The Joint Employment Equity Committee (JEEC) provides a national forum that includes the Treasury Board Secretariat (TBS), the Public Service Commission (PSC), Bargaining Agents and departmental representatives. Others with Employment Equity and diversity responsibilities or expertise, including a youth representative, may be invited to collaborate on the development, implementation and revision of public service wide policies and practices that may impact designated groups under the Employment Equity Act.
The JEEC acts as the NJC's vehicle for Employment Equity and diversity analysis, and provides the NJC with Employment Equity and diversity related input, as well as, advice and recommendations related to emerging policies and practices in the federal public service:
- Undertaking timely and relevant analysis/review from an Employment Equity and diversity lens. Analysis from an Employment Equity and diversity lens is understood as:
- Considering the Employment Equity impacts and implications of policy and practice modifications on the designated groups;
- Ensuring that intersections among designated groups—including gender identity and sexual orientation related issues are considered when impacts and implications are assessed.
- Periodically undertaking system wide reviews and analysis on Employment Equity and diversity related issues.
To achieve its mandate, the JEEC relies on:
- Transparent and timely sharing of Employment Equity and diversity related information among all Committee members (including Employment Equity data summaries gathered through various employer controlled systems);
- A consistent approach to referring issues to JEEC for consultation, collaboration, input and analysis; and,
- Engagement with the NJC Executive with regard to emerging priorities.
Committee Advisor: Karen Kruger
Quarterly Report to the National Joint Council (December 2024)
Regular activities:
- The Committee has met twice (2) since the last Council meeting.
- The Committee welcomed a new Bargaining Agent Cochair, Toufic El-Daher, from Union of Veterans’ Affairs Employees, a new Bargaining Agent Representative, Bhavika Patel, from the Public Service Alliance of Canada, and two (2) new Employer Side representatives, Cara Vandale, from Canada School of Public Service and Annie Roy, from Employment and Social Development Canada.
- The Public Service Commission (PSC) sought the Committee’s views on their modernization of the Second Language Evaluation system. It was asked whether the PSC is monitoring employment equity demographics with regards to those that require retesting for their oral examinations; the PSC indicated that they would investigate this in the future. The Committee flagged concerns with potential biases experienced by those being tested whose first language is neither English nor French, and how this affects their scoring in the exam. With the possibility of artificial intelligence as a vehicle to assist in oral examinations in future, the Committee discussed the barriers this could present to these groups.
- The PSC also presented an overview of the results from the Audit of Employment Equity Representation in Acting Appointments of six (6) months or more. It was found that between 2011 and 2021, employees with disabilities were consistently underrepresented in acting appointments; however, the other three (3) equity groups were on par with or exceeded their representation in the Public Service. Additionally, within the subgroups of visible minorities, employees who self-identified as Chinese were underrepresented in acting appointments in almost every year examined. Because the PSC’s September 2024 audit of these acting appointments found that Employees with disabilities were consistently underrepresented, the JEEC recommends that departments ask managers and staffing advisors to document in staffing files their efforts to consider candidates from employment equity groups for acting opportunities of six (6) months or more.
- The Office of the Public Service Accessibility, Treasury Board Secretariat, provided a presentation on the insights from the 2024 Accessibility Progress Report Analysis.
- The Committee reviewed the PSC Research and Development Plan for 2025-2027 and expressed strong interest in the outcomes of the projects, which cover five key themes: recruitment, inclusion, and applicant diversity; career progression and employment mobility; integrity of the staffing system, perceptions on the staffing process and non-partisanship; personnel assessment research; and tool and database development and maintenance.
- The PSC presented findings from the Staffing and Non-Partisanship Survey (SNPS), highlighting merit, fairness, transparency, and barriers and biases in staffing processes across EE groups. Notably, this was the first survey to include data on religion, marital status, family status (number of dependents), and 2SLGBTQIA+ identity, which were not collected in previous versions. The Committee noted that the information is available online through the Open Government portal and can be accessed by department or group.
Outstanding items:
- Nil
Next meetings: March 12, 2025, April 9, 2025, May 14, 2025