Employment Equity Annual Report 2021 to 2022

From: Financial Consumer Agency of Canada

Employment Equity Annual Report 2021 to 2022 [PDF - 456 KB]

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Cat. No. FC2-7E-PDF

Aussi disponible en français sous le titre : Rapport annuel sur l’équité en matière d’emploi 2021-2022

Executive summary

The Employment Equity Annual Report 2021-2022 prepared by the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada (FCAC) provides an analysis of the workforce representation of the 4 designated groups (Women, Members of Visible Minorities, Indigenous peoples^{Footnote 1} , and Persons with Disabilities). It also includes statistical information related to hiring, promotions and separations during the fiscal period.

As of March 31, 2022, FCAC had 189 employees. The graph below illustrates the workforce representation at FCAC, as compared to the Canadian workforce availability data adapted from the Statistics Canada 2016 Census and 2017 Canadian Survey on Disability. In 2021-2022, Women continue to be well represented at FCAC relative to the workforce availability, and representation increased slightly from 56.4% the previous year to 56.6% this year. The representation of Persons with Disabilities increased from 9.8% to 11.6% and continues to exceed workforce availability. Representation of Visible Minorities increased from 16.6% in 2021 to 20.6% in 2022, and is approaching workforce availability (21.3%). Representation of Indigenous peoples remains below workforce availability and is suppressed to protect confidentiality.

Figure 1: Percentage representation of employment equity groups

Text version: Figure 1, Percentage representation of employment equity groups

	Workforce availability %	FCAC employees
Women	48.2	56.6
Visible minorities	21.3	20.6
Persons with disabilities	9.1	11.6
Aboriginal peoples	4	5

Adapted from Statistics Canada, the 2016 Census and the 2017 Canadian Survey on Disabilities.

Data is suppressed (S) to protect confidentiality of information when the representation number was five or less.

FCAC’s approach to employment equity is supported by its new Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Action Plan, and includes targeted recruitment to enhance representation, new accommodation and accessibility measures, and intentional efforts to celebrate diversity and promote an inclusive and respectful workforce. The Agency will continue to build on its successes and lessons learned as it implements the plan over the next 3 years.

1 General overview

The mandate of the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada (FCAC or the Agency) is to supervise federally regulated financial entities and strengthen the financial literacy of Canadians. As a regulator, FCAC monitors and supervises the compliance of financial institutions, external complaint bodies and payment card network operators with consumer protection measures set out in legislation, public commitments and codes of conduct. Through research and education, the Agency enhances the financial literacy of Canadians and raises awareness of their rights and responsibilities in their dealings with financial institutions. FCAC derives its mandate from the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada Act, which outlines FCAC’s functions, administration, and enforcement powers, and lists the sections of federal laws and regulations under its supervision.

Listed in Schedule I.1 of the Financial Administration Act, FCAC is an independent agency, reporting to Parliament through the Minister of Finance. FCAC has a non-unionized workforce and is subject to the Public Service Employment Act (PSEA). The Agency’s only office is located in Ottawa (National Capital Region) as plans to open a Toronto office were delayed as a result of the pandemic. During 2021-2022, FCAC’s population grew by 16%. As of March 31, 2022, there were 189 employees.

Building on already established practices, the Agency continued to address representation gaps for underrepresented designated groups and sponsored events and learning activities designed to raise awareness around specific diversity and inclusion topics.

2 Approach to Employment Equity

FCAC’s core principles are intended to foster an organizational culture that prioritizes the well-being of its team members and the achievement of its consumer protection mandate. The principles of our “one mandate, one team” approach, coupled with a strong commitment to diversity, inclusion and bilingualism, are the foundational pieces that will allow us to build a truly diverse workforce and foster a strong sense of belonging for our employees.

One of the goals of the Agency’s 2021-2026 Strategic Plan is to enable the future of work, by strengthening its people management practices and fostering a culture of innovation, collaboration and excellence.

Over the past few years, FCAC has taken steps to move beyond good intentions and toward finding ways to make a real difference. Building on this foundation, the Agency’s first FCAC Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Action Plan outlines the concrete actions that will be taken over the next three years.

Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Action Plan 2022-2025

The triennial EDI Action Plan is a meaningful and realistic roadmap which outlines concrete actions that will be taken to meet FCAC’s legislative requirements under the Employment Equity Act, as well as actions that will be taken to build both a culture and business ethos where valuing equity, diversity and inclusion become simply who we are, and what we do in normal course.

Development of the plan included multi-level, broad consultations across the Agency and an iterative process. The FCAC Commissioner, who was the champion for EDI, facilitated a meaningful and open agency-wide dialogue that informed the initial draft plan. This included feedback from an employee engagement session on the topic of diversity and inclusion held following release of the 2020 Public Service Employee Survey (PSES) results in spring 2021. Designated EE group members, who had indicated a willingness to be contacted for human resources management purposes, were sent a copy of the draft plan, along with a set of open-ended questions from the Commissioner. The questions sought feedback on the plan as well asking respondents to share their personal experiences around: the types of diversity and inclusion initiatives that have made the biggest difference in making them feel respected and included at work; what FCAC can do to ensure that their voices are heard on an ongoing basis and in order to make them feel more supported; the areas in which they feel the most disadvantaged and; the steps that could be taken to better enable them. In parallel, the Workplace Advisory Committee (WAC) sought feedback from employees in their branches and management committees had the opportunity to provide their feedback as well. All input was analyzed and grouped under themes, identifying suggestions that could be actioned immediately and those that required further or future consideration.

The EDI Action Plan has 4 overarching goals:

Fostering a culture of diversity and inclusion at the Agency
Creating a more and inclusive workplace and achieving a representative workforce
Integrating EDI into core Agency programming
Measuring our progress and reporting on actions

In 2021-2022, the Agency completed the following concrete actions in support of this new plan:

Mandatory sessions on diversity, inclusion and unconscious bias for all executives and managers were offered. Training on unconscious bias was also arranged for employees, and nearly 38% participated. The Commissioner made introductory remarks at each session to underscore their importance.
The corporate objectives in all 2021-2022 performance agreements include commitments to diversity and inclusion at appropriate levels of accountability. These objectives will remain in effect for 2022-2023.
Following agency-wide consultations undertaken by the WAC, the champion approved a revised EDI commemorative calendar, which came into effect in January 2022.
Information on 18 EDI-related federal government employee networks/communities is now accessible on the FCAC intranet, encouraging employees to join groups of interest.
On November 1, 2021, the Agency posted a notice outlining its obligations and intention to form a pay equity committee.

Additional actions such as those related to recruitment, accommodation and awareness are profiled below in greater detail.

The EDI Action Plan recognizes that, while those in a leadership role have specific responsibilities linked to employment equity, diversity and inclusion, there is a collective responsibility in effecting change. Achieving the established goals will require openness, curiosity, and a two-way dialogue where mutual respect and trust can be built. As the Agency continues to transform and grow, we will sustain our intentional efforts to raise awareness through both formal and informal learning events, as well as through opportunities for open and honest conversations at all levels. It is recognized that the plan is dynamic and will be adjusted, at least annually, as new information and ideas come to light. We will also seek opportunities for ongoing consultation with employees and employment equity and equity-seeking group members.

Targeted recruitment

As FCAC is subject to the PSEA, recruitment practices are non-partisan and merit-based, with the goal of ensuring a workforce that is representative of the diversity, linguistic duality and range of backgrounds and skills of Canadians.

In 2021-2022, FCAC hired 42 new employees, of which 35 identified as belonging to one or more EE designated groups:

25 Women
17 Visible Minorities
7 Persons with Disabilities
0 Indigenous peoples

The Agency also promoted 13 individuals throughout the year, 8 of whom had self-identified as members of one or more EE designated group.

To provide greater access to members of the designated EE groups and to address identified representation gaps, the Agency made use of a sliding area of selection for some staffing processes. For example, the following area of selection was used to address organizational gaps for Indigenous peoples and members of a Visible Minority: “Persons employed in the Federal Public Service occupying a position in the National Capital Region, and persons employed in the Federal Public Service across Canada who are members of one or the following employment equity groups: Indigenous peoples and members of a Visible Minority.” The approach of providing greater access to members of under-represented groups will continue to remain a focus for FCAC.

Hiring managers were also encouraged to invoke the organizational need of addressing representation gaps by giving preference to persons who self-identified as members of EE designated groups as a volume management strategy. In one such process, over 550 applications were received. After first considering Canadian citizens and veterans, self-identification as a member of an EE designated group was invoked. This brought the number of candidates for consideration down to 185, from which 3 EE designated group members were appointed. While this approach has proven successful in helping FCAC address representation gaps, we will continue to explore different strategies, specifically those aimed at the recruitment of Indigenous peoples, which is currently our greatest representation gap.

Senior HR Advisors also promoted pools from the Public Service Commission inventories targeting Persons with Disabilities (e.g. Policy and Data Analyst and Information Management and Information Technology). Attempts were also made to access the Indigenous Career Pathways program.

Efforts were not limited to the hiring of new employees as Senior HR Advisors continued to recommend that clients focus on hiring EE designated group members for student positions. For example, in recent years, FCAC has hired students through the Accessible Career Transitions Program, a recognized Carleton University initiative that assists in securing meaningful employment opportunities for students who have self-identified as having a disability. As a result of these ongoing efforts, 6 students who had self-identified as a member of an EE designated group were hired. In addition, some students have been rehired and further consideration may be given for student bridging opportunities.

Workplace accommodation and accessibility

In October 2021, FCAC launched its first Policy on Accommodation along with a supporting set of FAQs which included both general questions and ones targeted to employees and supervisors.

The policy recognizes the duty to accommodate for employees as well as persons seeking employment. Beyond a duty, the Agency believes that an enabling environment that allows everyone to maximize their contributions and potential supports a high-performing workforce committed to achieving our ambitious vision to be the leader and innovator in financial consumer protection.

The provision of support in handling accommodation requests is a shared responsibility. The Senior HR Advisors provide managers with guidance throughout the accommodation request process, the Administrative Services team assists when an ergonomic assessment or physical changes are needed to an employee’s workplace, and the Information Management/Information Technology (IM/IT) teams provide assistance if an employee needs adaptive technology.

With respect to accessibility, FCAC undertook a number of concrete actions in 2021-2022. Externally, we offered sign language interpretation (ASL/LSQ) for 2 national events, launching the National Financial Literacy Strategy and Financial Literacy Month. Web content meets all accessibility guidelines, including Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.1, with all social media images having added ALT text and descriptive transcripts available for our promotional videos.

Internally, accessibility standards were taken into account when the workplace modernization designs were developed for our Ottawa office. Our intranet site, the Forum, follows digital accessibility guidelines, live captioning is available for virtual events and transcripts for videos are also available. All IM/IT solutions and technologies implemented meet Government of Canada accessibility standards and procured IT equipment considers our users’ preference.

Celebrating diversity

FCAC recognizes that celebrating diversity and providing opportunities to learn is pivotal to raising awareness and fostering a healthy, inclusive, and respectful environment. It is also an opportunity to foster a sense of community amongst employees who are still working remotely.

In 2021-2022, the Agency undertook a review of its calendar of commemorative events, adding new events that are recognized nationally, and that are representative of both employment equity and equity-seeking groups. The new calendar now features 17 core diversity and inclusion-related events plus 3 rotational events. There are also 2 official languages and 4 mental health and wellness events that are recognized annually. This approach allows the Agency to recognize a total of 26 events each year.

In addition to posting informative announcements on the Agency’s intranet site, FCAC organized the following activities and events:

Asian Heritage Month – at an FCAC Town Hall, Senator Thanh Hai Ngo, the first Vietnamese-Canadian senator, shared his personal story of coming to Canada after the fall of Saigon and his experiences with discrimination and bias as a refugee. This presentation was followed by a very engaging question and answer period.
Indigenous History Month – as part of the Agency’s EDI Book Club initiative, a list of books by Canadian Indigenous authors was shared and FCAC employees were invited to join a virtual event, where they were encouraged to read a passage, share their personal insights, or simply listen and learn.
Canadian Multiculturalism Day – employees were invited to share their favourite family recipe and the story behind its significance.
Public Service Pride Week – a Canadian LGBTQ2+ author was invited to do a reading from his autobiographical work, which was followed by an engaging discussion and a candid sharing of life experiences.
Women’s History Month – employees shared passages from books celebrating women who have made their mark in politics, human rights or other areas of life, and the reasons why the narratives or experiences spoke to them.
International Day of Persons with Disabilities – personal “lived experiences” from 3 federal public servants outside of FCAC were shared.
Black History Month – a duo from the Federal Speakers’ Forum on Diversity and Inclusion, delivered an interactive presentation entitled Being Black in Canada, inspired by a call to share their experience of discrimination from the Chief of their agency following the death of George Floyd.

Promoting a healthy, inclusive and respectful workplace

Launched in November 2020, the FCAC Mental Health and Wellness Action Plan 2020-2023 focuses on 3 strategic goals that align with the Federal Public Service Workplace Mental Health Strategy.

Actions taken during 2021-2022 to support implementation of the plan included:

The corporate objectives in all 2021-2022 performance agreements include commitments to create a healthy and respectful workplace at appropriate levels of accountability. These objectives will remain in effect for 2022-2023.
The Canadian Mental Health Association’s initiative Not Myself Today was launched at the Agency in May 2021, featuring weekly wellness tips posted on the intranet and specific modules highlighted throughout the year.
In addition, LifeSpeak campaigns were promoted on a quarterly basis, and Mental Health Week (May), Mental Illness Awareness Week and World Mental Health Day (October), and Bell Let’s Talk Day (January) were highlighted.
The Agency hosted the Knowledge Circle for Indigenous Inclusion (KCII) for an exclusive session entitled “Medicine Wheel: An Indigenous Perspective on Wellness” with over 65 participants in attendance, and, as part of the Government of Canada Workplace Charitable Campaign, we organized a wellness session and invited an executive from Operation Come Home to share his lifelong connection to helping vulnerable people.
Our ongoing training program featured 2 initial offerings of Mental Health First Aid (MHFA), while sessions of The Working Mind (TWM) were also offered to managers and employees for the second year. Since the launch in 2021, 110 participants attended the TWM or the MHFA trainings or both, including 93% of the FCAC management team.
The HR Branch and Occupational Health and Safety Committee (OHSC) developed the new Policy on Workplace Harassment and Violence Prevention and completed a workplace assessment, which required a thorough review of the 13 psychosocial factors at the Agency. Phased mandatory training was launched and by the end of the year, 100% of executives and managers, and nearly 98% of employees had completed their designated courses.
Employee Assistance Program (EAP) services continue to be regularly promoted on the intranet and an EAP online chat service was launched in February 2022. Independent Ombuds and informal conflict management system (ICMS) services are also offered to support employees at all levels.
An employee engagement session on mental health and wellness was organized as part of the PSES activities, and the feedback gathered helped inform updates to the action plan.

In addition, FCAC recognizes that flexible work arrangements can contribute to the attraction and retention of a diverse workforce, and include benefits such as improved motivation and productivity, reduced stress, and increased support for work-life balance. The new FCAC Policy on Flexible Work arrangements and Telework, which was launched in September 2021, brings together information on the various options available including flexible hours of work, telework, compressed work weeks, leave with income averaging, pre-retirement transition leave, and part-time hours of work.

3 Quantitative information

In keeping with its obligations under the Employment Equity Act and its desire to be a diverse and inclusive employer, FCAC strives to have a workforce that reflects the availability of the 4 designated groups of the Canadian workforce.

In 2021-2022, FCAC grew again from 163 to 189 employees, an increase of 16%. Given that FCAC is a small organization, it takes a minimal amount of employee movement to affect representation. We continue to send each new employee the EE self-identification form via email, providing them with additional context regarding the importance of completing the form. Our completion rate remains at 100% of FCAC.

To determine if the 4 designated groups are equitably represented at the Agency, their representation was compared to the 2016 Census and the 2017 Canadian Survey on Disabilities. The data presented in this report relates to the 189 employees in indeterminate positions and terms over 3 months on strength as of March 31, 2022, who self-identified as belonging to one or more of the 4 EE designated groups.

Highlights

For the fiscal year 2021-2022, FCAC’s representation of the 4 designated groups is as follows:

Figure 2: Percentage representation of employment equity groups

Text version: Figure 2, Percentage representation of employment equity groups

	FCAC employees as of March 31,2020 %	FCAC employees as of March 31,2021 %	FCAC employees as of March 31,2021 %	Workforce availability %
Women	56.4	56.4	56.6	48.2
Visible minorities	14.1	16.6	20.6	11.6
Persons with disabilities	6.7	9.8	11.6	9.1
Aboriginal peoples	S	S	S	4

Notes: Workforce availability data (WFA) is based on the 2016 Census and the 2017 Canadian Survey on Disabilities. Data is suppressed (S) to protect confidentiality of information when the representation number was five or less.

The representation of Women was 56.6% which surpassed the WFA of 48.2%.
The representation of Visible Minorities increased from 16.6% in 2020-2021 to 20.6% in 2021-2022 and is now only slightly lower than the WFA of 21.3%.
The representation of Persons with Disabilities increased again from 9.8% to 11.6% in the past year and exceeds the WFA of 9.1%.
The representation of Indigenous peoples is suppressed to protect confidentiality and is lower than the WFA of 4%.

Women

Women were well represented and constituted 56.6% of the workforce, which is 8.4 percentage points above the availability of 48.2%. Women were represented in all occupational groups. Their representation of the WFA is 207% for Senior Managers, 126.9% for Middle and Other Managers, and 104.1% for Professionals. However, there are representation gaps for the Admin & Senior Clerical and Semi-Professionals &Technical groups.

Indigenous peoples

The number of FCAC employees who identified as Indigenous peoples remained below the workforce availability of 4%. Although there were no departures of Indigenous peoples in 2021-2022, the gap in representation is now considered significant because of FCAC’s continued growth. Indigenous peoples were represented in the Senior Managers, Professionals, and Admin & Senior Clerical Personnel occupational groups. They are underrepresented in 2 of the 7 EE occupational groups (EEOG), the Middle and Other Managers and the Professionals. However, specific representation data is suppressed to protect the confidentiality of the information.

Persons with Disabilities

The overall representation of Persons with Disabilities continued to increase in the last year from 9.8% to 11.6%, exceeding the workforce availability of 9.1% by 2.5 percentage points. They were represented in all occupational groups, except Intermediate Sales & Service Personnel. 11.8% of Professionals, our largest occupational group, were Persons with Disabilities.

Members of Visible Minorities

The overall representation of members of Visible Minorities increased steadily over the last 3 years, from 14.1% in 2019-2020, to 16.6% in 2020-2021 and 20.6% in 2021-2022, only slightly lower than the workforce availability of 21.3%. Given the size of our workforce, this represented a gap of 1 employee. While this is not a significant gap, representation of members of this group will receive sustained attention.

Members of Visible Minorities were represented in all occupational groups. They were underrepresented in 2 EEOGs, with the greatest gap being in the Professionals category. 19.1% of Professionals self-identified as members of Visible Minorities, while workforce availability was 23.2%.

New hires

Of the 42 new hires in 2021-2022, 59.5% were Women, 40.5% were members of Visible Minorities and 16.7% were Persons with Disabilities. There were no appointments of Indigenous peoples this year. Our sustained recruitment efforts to increase representation among members of Visible Minorities over the past 3 years have yielded positive results. We note that 18.4% of hires in 2019-2020 were among this group and that this rate has gradually and significantly increased to 25% in 2020-2021 and to 40.5% this year.

Promotions

There was a total of 13 promotions in 2021-2022, of which 75.9% were members of one or more of the designated groups. 53.9% of the promotions were Women, which is slightly higher than last year (50 %). The numbers for members of Visible Minorities and Persons with Disabilities have been suppressed to protect confidentiality. There were no promotions of Indigenous peoples.

Separations

In 2021-2022, there were 16 departures, of which 68.8% were Women. The numbers were suppressed for members of Visible Minorities and Persons with Disabilities and there were no departures of Indigenous peoples.

4 Future strategies

With the introduction of the EDI Action Plan, the Agency now has a concrete roadmap which will allow us to chart our progress and measure our results, while ensuring that we continue to consult with designated group members and equity seeking groups. While we have made tangible progress over the last few years, we recognize that there is still work to be done in ensuring that the 4 designated groups either match or exceed workforce availability and that we continue to create a welcoming, safe and inclusive workplace for all FCAC employees.

Ongoing initiatives will include:

Continuing to strengthen the use of EDI strategies in staffing processes, through the use of inclusive recruitment strategies.
Fostering a safe and positive environment where conversations around racism, reconciliation, accessibility and inclusion can take place, and where opportunities and issues are regularly discussed at all levels of the governance structure.
Meaningfully promoting events from the EDI commemorative calendar to raise awareness within FCAC and support evolving priority areas.
Organizing quarterly corporate learning-type events in support of identified priorities for EDI, providing opportunities for employees to engage in a constructive dialogue in a safe and welcoming environment.
Maintaining the representation of the EDI Championship at the senior executive level given the importance attributed to EDI.

In addition to our ongoing initiatives, the focus in 2022-2023 will be on the following priorities:

Conduct an Employment Systems Review (ESR) to identify and address systemic barriers and facilitate culture change at the organizational level: After an initial request for proposal process received no bids in 2021-2022, the Agency will adjust its approach in order to facilitate the identification of a qualified vendor and complete the review in 2022-2023.
Develop and implement a tailored program for FCAC EDI Ambassadors to support and engage EE and equity-seeking group members: A working group comprised of EE designated group members and equity-seeking groups will work collaboratively with the EDI Champion to consult with FCAC employees and determine the scope and associated responsibilities of the FCAC EDI Ambassadors.
Develop an accessibility plan: Leveraging horizontal collaboration across business lines, the plan will be developed in accordance with the Accessible Canada Regulations, and in consultation with persons with disabilities.
Establish a pay equity committee: A pay equity committee will be formed in the fall of 2022 and will be responsible for developing a pay equity plan for the Agency in accordance with the new Pay Equity Act.

Our differences make us stronger, more adaptable, and more dynamic. Diversity enriches our organization, our partnerships, and our service to Canadians. Ensuring a representative workforce is at the foundation and the Agency is committed to implementing and evaluating the measures we are taking to address identified gaps and to foster a work environment that is safe and welcoming to all.