Employment Equity Annual Report 2024 to 2025

Employment Equity Annual Report 2024 to 2025 [PDF - 516 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.

For more information, contact:

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 2024–2025

Executive summary

The Financial Consumer Agency of Canada’s (FCAC) mandate is to strengthen the financial literacy of Canadians and supervise the compliance of federally regulated financial entities. With a workforce of 250 employees as of March 2025, FCAC continues to grow and evolve, guided by its strategic plan and a strong commitment to equity, diversity, inclusion (EDI).

FCAC’s 2022–2025 EDI action plan has driven meaningful change across the organization. The newly formed EDI Ambassadors Community has become a cornerstone of employee engagement, diversity and inclusion are embedded in performance agreements, and executives have engaged in EDI and anti-racism discussions. The Agency also advanced EDI through its core business activities, for example by conducting research to identify and understand the diverse needs of target populations to effectively tailor its resources, programs and interventions.

The Agency’s recruitment and representation efforts reflect its commitment to building a workforce that mirrors Canada’s diversity. Women represented 60% of the workforce, exceeding labour market availability (LMA), while persons with disabilities were represented at 14%, also above LMA. Representation of Indigenous Peoples^{Footnote 1} and members of visible minorities, at 3.6% and 26.4% respectively, were slightly below LMA, but targeted recruitment and inclusive hiring practices are helping close these gaps. All promotions in 2024–2025 involved members of designated employment equity (EE) groups, and new hires included strong representation from these communities.

FCAC continues to invest in accessibility and workplace well-being. Offices meet national accessibility standards, and enhancements such as ergonomic workspaces and a new lactation room support employee needs. Mental health and wellness initiatives include tailored training, peer support, and access to external services. The Agency also published its second Accessibility Plan progress report and launched its first Pay Equity Plan.

Employee engagement remains a priority. EDI-related events, including sessions on Indigenous reconciliation, gender diversity and neurodiversity, foster a respectful and inclusive culture. FCAC also promotes linguistic duality through training and events, supported by the new Official Languages Ambassadors Community.

Looking ahead to 2025–2026, FCAC will revise its EDI action plan based on employee feedback, implement a new commemorative calendar, expand EDI training, and collaborate with the Canadian Human Rights Commission on an EE audit. The Agency remains steadfast in its commitment to fostering a welcoming, safe and inclusive workplace that reflects the diversity of Canadians and strengthens its ability to serve them effectively.

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. The Financial Consumer Agency of Canada Act outlines FCAC’s functions, administration and enforcement powers, and lists the sections of federal laws and regulations under which the Agency operates. 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. In 2024, the Agency’s mandate was expanded to include the oversight and enforcement of consumer-driven banking.

Listed in Schedule V of the Financial Administration Act, FCAC is a separate agency, reporting to Parliament through the Minister of Finance. Headquartered in Ottawa with a satellite office in Toronto, FCAC has a non-unionized workforce and is subject to the Public Service Employment Act (PSEA). In 2024–2025, FCAC’s population grew by 6.8%. As of March 31, 2025, the Agency had 250 employees.

Through a planned and progressive approach, the Agency sustained its intentional efforts to welcome a diverse and representative workforce, address representation gaps, and offer events and learning activities designed to raise awareness of various 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 diverse workforce and foster a strong sense of belonging for our employees.

One of the 4 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 equity, diversity and inclusion (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 normal course.

2.1 Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Action Plan 2022–2025

Over the past few years, FCAC has taken incremental steps to move beyond good intentions and toward finding tangible ways to make a meaningful difference. The Agency introduced its first EDI action plan in March 2022 to outline concrete actions to be taken through 2025.

FCAC is pleased 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 2024–2025, the Agency completed several key actions in support of the plan:

The corporate objectives in all 2024–2025 performance agreements included commitments to diversity and inclusion at appropriate levels of accountability. The objectives for executives, managers, and employees were updated to place a stronger emphasis on EDI and align with the Clerk’s Call to Action.
A Traditional Indigenous Knowledge Keeper facilitated a discussion on anti-racism with FCAC’s executive team. The discussion centered on the history between Indigenous Peoples and the governing bodies and the sharing of lived experiences of discrimination and racism, to encourage reflections. Executives also had the opportunity to reflect on the Study on the Black Executive Community in the Federal Public Service, and discuss the findings and recommendations with members of the Black Executives Network.
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 that are at greater risk of experiencing financial vulnerability, and by continuing to tailor advice, resources, programs and interventions to better serve the financial needs of these diverse audiences.
FCAC published an internal guide to Indigenous land acknowledgement to support team members in delivering informed and meaningful acknowledgements that recognize Indigenous presence and land rights while demonstrating respect and advancing reconciliation at events and public speaking engagements.

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

As the plan drew to a close, the EDI Champion presented the third annual action plan update to our governance committees and subsequently shared the update with all employees through our intranet site.

Answering the ask from the Clerk of the Privy Council, we also completed the Self-assessment on the forward direction of the Call to Action on Anti-Racism, Equity and Inclusion in the Federal Public Service and the Self-assessment on actions undertaken to advance a renewed conversation on values and ethics, sharing our progress and accomplishments in advancing EDI and values and ethics as core aspects of who we are, and how we serve each other and Canadians.

2.2 The EDI Ambassadors Community

Recognizing that collective leadership and meaningful engagement are required to build a culture and business practices where valuing EDI is integral, FCAC empowered the EDI Champion and EDI Ambassadors Community (the Community) to play an important role in raising the profile of EDI across the Agency.

The Community provides a dedicated forum for discussion and input on EDI initiatives, raises awareness of EDI across the Agency, and encourages employee engagement in EDI initiatives. The Community is composed of the EDI Champion, 10 branch ambassadors, and the human resources advisor responsible for EDI, who also provides secretarial support. This diverse group of dedicated employees represents not only every branch at the Agency, but also all 4 designated EE groups as well as some equity-seeking groups. The Community is co-chaired by the EDI Champion and a Lead Ambassador, chosen by and from among the Community members.

Created in 2023–2024, the new Community was introduced to the Agency during an all-staff event in April 2024, with a testimonial from the Lead Ambassador about what EDI means to her, introductory videos of other ambassadors’ stories, and an interactive EDI activity. Over the course of 2024–2025, the Community became a key contributor to quarterly EDI events, including by serving as event moderators or featured panelists. The Community provided input on EDI initiatives and the Agency’s draft Code of Values, Ethics and Conduct, while also raising awareness of EDI matters and encouraging broad employee engagement.

2.3 Employee engagement

FCAC prioritizes opportunities for ongoing engagement with employees, including with EE and equity-seeking groups. We place a strong emphasis on the importance of the Public Service Employee Survey (PSES). The survey results and subsequent employee engagement sessions are key sources of measures for evaluating all aspects of our People Management Framework. In 2024, we achieved an Agency response rate of 82.4% for the PSES, which far exceeded the public service response rate of 50.5%. Results are expected in summer 2025 and will present valuable employee perspectives on key people management themes, including diversity and inclusion and anti-racism. These results will guide employee engagement sessions that will be held in the fall of 2025, to unpack the results and solicit feedback and ideas to guide our people management priorities, including the development of our next 3-year EDI action plan, which will be produced in 2025–2026.

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 2024–2025, FCAC continued to explore and leverage available recruitment programs and EE-centric volume management methods to increase representation in our workforce. A total of 18 completed staffing actions targeted equity-seeking individuals. Public service-wide recruitment programs continue to be communicated and promoted as a staffing option.

An ongoing drop-off analysis in staffing processes was conducted as we captured candidates' self-identification and representation levels at major process phases (applications, screenings, assessments, withdrawals, appointments, partial qualifications). An analysis of the selection boards’ composition was also included to track the participation of EE and other equity-seeking groups in selection boards. We also continued to experiment with our recent anonymous screening method in some selection processes, and we will evaluate the approach’s effectiveness as we include some of these processes in the yearly staffing monitoring analysis.

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 partner with the Human Resources Branch to experiment with various inclusive recruitment strategies and seek diversity in selection boards.

2.5 Accessible and modern workplace

FCAC seeks to embed accessibility in our workplaces. Both offices are designed to meet the Canadian Standards Association’s Built Environment standards. Fully equipped with ergonomic furniture and 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.

In 2024–2025, a lactation room was added at the Ottawa office. This private room provides a comfortable environment for expressing breast milk or breastfeeding. FCAC takes pride in offering its employees safe, accessible and inclusive workspaces, and continues to improve its facilities to foster productivity and collaboration.

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 7 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 second Accessibility progress report was published in December 2024, and outlines the results of our activities to improve how our organization contributes to the goal of an accessible and barrier-free Canada. Of note, FCAC implemented additional tools and features to support accessibility within MS Teams and in boardrooms.

2.5.2 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. FCAC’s Policy on Flexible Work Arrangements and Telework brings together information on the various available options, including flexible hours of work, telework, compressed workweeks, leave with income averaging, pre-retirement transition leave, and part-time hours of work.

2.5.3 Workplace accommodations

FCAC implemented its internal Policy on Accommodation in October 2021, to recognize its duty to accommodate employees as well as persons seeking employment in a timely manner and up to the point of undue hardship. Beyond a duty, an enabling environment that allows everyone to maximize their contributions and potential supports a high-performing workforce.

The policy and accompanying Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) are available on FCAC’s 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 in their work and work life. Individual ergonomic assessments are available to all employees as required, and informative videos on ergonomics in the office are available on the intranet.

FCAC monitors the implementation of its policy through the PSES and other consultations. In response to the feedback received, FCAC is assessing the feasibility of implementing the Government of Canada’s Accessibility Passport, and will develop tools and training to support our Policy on Accommodation. In addition, the Agency’s internal services also continue to provide support with accommodation requests.

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 2024–2025, 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. The EDI Ambassadors Community revised the calendar with a focus on more meaningful and impactful commemorations. A list of significant religious, spiritual, and cultural periods was also added, to bring awareness that major meetings and events should not be scheduled at these times when avoidable. The updated calendar will launch in 2025–2026.

In addition to posting informative announcements on the Agency’s intranet, FCAC organized quarterly learning-type events. 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 2024–2025, FCAC organized the following EDI-specific activities and events:

A speaker from the Federal Speakers’ Forum on Lived Experience led a discussion on gender diversity and gender expression.
In recognition of the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, FCAC hosted a Kairos Blanket Exercise designed to explore the nation-to-nation relationship between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people in Canada.
To mark International Day for persons with disabilities, a speaker from the Federal Speakers’ Forum on Lived Experience facilitated a discussion on neurodiversity.
Food for Thought, a 2-part event, was organized to end the year with a delicious multicultural potluck meal and a panel discussion featuring members of the EDI Ambassadors Community, moderated by the FCAC’s Commissioner.

2.7 Publishing of the Agency’s first Pay Equity Plan

In 2024–2025, FCAC concluded the work on its inaugural Pay Equity Plan in accordance with the requirements set out in the Pay Equity Act. The purpose of the Pay Equity Act is to create a proactive pay equity regime to ensure that federally regulated workplaces provide equal pay to men and women for work of equal value.

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 comparison of compensation confirmed that the average hourly compensation for female and male predominant job classes was equal for job classes within the same salary band at FCAC. Therefore, no adjustments to compensation were required.

The draft plan was published on the Agency’s intranet so that employees could provide comments. The committee considered all comments received and made updates to the plan as appropriate. The final version of the plan was published on September 3, 2024, along with a series of FAQs. A notice informing employees of the employer’s obligation to update the Pay Equity Plan by September 2029 was also posted on the intranet in March 2025.

2.8 Promoting a healthy, inclusive and respectful workplace

Introduced in May 2024, our second triennial Mental health and wellness (MHW) action plan 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, and aims to foster a thriving and accessible workplace for all.

The following actions were taken in 2024–2025:

Included commitments to creating a healthy and respectful workplace at appropriate levels of accountability in the corporate objectives of all 2024–2025 performance agreements
Rolled out the tailored, facilitator-led training sessions on the Policy on Workplace Harassment and Violence Prevention to all employees and management to augment the mandatory online training
Provided Mental Health First Aid training and created a list of first aiders displayed on the intranet to allow employees to easily find colleagues who can help
Communicated tools and other resources, including the regular promotion of weekly wellness tips on the intranet, quarterly LifeSpeak campaigns, Employee Assistance Program (EAP) services, independent Ombuds and informal conflict management system (ICMS) services

2.9 Sustaining our culture of inclusive linguistic duality

FCAC is committed to fulfilling its employer obligations 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 2024–2025, we actively promoted official languages through key events such as the Rendez-vous de la francophonie, International Francophonie Day, and Official Languages Day. We also developed practical tips and held an internal session to increase awareness of official languages. FCAC continued to offer training options to allow employees to learn or maintain second language skills. These options included 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. We also established the Official Languages Ambassadors Community, modeled after the EDI Community, to help sustain a work-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 an inclusive employer, FCAC strives to hire and maintain a diverse workforce that reflects the availability of the 4 designated EE groups in the Canadian labour market.

In 2024–2025, FCAC grew from 234 to 250 employees, an increase of 6.8%. 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 labour market availability (LMA) based on recently released Statistics Canada data from the 2021 Census and the 2022 Canadian Survey on Disability. 2024–2025 marked a pivotal year, as FCAC applied these revised EE benchmarks for the first time. The data presented in this report relate to the 250 indeterminate employees and terms over 3 months on strength as of March 31, 2025, who self-identified as belonging to 1 or more of the 4 designated EE groups.

3.1 Highlights

For fiscal year 2024–2025, FCAC’s representation of the 4 designated groups was as follows:

The representation of women was 60.0%, which surpassed the LMA of 48.2%.
The representation of Indigenous Peoples increased to 3.6%, which was below the LMA of 4.2%.
The representation of persons with disabilities was 14.0%, which surpassed the LMA of 12.3%.
The representation of visible minorities increased to 26.4%, which was below the LMA of 26.8%.

Figure 1.

Figure 1 - Text version

Percentage representation of employment equity groups
	FCAC employees	Labour Market Availability
Women	60.0$	48.2%
Indegenous Peoples	3.6%	4..2%
Persons with disabilities	14.0%	12.3%
Visible minorities	26.4%	26.8%

NOTE: Labour market availability is based on the 2021 Census and the 2022 Canadian Survey on Disability.

3.2 Women

Women were well represented and constituted 60.0% of FCAC’s workforce, which is 11.8% above the LMA of 48.2%. Women were represented in all occupational groups at the Agency, and their representation surpassed the LMA in 3 of the 8 occupational groups, namely the Senior Managers, Middle and Other Managers, and Professionals groups. Their representation was lower in the Administrative and Senior Clerical Personnel, Semi-Professionals and Technicians, and Intermediate Sales and Services Personnel groups.

3.3 Indigenous Peoples

The percentage of FCAC employees who identified as Indigenous Peoples increased to 3.6%, which represented a gap of 2 employees below the revised LMA of 4.2%. Sustained attention will continue to be placed on closing this gap and achieving full representation. Indigenous Peoples were represented in the Senior Managers, Professionals, and Administrative and Senior Clerical Personnel occupational groups. They were underrepresented in the Middle and Other Managers and Semi-Professionals and Technicians groups.

3.4 Persons with disabilities

Persons with disabilities were well represented and constituted 14.0% of FCAC workforce, exceeding the LMA of 12.3% by 1.7%. Their representation surpassed the LMA in the Senior, Middle and Other Managers and Clerical Personnel groups and was below LMA for the Professionals and Intermediate Sales and Service Personnel groups. Representation was at par for the remaining groups.

3.5 Members of visible minorities

The overall representation of members of visible minorities increased to 26.4% in 2025, which represented a 1-person gap compared to the updated LMA of 26.8% (0.2%). The revised LMA for members of visible minorities was higher than previous due to population changes between the 2021 Census and the previous 2016 Census. Their representation surpassed the LMA in 3 of the 8 occupational groups: Senior Managers, Administrative and Senior Clerical Personnel, and Intermediate Sales & Services Personnel. There were gaps for the Middle and Other Managers and Professionals groups. Representation was at par for the remaining groups.

3.6 New hires

Sustained recruitment efforts to improve our representation continue to yield positive results. Of the 29 new hires in 2024–2025, 55.2% or 16 were women and 34.5% or 10 were members of visible minorities. Persons with disabilities and Indigenous Peoples were also hired, but the figures have been suppressed to protect confidentiality as the number is 5 or fewer in each case.

3.7 Promotions

There was a total of 10 promotions in 2024–2025, all of which were of members of 1 or more of the designated groups. Of the persons who were promoted, 80% were women. The numbers of promotions for members of visible minorities and persons with disabilities have been suppressed to protect confidentiality.

3.8 Separations

In 2024–2025, there were 15 departures, of which 60.0% were women. The number of departures for members of visible minorities has been suppressed to protect confidentiality. There were no departures of Indigenous Peoples or of persons with disabilities.

4. Future strategies

Through our EDI action plan, we will continue to make concrete and meaningful progress in implementing EE and maintaining a welcoming, safe and inclusive workplace for all FCAC employees. As 2024–2025 was the final year of the original plan, it will be revised and updated in 2025–2026 based on employee feedback following the latest PSES.

In addition to developing the plan and supporting our ongoing initiatives, the focus in 2025–2026 will be on the following priorities:

Implementing the revised commemorative calendar with impactful commemorations, and leveraging the EDI Ambassadors Community to support and engage EE and equity-seeking group members
Rolling out a new series of EDI training to shine a light on different EE and equity-seeking groups
Collaborating with the Canadian Human Rights Commission as it performs an EE audit
Staying abreast of and implementing applicable changes to be made to the Employment Equity Act including anticipated changes to the Self-Identification form

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 FCAC 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.