Separation Trends for Employment Equity Groups Fiscal Year 2022 to 2023

Background

The following analysis reports on all separations from the federal public service from indeterminate and term positions of 3 months or longer (referred to as “the population") for the fiscal year between April 1, 2022, and March 31, 2023.^{Footnote 1} The term “separations” includes retirements, resignations, and all other terminations of service (e.g. end of term appointments). The analysis compares separations of employment equity group^{Footnote 2} members with those of employees not belonging to the group in question. Then the analysis considers reasons for separations, by focusing on retirement versus non-retirement separations. Finally, this report examines separation shares from executive feeder group positions and from executive (EX) positions for members of employment equity groups.

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 shares of members of employment equity groups from the public service according to their representation, age group, and subgroup.

• Separation shares increased by 2.0 percentage points for members of visible minorities, 0.1 percentage points for Indigenous peoples, and 0.3 percentage points for persons with disabilities in 2022 to 2023. However, it decreased by 0.4 percentage points for women. (Table 1)
• Separation shares for women, persons with disabilities and Indigenous peoples were similar to their representation in the population; however, for visible minorities, the separation share was significantly lower than their representation at 14.1% vs. 21.7% (Table 1).

Table 1: Separation shares by employment equity group, 2022 to 2023

Employment equity group	Share of separations	Percentage point change from previous fiscal year	Number of separations	Representation among all employees
Women	56.1%	-0.4	9,925	56.6%
Members of visible minorities	14.1%	+2.0	2,486	21.7%
Persons with disabilities	6.8%	+0.3	1,208	6.9%
Indigenous peoples	5.1%	+0.1	901	5.3%

• Separation shares varied significantly by age. Separation shares for women were higher than their representation in the population, for all age groups except for the 25 to 34 age group, while Indigenous peoples and persons with disabilities had higher separation shares for the 45 to 54 and the 55 to 64 age groups (Table 2, Table 3)
• For persons with disabilities, separation shares increased with age, from 2.6% for those in the under 25 age group, up to 11.7% for those in the 65+ age group. This parallels the age distribution in the persons with disabilities’ population, which represents 5.8% for those in the under 25 age group, and 9.2% for those in the 65+ age group.
• For visible minorities, separation shares were consistently lower than their representation across all age groups (Table 2, Table 3).

Table 2: Separation shares by employment equity group and age group, 2022 to 2023

Age group	Indigenous peoples	Persons with disabilities	Members of visible minorities	Women
Under 25	3.5%	2.6%	14.3%	62.1%
25 to 34	4.2%	3.7%	20.5%	57.2%
35 to 44	4.8%	4.7%	18.9%	61.2%
45 to 54	6.3%	7.9%	15.1%	59.5%
55 to 64	5.7%	8.5%	8.0%	53.7%
65+	4.7%	11.7%	12.9%	46.1%

Table 3: Representation by employment equity group and age group, 2022 to 2023

Age group	Indigenous peoples	Persons with disabilities	Members of visible minorities	Women
Under 25	4.9%	5.8%	24.3%	59.8%
25 to 34	4.6%	5.9%	27.2%	59.2%
35 to 44	5.0%	6.0%	22.7%	58.0%
45 to 54	5.8%	7.3%	19.1%	56.6%
55 to 64	5.9%	8.7%	16.3%	51.5%
65+	4.6%	9.2%	19.4%	44.6%

Tables 4a to 4c contain separation shares for employment equity subgroups in 2022 to 2023. Overall, the analysis shows that separation shares were below the level of representation for the majority of visible minority and Indigenous sub-groups as well as by type of disability.

Table 4a: Separation shares for employees who self-identified as members of visible minorities, by employment equity subgroup, 2022 to 2023

Subgroup	Share of separations	Percentage point change from previous fiscal year	Number of separations	Representation among all employees
Members of Visible Minorities - Overall	14.1%	+2.0	1,680	21.7%
Black	3.4%	+1.0	594	4.6%
Non-white Latin American	0.5%	+0.1	96	1.0%
Person of mixed origin	1.3%	+0.1	223	1.7%
Chinese	2.0%	+0.3	344	3.4%
Japanese	0.5%	0.0	12	0.1%
Korean	0.2%	0.0	32	0.3%
Filipino	0.5%	0.0	82	0.9%
South Asian/East Indian	2.5%	+0.4	448	4.0%
Non-white West Asian North African or Arab	1.5%	+0.5	269	2.6%
Southeast Asian	0.5%	-0.5	85	0.9%
Other visible minority	1.7%	+0.2	301	2.1%

Table 4b: Separation shares for employees in the public service who self-identified as Indigenous peoples, by employment equity subgroup, 2022 to 2023

Subgroup	Share of separations	Percentage point change from previous fiscal year	Number of separations	Representation among all employees
Indigenous peoples - Overall	5.1%	+0.1	901	5.3%
North American Indian/First Nation	2.4%	+0.2	430	2.2%
Métis	2.0%	0.0	345	2.3%
Inuit	0.2%	-0.1	30	0.2%
Other Indigenous	0.6%	-0.1	99	0.7%

Table 4c: Separation shares for employees in the public service who self-identified as persons with disabilities, by employment equity subgroup, 2022 to 2023

Subgroup	Share of separations	Percentage point change from previous fiscal year	Number of separations	Representation among all employees
Persons with Disabilities - Overall	6.8%	+0.2	1,208	6.9%
Coordination or dexterity	0.6%	-0.1	114	0.5%
Mobility	1.3%	-0.2	231	1.0%
Speech impairment	0.1%	0.0	24	0.1%
Blind or visual impairment	0.6%	+0.1	105	0.5%
Deaf or hard of hearing	1.1%	+0.1	200	0.8%

Reasons for employment equity group employees’ separations

This section discusses the reasons for separations by classifying these into two categories: retirement and non-retirement reasons.^{Footnote 3}

• The majority of separations from the federal public service were for non-retirement reasons (67% in 2022 to 2023). A common pattern is observed among most employment equity groups, as non-retirements accounted for a high proportion of separations for visible minorities (78.2%), women (69.8%), and Indigenous people (66.3%). For persons with disabilities, separation reasons were more evenly split between retirement (48.3%) and non-retirement (51.7%).
• The majority of non-retirement separations were related to the end of term positions for both visible minorities (54%) and women (56.6%). This is similar to the public service overall, where the end of term positions accounted for 55.1% of all non-retirement separations in 2022 to 2023. (Table 5)

Table 5: Proportion of separations that are non-retirement by employment equity group: term non-retirements, 2019 to 2023

Fiscal year	Indigenous peoples	Persons with disabilities	Members of visible minorities	Women
2019 to 2020	39.6%	40.7%	52.7%	54.8%
2020 to 2021	45.8%	45.2%	52.4%	57.5%
2021 to 2022	44.6%	46.2%	57.4%	61.0%
2022 to 2023	42.4%	44.5%	54.0%	56.6%

Table 6: Proportion of separations that are non-retirement by employment equity group: indeterminate non-retirements, 2019 to 2023

Fiscal year	Indigenous peoples	Persons with disabilities	Members of visible minorities	Women
2019 to 2020	60.4%	59.3%	47.3%	45.2%
2020 to 2021	54.2%	54.8%	47.6%	42.5%
2021 to 2022	55.4%	53.8%	42.6%	39.0%
2022 to 2023	57.6%	55.5%	46.0%	43.4%

• In 2022 to 2023, members of visible minorities had a greater proportion of non-retirement separations (78.2%), compared to public service employees who did not identify as a visible minority (65.2%).
• Black public servants had a higher proportion of non-retirement separations (83.2%) relative to the overall visible minority group (78.2%).
• Among indeterminate employees, non-retirement separations also accounted for a higher proportion of separations for visible minorities (59.2%) compared to those who did not identify as visible minority (38%). This is likely because visible minorities have a younger age demographic, which is less likely to retire.
• However, non-retirement separations were relatively uncommon among indeterminate employees overall. In fact, among indeterminate employees, the non-retirement separation rate^{Footnote 4} was lower for visible minorities (2.2%) than for employees who did not identify as a visible minority (2.6%) in 2022 to 2023. (Table 7)

Table 7: Non-retirement separation rates of indeterminate employees: members of visible minorities and employees who are not members of visible minorities, 2019 to 2023

Fiscal year	Non-retirement separation rate, members of visible minorities	Non-retirement separation rate, employees who are not members of visible minorities
2019 to 2020	1.6%	2.0%
2020 to 2021	1.5%	1.7%
2021 to 2022	1.8%	2.2%
2022 to 2023	2.2%	2.6%

Separation shares for employees in executive feeder groups

This section addresses separations from executive (EX) feeder groups^{Footnote 5} for employment equity groups.

• The share of separations from EX feeder groups in 2022 to 2023 compared to 2021 to 2022 increased for members of visible minorities (+1.5 percentage points), women (+5.4 percentage points), persons with disabilities (+0.1 percentage points) and Indigenous peoples (+0.3 percentage points) (Table 8).
• Women (55.3% vs. 59.7%), visible minorities (12.1% vs. 18.9%) and Indigenous peoples (5.1% vs. 5.5%) had separation shares below their EX feeder representation. In contrast, persons with disabilities had higher a separation share from EX feeder groups than their EX feeder representation (8.6% vs. 7.6%) (Table 8).

Table 8: Separation shares for employees in EX feeder groups by employment equity group, 2022 to 2023

Employment equity group	Share of separations from EX feeder groups	Percentage point change from previous fiscal year	Number of separations	Representation among EX feeder employees
Women	55.3%	+5.4	808	59.7%
Members of visible minorities	12.1%	+1.5	177	18.9%
Persons with disabilities	8.6%	+0.1	126	7.6%
Indigenous peoples	5.1%	+0.3	75	5.5%

• 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.

• The share of separations within EX positions increased for all employment equity groups in 2022 to 2023 (Table 9). Relative to their EX representation, separation shares from EX positions were lower for women (50.8% vs. 53.2%), visible minorities (10.5% vs. 15.2%), and Indigenous peoples (4.3% vs. 5.2%). Only persons with disabilities had a separation share (11.3%) that exceeded their EX representation (7.7%) (Table 9).

Table 9: Separation shares for employees within EX positions by employment equity group, 2022 to 2023

Employment equity group	Share of separations from the EX group	Percentage point change from previous fiscal year	Number of separations	Representation among EX employees
Women	50.8%	+4.1	251	53.2%
Members of visible minorities	10.5%	+0.6	52	15.2%
Persons with disabilities	11.3%	+3.5	56	7.7%
Indigenous peoples	4.3%	+0.3	21	5.2%

• 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 (+2.0 percentage points), Indigenous peoples (+0.1) and persons with disabilities (+0.3), and decreased for women (-0.4).
• For term employees, the proportion of separations that are for non-retirement reasons increased across all employment equity groups in 2022 to 2023 compared to 2019 to 2020. Conversely, for indeterminate employees, the proportion of separations that are for non-retirement reasons decreased across all employment equity groups over this period.
• 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, 2017 to 2023

Fiscal year	Indigenous peoples	Persons with disabilities	Members of visible minorities	Women
2017 to 2018	5.3%	7.6%	10.1%	56.8%
2018 to 2019	5.1%	6.6%	9.7%	57.2%
2019 to 2020	5.3%	7.1%	10.4%	57.1%
2020 to 2021	4.7%	6.7%	10.9%	56.1%
2021 to 2022	5.1%	6.6%	12.1%	56.5%
2022 to 2023	5.1%	6.8%	14.1%	56.1%

Table 11: Representation by employment equity group, 2017 to 2023

Fiscal year	Indigenous peoples	Persons with disabilities	Members of visible minorities	Women
2017 to 2018	5.2%	5.3%	15.8%	54.9%
2018 to 2019	5.1%	5.2%	16.7%	54.8%
2019 to 2020	5.1%	5.2%	17.8%	55.0%
2020 to 2021	5.3%	5.7%	18.9%	55.7%
2021 to 2022	5.2%	6.2%	20.1%	56.0%
2022 to 2023	5.3%	6.9%	21.7%	56.6%

Table 12: Separation shares within EX feeder groups by employment equity group, 2017 to 2023

Fiscal year	Indigenous peoples	Persons with disabilities	Members of visible minorities	Women
2017 to 2018	5.7%	9.3%	7.9%	54.8%
2018 to 2019	4.2%	8.7%	8.1%	53.4%
2019 to 2020	4.9%	8.8%	8.3%	53.6%
2020 to 2021	4.5%	7.4%	8.9%	53.7%
2021 to 2022	4.8%	8.5%	10.6%	49.9%
2022 to 2023	5.1%	8.6%	12.1%	55.3%

Table 13: Representation within EX feeder groups by employment equity group, 2017 to 2023

Fiscal year	Indigenous peoples	Persons with disabilities	Members of visible minorities	Women
2017 to 2018	5.0%	5.5%	14.4%	53.7%
2018 to 2019	4.9%	5.5%	14.9%	54.2%
2019 to 2020	5.0%	5.4%	15.8%	54.5%
2020 to 2021	5.1%	5.9%	16.8%	55.1%
2021 to 2022	5.4%	6.6%	18.1%	59.1%
2022 to 2023	5.5%	7.6%	18.9%	59.7%

Table 14: Separation shares within EX positions by employment equity group, 2017 to 2023

Fiscal year	Indigenous peoples	Persons with disabilities	Members of visible minorities	Women
2017 to 2018	4.3%	6.6%	4.5%	42.8%
2018 to 2019	3.0%	6.8%	7.0%	45.4%
2019 to 2020	4.9%	5.9%	6.6%	44.1%
2020 to 2021	4.8%	7.3%	8.7%	48.7%
2021 to 2022	4.0%	7.8%	9.9%	46.7%
2022 to 2023	4.3%	11.3%	10.5%	50.8%

Table 15: Representation within EX positions by employment equity group, 2017 to 2023

Fiscal year	Indigenous peoples	Persons with disabilities	Members of visible minorities	Women
2017 to 2018	3.9%	4.9%	10.4%	48.2%
2018 to 2019	4.1%	4.6%	11.1%	49.2%
2019 to 2020	4.0%	4.8%	11.6%	50.2%
2020 to 2021	4.5%	5.6%	12.3%	51.3%
2021 to 2022	4.9%	6.6%	13.9%	52.2%
2022 to 2023	5.2%	7.7%	15.2%	53.2%

Methodology

For this analysis, all separations from indeterminate and from term positions of 3 months or longer between April 1, 2017, and March 31, 2023, are included. Self-identification data for the four employment equity groups and subgroups 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, 2023.

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 occupational groups and levels that were most frequently promoted into an EX position within each fiscal year. For the purpose of this analysis, the following occupational groups were identified as EX feeder positions: AS-6, AS-7, AS-8, BI-5, CO-3, CS-4, CS-5, EC-6, EC-7, EC-8, ENENG-5, ENENG-6, FB-8, FI-4, FS-3, FS-4, IS-6, PC-5, PE-5, PE-6, PG-6, PM-5, PM-6, SE-REM-2. This list is updated annually to reflect the occupational groups that predominantly feed EX groups.