Diversity in Canadian workplaces

Happy February and Black History Month! On January 30, KPMG released the results of its second annual survey of Black Canadians employed by businesses across the country. The study conducted telephone interviews with 1,000 Black workers asking them about their work experiences in 2022. KPMG reported that  96% of these persons said their working conditions improved in 2022 when compared to 2021. I was really happy to hear this. The levels of anti-Black racism in Canadian workplaces is often toxic to Black staff impacting our health and wellness, productivity, rates of retention and overall levels of satisfaction and engagement. This survey result is encouraging and got me thinking about the state of diversity, equity and inclusion in Canadian workplaces.

The business case for increased focus and intention to address anti-Black racism as part of attempts to achieve diversity, equity and inclusion, or DEI, in organizations has been made in countless studies. DEI initiatives are found to result in better organizational effectiveness, efficiency and productivity because a wider range of experiences, creativity and knowledge are available from diverse staff, volunteers, board directors, and investors. But, what does diversity, equity and inclusion look like in Canadian workplaces? Below I consider levels of diversity in different workplaces.

Diversity

Diversity describes the level of representation persons with different identities have in an organization, industry, etc. In a global workforce survey, Affirm (2022) found that almost half of respondents, or 48% of persons, said their workplaces were more diverse in 2022 than they were in 2020, which is a very positive result. In the labour market, representation occurs in different types of workplaces, such as public, not-for-profit and the for-profit sectors. Below I consider each of these sectors.

1. Public Sector

In the Canadian federal public service, as of March 31, 2021, data showed that women comprised 55.6% of the workforce, Indigenous people made-up 5.2% of the federal service, racialized folks equaled 18.9%, and persons with disabilities accounted for 5.6%. There was very little change in these numbers between 2019 and 2021 other than for racialized persons, where the percentage increased from 15.7% in 2018 to 18.9% in 2021. Because completion of the survey was voluntary, not every federal employee would have answered the questions on race, gender and disabilities, however these findings provide a baseline regarding diversity within the federal government.

Compared to census data, the percentage of women working in the federal service was above the national average where 48% of women were employed in 2021. By totalling the percentages of BIPOC, or Black, Indigenous and persons of colour working within the federal government, BIPOC folks accounted for 24% of the workforce. This figure was slightly below the population figures, where 26.5% of the Canadian population in 2021 were racialized people, as per the census. As well, persons with disabilities comprise 22% of the Canadian population, so the percentage of disabled persons employed in the federal service lags behind the demographic percentage.

2. Not-for-profit organizations

Imagine Canada, in its 2022 report, stated that Canada’s not-for-profit organizations employed 2.5 million people, or 14% of the national workforce. Women accounted for 77% of staff in this sector. In addition, the report found that 29% of staff were born outside of Canada, 34% were BIPOC, and broken down further: 5% of these workers were Black, 5% were Indigenous, and 29% racialized. Unfortunately, the report did not include data on persons with disabilities and 2SLGBTQ+ folks, so there is not a full picture of diversity in this sector. 

Canadian non-profit workplaces were more diverse than other workplaces and an important employer of BIPOC folks, newcomers and women. Compared to census data, the percentage of women working in non-profit organizations was far above the national average of 48% of women employed in 2021. As well, the percentage of BIPOC folks  working at not-for-profits was above the population figure of 26.5% of the Canadian population identifying as racialized people. It was noted that although workers in this sector have high levels of education, salaries were lower in this sector than salaries earned by workers in the public and for-profit sectors, but more on that in next week’s blog!

3. Businesses

Business Development Bank of Canada, BDC, surveyed companies that it supports through its venture capital funding about representation in privately-held companies. BDC found that 91% of respondents had at least one woman in their workplaces and 82% reported employing at least one BIPOC person. Twenty-one percent of these companies employed at least 50% of women, and 9% reported that at least 50% of their employees were BIPOC folks. Almost half of these companies stated that hiring more women and BIPOC persons would be a focus in 2022. It was of note that of employees who left the companies in 2021, with 48% of persons who resigned from these companies identifying as female and 38% as BIPOC. Retaining diverse people continued to be difficult for many employers in labour markets that remained very competitive across the country.

A survey of 510 hiring managers in companies across Canada found that 40% of respondents reported having a DEI policy in 2021, which increased from 35% in 2020, but we are still behind the USA where 54% of companies reported having DEI places in place. In addition, 17% of companies said they intended to create this policy over the next year. Company size seemed to determine whether or not a company had a DEI policy; the study found that 58% of large companies had these policies compared to 26% of small companies. Having DEI policies in place is an important indicator of a company’s commitment to achieving its DEI goals.

Because it is not enough to recruit diverse folks, in next week’s post I will consider inclusion within Canadian workplaces and how diverse employees feel at work. Thanks for reading and please let me know what  you think about this post!

Michelle