Employment equity (Canada)

Employment equity, as defined in federal Canadian law by the Employment Equity Act (French: Loi sur l’équité en matière d’emploi), requires federal jurisdiction employers to engage in proactive employment practices to increase the representation of four designated groups: women, people with disabilities, visible minorities, and Indigenous peoples.^[1] (The actual legislation uses the now-obsolete term, "Aboriginal" peoples.) The act states that "employment equity means more than treating persons the same way but also requires special measures and the accommodation of differences".^[2]

The act requires that employers remove barriers to employment that disadvantage members of the four designated groups. Employers are required to institute positive policies for the hiring, training, retention, and promotion of members of the designated groups. Examples of positive policies include recruitment in Indigenous communities, job advertisements in minority-language newspapers, or an apprentice program directed toward people with disabilities.