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.

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}