Separation Trends for Employment Equity Designated Groups
from Organizations Subject to the Public Service Employment Act for Fiscal Year 2020–2021
Background
The following analysis reports on all separations from indeterminate and term positions of 3 months or longer
between April 1, 2020, and March 31, 2021, with the intent of measuring departures of Employment Equity group
Footnote 1 members from the
public service. Throughout this report, the term “separations” is used to refer to all exits from
the public service, including retirements, resignations, and all other terminations of service. Reasons for
separations are analyzed for employees in employment equity designated groups compared to employees not belonging to the group being considered (referred to as “counterparts” in this report) Footnote 2 in departments and agencies subject to the Public Service Employment Act. This report also examines separations of employment equity groups from executive feeder group positions and from executive (EX) positions.
Separation shares for Employment Equity group employees in the public service
In this section of the report, the share of Employment Equity group member separations (i.e., as a percentage of all employee separations) is discussed. The report includes an analysis of the separation rates of members of Employment Equity groups from the public service according to their representation, age group, and subgroup.
Alongside a decrease in departures amongst all public service employees in 2020-2021, the share of separations increased by 1.1 percentage points for members of visible minorities but decreased for Indigenous peoples (-0.6 percentage points), women (-1.1 percentage points) and persons with disabilities (-0.4 percentage points) in 2020–21 compared to 2019–2020 (Table 1).
Women (56.1% vs. 55.7%) and persons with disabilities (6.7% vs. 5.7%) had separation shares above their representation, while members of visible minorities (10.9% vs. 18.9%) and Indigenous peoples (4.7% vs. 5.3%) had separation shares below their representation (Table 1).
Separation shares across groups varied significantly by age (Table 2, Table 3). Notably, separation shares for Indigenous peoples (6.9% vs. 6.0%) and women (60.7% vs. 55.8%) in the 45 to 54 age group are higher than their representation in the population.
For persons with disabilities, both representation and separation shares increase with age (Table 2, Table 3).
Persons with disabilities’ shares of separation are 2.2% in the under 25 age group and 9.9% in the 65+ age group.
Persons with disabilities’ representation in the population is 3.6% in the under 25 age group and 9.3% in the 65+ age group.
Finally, members of visible minorities have separation shares that are significantly lower than their representation in the population at all age groups (Table 2, Table 3).
Table 2: Separation shares by employment equity group and age group, PSEA organisations, 2020–2021
Age group
Indigenous peoples
Persons with disabilities
Members of visible minorities
Women
Under 25
3.4%
2.2%
12.8%
57.6%
25 to 34
4.8%
3.5%
16.5%
57.0%
35 to 44
4.7%
4.6%
17.3%
56.9%
45 to 54
6.9%
6.7%
11.8%
60.7%
55 to 64
4.9%
8.7%
6.0%
56.2%
65+
4.2%
9.9%
8.9%
46.0%
Table 3: Representation shares by employment equity group and age group, PSEA organisations, 2020–2021
Age group
Indigenous peoples
Persons with disabilities
Members of visible minorities
Women
Under 25
4.4%
3.6%
23.0%
60.0%
25 to 34
4.5%
3.8%
23.7%
58.1%
35 to 44
5.0%
4.6%
20.0%
57.5%
45 to 54
6.0%
6.3%
17.1%
55.8%
55 to 64
5.5%
8.2%
14.0%
50.3%
65+
4.6%
9.3%
17.0%
43.8%
Subgroups of employment equity designated groups had separation shares that were generally consistent with their corresponding designated groups. Tables 4a to 4c contain separation shares for employment equity subgroups in 2020–2021.
The separation shares for visible minority subgroups is generally lower than their representation in the public service. The separation shares for subgroups of Indigenous peoples and persons with disabilities, however, are generally equal to their representation in the public sector.
Table 4a: Separation shares for employees who self-identified as members of visible minorities, by employment equity subgroup, PSEA organisations, 2020–2021
Subgroup
Share of separations
Percentage point change from previous fiscal year
Count of separations
Representation among all employees
Members of Visible Minorities - Overall
10.9%
+0.4
1,364
18.9%
Black
2.4%
+0.3
302
3.8%
Non-white Latin American
0.4%
+0.1
47
0.8%
Person of mixed origin
1.0%
+0.1
128
1.5%
Chinese
1.5%
-0.1
193
3.2%
Japanese
0.1%
0.0
13
0.1%
Korean
0.1%
0.0
16
0.3%
Filipino
0.3%
0.0
40
0.7%
South Asian/East Indian
1.8%
0.0
228
3.3%
Non-white West Asian North
African or Arab
1.3%
+0.2
158
2.1%
Southeast Asian
0.5%
0.0
56
0.8%
Other visible minority
1.5%
-0.3
183
2.1%
Table 4b: Separation shares for employees in the public service who self-identified as Indigenous peoples, by employment equity subgroup, PSEA organisations, 2020–2021
Subgroup
Share of separations
Percentage point change from previous fiscal year
Count of separations
Representation among all employees
Indigenous peoples - Overall
4.7%
-0.6
594
5.3%
North American Indian/First Nation
2.1%
-0.3
260
2.2%
Métis
1.8%
-0.2
228
2.2%
Inuit
0.2%
0.0
22
0.2%
Other Indigenous
0.7%
0.0
84
0.7%
Table 4c: Separation shares for employees in the public service who self-identified as persons with disabilities, by employment equity subgroup, PSEA organisations, 2020–2021
Subgroup
Share of separations
Percentage point change from previous fiscal year
Count of separations
Representation among all employees
Persons with Disabilities - Overall
6.7%
-0.4
844
5.7%
Coordination or dexterity
0.6%
-0.1
76
0.5%
Mobility
1.4%
-0.1
181
1.0%
Speech impairment
0.2%
0.0
19
0.1%
Blind or visual impairment
0.5%
0.0
66
0.4%
Deaf or hard of hearing
1.0%
-0.1
123
0.8%
Other disability
3.7%
-0.2
466
3.7%
Reasons for Employment Equity group employees’ separations
Building on the data presented above regarding separation shares, this section discusses some of the reasons for
those separations. For the purposes of this report, reasons for separations are classified into two categories:
retirement and non-retirement reasons Footnote 3. This section addresses separation reasons for Employment
Equity group
members and their counterparts, and non-retirement separation ratesFootnote 4 of members of visible minorities.
Most separations (60.5% in 2020-2021) from the public service were for non-retirement reasons (referred to here as “non-retirements”).
Among employment equity groups, non-retirements were the main reason for separation from the public service in 2020–2021, except for persons with disabilities.
Retirements accounted for 55.5% of all persons with disabilities’ separations, due in part to the group’s older age demographic.
For women and Indigenous people, non-retirements accounted for 61.2% and 59.6% of all separations, respectively.
For members of visible minorities, non-retirements accounted for 75.3% of all separations from that group.
In 2020–2021, most non-retirements for members of visible minorities and women were due to separations from term positions, at 52.4% and 57.5% respectively (Table 5),which is similar to the public service overall (56.3% in 2020–2021).
Table 5: Non-retirement shares by employment equity group: term non-retirements, PSEA organisations, 2017-2018 to 2020-2021
Fiscal year
Indigenous peoples
Persons with disabilities
Members of visible minorities
Women
2017–18
34.8%
38.4%
50.1%
48.5%
2018–19
39.0%
43.1%
48.6%
56.8%
2019–20
39.6%
40.7%
52.7%
54.8%
2020–21
45.8%
45.2%
52.4%
57.5%
Table 6: Non-retirement shares by employment equity group: indeterminate non-retirements, PSEA organisations, 2017-2018 to 2020-2021
Fiscal year
Indigenous peoples
Persons with disabilities
Members of visible minorities
Women
2017–18
65.2%
61.6%
49.9%
51.5%
2018–19
61.0%
56.9%
51.4%
43.2%
2019–20
60.4%
59.3%
47.3%
45.2%
2020–21
54.2%
54.8%
47.6%
42.5%
In 2020-2021, members of visible minorities had a greater share of non-retirements than their counterparts (75.3% versus 58.7%, respectively), due to two main factors:
first, the visible minority population has a larger share of term employees compared to their counterparts (13.9% compared to 9.7% in 2020–2021)
next, members of visible minorities have a younger age demographic in the public service (Table 3), resulting in fewer retirements and increasing the share of non-retirements
amongst indeterminate employees, a higher share of members of visible minorities (35.9%) leave the public service through non-retirement separations than do their counterparts (25.3%)
However, when we consider indeterminate employees’ rate of non-retirement separation, members of visible minorities’ separation rates (1.5% in 2020-2021) are consistent with the rates of their counterparts (1.8% in 2020-2021). This means that members of visible minorities’ higher share of separations does not contribute to a retention issue, as seen in Table 7.
Table 7: Non-retirement separation rates of indeterminate employees: members of visible minorities and counterparts, PSEA organisations, 2017-2018 to 2020-2021
Fiscal year
Separation rate, members of visible minorities
Separation rate, counterparts
2017–18
1.9%
2.3%
2018–19
1.7%
1.9%
2019–20
1.6%
2.0%
2020–21
1.5%
1.8%
Looking specifically at Black public servants, in 2020–2021, their share of separations within the visible minority group was above their share of the population of visible minorities (22.1% compared to 20.3%, respectively)
Black public servants also had a higher share of non-retirement separations (77.8%) than the overall visible minority group (75.3%) in 2020–2021.
Separation shares for employees in executive feeder groups
This section addresses separations from executive (EX) feeder groups Footnote 5 for Employment Equity group members.
The share of separations from EX feeder groups in 2020–2021 compared to 2019–2020 increased for members of visible minorities (+2.0 percentage points) and decreased for women (-2.1 percentage points), persons with disabilities (-1.7 percentage points) and Indigenous peoples (-0.7 percentage points) (Table 8).
Persons with disabilities had separation shares above their EX feeder representation (6.5% vs. 5.8%)—potentially linked to the older age distribution of persons with disabilities and greater likelihood of retirement, while women (50.5% vs. 52.9%), members of visible minorities (8.3% vs. 14.6%) and Indigenous peoples (4.3% vs. 4.7%) had separation shares below their representation (Table 8).
Table 8: Separation shares for employees in EX feeder groups by employment equity group, PSEA organisations, 2020–2021
Employment equity group
Share of separations from EX feeder groups
Percentage point change from previous fiscal year
Count
Representation among EX feeder employees
Women
50.5%
-2.1
420
52.9%
Members of visible minorities
8.3%
+2.0
69
14.6%
Persons with disabilities
6.5%
-1.7
54
5.8%
Indigenous peoples
4.3%
-0.7
36
4.7%
There is insufficient data to provide trends on subgroups in the EX feeder groups.
Separation shares for employees within executive positions
This section addresses separations from executive (EX) positions for Employment Equity group members.
Reversing the trend seen last year, the share of separations within EX positions increased for all employment equity groups in 2020–2021 compared to 2019–2020, with the exception of Indigenous peoples (Table 9).
Persons with disabilities (7.3% vs. 5.6%) and Indigenous peoples (4.8% vs. 4.5%) had separations shares within EX positions above their EX representation, while members of visible minorities (8.7% vs. 12.3%) and women (48.7% vs. 51.3%) had separations shares that were below (Table 9).
Table 9: Separation shares for employees within EX positions by employment equity group, PSEA organisations, 2020–2021
Employment equity group
Share of separations from the EX group
Percentage point change from previous fiscal year
Count
Representation among EX employees
Women
48.7%
+4.6
201
51.3%
Members of visible minorities
8.7%
+2.1
36
12.3%
Persons with disabilities
7.3%
+1.4
30
5.6%
Indigenous peoples
4.8%
-0.1
20
4.5%
There is insufficient data to provide trends on subgroups in the EX category.
Conclusion and takeaways
Overall, the share of separations increased for visible minorities (+0.4 percentage points), and decreased for Indigenous peoples (-0.6), women (-1.1) and persons with disabilities (-0.4).
Persons with disabilities’ share of both non-retirement and retirement separations decreased.
Members of visible minorities have separation shares that are significantly lower than their representation in the public service at all age groups
Most Employment Equity group employees in the public service tend to leave the public service for reasons other than retirement, largely due to departures from term positions.
Table 10: Separation shares by employment equity group, PSEA organisations, 2015-2016 to 2020–2021
Fiscal year
Indigenous peoples
Persons with disabilities
Members of visible minorities
Women
2015–16
5.1%
7.7%
9.6%
57.0%
2016–17
4.8%
7.2%
11.8%
57.9%
2017–18
5.3%
7.6%
10.1%
56.8%
2018–19
5.1%
6.6%
9.7%
57.2%
2019–20
5.3%
7.1%
10.4%
57.1%
2020–21
4.7%
6.7%
10.9%
56.1%
Table 11: Representation shares by employment equity group, PSEA organisations, 2015-2016 to 2020–2021
Fiscal year
Indigenous peoples
Persons with disabilities
Members of visible minorities
Women
2015–16
5.2%
5.6%
14.5%
54.4%
2016–17
5.3%
5.6%
15.1%
54.6%
2017–18
5.2%
5.3%
15.8%
54.9%
2018–19
5.1%
5.2%
16.7%
54.8%
2019–20
5.1%
5.2%
17.8%
55.0%
2020–21
5.3%
5.7%
18.9%
55.7%
Table 12: Separation shares within EX feeder groups by employment equity group PSEA organisations, 2015-2016 to 2020–2021
Fiscal year
Indigenous peoples
Persons with disabilities
Members of visible minorities
Women
2015–16
3.6%
7.6%
5.2%
52.0%
2016–17
4.3%
9.0%
5.5%
54.8%
2017–18
5.7%
9.0%
7.0%
51.5%
2018–19
3.0%
8.9%
7.7%
52.0%
2019–20
5.0%
8.2%
6.3%
52.6%
2020–21
4.3%
6.5%
8.3%
50.5%
Table 13: Representation shares within EX feeder groups by employment equity group, PSEA organisations, 2015-2016 to 2020–2021
Fiscal year
Indigenous peoples
Persons with disabilities
Members of visible minorities
Women
2015–16
4.1%
5.9%
11.5%
50.5%
2016–17
4.5%
5.5%
12.0%
50.5%
2017–18
4.6%
5.2%
12.4%
50.9%
2018–19
4.5%
5.2%
12.7%
51.6%
2019–20
4.5%
5.1%
13.6%
52.2%
2020–21
4.7%
5.8%
14.6%
52.9%
Table 14: Separation shares within EX positions by employment equity group, PSEA organisations, 2015-2016 to 2020–2021
Fiscal year
Indigenous peoples
Persons with disabilities
Members of visible minorities
Women
2015–16
2.6%
8.7%
6.9%
43.3%
2016–17
3.9%
6.5%
6.8%
44.6%
2017–18
4.3%
6.6%
4.5%
42.8%
2018–19
3.0%
6.8%
7.0%
45.4%
2019–20
4.9%
5.9%
6.6%
44.1%
2020–21
4.8%
7.3%
8.7%
48.7%
Table 15: Representation shares within EX positions by employment equity group, PSEA organisations, 2015-2016 to 2020–2021
Fiscal year
Indigenous peoples
Persons with disabilities
Members of visible minorities
Women
2015–16
3.7%
5.0%
9.7%
46.2%
2016–17
4.0%
5.2%
10.1%
47.0%
2017–18
3.9%
4.9%
10.4%
48.2%
2018–19
4.1%
4.6%
11.1%
49.2%
2019–20
4.0%
4.8%
11.6%
50.2%
2020–21
4.5%
5.6%
12.3%
51.3%
Methodology
For this analysis, all separations from indeterminate and from term positions of 3 months or longer between April 1, 2015, and March 31, 2021, are included. Employment equity designated groups and subgroups self-identification data is collected by the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat in the Employment Equity Data Bank. The most recent available data from the data bank is up to March 31, 2021.
There is currently no common definition of what occupational groups and levels make up the EX feeder groups. The category "Separations from an EX feeder group" represents the most common occupational groups and levels that normally result in a promotion into an EX position within each fiscal year, given data on promotions. For the purpose of this analysis, the following occupational groups were identified as EX feeder positions: AOCAI-4, AR-3, AS-6, AS-7, AS-8, BI-5, CH-5, CO-3, CS-4, EC-7, EC-8, FB-7, FB-8, FI-4, FS-3, GT-7, GT-8, IS-6, LS-5, MA-7, NU-HOS-7, PC-4, PC-5, PE-6, PG -6, PH-3, PM-6, PS-4, SE-REM-2, SGSRE08, TI-8, TR-4, TR-5 and WP-6.
