Employment Equity Act (S.C. 1995, c. 44)

Marginal note:Reasonable progress

11 Every employer shall ensure that its employment equity plan would, if implemented, constitute reasonable progress toward implementing employment equity as required by this Act.

Marginal note:Implementation and monitoring of plan

12 Every employer shall

• (a) make all reasonable efforts to implement its employment equity plan; and

• (b) monitor implementation of its plan on a regular basis to assess whether reasonable progress toward implementing employment equity is being made.

Marginal note:Periodic review and revision of plan

13 Every employer shall, at least once during the period in respect of which the short term numerical goals referred to in paragraph 10(1)(d) are established, review its employment equity plan and revise it by

• (a) updating the numerical goals, taking into account the factors referred to in subsection 10(2); and

• (b) making any other changes that are necessary as a result of an assessment made pursuant to paragraph 12(b) or as a result of changing circumstances.

Marginal note:Information about employment equity

14 Every employer shall provide information to its employees explaining the purpose of employment equity and shall keep its employees informed about measures the employer has undertaken or is planning to undertake to implement employment equity and the progress the employer has made in implementing employment equity.

Marginal note:Consultation with employee representatives

• 15 (1) Every employer shall consult with its employees’ representatives by inviting the representatives to provide their views concerning

  • (a) the assistance that the representatives could provide to the employer to facilitate the implementation of employment equity in its workplace and the communication to its employees of matters relating to employment equity; and

  • (b) the preparation, implementation and revision of the employer’s employment equity plan.

• Marginal note:Where employees represented by bargaining agents

  (2) Where employees are represented by a bargaining agent, the bargaining agent shall participate in a consultation under subsection (1).

• Marginal note:Collaboration

  (3) Every employer and its employees’ representatives shall collaborate in the preparation, implementation and revision of the employer’s employment equity plan.

• Marginal note:Rule of interpretation

  (4) Consultation under subsection (1) and collaboration under subsection (3) are not forms of co-management.

Marginal note:New employers

• 16 (1) A person who becomes an employer after the day on which this section comes into force shall, within eighteen months after becoming an employer, comply with sections 9 and 10.

• Marginal note:Compliance audit

  (2) The Commission may not conduct a compliance audit of the discharge of the obligations of a person referred to in subsection (1) within two years after the day on which that person becomes an employer.

Records and Reports

Marginal note:Employment equity records

17 Every employer shall, in accordance with the regulations, establish and maintain employment equity records in respect of the employer’s workforce, the employer’s employment equity plan and the implementation of employment equity by the employer.

Marginal note:Reports of private sector employers

• 18 (1) Every private sector employer shall, on or before June 1 in each year, file with the Minister a report in respect of the immediately preceding calendar year containing information in accordance with prescribed instructions, indicating, in the prescribed manner and form,

  • (a) the industrial sector in which its employees are employed, the location of the employer and its employees, the number of its employees and the number of those employees who are members of designated groups;

  • (b) the occupational groups in which its employees are employed and the degree of representation of persons who are members of designated groups in each occupational group;

  • (c) the salary ranges of its employees and the degree of representation of persons who are members of designated groups in each range and in each prescribed subdivision of the range and any other information in relation to the salary of its employees that may be prescribed; and

  • (d) the number of its employees hired, promoted and terminated and the degree of representation in those numbers of persons who are members of designated groups.

• Marginal note:Interpretation

  (2) For the purposes of subsection (1), an employer is the person who or organization that was the employer on December 31 in the immediately preceding year.

• Marginal note:Electronic filing

  (3) An employer may file a report using electronic media in a manner specified in writing by the Minister and, in such a case, the report is deemed to have been filed on the day that the Minister acknowledges receipt of it.

• Marginal note:Self-identification

  (4) Only those employees who identify themselves to their employer, or agree to be identified by their employer, as Aboriginal peoples, members of visible minorities and persons with disabilities are to be counted as members of those designated groups for the purposes of the report.

• Marginal note:Certificate required

  (5) A report shall be certified, in the prescribed manner, as to the accuracy of the information contained in it and shall be signed by the employer or, where the employer is a corporation, by a prescribed person on behalf of the corporation.

• Marginal note:Additional information

  (6) An employer shall include in a report a description of

  • (a) the measures taken by the employer during the reporting period to implement employment equity and the results achieved; and

  • (b) the consultations between the employer and its employees’ representatives during the reporting period concerning the implementation of employment equity.

• Marginal note:Consolidated reports

  (7) Where, in the opinion of the Minister, associated or related federal works, undertakings or businesses are operated by two or more employers having common control or direction, the Minister may, on the application of the employers, authorize them to file a consolidated report with respect to employees employed by them on or in connection with those works, undertakings or businesses.

• Marginal note:Exemption for private sector employers

  (8) The Minister may, on the application of an employer, exempt the employer from any or all of the requirements of this section for a period not exceeding one year if, in the opinion of the Minister, special circumstances warrant the exemption.

• Marginal note:Copy to employees’ representatives

  (9) An employer shall, on filing a report with the Minister under this section, provide its employees’ representatives with a copy of the report.

• Marginal note:Copy to Commission

  (10) The Minister shall, on receipt of a report, send a copy of it to the Commission.

Marginal note:Availability of reports of private sector employers

• 19 (1) Subject to subsection (2), every report filed under subsection 18(1) shall be available for public inspection at such places as may be designated, and in such form as may be determined, by the Minister, and any person may, on payment of a prescribed fee, not to exceed the costs of furnishing a copy, obtain from the Minister a copy of any of the reports.

• Marginal note:Withholding of report

  (2) The Minister may, on the application of an employer, withhold the employer’s report from public inspection for a period not exceeding one year if, in the opinion of the Minister, special circumstances warrant the withholding.

Marginal note:Consolidation to be tabled

20 The Minister shall in each year prepare a report consisting of a consolidation of the reports filed under subsection 18(1) together with an analysis of those reports and shall cause the report to be laid before each House of Parliament not later than the fifteenth sitting day that that House of Parliament is sitting after the report is completed.

Marginal note:Report of Treasury Board

• 21 (1) The President of the Treasury Board shall, in each fiscal year, cause to be laid before each House of Parliament a report in respect of the state of employment equity in the portions of the federal public administration referred to in paragraph 4(1)(b) during the immediately preceding fiscal year.

• Marginal note:Contents of report

  (2) The report referred to in subsection (1) shall consist of

  • (a) a consolidation and analysis of

    • (i) the number of employees employed in each portion of the federal public administration referred to in paragraph 4(1)(b) and the number of persons who are members of each designated group so employed,

    • (ii) the total number of employees employed in all portions of the federal public administration referred to in paragraph 4(1)(b) in each province and in the National Capital Region and the number of persons who are members of each designated group so employed,

    • (iii) the occupational groups of employees and the degree of representation of persons who are members of each designated group in each occupational group,

    • (iv) the salary ranges of employees and the degree of representation of persons who are members of each designated group in each range and in any subdivision of the range, and

    • (v) the numbers of employees hired, promoted and terminated and the degree of representation, in those numbers, of persons who are members of each designated group;

  • (b) a description of the principal measures taken by the Treasury Board during the reporting period to implement employment equity and the results achieved;

  • (c) a description of the consultations between the Treasury Board and its employees’ representatives during the reporting period concerning the implementation of employment equity; and

  • (d) any other information that the President of the Treasury Board considers relevant.

• Marginal note:Requirement to provide information

  (3) Each portion of the public sector referred to in paragraphs 4(1)(c) and (d), other than the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, shall, within six months after the end of each fiscal year, provide to the President of the Treasury Board a report containing the information referred to in subsection (4) in relation to that portion during that fiscal year and the President shall cause the reports, together with the report referred to in subsection (1), to be laid before each House of Parliament.

• Marginal note:Contents of report

  (4) A report referred to in subsection (3) shall consist of

  • (a) the information referred to in subparagraphs (2)(a)(i) to (v) in relation to that portion;

  • (b) an analysis of the information referred to in paragraph (a); and

  • (c) the information referred to in paragraphs (2)(b) to (d) in relation to that portion.

• Marginal note:Requirement to provide information

  (5) The Canadian Security Intelligence Service shall, within six months after the end of each fiscal year, provide to the President of the Treasury Board a report containing the information referred to in subsection (6) in relation to that portion during that fiscal year and the President shall cause the report, together with the report referred to in subsection (1), to be laid before each House of Parliament.

• Marginal note:Contents of report

  (6) A report referred to in subsection (5) shall consist of

  • (a) the percentage of employees employed in that portion who are members of each designated group;

  • (b) the occupational groups of employees in that portion and the percentage of persons who are members of each designated group in each occupational group;

  • (c) the salary ranges of employees in that portion and the percentage of persons who are members of each designated group in each range and in any subdivision of the range;

  • (d) the percentage of employees hired, promoted and terminated in that portion who are members of each designated group;

  • (e) an analysis of the information referred to in paragraphs (a) to (d); and

  • (f) the information referred to in paragraphs (2)(b) to (d) in relation to that portion.

• Marginal note:Copy to Commission

  (7) The President of the Treasury Board shall, as soon as possible after a report referred to in any of subsections (1), (3) and (5) is laid before each House of Parliament, send a copy of the report to the Commission.

• Marginal note:Copies to employees’ representatives

  (8) As soon as possible after a report referred to in this section is laid before each House of Parliament,

  • (a) in the case of a report referred to in subsection (1), the President of the Treasury Board,

  • (b) in the case of a report referred to in subsection (3), each portion of the public sector referred to in that subsection, and

  • (c) in the case of a report referred to in subsection (5), the Canadian Security Intelligence Service,

  shall send a copy of the report to its employees’ representatives.

PART IICompliance

Compliance Audits

Marginal note:Compliance audits

• 22 (1) The Commission is responsible for the enforcement of the obligations imposed on employers by sections 5, 9 to 15 and 17.

• Marginal note:Guiding policy

  (2) The Commission shall, in discharging its responsibility under subsection (1), be guided by the policy that, wherever possible, cases of non-compliance be resolved through persuasion and the negotiation of written undertakings pursuant to subsection 25(1) and that directions be issued under subsection 25(2) or (3) and applications for orders be made under subsection 27(2) only as a last resort.

• Marginal note:Compliance officers designated

  (3) The Commission may designate any person or category of persons as employment equity compliance review officers for the purposes of conducting compliance audits of employers.

• Marginal note:Where compliance officer may not act

  (4) No person who has been designated as an investigator under section 43 of the Canadian Human Rights Act to investigate a complaint under that Act in respect of an employer may, during the investigation, conduct a compliance audit of that employer.

• Marginal note:Delegation by Commission

  (5) The Commission may authorize any officer or employee of the Commission whom the Commission considers appropriate to exercise any power and perform any duty or function of the Commission under this Act and any power so exercised and any duty or function so performed shall be deemed to have been exercised or performed by the Commission.

Marginal note:Powers of compliance officers

• 23 (1) For the purposes of ensuring compliance with the provisions referred to in subsection 22(1), a compliance officer may conduct a compliance audit of an employer and, for that purpose, may

  • (a) at any reasonable time, enter any place in which the officer believes on reasonable grounds there is any thing relevant to the enforcement of any of those provisions; and

  • (b) require any person to produce for examination or copying any record, book of account or other document that the officer believes on reasonable grounds contains information that is relevant to the enforcement of any of those provisions.

• Marginal note:Data processing systems and copying equipment

  (2) In conducting a compliance audit, a compliance officer may

  • (a) reproduce or cause to be reproduced any record from a data processing system in the form of a print-out or other intelligible output and remove the print-out or other output for examination and copying; and

  • (b) use or cause to be used any copying equipment at the place to make copies of any record, book of account or other document.

• Marginal note:Certificate to be produced

  (3) Compliance officers shall be furnished with certificates in a form established by the Commission certifying their designation as compliance officers and, on entering a place under paragraph (1)(a), a compliance officer shall show the certificate to the person in charge of the place if the person requests proof of the officer’s designation.

• Marginal note:Assistance to compliance officers

  (4) The person in charge of a place entered pursuant to paragraph (1)(a) and every person found in the place shall

  • (a) give the compliance officer all reasonable assistance to enable the officer to exercise the powers conferred on compliance officers by this section; and

  • (b) provide the officer with any information relevant to the enforcement of this Act that the officer may reasonably require.