Employment Equity in the Public Service of Canada 

The Employment Equity Act prescribes that this report cover the portions of the public service of Canada set out in Schedules I and IV of the Financial Administration Act. Seventy-three departments, agencies and commissions comprise the core public administration (CPA), for which the Treasury Board is the employer (see Table 1). The statistics in this report include only employees working for these organizations, which numbered 181,356 on March 31, 2014. 

This report includes information on indeterminate employees, term employees of three months or more, and seasonal employees, with the exception of those seasonal employees who are on leave without pay at the end of March for each fiscal year. No information is reported on students, casual workers or employees on leave without pay, such as those on care and nurturing leave and educational leave.

Statistics in this document also exclude Governor in Council appointees, ministerial staff, federal judges and deputy ministers, who are also on the public service payroll. As required under the Employment Equity Act, annual reports to Parliament present information for the fiscal year beginning April 1 and ending March 31. 

The statistics of separate employers, covered under Schedule V of the Financial Administration Act, are not included in this report. Under the Employment Equity Act, separate employers that have more than 100 employees (e.g., the Canada Revenue Agency and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency) are required to provide their reports to the Office of the Chief Human Resources Officer (OCHRO) of the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat only for the purposes of tabling in Parliament at the same time as this report. To view their employment equity reports, readers should visit those organizations’ websites, or contact them directly.

Reports on employment equity in the Canadian Forces and with respect to members of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police are prepared by those organizations and are also tabled in Parliament at the same time as those of separate employers.

To assure the consistency of data presented in this report, OCHRO uses the incumbent file, which contains information on all employees for whom the Treasury Board is the employer, in accordance with Schedules I and IV of the Financial Administration Act. Since 2011–12, the executive category includes data on the LC Group (Law Management Occupational Group) in its total workforce, which will need to be taken into consideration when comparing data historically.

All tabulations, other than those for women, contain data obtained through self-identification. This data is provided voluntarily by employees and maintained separately and confidentially in the Employment Equity Data Bank by OCHRO, and where applicable, through the self-declaration of individuals applying to the public service through the Public Service Commission of Canada’s (PSC’s) Public Service Resourcing System. A reconciliation process is carried out each year by OCHRO, the PSC and the departments of the CPA to ensure that information derived from the Public Service Resourcing System, the Employment Equity Data Bank, and incumbent file harmonizes with the information from departmental sources. 

The completeness and accuracy of employment equity data for the CPA depend on the willingness of employees to self-identify and on departments providing opportunities for them to do so. Employees, including those engaged as students or casual workers, are given an opportunity to provide this information when they are hired and during departmental self-identification surveys or other campaigns. Furthermore, they may complete a self-identification form, available from their departmental employment equity coordinator, at any time.

Organization: Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat | Secrétariat du Conseil du Trésor du Canada