Employment Equity in the Public Service of Canada for Fiscal Year 2024 to 2025

Core public administration representation and workforce availability

Figures in brackets represent the change since the previous year or fiscal year.

Having a truly diverse and inclusive culture begins with having a public service that reflects the population it serves, from entry level to senior leadership, and across the various classification groups. Internal representation is based on those who have voluntarily chosen to self-identify to date as an Indigenous person, a person with a disability and/or a member of a visible minority.

As of March 31, 2025, 71.3% of the CPA belonged to one or more employment equity groups.

As of March 31, 2025, representation of women, Indigenous Peoples and members of visible minorities are above their WFA at the aggregated level. Representation of persons with disabilities increased by 1.1 percentage points since the previous year but remains below the WFA.^{Footnote 4}

Black employees represent 5.1% of the CPA, an increase of 0.1 percentage points since last year, and 21.5% of the members of visible minorities. There is no WFA for Black employees because it is not a designated group under the Employment Equity Act.

Historical trends for the designated employment equity groups show that they all experienced an overall increase in representation between March 2010 and March 2025.

For more information, refer to Figure 1: Employment equity representation in the core public administration – 2010 versus 2025 in the Employment Equity Demographic Snapshot.

As of March 31, 2025, 68.7% of the EX group belonged to one or more employment equity groups, an increase of 1.3 percentage points since last year.

As of March 31, 2025, the representation of all employment equity designated groups at the EX level was above WFA.

The representation of Black executives is 3.2%, representing an increase of 0.2 percentage points since last year.

The employment equity population in the EX category has grown from 3,722 in 2020 to 5,448 in 2025. Representation of women, Indigenous Peoples and members of visible minorities continues to be predominantly seen at the EX‑01 level. This could be the result of targeted leadership programs that support recruitment and promotion at the EX entry level.

For more information on the programs, see the section on increasing the diversity of senior leaders.

For more information, refer to Figure 3: Representation of executives by group and executive level in the Employment Equity Demographic Snapshot.

Representation by province and territory of work

As of March 2025, the representation rate for women was the highest in Yukon and Prince Edward Island (63.4% and 63.3%, respectively) while it was the lowest in Nova Scotia.

The representation rate for Indigenous Peoples was the highest in Nunavut at 53.0% and the lowest in Quebec (without the National Capital Region) at 2.8%. The representation rate of Indigenous Peoples has been the highest in Nunavut since at least 2017.

The representation rate for persons with disabilities was the highest in Newfoundland and Labrador as of March 2025, with Prince Edward Island slightly behind (11.3% and 11.2%, respectively). Representation for this group increased in all regions since March 2024.

Compared to March 2024, members of visible minorities experienced an increase in representation in all regions except for in Northwest Territories. The largest increase in representation occurred in Newfoundland and Labrador, where the representation rate increased by 2.8 percentage points.

Quebec (without the National Capital Region) and the National Capital Region had the highest representation rate of Black employees (6.7% and 6.2%, respectively).

For more information, refer to the representation maps in the Employment Equity Demographic Snapshot.

Occupational group representation

Table 3 shows the representation rates for the four employment equity groups and Black employees for the five largest occupational groups within the CPA. The members of visible minorities and persons with disabilities representation rates for the Border Services occupational group increased by 3.1 percentage points and 1.9 percentage points, respectively, since last year.

When looking at the top five occupational groups for each designated group, the highest proportion of women is in the Health Services group (82.7%) and the Human Resources Management group (82.5%). Although the proportion of women in the Health Services group is high, more work is required in the other STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) occupational groups. A recent cohort of the Mosaic Leadership Development program gave priority to women in STEM fields. This program and others could increase the representation of women in STEM occupational groups.

The proportion of Indigenous Peoples is highest in the Ships’ Officers^{Footnote 5} group (11.0%), followed by the Correctional Services group (10.9%). Persons with disabilities continue to be most represented in the Law Practitioner group (16.5%). Both members of visible minorities and Black employees continue to be highly represented in the Comptrollership group (37.8% and 8.4%, respectively).

For more information, refer to information on occupational groups in the Employment Equity Demographic Snapshot.

Salary range representation

When discussing salary range distribution, it is important to note that salary is influenced by several factors, such as occupational groups, levels and years of service.

For more information, refer to Figure 2: Salary range distribution by group in the Employment Equity Demographic Snapshot.

The salary range distribution by group table in the Employment Equity Demographic Snapshot shows that as of March 2025, the proportion of each of the employment equity groups and Black employees is higher in the $50,000 to $74,999 salary band compared to the CPA, at 27.9%. Black employees have the highest proportion in this salary band compared to all other employment equity groups. However, the proportion of Black employees in the $50,000 to $74,999 salary band has decreased from 55.7% in 2021 to 40.8% in 2025. Between March 2021 and March 2025, the proportion of Black employees in the $75,000 to $99,999, $100,000 to $124,999 and the $125,000 to $149,999 salary bands has increased. This may indicate that initiatives to increase the diversity within the executive group have helped increase the number of Black executives in the higher salary bands.

The proportion of women continues to be higher compared to the CPA in the salary ranges under $75,000 and lower in the salary ranges of $75,000 and above. Historically, work predominantly done by women has been under-compensated in Canada. TBS-OCHRO, in conjunction with bargaining agents and non-unionized representatives, is developing pay equity plans to identify gaps between the compensation of jobs held mostly by women and those held mostly by men that involve work of equal value.

There continues to be a higher proportion of Indigenous employees in the salary range between $50,000 to $74,999 and $75,000 to $99,999 compared to the CPA. The distribution of Indigenous Peoples earning $100,000 and above continues to increase but remains lower than the CPA.

Compared to the four employment equity groups and the CPA overall, there is a higher proportion of persons with disabilities in the salary band of $150,000 and over.

For more information, refer to the Employment Equity Demographic Snapshot.

Hires into, promotions within and separations from the core public administration

Hires refer to employees who were added to the public service of Canada payroll between April 1 and March 31 of each given fiscal year.

The total number of hires for all employees has decreased by 40.9% between 2022–23 and 2024–25, returning to a number that is about the same as in 2017–18.

Compared to last year, the share of women hired decreased by 3.2 percentage points. This also represents the lowest share of hires since 2018–19.

Over the same period, the share of hires for persons with disabilities has more than doubled.

The share of hires for members of visible minorities also climbed from 17.9% in 2016–17 to 27.2% in 2024–25.

The share of hires for Black employees has fluctuated over time. However, they increased from 2.7% in 2016–17 to 6.4% in 2024–25.

The data reveals an overall increase in the number and the share of promotions for all four employment designated groups since 2016–17. The share of promotions for persons with disabilities and Black employees more than doubled from 2016–17 to 2024–25.

Separations refer to employees who left the public service of Canada payroll between April 1 and March 31 of each given fiscal year. Note that the data on separations include employees who separated while on leave without pay.

The share of separations fluctuates for women, Indigenous Peoples and persons with disabilities.

The share of separations of members of visible minorities saw an overall increase from 11.9% in 2016–17 to 16.6% in 2024–25.

The share of separations of Black employees has increased from 2.8% in 2016–17 to 4.0% in 2024–25.

More research would be needed to determine whether the increase in the share of separations points to challenges with retention as the separation data includes departures due to retirements.

For more information, refer to information on hires into, promotions within and separations from the CPA in the Employment Equity Demographic Snapshot.

For more information on hires and promotions for members of employment equity groups and subgroups, visit the PSC’s Diversity and Inclusion Compass.

Generating and publishing data

Making disaggregated data available is a key initiative in relation to the government’s priorities to foster greater equity, diversity and inclusion, and accessibility, given the importance of data to inform decisions and action.

TBS-OCHRO continues to support this priority through ongoing releases via the Government of Canada’s Diversity and inclusion statistics website. This includes providing representation data for the four designated employment equity groups using several criteria, including:

• organization
• province or territory of work
• occupational group and category
• salary
• age
• tenure
• first official language
• executive level

Representation data for the employment equity subgroups is also published by the same breakdowns as listed above except for first official language and executive level.

Workforce demographic data, employment equity data and WFA data can be accessed and further manipulated to provide greater insight into the workforce through the Interactive data visualization tool.

In 2024–25, TBS-OCHRO continued to advance the modernized self-identification (self-ID) approach in preparation to launch the new centralized application, which has been designed to strengthen privacy, improve accessibility, streamline the process, and capture timelier, inclusive and disaggregated data that reflects Canada’s evolving workforce.

These improvements will enhance both the quality and type of self-ID data, potentially enabling a more accurate measurement of representation and better design, delivery and evaluation of initiatives that foster a diverse, inclusive and equitable public service while advancing reconciliation and leveraging technology to improve productivity.

The updated questionnaire will support TBS-OCHRO in fulfilling its obligations by providing timely reporting on the representation of employment equity designated groups and enhanced data to address biases and barriers affecting members of employment equity groups

Between March 31, 2024, and March 31, 2025, results from the Public Service Employee Survey (PSES) and the Student Experience Survey (SES) help guide ongoing efforts to identify and address systemic barriers that affect equity-deserving groups across the federal public service. These data sources continue to serve as critical inputs in shaping enterprise-wide efforts to advance diversity, equity, inclusion and anti-racism.

In 2024, the PSES underwent question updates informed by broad feedback across the public service, including insights from employees and employee networks seeking greater inclusion and visibility, to better reflect the diversity of the federal workforce. For the first time, the survey included questions on religion and ethno-religious identities. It also asked questions on sexual orientation and 2SLGBTQIA+^{Footnote 6} identities as separate constructs. These additions will generate richer insights into equity-related issues such as belonging, psychological safety, leadership trust, and experiences of harassment and discrimination.

Disaggregated results from both surveys helped surface persistent disparities facing all designated employment equity groups, Black employees and 2SLGBTQIA+ employees.

PSES and SES data marks a shift from tracking representation alone to addressing lived experiences and systemic issues. The data can support systemic change by:

• informing inclusive onboarding, development and retention practices
• supporting internal equity plans through disaggregated results by identity group and workplace experience
• integrating results to examine equity in student recruitment pipelines and early-career development
• contributing evidence to ongoing policy development on combatting hate and advancing reconciliation

Increasing the diversity of senior leaders

TBS-OCHRO’s Mosaic Leadership Development program closed its second cohort after participants completed a 15-month leadership journey. A total of 48 aspiring executives from equity-seeking groups, including 2SLGBTQI+ communities, from across the federal public service completed the mandatory components of the program. The second cohort featured approximately 20% of each of the following employment equity and equity-seeking groups: Indigenous Peoples, racialized people and persons with disabilities, and members of the Black and 2SLGBTQI+ communities, except for women. The ratio of women to men was just under two to one, which underlines the dedication to removing barriers for women from designated employment equity and equity-seeking groups.

The third cohort of 50 participants launched in October 2024, with priority given to Indigenous Peoples, Black employees and regional participation. As a selection criterion, priority was also given to the length of time spent by nominees in the EX minus one category because this is often an indicator of stagnation. This group had a lower percentage of Indigenous participants due to a low number of nominees. TBS-OCHRO tracked and gave priority to women in STEM fields for the first time, resulting in an increased ratio of women to men.

During the fiscal year 2024–25, the Mentorship Plus program reported implementing 513 sponsorship relationships of employees from designated and equity-seeking groups (one-on-one relationships with sponsors and protégés) across 50 organizations.

In 2024–25, TBS-OCHRO launched the first Executive Leadership Development Program (ELDP) dedicated to Indigenous leaders. The cohort of 27 individuals began psychometric assessments with the PSC in summer 2024 and the learning program with the Canada School of Public Service (CSPS) in winter 2025.

The first ELDP dedicated to Black leaders was also introduced by TBS-OCHRO. Two cohorts of 25 participants each were selected following a nomination process. Intersectionality was an important factor for the diverse selection committee. Participants began psychometric assessments and the learning program in September 2024, delivered by the PSC and the CSPS, respectively. Two additional cohorts began in 2025–26.

In February 2025, it was announced that tailored adaptations of the CSPS’s existing Aspiring Directors Program and Management Development Program, namely the Aspiring Directors Program for Black Leaders and the Leadership Development Program for Black Supervisors and Managers, were being co-developed by CSPS and TBS-OCHRO’s Task Force for Black Public Servants under the Action Plan for Black Public Servants. These programs are designed for Black public servants to reflect their lived experiences and address the systemic barriers that can impact their career advancement. Rooted in culturally competent and trauma- and healing-informed practices, the programs also provide mental health wraparound supports, focusing on building community, strengthening confidence, and supporting leadership growth and mobility.

In support of career advancement and acceleration of diverse leaders, the CSPS also:

• launched integrated modules on anti-Black racism, accessibility, 2SLGBTQIA+ inclusion, racial equity, Indigenous reconciliation, and neurodiversity in executive training programs
• provided training on trauma-informed facilitation to support senior leaders who lead program elements

Addressing systemic barriers

TBS-OCHRO’s efforts to embed equity into the public service culture and practice continue, strengthening organizational capacity to maintain a respectful, diverse and barrier-free working environment.

In July 2024, TBS-OCHRO launched the first Second Official Language Training Framework, developed in collaboration with an advisory committee on second official language learning for equity-seeking groups. This framework provides federal institutions with practical tools to ensure equitable access to language training and includes three key components:

• guidelines: support institutions in adopting inclusive and standardized approaches to second official language training
• handbook: share best practices and recommendations to help managers and institutions implement the guidelines effectively
• playbook: offer tailored learning paths, tools and resources to meet diverse learner needs across organizational contexts

In addition, TBS-OCHRO advanced its review of the Qualification Standards in Relation to Official Languages, applying a diversity and inclusion lens to identify and reduce potential barriers or biases, while maintaining the integrity of the standards.

Between March 31, 2024, and March 31, 2025, TBS-OCHRO’s Task Force for Black Public Servants continued work under the Action Plan to Support Black Public Servants to design and prepare the Second Official Language Training Initiative for Black public servants. This is a targeted program to reduce barriers to bilingualism that can hinder career mobility in the federal public service. This initiative was formally announced as part of a suite of new Action Plan supports on February 26, 2025. It aims to provide flexible, targeted official language learning to more than 500 Black public servants annually, integrating three complementary streams to support diverse learning needs and career contexts:

1. online self-directed learning: offering Black public servants access to digital official language learning resources and tools they can use at their own pace and schedule, supporting foundational skill building outside traditional classroom formats
2. enhanced access to departmental official language training: facilitating participation in existing government training opportunities by improving eligibility and enrolment pathways for Black employees across departments, helping to remove barriers created by resource constraints or prioritization practices
3. part-time online instructor-led group sessions: providing structured, interactive instruction led by qualified language trainers, designed to build practical communication skills and offer peer learning opportunities that reinforce proficiency in the second official language

The program also incorporates holistic supports such as access to counsellors, workshops on linguistic insecurity, and coaching to address both learning and well-being needs in the effort to increase equitable access to language training and support career progression for Black public servants across the federal public service.

Additionally, TBS-OCHRO, through the Task Force for Black Public Servants, has worked closely with the Black Executives Network and key departmental partners to lay a strong foundation for advancing the work on the response plan to A Study on the Black Executive Community in the Federal Public Service (accessible only on the Government of Canada network).

In 2024–25, TBS-OCHRO made progress toward its objectives to create a healthy, safe and accessible workplace as set out in the Policy on People Management and the Directive on the Duty to Accommodate.

Building on efforts since 2020 and evolving to meet the realities of a hybrid work environment, TBS-OCHRO released the Hybrid Technical Package and launched learning scenarios that complement earlier resources such as the Duty to Accommodate: A General Process for Managers and the Managers’ Pocket Guide. These practical tools empower leaders and functional specialists in effective and timely implementation of workplace accommodations.

Through targeted outreach, including sessions with the PSC’s Employment Opportunities for Students with Disabilities, the Joint Employment Equity Committee, the Persons with Disabilities Chairs and Champions Committee, the Ombuds Forum, and the National Managers’ Community, TBS-OCHRO equipped communities with duty to accommodate best practices. It also supported the Joint Learning Program to update the Duty to Accommodate one-day workshop, designed to empower participants to better understand their shared responsibilities in fostering inclusion.

The Federal Speakers’ Forum on Lived Experience (the Forum) continued to build a community of speakers who share lived experience related to equity, diversity, mental health and inclusion topics. By sharing ideas and building connections, the Forum aims to open hearts and minds to inspire action toward a more inclusive workplace. Since its inception, the Forum has delivered over 945 events, including 296 events in 2024–25 fiscal year alone, through meaningful conversations with a diverse roster of over 118 speakers.

TBS-OCHRO provides enterprise-wide governance that supports coherent and consistent leadership in employment equity, diversity, inclusion, anti-racism and accessibility. Through its Secretariat functions, TBS-OCHRO supports the three Deputy Minister Employment Equity Champions, who represent racialized employees, employees with disabilities and Indigenous employees. The Secretariat advances public service employment equity objectives by offering a forum for networking and sharing best practices across departments and agencies. In 2024–25, the Employment Equity Champions and Chairs Committees/Circle (EECCC/C) held nine quarterly and ad hoc meetings across the three communities, strengthening collaboration and advancing enterprise-wide priorities.

TBS-OCHRO also convenes departmental Designated Senior Officials responsible for employment equity, diversity and inclusion. This forum supports consistent awareness of enterprise-wide initiatives and enables structured information-sharing. Designated Senior Officials are responsible for overseeing their department’s employment equity obligations.

In October 2024, TBS-OCHRO published Guidance on Inclusive and Anti-racist Behaviours in Performance Management (accessible only on the Government of Canada network). This guidance highlights expected behaviours to support an inclusive and anti-racist workplace across the established Key Leadership and Core Competencies frameworks. The development of this guidance was a commitment in the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat’s management action plan responding to the 2023 Office of the Auditor General’s report on inclusion in the workplace for racialized employees.

In 2024–25, TBS-OCHRO enhanced the Federal Public Service Workplace Mental Health Dashboard (the WMH Dashboard), a tool that measures the psychological health and safety of federal public service workplaces. Developed in collaboration with Statistics Canada, the WMH Dashboard provides scores on 11 of the 13 psychosocial factors from the National Standard of Canada for Psychological Health and Safety in the Workplace, based on results from the PSES. The WMH Dashboard is a key tool enabling the identification of organizational strengths and gaps in support of the implementation of the Federal Public Service Workplace Mental Health Strategy. It can provide valuable insights for initiatives on equity, diversity and inclusion.

The Career Counselling and Coaching program for Black public servants, announced in February 2024, is being expanded to support up to 400 Black public servants. The program, created in collaboration with TBS-OCHRO’s Task Force for Black Public Servants, is being delivered by the PSC’s Personnel Psychology Centre. This initiative aims to address systemic barriers and provide targeted support for Black public servants seeking career advancement and leadership opportunities.

In 2024–25, the Office of Public Service Accessibility (OPSA) at TBS made important progress, including developing a secure, user-centric, accessible and bilingual application for the Government of Canada Workplace Accessibility Passport now available for employees with disabilities to securely document their workplace accommodation needs and share with their manager. OPSA continues to work on improving the accessibility experience for employees with disabilities by removing barriers and advancing its implementation. The digital application reduces operational costs by simplifying processes. As of March 2025, more than 75% of organizations across the Government of Canada have adopted the Passport and are integrating it into their workplace accommodation processes.

OPSA continues to support all federal departments and agencies to meet the requirements of the Accessible Canada Act through the development of tools, guidance and engagement activities. This year, the Government of Canada’s commitment to hire 5,000 net new persons with disabilities was exceeded, having hired nearly 7,000 persons with disabilities since 2019. Accessibility governance committees continued to raise systemic accessibility gaps and solutions, and government-wide initiatives were undertaken to build disability confidence and promote leadership opportunities for employees with disabilities. These activities likely contributed to the 1.1 percentage point increase in representation of persons with disabilities across the CPA since March 2024.

The Accessibility Canada Act requires every federal organization to submit an accessibility plan and report publicly on their progress every year. OPSA developed new guidance and tools to support organizations to improve the strength of accessibility measurement across plans and progress reports, including:

• a three-part accessibility measurement workshop series, hosted in collaboration with Statistics Canada, which taught attendees how to develop and integrate accessibility measurement into their plans and progress reports and showcased measurement examples from strong-performing departments to drive networking across the Government of Canada
• high-level analysis of published accessibility progress reports to identify gaps and trends, with results being presented at various governance tables and communities of practice to inform enterprise-wide tools and guidance, driving further accessibility change

Collectively, these products have highlighted the need for ongoing accessibility training and systemic culture change and are being used to inform the development of additional tools and guidance.

In September 2024, the Better Accommodation Project was launched by the Deputy Minister Champion for Federal Employees with Disabilities at Employment and Social Development Canada. This interdepartmental initiative aimed to deliver best-in-class accommodations for employees with disabilities across the public service. To date, the Better Accommodation Project team has been working with behavioural science experts from the Privy Council Office’s Impact Canada team to identify the behaviours that impede the accommodation process to design and test solutions.

To support employment equity, diversity and inclusion through general staffing, the PSC, in collaboration with the CSPS, organized an event that focused on staffing options to support equity, diversity and inclusion under the Public Service Employment Act. The Supporting Employment Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Through Staffing event was delivered in response to questions on how staffing processes can better support equity and inclusion goals and covered three main objectives:

• clarifying the differences between obligations under the Employment Equity Act and the broader scope of diversity and inclusion initiatives
• exploring employment equity obligations as they relate to staffing and recruitment
• providing an overview of staffing flexibilities available under the Public Service Employment Act to support more equitable hiring outcomes

Participants gained insight into legal and policy foundations and actionable strategies to help support the employment equity goals of hiring managers and organizations. The session emphasized how inclusive hiring practices can contribute to building a public service that is more diverse, representative, and aligned with the values of equity and respect.

Amendments to the Public Service Employment Regulations came into effect on January 29, 2025. The amendments ensure that the Regulations continue to support their enabling legislation, the Public Service Employment Act, to meet the current and emerging needs of departments and agencies so that Canada’s federal public service continues to benefit from a staffing regime that is modern and inclusive. Key changes include the following:

• various priority rights have been harmonized and clarified
• requirements for identifying and selecting employees for layoff have been clarified, increasing transparency and communication in the layoff process and identifying and removing or mitigating biases and barriers in assessment

Lastly, the PSC presented a workshop to the Human Resources Council on the new requirements for the selection of employees for the purposes of retention or layoff (SERLO), including obligations related to assessments. Participants attended live, and the recordings on YouTube are available online.

To raise awareness among Inuit in Nunavut about employment opportunities in the Government of Canada and foster connections, the PSC and Pilimmaksaivik, the Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency’s Federal Centre of Excellence for Inuit Employment, partnered to deliver a community outreach visit in Baker Lake, Nunavut. This outreach, which included distributing flyers and inviting residents to community gatherings, such as a presentation at the Baker Lake campus of Nunavut Arctic College and a session at a local high school, generated strong interest in career possibilities with the federal public service among students and job seekers. These events marked a successful step forward in strengthening relationships and supporting Inuit participation in the federal public service.

The Multiculturalism and Anti-Racism Program of Canadian Heritage has been instrumental in advancing employment equity and fostering systemic change across federal institutions. In 2024–25, it led initiatives to foster anti-racism, multiculturalism and equity through training, public education and interdepartmental dialogue, and provided funding to civil society organizations to support a more inclusive public service by using its legislative obligations under the Canadian Multiculturalism Act and key policy mechanisms such as the Changing Systems, Transforming Lives: Canada’s Anti-Racism Strategy 2024-2028 and Canada’s Action Plan on Combatting Hate.

The Canadian Multiculturalism Act promotes respect for Canada’s diverse ethnicities, cultures and religions and the full participation of all Canadians in the social, political, civic and economic spheres of society, including advancement within federal institutions. The Annual Report on the Operation of the Canadian Multiculturalism Act describes the activities undertaken by federal institutions to ensure that policies, programs and services are inclusive, including identifying and addressing barriers to hiring and retention and promoting career development.

The Canada School of Public Service (CSPS) published a Values and Ethics Discussion Toolkit, featuring Indigenous contexts. In collaboration with the Clerk of the Council Office and TBS, the School held a two-day values and ethics symposium titled What Unites Us, Defines Us: Values and Ethics in Today’s Federal Public Service (recording on YouTube). The event featured panels on the Call to Action on Anti-Racism, Equity, and Inclusion in the Federal Public Service. Discussions supported the principles of the Employment Equity Act by promoting inclusive values and an ethical public service.

The CSPS continues to apply the “nothing without us” principle by working with interdepartmental groups, advisory committees, subject matter experts and public servants with lived experience to develop reconciliation, equity, diversity and inclusion learning products. In January 2025, the Addressing Antisemitism in the Workplace and Addressing Islamophobia in the Workplace were launched.

The Indigenous Learning business line advanced key government priorities on reconciliation, diversity and the elimination of systemic barriers facing Indigenous Peoples. The CSPS launched its Learning Portal on the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act (UNDA) and created a learning portal on Indigenous languages and cultural revitalization. New material included An Introduction to Modern Treaties and Self-Government course, a co-created video on the Inuit Nunangat Policy with Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami and released a Learning Roadmap for Managers of Indigenous Employees.

The government-wide IT Apprenticeship Program for Indigenous Peoples, led by Employment and Social Development Canada, continues to provide apprentices with a balanced career development experience, offering on-the-job training (80%) and self-paced professional development learning (20%). Participants also benefit from mentorship and culturally appropriate supports, including guidance from Indigenous success facilitators and opportunities for participation in sharing circles.

Since its inception in 2020, and up until March 31, 2025, 196 apprentices were hired across 34 federal organizations. Of these apprentices, 21% worked from or lived in an Indigenous community and 32% identified as women or as gender diverse.

The program introduced a small pilot project in 2023, implementing fair-chance hiring practices for justice-impacted individuals for the first time in government. As of March 31, 2025, 80% of participants in the pilot were on track to successfully complete their apprenticeship.

Between April 1, 2024, and March 31, 2025:

• 47 apprentices were hired, across 21 federal organizations:
  • 11% worked from or lived in an Indigenous community, addressing geographic barriers and supporting connection to community
  • 32% identified as women or gender diverse
  • 30 graduated and were either hired indeterminately or in the process of securing longer-term employment

The Human Resources Council (HRC) (accessible only on the Government of Canada network) works with all members of the diverse HR community to build capacities, share best practices and strengthen connections.

In 2024–25, the HRC led monthly heads of HR meetings to mobilize central agency partners and better equip the community in leading excellence in HR, with a focus on equity, diversity, inclusion and accessibility, that included:

• “smartshops” to advance equity, diversity, inclusion and accessibility within the community
• sessions on “Navigating Change: A Trauma-Informed Approach for HR Professionals,” in collaboration with Health Canada
• inviting heads of HR and the ombuds community to attend a special HRC meeting in which Dr. Rachel Zellars presented findings from her report, A Study on the Black Executive Community in the Federal Public Service
• launching a career conversation handbook that supports employees and managers in navigating conversations on career development, a key area of concern for equity-seeking communities
• engaging with leads of the HR communities of practice and the regional councils at Community Engagement Hub meetings and heads of HR at HRC meetings to discuss efforts to advance reconciliation, anti-racism, equity, inclusion and accessibility within their networks, regions and organizations