Legislated Employment Equity Program

The Labour Program administers and enforces the Legislated Employment Equity Program (LEEP) under the Employment Equity Act (the Act).

LEEP supports the implementation of employment equity for the 4 designated groups:

• women
• Indigenous peoples^{Footnote 1}
• persons with disabilities, and
• members of visible minorities

This Program applies to:

• federally regulated private-sector employers with 100 or more employees
• federally regulated Crown corporations with 100 or more employees, and
• other federal organizations with 100 or more employees

The Program supports employers by providing tools and guidance on implementing employment equity to help ensure their workforce is representative of the Canadian workforce. Employers who fall under LEEP, whose combined workforce is over 760,000, include approximately:

• about 500 private-sector employers
• 30 Crown corporations, and
• 5 other federal organizations

Reporting requirements for LEEP employers

Employers who fall under LEEP must submit employment equity reports to the Labour Program every year by June 1.

The employer report must have the previous calendar year's information on:

• their overall workforce, and
• their employees from the 4 designated groups

The report must consist of:

• prescribed statistical forms, including information on:
  • the industrial sector
  • employee status (such as, permanent full-time, permanent part-time and temporary)
  • occupational group
  • salary range and wage gaps
  • hiring
  • promotion, and
  • termination
• a narrative of employment equity activities that the employer conducted, including:
  • measures taken
  • results achieved following these activities, and
  • consultations between the employer and employee representatives

Employers complete and submit their reports by using the Workplace Equity Information Management System (WEIMS) online reporting tool. The Labour Program receives these reports and verifies them to make sure the employers are complying with the reporting requirements. The Labour Program makes the statistical forms public, after they have analyzed and combined them into the Employment Equity Act Annual Report. The annual report is tabled in Parliament by the Minister of Labour, as required under the Act.

LEEP compliance policy

Employers who fall under LEEP violate the Act if they:

• fail to file a report on employment equity with the Minister of Labour by June 1 of each year, without a good reason
• omit any information required in the report, or
• provide false or misleading information in the report

If an employer does not comply with the Act, the Minister of Labour may issue a monetary penalty within 2 years of the violation.

The Canadian Human Rights Commission (CHRC)

The CHRC ensures that employers in the private and public sectors under federal jurisdiction, including the federal public service, comply with the non-reporting requirements of the Act. In the event of non-compliance by an employer, the CHRC may order the employer to take corrective action. The CHRC may also refer a case to the Employment Equity Review Tribunal if the employer:

• fails to comply with the direction given, or
• requests a review of the direction

Related links

• Employment equity in federally regulated workplaces
• Employer resources and tools on employment equity
• Employment Equity Achievement Awards