Annex – Policy brief 2: Barriers to employment equity for equity groups under the federal jurisdiction

On this page

• Systemic or common barriers – Summary
• How the barriers affect each group

Systemic or common barriers - Summary

Barriers to employment exist for all four designated groups. While barriers and their intensity vary between the groups, there are a number of indicators that can predict barriers to employment equity being experienced.

The most common predictors of barriers for the 4 designated groups are:

• lower earnings
• domestic and home care obligations
• hiring and retention challenges
• under-representation in management and executive positions
• limited career advancement, and
• social stigma

Visible minorities, persons with disabilities and Indigenous people face all of the above predictors, while women face:

• lower earnings
• domestic and home care obligations
• hiring and retention challenges, and
• limited career advancement

The following chart shows which barriers affect specific designated groups.

Common Employment Equity barriers by designated group

Barrier	Women	Visible minorities	Persons with disability	Indigenous peoples
Lower earnings	X	X	X	X
Domestic and home care obligations	X	X	X	X
Under-representation in management  and executive positions	N/A	X	X	X
Hiring and retention challenges	X	X	X	X
Limited career advancement	X	X	X	X
Social stigma	N/A	X	X	X

How the predictors of barriers to employment equity affect each group

In this section

• Women
• Visible minorities
• Persons with disabilities
• Indigenous peoples

Women

Lower earnings

• Pay gap of 12.1% lower than men ($3.87 less per hour or $0.88 less per dollar)^{Footnote 1}
• Mean annual income, $22,100 lower than men^{Footnote 2}

Domestic and home care obligations

• Face challenges balancing paid work with domestic and care obligations^{Footnote 3}
• Unaffordable and/or inaccessible childcare^{Footnote 4}

Hiring and retention challenges

• Face hostile workplace cultures and sexual harassment^{Footnote 5}

Limited career advancement

Care obligations may lead to fewer promotion opportunities^{Footnote 6}

Visible minorities

Lower earnings^{Footnote 7}

• Pay gap is wider for visible minority women ($7,400 less on average than those who are not)
• Non-Canadian born visible minority women earn considerably less than non-visible minority women ($4,500 less on average)

Domestic and home care obligations

• Face challenges balancing paid work with domestic and care obligations
• Unaffordable and/or inaccessible childcare

Under-representation in management and executive positions

• Barriers to promotional opportunities^{Footnote 8}

Hiring and retention challenges

• Experience discrimination and racism^{Footnote 9}
• Anti-Muslim or Islamophobia leads to discrimination based on surnames and/or religious identity^{Footnote 10}

Limited career advancement

• Limited access to professional networks^{Footnote 11}
• Lack of support for the advancement of their career^{Footnote 12}

Social stigma

• Anti-Muslim or Islamophobia^{Footnote 13}
• Black Muslims face additional challenges^{Footnote 14}

Persons with disabilities

Lower earnings^{Footnote 15}

• Hypothesis is that the pay gap is wider for women with disabilities^{Footnote 16}

Domestic and home care obligations

• Face challenges balancing paid work with domestic and care obligations
• Unaffordable and/or inaccessible childcare

Under-representation in management and executive positions

• Underrepresented in professional occupations^{Footnote 17}

Hiring and retention challenges

• Limited employer understanding of persons with disabilities^{Footnote 18}

Limited career advancement

• Lack of understanding from employers once employed^{Footnote 19}
• Lack of support for the advancement of their career^{Footnote 20}

Social stigma

• Face social stigma from employers^{Footnote 21}

Indigenous peoples

Lower earnings^{Footnote 22}

• $2.50 less than non-Indigenous (Indigenous women earn $7,200 less on average than non-Indigenous women)

Domestic and home care obligations

• Face challenges balancing paid work with domestic and care obligations
• Unaffordable and/or inaccessible childcare

Under-representation in management and executive positions

• Limited developmental opportunities^{Footnote 23}

Hiring and retention challenges

• Lack of recruitment opportunities specifically directed towards Indigenous peoples^{Footnote 24}
• Lack of employer understanding about Indigenous cultures^{Footnote 25}

Limited career advancement

• Limited developmental opportunities^{Footnote 26}

Social stigma

• Lack of employer understanding about Indigenous cultures^{Footnote 27}