Supporting Black Public Servants

The Executive Leadership Development Program supports the advancement of Black executives by strengthening leadership capacity, executive readiness and professional networks across the public service. The program provides targeted development opportunities focused on executive competencies, strategic leadership and organizational impact. The initiative continues to support succession planning and representation of Black leaders at the executive level.

Launched in April 2025, the career counselling and coaching program provides individualized professional development support to Black public servants to address long-standing barriers to career advancement, including limited access to counselling, assessments and tailored career guidance.

The program is designed to support participants in clarifying career goals, strengthening leadership readiness and navigating promotion pathways within the federal public service. Participants receive one-on-one career counselling and professional coaching tailored to their career stage and development objectives.

The Second Official Language Training for Black Public Servants Initiative launched in April 2025 and aims to reduce language-related barriers that affect Black public servants. The initiative responds to structural challenges such as limited access to training, inconsistent departmental support and competing workload demands. It is designed to reduce language-related barriers to career advancement and increase access to leadership opportunities.

The program offers multiple training streams tailored to participants’ proficiency levels, career objectives and learning needs. In addition to formal language instruction, participants benefit from structured learning supports, progress monitoring and access to wellness resources to help manage workload pressures and learning-related stress.

The Aspiring Directors Program for Black Leaders supports Black public servants and was designed to address barriers such as limited access to executive development opportunities, reduced visibility in talent management processes and gaps in leadership sponsorship.

The program focuses on strengthening strategic leadership skills, organizational influence and executive readiness. Participants benefit from a structured curriculum that includes leadership development workshops, peer learning, executive-level coaching and access to wellness supports to promote resilience, psychological safety and sustained performance during periods of career transition.

The Leadership Development Program for Black Supervisors and Managers supports participants by strengthening leadership capability, people management skills and operational effectiveness. The program addresses systemic barriers such as uneven access to leadership development opportunities, limited representation in management roles and challenges related to navigating inclusive leadership in complex workplace environments.

Participants receive targeted leadership training, practical management tools, peer learning opportunities and coaching support. The program also integrates wellness supports to help participants manage workload pressures, leadership stressors and workplace challenges, while fostering sustainable leadership practices.

This initiative offers three learning programs, including a self-directed part-time online training, a data and AI accelerator, and a masterclass series.

In 2023, Black-centric enhancements to the EAP were introduced to improve access to culturally responsive mental health support for Black public servants. Since the initiative’s launch, the number of Black mental health professionals available through the program has increased significantly to 122 providers as of December 2025.

To better reflect lived experience and cultural context, self-identification data is collected on a voluntary basis and used to match clients with mental health professionals based on requested demographic criteria through an active offer approach. This has resulted in a matching success rate of approximately 90%.

In addition, targeted outreach has been conducted with more than 150 community organizations to expand the network of qualified Black mental health professionals across Canada. Support offerings have also been enhanced by increasing the number of counselling sessions available to Black employees experiencing workplace discrimination or microaggressions, from 8 to up to 12 sessions.

Launched in July 2025, the series reflects on the connections between racism and workplace well-being through data and personal testimonials. It also supports public servants by providing information and resources on anti-racism and mental health to foster healthier workplaces.

This series is delivered in partnership with the Canadian Innovation Centre for Mental Health in the Workplace, managed by the Ombuds Office at Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada.

The Building the Pipeline initiative is a collaboration between the TBS and the offices of ombuds at Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada; Shared Services Canada; and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency.