Degree of Unionization Employers and service providers tend to be highly unionized in the federal jurisdiction. Many government employees are unionized and are represented by more than 15 unions. Of the approximately 700,000 employees covered by the Canada Labour Code , including the federal private sector and some Crown Corporations such as Canada Post, about half are unionized in about 1800 bargaining units. About two thirds of these employees are in the transportation and communications industries which are the most highly unionized in this group. On the other hand, the banks, with about one quarter of these employees, are not unionized.
Unions vary in size and their affiliation with large national and international unions.
Many of the collective agreements themselves contain anti-discrimination provisions. Thus, many federal workplaces have a process for addressing anti-discrimination issues that utilize labour arbitrators under the Code. The Supreme Court of Canada has held that unions may be jointly liable with employers for human rights infringements in the workplace in some situations. Therefore, they are a significant partner in creating a non-discriminatory workplace in federal jurisdiction. The employment context in the federal sector has been very dynamic over the last few years.