Indigenous recruitment – Information for hiring managers

The Aboriginal Centre of Expertise: here to support you!

This page provides information for federal public service hiring managers on Indigenous recruitment. We provide expertise and support on:

• Indigenous representation in the federal public service
• hiring Indigenous talent
• creating tailored pools and inventories, including Indigenous Career Pathways
• building an inclusive and barrier-free staffing process to hire Indigenous candidates
• challenges and barriers to Indigenous employment
• liaising and building partnerships with Indigenous communities
• supporting Indigenous employees

We also provide information and support on:

• self-declaration, and the Affirmation of Aboriginal Affiliation Form
• Nunavut Agreement obligations related to hiring Inuit in Nunavut

For more information on these topics, please contact the Aboriginal Centre of Expertise at: cfp.cea-ace.psc@canada.ca.

For information on recruiting Inuit in Nunavut, contact Pilimmaksaivik, the Federal Centre of Excellence on Inuit Employment, at Pilimmaksaivik@canada.ca.

Indigenous representation in the federal public service

For data on the representation (self-identification) of Indigenous people in the federal public service, consult the 2018–19 report on employment equity in the federal public service. For more info on the representation of Indigenous peoples in Canada, consult the Key results from the 2016 Census.

Hiring Indigenous talent!

Hire from the Government of Canada’s pools and inventories listed below; and don’t forget to select Aboriginal people in the employment equity section.

You can also ask your HR advisor about any departmental Indigenous hiring initiatives.

Indigenous Career Pathways: Inventory of Indigenous applicants

Looking to hire Indigenous talent? Visit the Indigenous Career Pathways - Inventory of Indigenous Applicants to find eligible and available Indigenous students and graduates in diverse fields.

For more recruitment options, consult the Recruitment Options for Managers web page.

Graduate recruitment programs

• Post-Secondary Recruitment Campaign – Information for managers
  • Select Aboriginal person in the Employment equity section of your request form
• Recruitment of Policy Leaders – Information for managers
  • Select Aboriginal person in the Employment equity section of your request form.

Student recruitment programs

• Indigenous Student Employment Opportunity – Information for managers
  • Select Aboriginal person in the Employment equity section of your request form
  • When you contact a student, make sure your job opportunity stands out:
    • match the work to the student’s interests and skill set
    • highlight the benefits: for example bridging opportunities, types of cultural resources available, a good onboarding package and competitive salary
  • Send us your student’s work contact info, and we’ll provide program support and include them in activities; email us at cfp.pfete-fswep.psc@canada.ca
  • If you attend career fairs for Indigenous people, we’ve got you covered! Download and print our promotional one-pager on the Indigenous Student Employment Opportunity
    • For more information, visit the Information for student applications page
• Post-Secondary Co-op/Internship Program
  1. Consult co-op best practices
  2. Consider hiring your student in the summer to minimize the impact on student education funding!
  3. Remind students that preference will be given to Indigenous students who self-declare
  4. Create an interesting job opportunity, and make your job opportunity stand out:
     1. highlight the benefits you have to offer
     2. explain what makes this job or team interesting
     3. show how your job opportunity matches the student’s interests and skills
  5. Once you’ve created your job ad, remember to share it with your chosen university’s Indigenous Centre; they can help reach out to your target audience

Research Affiliate Program - Information for hiring managers

• Apply your organization’s needs at the beginning of your process to give preference to Indigenous students
• Create an interesting job opportunity: make it stand out from the others
  • What makes this job or team interesting?
  • How can you match the student interest and skills?
  • What do you have to offer?
• Once your job ad is live, remember to share it with the Indigenous Centre of universities around you
  • They can help reach your target audience

Re-hiring students

If you’re looking to re-hire an Indigenous student, consult the Indigenous Career Pathways – Inventory of Indigenous Applicants or the Federal Student Work Experience Program: Information for managers.

Building an inclusive and barrier-free staffing process to hire Indigenous Peoples

Check out the Indigenous Recruitment Toolbox for useful information on establishing qualifications, advertisements, assessment, appointment and challenges/barriers to Indigenous employment.

Challenges and barriers to Indigenous employment

To learn about the barriers to Indigenous employment in the context of indigenous recruitment, visit Many Voices One Mind: a Pathway to Reconciliation.

Supporting Indigenous employees

Hiring Indigenous employees requires you to be also culturally competent to ensure you understand your employee’s perspective. Consult Hiring and supporting Indigenous employees for useful information on what you need to know as manager as well as accessing support.

Useful links

• Jobs for Indigenous people
• Affirmation of Aboriginal Affiliation
• Public Service Commission appointment framework
• Public service hiring guides
• Many Voices One Mind: a Pathway to Reconciliation
• Fair assessment in a diverse workplace