Canada Energy Regulator – Employment Equity Report 2021–2022

Employment Equity Report 2021–2022 [PDF 720 KB]

ISSN 2563-7088

Copyright/Permission to Reproduce

Table of Contents

General Overview

1. The Canada Energy Regulator
2. Employment Equity and Reporting
3. Employment Equity Plan

Initiatives To Enhance Equity, Diversity, And Inclusion

1. Corporate Governance and Accountability
2. CER’s Initiatives to Enhance Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion
   1. a) Preventing and Responding to Misconduct
   2. b) Recruitment, Advancement, and Organizational Culture
   3. c) Adaptive Supports and Tools
3. Modernizing the self-identification process
4. Senior officials responsible for employment equity, diversity, and inclusion
5. Efforts to diversify senior levels
6. Engagement and awareness
7. Amendments in the Public Service Employment Act

Workforce analysis

1. Data Sources
2. Employee Population

Overall Representation

1. Employment Equity Representation
2. Employment Equity Representation year over year

Occupational Groups

1. Senior Managers
2. Middle Managers
3. Professionals
4. Semi-professionals and Technicians
5. Supervisors
6. Administrative and Senior Clerical
7. Clerical Personnel
8. Intermediate Sales and Service Personnel
9. Semi-skilled Workers

Summary

Representation in hiring, promotions, departures, and salary range

1. Employee Hires
2. Employee Promotions
3. Employee Departures
4. Remuneration

Consultations with Employees

Conclusion and Way Forward

References

Annex A – Employment Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Plan

Annex B – Employment Equity Goals for 2022–2024

General Overview

The Canada Energy Regulator

The mission of the Canada Energy Regulator (CER) is to regulate infrastructure to ensure safe and efficient energy delivery to Canada and the rest of the world; protect the environment; recognize and respect Canada's Indigenous Peoples' rights; and provide timely and relevant energy information and analysis. CER is an energy regulator with an exceptional workforce dedicated to ensuring the safety and security of Canadians' environmental sustainability, forging strong bonds, and increasing Canada's global competitiveness.

The CER recognizes that to remain a leading regulator, it must incorporate diversity and inclusion into all aspects of its work, from governance to engagement. Changing demographics, shifting environmental and social expectations, and rapid advances in technology and communications all necessitate that the CER draws on a wide range of perspectives to tackle complex issues and devise innovative solutions.

CER believes that diversity of identities and ideas helps form more well-rounded views of issues and risks, which leads to better and more innovative decisions. That means creating a culture in which engaged and committed employees feel safe bringing their whole selves to work, working respectfully with one another in an environment that values diversity of thought as a key component to fostering innovation, and supporting personal and professional development. This promotes equity, which leads to better policy outcomes based on a deeper understanding of the needs of diverse communities, promotes diversity of thought and perspective, and fosters trust in the organization.

As we look to continue implementing the CER’s Strategic Plan over the next two years, some of the key internal initiatives that will shape our people management and support towards greater integration of equity, diversity, inclusion, and accessibility practices include:

• Implementation of a comprehensive  Diversity & Belonging Roadmap with a focus on expanding the range of supports/tools available to leaders when imposing disciplinary or corrective measures in accordance with misconduct policies;
• An Indigenous recruitment, retention, and advancement strategy as part of our commitment to Reconciliation;
• A Hybrid Workplace Pilot to test new ways of reimagining the workplace; and
• A culture assessment to help better define the culture we aspire to and a Strategic Workforce Plan, including a review of current job families and technical competencies framework.

Employment Equity and Reporting

The CER is required by the Employment Equity Act (EEA) subsection 4(1)(c) to report annually on its progress toward achieving a representative workforce. The annual report includes a workforce analysis of the designated groups for employment equity (EE) women, Indigenous Peoples, people with disabilities, and visible minorities by EE occupational group (EEOG), geographic region, and salary range, as well as shares of hires, promotions, and terminations.

This report's workforce data includes indeterminate employees and employees with service terms of three months or more. Students, employees on secondment from other organizations, terms of less than three months, and casual workers are not included in the report. The report also presents initiatives and networking activities undertaken during 2021–2022 in implementing its Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) strategy.

The CER is committed to upholding the legislative requirements of the EEA, Public Service Employment Act (PSEA), Accessible Canada Act, Canadian Human Rights Act, and The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, as well as the following policies and strategies: Accessibility Strategy for the Public Service of Canada, and Call to Action on Anti-racism, Equity, and Inclusion in the Federal Public Service.

Employment equity strives to ensure that no one is denied employment or benefits based on factors other than ability. Employers are required by the EEA to create a discrimination-free workplace and to address workplace disadvantages faced by members of the four designated groups (women, Indigenous Peoples, people with disabilities, and visible minorities).

Finally, CER believes that employment equity, as defined by the EEA and the PSEA, entails hiring and promoting the best person for the job based on job-related skills and qualifications. Employers should make every effort to include members of the designated groups in the applicant pool so that everyone has an equal chance for employment and/or advancement.

Employment Equity Plan

In accordance with the requirements in section 10 of the EEA, the CER maintains its Employment Equity, Diversity and Equity Plan in annex A. The three-year plan outlines the CER's commitments to improving or supporting representation across occupational groups and levels. The employment equity plan also intends to ensure that CER has robust employment equity hiring practices in areas of the organization that have high turnover and areas of the organization that may not have employment equity gaps but are feeder groups to other areas of the organization that do. Furthermore, this plan highlights the CER's efforts to maintain an inclusive, diverse, and respectful workplace, as well as reports on activities undertaken to comply with legislation (Appendices A and B).

This EE report summarizes the findings from the reporting period of April 1, 2021, to March 31, 2022.

Initiatives To Enhance Equity, Diversity, And Inclusion

Corporate Governance and Accountability

The CER has prioritized employment equity, diversity, inclusion, and belonging in two of CER’s four strategic priorities in the Strategic Plan: Trust and Confidence and Reconciliation, with the direction and oversight of the Board of Directors and the advice of the Indigenous Advisory Committee. Additionally, the CER created in March 2022 a People and Culture sub-committee of the Board of Directors to enable an increased focus in this area.

In support of Reconciliation, CER is striving to cultivate an Indigenous inclusive workforce and to recruit, retain and advance Indigenous employees. By making diversity and inclusion priorities in the CER, Canadians will benefit from a workforce that reflects the diversity of the country.

To date, some progress toward a representative CER workforce has been made. Although the overall representation of two of the four employment equity groups (women and Indigenous Peoples) is equal to or greater than workforce availability, there are still gaps in specific occupational groups and in higher management; while visible minorities and people with disabilities are currently underrepresented in the CER as well as in higher management. These findings imply that more effort and a consistent emphasis on diversity are needed.

The EEA requires employers to implement measures to support the representation of employment equity groups by identifying and ending barriers faced by persons in designated groups that result from employment systems, policies, and practices. Obligations include collecting information and conducting workforce analyses to determine the degree of representation of employment equity groups. If there are any gaps in representation in occupational groups, organizations must undertake an employment system review to decide whether or not any employment system, policy or practice is a barrier against persons in designated groups.

CER’s Initiatives to Enhance Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion

In 2021–2022, the CER’s core work was enhanced in several areas through innovative solutions and the application of equity, diversity, accessibility, and inclusion lenses as exemplified below.

a) Preventing and Responding to Misconduct:

• Continued implementation of Workplace Harassment and Violence Prevention Policy, including mandatory training for employees and leaders, the establishment of an anonymous third-party online reporting mechanism available 24/7, and a roster of conciliators/investigators from diverse backgrounds;
• New Ombuds Services reporting directly to the Chief Executive Officer (CEO);
• New Labor Relations training modules reinforcing the leaders’ responsibilities in preventing and responding to misconduct; and
• Internal consultations on key misconduct-related policies (i.e., Grievance and Discipline) as part of the comprehensive Policy Refresh Project.

b) Recruitment, Advancement, and Organizational Culture:

Photo: Robin Zielke is the CER’s participant in the Mosaic Program. She currently occupies the role of Director, Policy and Coordination in the Indigenous Reconciliations and Relations Business Unit. Robin identifies as Red River Metis.

• Participation in the Government of Canada Mosaic Leadership Development program to create developmental opportunities for future leaders of equity-groups;
• Enhanced use of the Federal Student Work Experience Program to recruit winter and summer students from equity-deserving groups;
• New 2021–2024 Employment Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Plan with numeric goals (Appendix A), integrating commitments arising from the Clerk of the Privy Council’s Call to Action on Anti-racism and Discrimination;
• Roll-out of anti-racism workshops to more than three hundred staff and the new mandatory public service course Inclusive Hiring Practices for a Diverse Workforce (H205) to hiring managers;
• Continued support of employee involvement to better our workplace with phase two of the Organizational Citizenship Pilot;
• More inclusive Awards Ceremony in format, presentation, and content; and
• Workshops on Advancing Racial Equity and Inclusive Leadership, as well as the incorporation of Gender-based Analysis Plus (GBA Plus) planning into the process of HR policy renewal, with a stronger emphasis on GBA Plus/EDI intersectional analysis.

c) Adaptive Supports and Tools:

• New Employee and Family Assistance Program offering culturally sensitive and trauma-informed services;
• New Accommodation and Accessibility Adaptive Computer Technology Program service level agreement, to better respond to the needs of employees with visual, hearing, or cognitive impairment;
• New third-party services supporting duty-to-accommodate processes covering Independent Medical Evaluation, Disability Management and Vocational Services;
• Review of Duty-to-Accommodate and Employment Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion policies;
• Roll out of user-friendly and accessible web-based Apps for vaccination attestation and Interim Work Agreements (for Hybrid Workplace Pilot), replacing the former administratively cumbersome telework agreements; and
• Kick-start of Pay Equity Act and Accessible Canada Act three-year implementation plans.

Modernizing the self-identification process

Access to disaggregated data is key to understanding the gaps in representation of subgroups and equity sub-issues, and to determining the measures that are needed. They are a condition for the effective and efficient evolution of evidence-based policies and initiatives. However, EE data is based on people who chose to identify. The effectiveness of the voluntary self-identification process is therefore essential for measuring the actual situation and the progress achieved. In the fall of 2022, the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat will launch a revised self-identification questionnaire to improve data accuracy and reduce the perception of risk associated with voluntary self-identification.

With this, there is hope for more comprehensive data collection for people with disabilities and other Equity-deserving groups. CER is eager for TBS to modernize self-identification processes and forms to better capture subgroup data and design tailored strategies and programs. The delay in the expected rollout of this new self-ID questionnaire has impacted the CER internal Self-ID annual campaign for 2021–2022. CER will reintroduce the annual call out process for self-ID in the fall of 2022, using the TBS's new self-ID questionnaire, to improve the accuracy, depth, and breadth of the data.

Senior officials responsible for employment equity, diversity, and inclusion

The Clerk's Call to Action on Anti-Racism, Equity, and Inclusion emphasized the importance of ending systemic racism and discrimination in the public sector, as well as the need for concrete actions. CER launched the Diversity and Belonging Initiative in response to this call.

Simultaneously, members of equity-deserving groups set up several employee networks as well as formal and informal committees. These forums provided employees with the opportunity to discuss and better understand the issues and barriers that their peers were facing, as well as to share best practices and propose solutions.

The CER senior leadership endorsed the approach outlined in the Diversity & Belonging Roadmap on the three priority areas and associated activities to be carried out over the next two fiscal years to end systemic racism and discrimination with dedicated resources to support its implementation. The Executive Vice-President, People, Innovation, and Results is the senior leader responsible for recruiting and establishing a dedicated team to lead the implementation of the Diversity and Belonging Roadmap.

Efforts to diversify senior levels

Research shows that increasing diversity of an organization’s executive membership improves its overall diversity and inclusion, as leaders have a considerable influence on organizational culture. A diverse and representative senior leadership community will accelerate the Government of Canada's desired culture shift toward a better and more inclusive federal public service.

To achieve greater representation at all levels and occupational groups, the CER participated in the Mosaic Leadership Development program, which is aligned with the federal public service's diversity and inclusion agenda. The Mosaic program was used by CER to appoint an Indigenous employee in a leadership role.

It is important to note that the turnover ratio at the CER senior management level is very low, as the organization is small and there are few opportunities for advancement at the senior management level. As a result, it is critical that CER establishes a reasonable number of positions that will be available for members of equity-deserving groups in areas that feed directly into senior management. This intention is to support internal capacity in the middle management level to fill equity gaps in senior leadership positions as they arise.

Engagement and awareness

Employees from CER also took part in the Federal Speakers’ Forum on Diversity and Inclusion. The forum allows public servants to share their firsthand knowledge of diversity, inclusion, accessibility, and other related issues.

Amendments in the Public Service Employment Act

The Government of Canada has amended the Public Service Employment Act to address systemic barriers in the public service staffing for Equity-deserving groups. These amendments are foundational work that will assist CER in taking measures to reduce barriers and encourage more inclusive recruitment practices in our staffing. With these changes:

• All new or revised qualification standards will be evaluated for bias and barriers for members of equity-deserving groups by CER;
• Because permanent residents now have the same preference as Canadian citizens when appointments are made through externally advertised hiring processes, CER will consider this change to hire qualified permanent residents in the EE occupational groups;
• Bias and barriers will be evaluated in the design and application of assessment methods, and reasonable efforts will be made to mitigate them; and
• Leaders will also be challenged on a regular basis to simplify processes and shift away from traditional models of exams, interviews, and reference checks for all.

Moreover, CER also participated in the Audit of Employment Equity Representation in Recruitment conducted by Public Service Commission (PSC) to fulfill its mandate for identifying and eliminating employment barriers for the four designated employment equity groups. The conclusions were that employment equity groups were not represented proportionally throughout the five key stages of the appointment process (job application, automated screening, organizational screening, assessment, appointment).

Based on the audit, the CER is implementing the following recommendations of the PSC as a matter of priority:

• Before exercising hiring authority, all CER managers must receive unconscious bias training; and
• CER will also encourage diverse interview boards as one of the leading practices in recruitment to address hiring barriers and improve the quality of all candidate assessments.

In addition to implementing the PSC recommendations to remove barriers to achieving workplace equality, so that no one is denied employment opportunities or benefits for reasons unrelated to ability, the CER is also working towards Reconciliation by transforming the way we work with Canada's Indigenous Peoples, with a commitment to implementing the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples; and building renewed relationships based on trust.

The PSEA amendments and implementing PSC audit recommendations are just a few of the initiatives and activities being undertaken to increase diversity and inclusion in the CER so that it is representative of the Canadian population it serves and a place where all CER employees feel a true sense of belonging.

The work of eradicating generations-old bias, barriers, and discrimination necessitates an ongoing, unwavering effort. According to the Government of Canada's commitment, CER management will use all available levers to improve public servants' workplace experiences and ensure that they can realize their full potential.

Workforce analysis

Data Sources

MyGCHR 9.1, one of the Government of Canada's standardized Human Resources Management Systems, is used by the CER. Only those who voluntarily identify as Indigenous People, visible minorities, or people with disabilities are captured as members of designated groups for the purposes of the workforce analysis. Women are identified based on the gender information they provide in their hiring documents, which Human Resources enters in MyGCHR.

Employee Population

The workforce analysis was performed on the entire employee population, except for those who work less than 12.5 hours per week. Furthermore, the following individuals were excluded from the CER workforce analysis:

• Governor-in-Council appointments (i.e., CEO, Commissioners and Board of Directors);
• Persons who are at the CER on Interchange from other Federal Government departments/agencies and private industry;
• Persons who worked for a period less than thirteen weeks;
• Students;
• Casuals; and
• Contractors.

Overall Representation

The CER employed 556 people between its headquarters in Calgary and three regional offices in Vancouver, Montreal, and Yellowknife as of March 31, 2022. As a result, the total number of CER employees in 2021–2022 was 556, up from 549 in the previous reporting period of 2020–2021 (table 1).

Professionals and employees at the CER are highly qualified in their fields and bring a diverse set of academic disciplines and experience to their work in the CER's 12 employment equity occupational groups (EEOGs). The employee population in different provinces is based on the designated office location for each employee in MyGCHR.

Table 1: Designated Group Totals by Province

Employment Equity Representation

Labor market availability (LMA) estimates for fiscal years 2021–2022 are based on data from the 2016 census and the 2017 Canadian Survey on Disability. According to the Workplace Equity Information Management System (WEIMS) defaults, this data is based on census metropolitan areas (CMAs), province, or national. All percentage calculations in this report are rounded to one decimal place.

As of March 31, 2022, the CER had representation gaps in two of the four employment equity designated groups (table 2). These disparities have persisted for visible minorities since 2014–2015, and for people with disabilities from 2018–2019 (table 3). Women and Indigenous Peoples now exceed the LMA in the CER’s overall workforce.

Table 2: CER’s Employment Equity Representation

Overall (figure 1), the CER outperforms the LMA for women (65.5% vs. 46.1% LMA) and Indigenous Peoples (3.6% vs. 2.6% LMA). However, representation for visible minorities and people with disabilities is still low (12.2% for visible minorities and 3.3% for people with disabilities), well below the LMA for these groups (23.2% for visible minorities and 8.8% for people with disabilities).

Figure 1: Employment Equity Representation 2021–2022

Employment Equity Representation year over year

Based on LMA data, table 3 and figure 2 below show the overall representation of each designated group at the CER from FY 2014–2015 to 2021–2022 as a benchmark of progress. Since 2016–2017, the percentage of employees who identify as people with disabilities has decreased, for Indigenous People since 2017–2018, and for visible minorities from 2020–2021. During the same period, while the absolute number has increased, so has the overall representation of women.

Table 3: CER's Employment Equity Representation year over year

Figure 2: Employment Equity Representation year over year

Occupational Groups

The breakdown of the total employee population by gender and designated groups into employment equity occupational groups is shown in table 4. The representation by gender and designated group for each occupational group is given in whole numbers, as well as the relevant percentage of the total number of employees. The percentage figure that follows represents labor market availability data.

Senior Managers^Footnote 2

Table 4 shows that the CER employed sixteen senior managers as of March 31, 2022. Ten were women, which is higher than the overall labor market availability, which is 27.6%. People with disabilities representation is almost identical to LMA. Visible Minorities have lower representation than LMA, 6.3% versus 11.5%, and Indigenous Peoples have no representation at all, 0% versus their LMA of 3.2%.

Middle Managers^Footnote 3

There were 32 middle managers, 56.3% of whom were women, compared to 39.4% market availability. Indigenous Peoples (0.0% vs 2.7% LMA) and people with disabilities (0.0% vs 5.0% LMA) were not represented. Visible minority representation is also lower, at 12.5%, compared to 17.6% market availability.

Professionals^Footnote 4

Three hundred and sixty-one people work as financial officers, engineers, economists, environmental specialists, human resources advisors, communications advisors, information systems specialists, translators, and lawyers in the Professionals group. Women were well-represented in this group (62.9% vs 41.6% LMA), as were Indigenous Peoples (2.5% vs 2.1% LMA). People with disabilities (2.8% vs 8.9% availability) and visible minorities (11.6% vs 25.5% LMA) were underrepresented.

Semi-professionals and Technicians

The Semi-professionals and Technicians occupational group employs 42 people, which includes engineering inspectors, library technicians, information technology service analysts, and graphic designers. Women (54.8% vs 32.2% LMA) and Indigenous Peoples (9.5% vs 2.9% LMA) were well-represented in this group. People with disabilities (4.8% vs 7.6% LMA) and visible minorities (4.8% vs 19.3% LMA) are significantly underrepresented.

Supervisors^Footnote 5

Women made up four of the five employees in this occupational group (80.0% vs. 55.5% LMA). Despite a visible minority LMA of 24.0%, a people with disabilities LMA of 27.5%, and an Indigenous People LMA of 3.9%, no representation of the other three designated employment equity groups was found in this occupation.

Administrative and Senior Clerical

The Administrative & Senior Clerical occupational group employs 34 people, which includes business unit administrators, human resources assistants, and other senior-level administrative staff. Women (94.1% vs. 82.4%), Indigenous People (8.8% vs. 3.5%) and Visible minorities (14.7% vs 16.4%) were well-represented. Despite their 10% LMA, there was no representation for people with disabilities.

Clerical Personnel

Records clerks, mail clerks, and general administrative assistants fall into this category, and 64 people were employed as Clerical Personnel at the CER. Women (78.1% vs 68.7%), Indigenous Peoples (6.3% vs 4.2%), and visible minorities (21.9% vs 21.9%) were well represented in this occupational group. People with disabilities were slightly underrepresented (7.8% vs 9.3%) in this group.

Intermediate Sales and Service Personnel

This occupational group had only one employee, with no representation in any of the four designated employment equity groups.

Semi-skilled Workers

This occupational group had only one employee and no representation in any of the four designated employment equity groups.

Table 4 – Employment Equity Summary by Occupational Category

Summary

From the standpoint of employment equity, the occupational groups highlight opportunities for increasing representation in underrepresented occupational groups at the CER while keeping or improving representation in well-represented occupational groups.

The CER employed 556 people across nine occupational groups during 2021–2022. Professionals (361), Clerical personnel (64) and Semi-professionals and Technicians (42) remained the CER's largest employment equity occupational group, followed by Administrative and Senior Clerical (34) and Middle Managers (32) employees, Senior Managers (16), Supervisors (5), and Intermediate Sales and Service Personnel and Semi-skilled Manual Workers (one each).

Women exceed in all occupational groups except for intermediate sales and service personnel with a gap of (-1) person. Within these two groups, there were only two employees in total, none of whom were women. Professionals, Clerical Personnel, and Administrative and Senior Clerical were the most common occupational groups for CER’s women, followed by Semi-professionals and Technicians, Middle Managers, Senior Managers, and Supervisors.

Indigenous People outnumbered market availability in all four occupational groups where they were represented: Professionals, Semi-professionals & Technicians, Administrative & Senior Clerical, and Clerical Personnel. There is obvious room for improvement in occupational groups with no representation, particularly Senior Manager (-1) and Middle Manager (-1), where there is a one-person gap in each group.

In the CER workforce, visible minorities are underrepresented in all occupational groups, with a total gap of 61 employees. Visible minorities are currently underrepresented in six occupational groups. This suggests that CER should devote more resources to this employment equity group to meet its obligations under the EEA, as envisioned in the CER Diversity and Belonging Roadmap, which envisions a workplace that is representative of Canada's diversity, where employees feel welcome, and where they can reach their full potential. For visible minorities, the following gaps existed: Senior Managers (-1), Middle Managers (-2), Professionals (-50), Semi-professionals and Technicians (-6), Supervisors (-1) and Administrative and Senior Clerical Personnel (-1).

People with disabilities were also underrepresented in the CER's six occupational groups, with a total of 29 employees when compared to their workforce availability. Since 2021, the gap in this EE group has remained constant at 29 employees. While People with disabilities are equal to LMA in the Senior Managers occupational group, they are less than the available workforce in all other occupational groups: Middle Managers (-1), Professionals (- 22), Semi-professionals & Technicians (-1), Supervisors (-1), Administrative and Senior Clerical (-3), and Clerical Personnel (-1). More attention should be paid to this employment equity group, as emphasized in the Accessibility Strategy for the Public Service of Canada, the ACA, the EEA, and CER's Diversity and Belonging Roadmap.

Representation in hiring, promotions, departures, and salary range

Table 5 summarizes new hires, promotions, and departures from April 1, 2021, to March 31, 2022.

Employee Hires

In 2021–2022, CER hired 37 new employees. Overall, women were hired at a rate of 67.6% (25) and only one identified as a member of the visible minority (2.7%). None of the new employees self-identified as Indigenous or as having a disability.

Employee Promotions

Last year, the CER had 42 promotions, with women receiving most of them (30). Others belonged to visible minorities (6) and Indigenous Peoples (redacted due to residual disclosure) with no disabled people who self-identified.

Employee Departures

According to Table 5, there were a total of 13 employee departures this year. The majority of those who left the CER and self-identified during this time period were women (5), Indigenous Peoples (1), and visible minorities (1), with no one self-identified as having a disability. As previously reported, many of these departures occurred in the professional occupational group. Over the last six years, an average of 17 employees have left the CER, with the majority of them being women and the most of these departures taking place in the professional occupational group.

Table 5: Total Hires, Promotions and Regrettable Departures by Designated Group

Remuneration

Given CER employs highly specialized professionals throughout the organization, approximately 60.8% of employees earn $100, 000 or more. Those earning $100,000-$149,999 per year include:

• 58.39% were women.
• 1.94% were Indigenous People.
• 2.58% were people with disabilities.
• 10.97% were visible minorities.

Table 6 below provides more detailed information on the salary range.

Table 6: Salary Ranges by Designated Group

Figure 3: Salary Ranges for Designated Groups

Consultations with Employees

CER employees were consulted in the preparations of this report to provide their perspectives on implementation and potential revisions to the plan. Information exchanges and engagement took place with the Diversity and Inclusion Committee and subcommittees; Accessibility Plan team; Indigenous Employee Circle; Indigenous Relations and Reconciliation Business Unit; Visible minority – Black Employees Network; and the Union.

Conclusion and Way Forward

In 2021–2022, the CER met and exceeded national employment equity representation for women and Indigenous Peoples, but remained underrepresented for visible minorities and people with disabilities. Furthermore, for each designated group, there are still representation gaps in higher management and employment equity occupational groups.

The organization has continued to participate in and promote a wide range of initiatives and networking events aimed at creating a diverse and inclusive workplace for all team members. CER, in particular, is working not only to hire but also to improve the employee onboarding experience in order to create a safe and comfortable environment for all employees and to address retention issues. Furthermore, in 2021–2022, the CER made significant progress in the field of diversity and inclusion, most notably by developing the Diversity and Belonging Roadmap.

The CER's  Diversity & Belonging Roadmap was designed to help advance up the CER as an inclusive place to work and engage, and identified following three priority themes that reflect the most significant challenges in the CER's workplace culture:

1. Address Misconduct;
2. Support Advancement; and
3. Diversify Recruitment.

Furthermore, as outlined in the CER Strategic Plan priorities, the CER's response to the Call to Action on Anti-Racism, Equity, and Inclusion in the Federal Public Service, and the upcoming Accessibility Plan, CER management is committed to doing better for all of our equity-deserving groups (EDG) in our organization by fostering feelings of inclusion, belonging, and Reconciliation.

In addition, CER is taking part in the Mosaic Leadership Development program to support leadership development opportunities for people with disabilities, visible minorities, and Indigenous Peoples. Moreover, in order to meet its commitment to the implementation of the Accessible Canada Act and the Accessibility Strategy for the Public Service of Canada, the CER will prioritize the recruitment, retention, and promotion of people with disabilities in order to close representation gaps by 2025.

As stated in the CER’s Diversity & Belonging Roadmap and earlier Employment Equity Reports, visible minorities have been underrepresented at all levels of the CER since at least fiscal year 2014–2015. CER management began implementing the Diversity & Belonging Roadmap recommendations and hired one Human Resources (HR) Advisor, Equity Diversity Inclusion, to assist CER in implementing the Diversity & Belonging Roadmap.

Additionally, CER's Employment Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EEDI) 2021–2024 Plan outlines the various commitments, measures, targets, and responsibilities that must be met to fully respond to employment equity legislative requirements. For example, starting in the fall of 2022 and over the next three years, we have committed to collecting accurate self-identification data (e.g., through a modernized online self-identification form), prioritizing positive employment equity practices (e.g., communicating job opportunities through innovative means to increase visibility with EDG), and striving to meet specific recruitment goals for EDG.

References

1. Accessible Canada Act. Retrieved on July 27, 2022, from: Accessible Canada Act (justice.gc.ca).
2. Accessibility Strategy for the Public Service of Canada. Retrieved on July 27, 2022, from: Accessibility Strategy for the Public Service of Canada – Canada.ca.
3. Audit of Employment Equity Representation in Recruitment. Retrieved on July 27, 2022, from: Audit of Employment Equity Representation in Recruitment – Canada.ca.
4. Call to Action on Anti-Racism, Equity, and Inclusion in the Federal Public Service. Retrieved on July 29, 2022, from: Call to Action on Anti-Racism, Equity, and Inclusion in the Federal Public Service – Privy Council Office – Canada.ca.
5. Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Retrieved on July 27, 2022, from: The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms (justice.gc.ca).
6. Canada Energy Regulator Strategic Plan. Retrieved on July 29, 2022, from: Strategic Plan (cer-rec.gc.ca).
7. Canadian Human Rights Act. Retrieved on July 27, 2022, from: Canadian Human Rights Act (justice.gc.ca).
8. Employee self-identification form. Retrieved on July 27, 2022, from: Employee self-identification form – Canada.ca.
9. Employment Equity Act. Retrieved on July 27, 2022, from: Employment Equity Act (justice.gc.ca).
10. Federal Speakers' Forum on Diversity and Inclusion. Retrieved on July 27, 2022, from: Federal Speakers' Forum on Diversity and Inclusion: Overview – Canada.ca.
11. Mosaic Leadership Development program. Retrieved on July 27, 2022, from: Mosaic Leadership Development program: Overview - Canada.ca.
12. Public Service Employment Act. Retrieved on July 27, 2022, from: Public Service Employment Act (justice.gc.ca).
13. Public Service Employment Act amendments. Retrieved on July 27, 2022, from: Taking Action to Address Potential Barriers in Staffing:  Public Service Employment Act amendments receive Royal Assent – Canada.ca.

Annex A – Employment Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Plan

Commitments, Measures and Targets for 2021–2024

This three-year plan outlines the CER’s commitments, measures, and targets to meet employment equity goals and advance diversity and inclusion in the workplace – to correct historical disadvantages, support safe, accessible, and healthy work environments and lead to better program outcomes for those we serve. Monitoring and reporting will be done yearly, and the plan adjusted in consultation with equity-deserving employee groups to reflect progress and learnings.

Where possible, we indicated alignment with our response to the Call to Action on Anti-Racism, Equity, and Inclusion in the Federal Public Service, the 2020/2021 Deputy Minister Commitments on Diversity and Inclusion, as well as internally-focused initiatives driven by the CER’s Strategic Plan, such as  Diversity & Belonging Roadmap; Post-Pandemic Workplace Approach and Indigenous Recruitment & Retention Strategy.

Annex B – Employment Equity Goals for 2022–2024

Date modified:

2024-04-05