support ongoing diversity and inclusion work. The Public Service Commission is:

• undertaking a follow-up audit to the Audit of Employment Equity Representation in Recruitment
• developing a long-term priority and risk-based audit plan to track representation of equity seeking groups and to provide evidence and advice on barriers and biases facing equity seeking groups
• continuing work on the disaggregation of data
• monitoring performance of EE groups on high volume standardized PSC tests
• conducting the Staffing and Non-Partisanship Survey
• evolving the PSC’s macrosimulation model to predict EE representation within occupational categories with a focus on the EX cadre
• updating previously released reports on diversity and inclusion as well as releasing new analysis
  • Non-advertised appointments by employment equity group (update to be completed in the fall)
  • Federal public servants participating in jobs open to the public (update to be completed in the fall)
  • Citizenship of applicants and external appointments (update to be completed in the fall)
  • Promotion rates for Employment Equity Visible Minority subgroups (document to be released in the fall); and,
  • Separation trends for employment equity groups (document to be released in the fall).
  • consulting with leaders from equity seeking groups on our research projects and plans through the PSC Employment Equity Research Working Group.