Employment Equity Annual Report 2023 to 2024

Employment Equity Annual Report 2023 to 2024 [PDF - 299 KB]

This Annual Report is prepared for submission to Parliament pursuant to section 21 of the Employment Equity Act

Information contained in this publication or product may be reproduced, in part or in whole, and by any means, for personal or public non-commercial purposes without charge or further permission, unless otherwise speciﬁed. Commercial reproduction and distribution are prohibited except with written permission from the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada.

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Financial Consumer Agency of Canada
427 Laurier Ave. West
Ottawa ON K1R 7Y2

www.canada.ca/en/financial-consumer-agency

Cat. No. FC2-7E-PDF

Aussi disponible en français sous le titre : Rapport annuel sur l’équité en matière d’emploi 2023–2024

Executive summary

The Employment Equity Annual Report 2023–2024, prepared by the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada (FCAC or the Agency), provides an analysis of the workforce representation of 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, 2024, FCAC had 234 employees. The graph below illustrates the workforce representation at FCAC, as compared to Canadian workforce availability (WFA) data adapted from the Statistics Canada 2016 Census and 2017 Canadian Survey on Disability. In 2023–2024, the representation of Women increased to 60.7% and continued to exceed the WFA of 48.2%. Representation of Members of Visible Minorities and Persons of Disabilities also continued to exceed the WFA. Representation of Members of Visible Minorities was 24.8%, exceeding availability of 21.3%, and representation of Persons with Disabilities was 12.4%, exceeding availability of 9.1%. Representation of Indigenous Peoples increased to 3.4% but remained slightly below the WFA of 4.0%. The Agency continues to be proactive and engaged in various efforts to achieve full representation.

Figure 1

Text version: Figure 1

Percentage representation of employment equity groups
	% of workforce availability	% of FCAC Employees
Women	60,7%	48,2%
Indegenous Peoples	3,4%	4,0%
Persons with disabilities	12,4%	9,1%
Visible minorities	24,8%	21,3%

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

FCAC’s approach to employment equity (EE) is supported by its Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Action Plan, which includes a new EDI Ambassadors Community, a draft Pay Equity Plan, targeted recruitment to enhance and sustain representation, accommodations and accessibility measures, and deliberate 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 year.

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 which it operates.

Listed in Schedule V of the Financial Administration Act, FCAC is a separate 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 has now two offices, one located in Ottawa (National Capital Region) and the other, which opened in 2023–2024, in Toronto. During 2023–2024, FCAC’s population grew by 8%. As of March 31, 2024, the Agency had 234 employees.

Building on established practices, the Agency sustained its intentional efforts to welcome a representative and diverse workforce, address representation gaps, and offer events and learning activities designed to raise awareness of 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 allow us to build a truly diverse workforce and foster a strong sense of belonging for our employees.

One of the four goals of the Agency’s 2021–2026 Strategic Plan is to enable the future of work, and one of our key priorities under this goal is to strengthen and support the workforce with a focus on EDI. Embedding EDI in our organizational plans and core Agency programming exemplifies our deep commitment to building both a culture and business ethos where valuing EDI is simply who we are and what we do in the normal course of affairs.

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

Over the past few years, FCAC has taken incremental steps to move beyond good intentions and toward finding ways to make a real difference. Building on this foundation, the Agency introduced its first FCAC Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Action Plan in March 2022, which outlines concrete actions to be taken through 2025.

In March 2024, the EDI Champion presented the second annual action plan update to our governance structure, and subsequently shared the update with all employees through our intranet site. The update highlighted the progress we achieved over the second year since the plan’s launch.

FCAC is proud to report that progress has been made in each of the plan’s 4 overarching goals:

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

In 2023–2024, the Agency completed the following concrete actions in support of the plan:

The corporate objectives in all 2023–2024 performance agreements include commitments to diversity and inclusion at appropriate levels of accountability. These objectives will remain in effect for 2024–2025.
Our executives participated in their first annual facilitated discussion centered around practices they can take to be true leaders in anti-racism and help create a safe space.
Our Pay Equity Committee conducted the analysis required to identify job classes and gender predominance, determine value of work, and calculate and compare compensation. The Committee then drafted the Agency’s Pay Equity Plan in accordance with the requirements of the Pay Equity Act. We will post a draft version of our plan for employee comment early in the next fiscal year, and we will publish a final version by September 2024.
We also advanced EDI through our core business activities, for example by conducting ongoing research and analysis to identify and understand the diverse needs of target population groups who are at greater risk of experiencing financial vulnerabilities, and by continuing to tailor advice, resources, programs and interventions to better serve the financial needs of these diverse audiences.

Additional actions—such as those related to employee engagement, the launch of the Agency’s first EDI Ambassadors Community, targeted recruitment, accessibility and EDI promotion—are profiled below in greater detail.

2.2 Employee survey and engagement

FCAC continues to seek opportunities for ongoing consultation with employees and EE and equity-seeking groups. The Public Service Employee Survey (PSES) and the employee engagement sessions we hold following the release of PSES results are key sources of measures for evaluating all aspects of our People Management Framework. We continued to see strong results on the questions related to diversity and inclusion in the 2022–2023 PSES results, and feedback from our employee engagement session on the topic of EDI confirmed that our employees are proud to work for an organization where EDI is taken seriously. FCAC employees also expressed strong appreciation for our EDI Action Plan and development of our new EDI Ambassadors Community. The feedback informed our annual EDI Action Plan update.

2.3 Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Ambassadors Community

Recognizing that collective leadership and engagement are required to build a culture and business ethos where valuing EDI is integral and natural, FCAC identified opportunities for the EDI Champion and Ambassadors to play an important role in raising the profile of EDI across the Agency. This opportunity was reinforced as part of the Agency’s first Employment Systems Review (ESR) conducted in 2022–2023.

We are proud to report that we have created and introduced a tailored EDI Ambassadors Community that provides opportunities for employees to connect, support and engage with EE and equity-seeking group members. Following a call of interest to all employees, a working group comprised of 8 volunteers, along with the EDI Champion and 2 representatives from HR launched in late March 2023. Together, they developed the EDI Ambassadors Community Terms of Reference, which were endorsed by FCAC’s governance following broad employee consultations.

Thanks to the engagement of our dedicated working group and FCAC employees’ valuable feedback, the EDI Community was formed in January 2024 following an open invitation to all employees to join the Community. The goal was to form a diverse group with representation from every branch at the Agency, along with each EE group and various equity-seeking groups. The Community is composed of the EDI Champion, 10 branch Ambassadors, and the HR advisor responsible for EDI, who also provides secretarial support. The Community is co-chaired by the EDI Champion along with one Ambassador, known as the Lead Ambassador.

The Community now provides a dedicated forum for discussion and input on EDI initiatives, raises awareness of EDI issues across the Agency, and encourages employee engagement in EDI initiatives. Ambassadors are provided with training to support them in their role including a facilitator lead in-house orientation session. The Community has a dedicated intranet page where employees can easily identify and contact Ambassadors. All FCAC employees are encouraged to be EDI allies and to participate in EDI activities and initiatives.

2.4 Targeted recruitment

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

In 2023–2024, FCAC hired 36 new employees, of which 30 (83%) identified as belonging to one or more EE designated groups:

26 Women
10 Visible Minorities
S^{Footnote 2} Persons with Disabilities
S Indigenous Peoples

The Agency also promoted 15 individuals throughout the year, 11 of whom had self-identified as members of one or more EE designated groups.

Sustained and intentional efforts to enhance the diversity of our workforce continue to yield positive results. By the end of 2023–2024, the representation of Women, Visible Minorities and Persons with Disabilities continued to exceed their respective WFAs.

In 2023–2024, FCAC continued to explore, leverage and promote available recruitment programs and EE-centric volume management methods to increase representation in our workforce. A total of 13 completed staffing actions targeted equity seeking individuals. A strategy to conduct drop-off analysis in staffing processes and some preliminary analyses have been conducted, although the sample of processes to date is too limited for significant observations. We also began experimenting with a newly developed anonymous screening method in some selection processes.

In line with amendments to the PSEA, training on inclusive hiring practices for a diverse workforce is a prerequisite for the sub-delegation of human resources authorities. All hiring managers who participate in selection boards are also required to complete training on assessing biases and barriers in staffing.

Additionally, hiring managers are provided with tools and guides on how to conduct the assessment of potential biases and barriers. Hiring managers continue to work in partnership with the Human Resources Branch to seek diversity in selection boards and experiment with various inclusive recruitment strategies.

2.5 Accessible and modern workplace

2.5.1 Accessibility plan

FCAC’s 3-year Accessibility Plan was published in December 2022, following internal and external consultations. The plan details the current state of accessibility at the Agency relative to the 6 applicable priority areas under the Accessible Canada Act, and outlines the actions we are taking to remove identified barriers, prevent new ones from forming, and promote EDI in our workforce and core business activities.

FCAC’s first Accessibility progress report 2023 was published in December 2023, and outlines the Agency’s efforts to advance the plan, demonstrating our commitment to:

leverage the input and comments we received through the ESR we completed in 2022–2023, the PSES, and our accessibility feedback page, among other sources
ensure our office spaces continue to meet the Canada Standards Association’s Built Environment standards
review and update our webpages on Canada.ca based on accessibility standards
engage with stakeholders to gain valuable insights on accessibility matters in the financial ecosystem

2.5.2 Enhancing accessibility through our workplace modernization

As part of the workplace modernization project, construction of the Agency’s Ottawa office was completed in 2023. A new office was established in Toronto and was fully operational in early 2024. Both spaces are designed to maximize accessibility and meet the Canadian Standards Association’s Built Environment standards.

These modernized offices offer FCAC employees a safe, accessible and inclusive workspace, fully equipped with ergonomic furniture, with an open concept that provides natural light. The offices include features such as universal washrooms, accessible kitchen spaces, wide hallways, adjustable workstations and height-adjustable desks. They also offer a great variety and number of workspaces to best suit various types of work, including touchdown workspaces, focus rooms, phone booths, open collaboration zones, and small and large boardrooms, all of which are equipped with the latest technologies. All Agency employees now benefit from a flexible, sustainable and inclusive workspace that fosters productivity and collaboration, which supports our hybrid work model.

2.5.3 Flexible work arrangements

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 FCAC Policy on Flexible Work Arrangements and Telework brings together information on the various available work-options, including flexible hours of work, telework, compressed workweeks, leave with income averaging, pre-retirement transition leave, and part-time hours of work. A detailed Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) on the policy is made available to FCAC employees on our intranet.

2.5.4 Workplace accommodations

FCAC implemented its Policy on Accommodation in October 2021, to recognize the duty to accommodate employees as well as persons seeking employment in a timely manner and up to the point of undue hardship. The Agency believes that an enabling environment that allows everyone to maximize their contributions and potential is more than a duty, it supports a high-performing workforce that is committed to achieving our ambitious vision to be the leader and innovator in financial consumer protection.

The policy and accompanying FAQ are available on the FCAC intranet and are featured in Agency-wide announcements to remind employees of its availability. The Agency’s job advertisements and onboarding materials also encourage applicants and employees to communicate their accommodations needs to their new supervisor and to request any accommodation measures required to participate fully. Individual ergonomic assessments are available to all employees and performed as required, and the Agency has partnered with an external firm to create informative and engaging videos on ergonomics in the office.

FCAC monitors the implementation of the policy through the PSES and other consultations, including on the Accessibility Plan and ESR. While the 2022–2023 PSES results are encouraging, they also pointed to opportunities to better promote and clarify the process. In response to the feedback received, FCAC is assessing the feasibility of implementing the Government of Canada’s Accessibility Passport at the Agency, and developing tools and training to support our Policy on Accommodation.

2.6 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 among employees and promote helpful resources and partners’ events.

In 2023–2024, the Agency featured 17 core diversity and inclusion-related events plus 3 rotational events from its calendar of commemorative events. The calendar also includes 2 official languages events and 4 mental health and wellness events, with the Agency recognizing a total of 26 events each year.

In addition to posting informative announcements on the Agency’s intranet site, FCAC organized quarterly corporate learning-type events in support of identified priorities for EDI. These events provided opportunities for employees to engage in a constructive dialogue on various subjects, in a safe and welcoming environment. Strong attendance at EDI events showed employees’ genuine interest and commitment to inclusivity.

In 2023–2024, FCAC organized the following activities and events:

A speaker from the Federal Speakers’ Forum on Lived Experience led an EDI discussion on neurodivergence and helped launch the opening of Pride season alongside our EDI Champion.
In recognition of the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, FCAC hosted an in-person Kairos Blanket Exercise designed to explore the nation-to-nation relationship between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people in Canada.
The International Day for Persons with Disabilities (IDPD) was highlighted with the help of experts from the Accessibility, Accommodation and Computer Technology (AAACT) program.
Food for Thought, a two-part event, was organized to end the year with a delicious multicultural potluck meal and a panel discussion featuring 4 of FCAC’s senior leaders who belong to EE groups and shared their leadership journeys through the lens of EDI.

2.7 Promoting a healthy, inclusive and respectful workplace

Building on our previous Mental Health and Wellness (MHW) Action Plan, we developed our 2024–2027 MHW Action Plan, which focuses on 3 strategic goals in alignment with the Federal Public Service Workplace Mental Health Strategy: fostering a respectful culture, building capacity with tools and resources, and measuring and reporting on actions. Our plan also recognizes the intersection of MHW with EDI, aiming to foster a thriving and accessible workplace for all. This new plan will be released in the next fiscal year.

The following actions were taken in 2023–2024:

Inclusion of corporate objectives in the 2023–2024 performance agreements commitments to create a healthy and respectful workplace at appropriate levels of accountability
Ongoing implementation of Agency-wide time-management practices to support mental health, such as a weekly focus time and 5-minute health breaks before meetings
Promotion of physical wellness with the introduction of a corporate gym membership, a pedometer challenge, and a “walk, run or cycle” event
Fostering financial wellness, with an information session on this topic and two pension plan workshops
Co-development of a tailored, facilitator-led training session on the Policy on Workplace Harassment and Violence Prevention, to augment the mandatory online training that is currently offered
Enhancing capacity as a key to promoting mental health, enhancing resiliency, and preventing harm, by providing training, tools, and other resources, including the regular promotion of the Employee Assistance Program (EAP) services, our independent Ombuds and informal conflict management system (ICMS) services offered to support employees at all levels
- Not Myself Today, a Canadian Mental Health Association initiative, was regularly promoted through weekly wellness tips posted on the FCAC intranet and through specific modules that were highlighted throughout the year.
- LifeSpeak campaigns were promoted on a quarterly basis, and Mental Health Week, Mental Illness Awareness Week, World Mental Health Day, Bell Let’s Talk Day, and World Suicide Prevention Day were all highlighted.

2.8 Sustaining our culture of inclusive linguistic duality

FCAC is committed to fulfilling its obligations as an employer under the Official Languages Act (OLA) and to maintaining a strong capacity to deliver services in both official languages. FCAC’s first triennial action plan was introduced in June 2022 and is updated annually. In 2023–2024, we celebrated events such as the Rendez-vous de la francophonie and International Francophonie Day, and Official Languages Day was commemorated with an OL trivia game and the creation of FCAC-branded MS Teams backgrounds. FCAC also continued to offer training options so that employees could learn or maintain second language skills, including the Agency’s part-time group language training program, which is accessible to all interested employees including those who self-identify as members of EE and equity-seeking groups. A working group was formed to develop a tailored OL Community, inspired by the success our new EDI Community. Over the next year, the OL Community will be launched, and will develop important tools to sustain an organizational culture that respects the requirements of the OLA and that approaches linguistic duality as a fundamental component of our inclusive and respectful workplace.

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 EE groups in the Canadian workforce.

In 2023–2024, FCAC grew from 217 to 234 employees, an increase of 8%. Given that FCAC is a small organization, it takes minimal movement to affect representation. We continue to send each new employee a personalized email with an EE self-identification form and package, and we provide them with additional context regarding the importance of completing the form. We attribute our sustained completion rate of 100% to this strategy.

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 234 employees in indeterminate positions and terms over 3 months on strength as of March 31, 2024, who self-identified as belonging to 1 or more of the 4 EE designated groups.

3.1 Highlights

For the fiscal year 2023–2024, FCAC’s representation of the 4 designated groups was as follows:

The representation of Women was 60.7%, which surpassed the WFA of 48.2%.
The representation of Indigenous Peoples was 3.4%, which was slightly below the WFA of 4%.
The representation of Persons with Disabilities was 12.4%, which surpassed the WFA of 9.1%.
The representation of Visible Minorities was 24.8%, which surpassed the WFA of 21.3%.

Figure: Percentage representation of employment equity groups

Percentage representation of employment equity groups. Text version follows.

Text version: Percentage representation of employment equity groups

Percentage representation of employment equity groups
	% of workforce availability	% of FCAC Employees
Women	60,7%	48,2%
Indegenous Peoples	3,4%	4,0%
Persons with disabilities	12,4%	9,1%
Visible minorities	24,8%	21,3%

Note: Workforce availability (WFA) data is based on the 2016 Census and the 2017 Canadian Survey on Disabilities.

3.2 Women

Women were well represented and constituted 60.7% of the FCAC workforce, which is 12.5 percentage points above the WFA of 48.2%. Women were represented in all occupational groups at the Agency, and their representation surpassed the WFA in 4 of the 8 groups. They were strongly present in the managerial and supervisory groups, while their representation was lower in the Admin & Senior Clerical and Semi-Professionals & Technical groups.

3.3 Indigenous Peoples

The percentage of FCAC employees who identified as Indigenous Peoples increased to 3.4%, which remained only slightly below the WFA of 4%. FCAC has a gap of 1 person to achieve full representation, and filling this gap will continue to receive our sustained attention. Indigenous Peoples were represented in the Senior Managers, Professionals, and Admin & Senior Clerical Personnel occupational groups. They are underrepresented in 2 of the 8 EE occupational groups (EEOG): Middle and Other Managers, and Clerical Personnel.

3.4 Persons with Disabilities

Persons with Disabilities were well represented and constituted 12.4% of the FCAC workforce, exceeding the WFA of 9.1% by 3.3 percentage points. Their representation surpassed the WFA in 5 of the 7 occupational groups, and is at par for the remaining groups.

3.5 Members of Visible Minorities

At 24.8%, the overall representation of members of Visible Minorities continues to exceed the WFA by 3.5 percentage points. Their representation surpassed the WFA in 6 of the 8 occupational groups. There was a gap of 1 person for the Clerical Personnel group.

3.6 New hires

Sustained recruitment efforts to improve our representation continue to yield positive results. Of the 36 new hires in 2023–2024, 72.2% were Women and 27.8% were members of Visible Minorities. Both Persons with Disabilities and Indigenous Peoples were also hired, but the numbers have been suppressed to protect confidentiality.

3.7 Promotions

There was a total of 15 promotions in 2023–2024, of which 73.3% were of members of one or more of the designated groups. 60% of the promotions were Women. The numbers of promotions for members of Indigenous Peoples, Visible Minorities and Persons with Disabilities have been suppressed to protect confidentiality.

3.8 Separations

In 2023–2024, there were 18 departures, of which 44.4 % were Women and 38.9% were Visible Minorities. The number of departures for Persons with Disabilities have been suppressed to protect confidentiality. There were no departures of Indigenous Peoples.

4. Future strategies

Through our EDI Action Plan, we continue to make concrete and meaningful progress in implementing EE and maintaining a welcoming, safe and inclusive workplace for all FCAC employees.

Ongoing initiatives will include:

Continuing the implementation of the plan, including measures informed by the 2022–2023 ESR, to amplify our efforts to advance EDI in our employment practices
Sustaining the intentional use of inclusive recruitment strategies and methods in staffing processes, with a view to achieving full representation
Fostering a safe and positive environment where conversations around racism, reconciliation, accessibility and inclusion can take place, and where opportunities and challenges are regularly discussed at all levels of the governance structure

In addition to our ongoing initiatives, the focus in 2024–2025 will be on the following priorities:

Promote and leverage the EDI Ambassadors Community to support and engage EE and equity-seeking group members
Review the EDI commemorative calendar, along with the EDI Ambassadors Community, and add a list of significant religious, spiritual and cultural periods
Publish our Pay Equity Plan by September 2024, in accordance with the Pay Equity Act
Collaborate with the Canadian Human Rights Commission, which is currently performing an Employment Equity audit
Stay abreast of and implement applicable changes made to the Employment 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 of these goals, 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.