Program directory · Employment and Social Development Canada
Workplace Equity Program
- Department
- Employment and Social Development Canada
- Program code
- BGP04 (HRSD)
- Core responsibility
- Working Conditions and Workplace Relations
- In Departmental Plans
- 2018-19 – 2026-27 · New since an earlier plan
What it does
Workplace Equity comprises three programs: 1) The Legislated Employment Equity Program which promotes, supports and enhances employment equity outcomes for four designated groups – women, Indigenous peoples, persons with disabilities and members of visible minorities – working for federally regulated private-sector employers, Crown corporations and other federal organizations that have 100 or more employees and fall under the Employment Equity Act. 2) The Federal Contractors Program ensures that contractors who have a combined workforce in Canada of 100 or more employees and have received an initial federal government goods and services contract valued at $1 million or more achieve and maintain a workforce that is representative of the Canadian workforce. 3) Workplace Opportunities: Removing Barriers to Equity helps employers subject to the Employment Equity Act improve representation for the four designated groups in areas of low representation through partnerships and industry-tailored strategies.
Source: the department's Program Inventory, via GC InfoBase.
History and lineage
First appears in GC InfoBase's actual spending by program in 2018-19. The data does not record when a program was created; it may be older than its first appearance here, which is limited by the sources (program spending starts in 2010-11, Departmental Plans in 2018-19).
| Program | Relation | Years with data | Actual spending over those years |
|---|---|---|---|
| Workplace Equity Program | This program | 2018-19 – 2028-29 | $22.3M |
No earlier or later program in the same department has a similar name.
Significant changes in scope and budget
Detected from the data: renames between plans, programs it appears to replace, merge with or split into (matched by name), year-over-year changes in spending of at least 25% and $5M, or in employees of at least 20% and 25 FTEs, linked budget measures, and results indicators added or dropped.
| Year | What changed | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 2019-20 | Indicators dropped: Percentage of Legislated Employment Equity Program (LEEP) employers whose representation equals or surpasses Canadian labour market availability for 2+ designated groups or who demonstrated progress towards representation since the previous reporting period | Departmental Results Framework (GC InfoBase) |
| 2023-24 | Indicators added: Percentage of Legislated Employment Equity Program (LEEP) employers whose representation equals or surpasses Canadian labour market availability for 2+ designated groups or who demonstrated progress towards representation since the previous reporting period | Departmental Results Framework (GC InfoBase) |
| 2023-24 | Indicators dropped: Percentage of required compliance assessments (under the Federal Contractors Program) completed within six months of initiation | Departmental Results Framework (GC InfoBase) |
| 2023-24 | Renamed from “Workplace Equity” to “Workplace Equity Program”. | GC InfoBase program names by year |
| 2024-25 | Indicators added: Percentage of required compliance assessments (under the Federal Contractors Program) completed within six months of initiation | Departmental Results Framework (GC InfoBase) |
| 2024-25 | Indicators dropped: Percentage of Legislated Employment Equity Program (LEEP) employers whose representation equals or surpasses Canadian labour market availability for 2+ designated groups or who demonstrated progress towards representation since the previous reporting period | Departmental Results Framework (GC InfoBase) |
| 2025-26 | Indicators added: Percentage of Legislated Employment Equity Program (LEEP) employers whose representation equals or surpasses Canadian labour market availability for 2+ designated groups or who demonstrated progress towards representation since the previous reporting period | Departmental Results Framework (GC InfoBase) |
| 2025-26 | Indicators dropped: Percentage of required compliance assessments (under the Federal Contractors Program) completed within six months of initiation | Departmental Results Framework (GC InfoBase) |
Success criteria
The program's indicators from its department's Departmental Results Framework: the target set in each year's plan, and the result reported the following year. Source: GC InfoBase.
Historical: targets against results
Bars: result reported. Dashed line: target.
| Report year | Target | Due | Result | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018-19 | ≥ 65% | 2018 | 68% | Met |
| 2023-24 | ≥ 65% | 2023 | 76.6% Data reported in 2022 (for calendar year 2021) and published in the Employment Equity Act: Annual Report 2022 – is the most recent data currently available. | Met |
Bars: result reported. Dashed line: target.
| Report year | Target | Due | Result | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018-19 | ≥ 90% | 2018 | 98% A process tracking review and workload redistribution exercise were conducted in 2018-19. The measures taken to increase process effectiveness enhanced internal processes, resulting in a higher-than-expected actual result at year end. | Met |
| 2019-20 | ≥ 90% | 2019 | 96% | Met |
| 2020-21 | ≥ 90% | 2020 | 91% | Met |
| 2021-22 | ≥ 90% | 2021 | 74% The target was not met due to the following: Resources required for compliance assessments had to be redirected to respond to a priority request from the Standing Committee on Government Operations and Estimates (OGGO) for records related to the Federal Contractors Program (FCP). COVID 19 isolation measures and alternative working arrangements introduced challenges in contacting organizations to… | Not met |
| 2022-23 | ≥ 90% | 2022 | 96% | Met |
| 2024-25 | ≥ 90% | 2024 | 83% In 2024, a total of 252 compliance assessments were completed—significantly exceeding the planned 170 assessments, representing a 48% increase. This one-time peak was due in part to the Labour Program’s targeted efforts to resolve a backlog of overdue or previously unresolved employer submissions. To reduce processing time and improve overall operational efficiency, new digital tools and streamli… | Not met |
Current: the 2026-27 plan's targets
Bars: result reported. Dashed line: target.
| Report year | Target | Due | Result | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-27 | ≥ 65% | 2027 | — | Planned |
Future goals: targets due after 2026-27
No targets with a later due date.
Spending and employees: planned against actual
Spending
Show the numbers
| Fiscal year | Planned | Actual |
|---|---|---|
| 2018-19 | $1.6M | $1.4M |
| 2019-20 | $3.7M | $2.1M |
| 2020-21 | $2.2M | $2.7M |
| 2021-22 | $2.4M | $3.9M |
| 2022-23 | $5.2M | $4.6M |
| 2023-24 | $5M | $4.2M |
| 2024-25 | $5.4M | $3.3M |
| 2025-26 | $5.5M | — |
| 2026-27 | $4.4M | — |
| 2027-28 | $4.4M* | — |
| 2028-29 | $4.4M* | — |
Employees (FTEs)
Show the numbers
| Fiscal year | Planned | Actual |
|---|---|---|
| 2018-19 | 14 | 13 |
| 2019-20 | 23 | 16 |
| 2020-21 | 19 | 18 |
| 2021-22 | 20 | 29 |
| 2022-23 | 22 | 33 |
| 2023-24 | 20 | 24 |
| 2024-25 | 20 | 24 |
| 2025-26 | 20 | — |
| 2026-27 | 19 | — |
| 2027-28 | 19* | — |
| 2028-29 | 19* | — |
Planned spending, plan by plan
Each row is one year's Departmental Plan and its forecast for the next three fiscal years; read a column down to see how the forecast for one year changed. The last row is what was actually spent. Click an amount for its source. Biggest changes in federal spending plans
| Plan | 2018-19 | 2019-20 | 2020-21 | 2021-22 | 2022-23 | 2023-24 | 2024-25 | 2025-26 | 2026-27 | 2027-28 | 2028-29 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018-19 plan | $1,618,926 | $1,618,926 | $1,618,926 | ||||||||
| 2019-20 plan | $3,717,981 | $1,979,427 | $1,979,427 | ||||||||
| 2020-21 plan | $2,233,314 | $2,315,412 | $2,313,203 | ||||||||
| 2021-22 plan | $2,412,564 | $2,412,543 | $2,153,800 | ||||||||
| 2022-23 plan | $5,213,368 | $4,954,181 | $4,954,181 | ||||||||
| 2023-24 plan | $4,973,727 | $4,973,727 | $4,973,727 | ||||||||
| 2024-25 plan | $5,383,411 | $5,424,162 | $5,420,530 | ||||||||
| 2025-26 plan | $5,458,603 | $5,454,944 | $5,454,944 | ||||||||
| 2026-27 plan | $4,362,408 | $4,357,839 | $4,350,988 | ||||||||
| Actual | $1,383,842 | $2,072,640 | $2,737,218 | $3,946,736 | $4,590,567 | $4,212,444 | $3,343,942 |
Actual spending is from Departmental Results Reports and the Public Accounts, as published in GC InfoBase. FTEs are full-time equivalents.
