Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2000, published 89th ILC session (2001)

Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention, 1958 (No. 111) - Canada (Ratification: 1964)

The Committee notes the Government’s report and the many annexes attached, including the Guidelines: Employment Equity Act of 1995, which it requested in its previous comments.

The federal level

1.  The Committee notes that the Canadian Human Rights Commission (CHRC) has undertaken the first review of the application of the new Employment Equity Act, which came into force on 24 October 1996. The purpose of the Act is to achieve an equitable representation in workplaces of women, aboriginal peoples, persons with disabilities and members of visible minorities. To this end, employers have to correct disadvantages in the workplace experienced by the designated groups in accordance with the principle that employment equity means more than treating people in the same way, but also requires special measures and the accommodation of differences. Between November 1997 and September 1999, the CHRC undertook 138 audits (28 public sector organizations and 110 private sector employers), which revealed that only four employers were deemed to be in conformity with the 12 statutory requirements. The CHRC therefore negotiated undertakings with most of the audited employers designed to achieve observance of the Act and was only obliged to issue directions to one employer who refused to cooperate, which moreover resulted in the resolution of the problem without having recourse to a tribunal. With regard to the impact of the new Act on the representation of the four designated groups, the Committee notes that the results are somewhat contrasted: (a) a high proportion of women were promoted to managerial and executive posts in 1997, even though wage scales show that women are still concentrated among the lower earners and men are the higher earners; (b) the representation of aboriginal persons continued to increase in 1997, although without attaining the level of representation of this group in the active population in Canada; (c) the representation of persons with disabilities suffered a net decline in 1997, particularly among women in the group; and (d) the representation of members of visible minorities (defined as "persons other than aboriginal peoples who are non-Caucasian in race or non-white in colour"), and particularly of men, continued to grow substantially. The Committee requests the Government to continue providing information on difficulties in the application of the Employment Equity Act, on the results achieved in relation to the representation of the four groups designated by the Act and to continue providing copies of the annual reports of the CHRC.

2.  The Committee notes that the Employment Equity Act, while emphasizing the responsibility of employers for the achievement of employment equity, provides that employers must consult employee representatives and invite them to provide their views concerning the implementation of employment equity. The Committee also notes, on the one hand, that many of the measures described by employers in their annual report are not "consultations" within the meaning of the Act and, on the other hand, that the CHRC indicates that several employers have reported that: (a) the lack of support from staff for equity initiatives has harmed their efforts to achieve a more representative staff; and (b) the comments made by their employees show that they still do not understand the purpose of employment equity and sometimes distrust the implementation of employment equity programmes. The Committee is of the opinion that the success of an employment equity plan depends largely on the support of employees for employment equity and it would be grateful if the Government would provide information on the measures which have been taken or are envisaged to encourage employers to hold real "consultations" with employee representatives throughout the process of preparing and implementing their equity plan.

3.  The Committee notes that the Special Measures Initiatives Programme (SMIP), the objectives of which are to foster a workplace environment and corporate culture that values diversity and is conducive to the equitable participation and inclusion of all employees, including members of the designated groups, did in fact come to an end on 31 March 1998 and was replaced by the Employment Equity Positive Measures Programme (EEPMP) for a duration of four years. The Committee notes that this new programme takes into account the lessons learned from the experience of the SMIP and it would be grateful to be informed of the principal results of this new programme with regard to employment equity.

4.  In its Federal Plan for Gender Equity (1995), the Government of Canada committed itself to ensuring that all future legislation and policies include, where appropriate, an analysis of their potential for different impacts on women and men. Legislative, policy and programme development henceforth has to include gender-based analysis. The Committee notes that the Government does not comment on the issue of review mechanisms and status of implementation of the Federal Plan for Gender Equality and it is therefore bound to repeat its previous request on this point. It takes this occasion to request the Government for copies of the fact sheets on sexual harassment produced by the Women in Employment Committee, which were referred to as being appended to the report, but which have not been received.

5.  The Committee notes the information provided by Statistics Canada on the valuation of unpaid work in the Canadian population census. The Committee notes, among other points, that the statistical surveys carried out for many years by this institute show that the policies implemented by employers should take into consideration the following three points: (a) better recognition for the actual participation of men in family responsibilities; (b) recognition that family responsibilities are not confined to caring for children; and (c) taking into consideration the close relationship which exists between unpaid work and the assumption of family responsibilities with regard to a part of the unemployed population (this would make it possible, for example, to take into account the fact that, if certain persons have resigned from their jobs and others are not diligent in seeking employment, this is because they must also assume family responsibilities). In view of the close relationship between the promotion of equality of opportunity and treatment in employment and occupation and the conclusions of Statistics Canada, the Committee would be grateful if the Government would indicate the extent to which it is able to draw the attention of the social partners to the suggestions of Statistics Canada, and also whether these suggestions have been taken into account at the level of the federal administration.

Provinces

6.  Ontario.  The Committee notes that persons who consider that they are suffering or have suffered from discrimination in employment on one of the seven grounds prohibited by Convention No. 111 may only pursue remedies based on violations of the provisions of the Human Rights Code, but not on the basis of the Equal Opportunity Plan, which is a non-binding, non-legislative initiative.

7.  Quebec.  In view of the legislator’s realization that the enactment of the Charter of Human Rights and Liberties was not enough to eliminate the discrimination suffered by certain groups (women, aboriginal persons, racial and ethnic minorities, persons with disabilities), it was decided in 1985 to establish equal access programmes. A transition was therefore made from an approach based on the compensation of individual faults to a systematic approach, essentially based on the achievement of results demonstrated by the access to real equality of members of the groups suffering this type of discrimination. The Committee notes with interest the assessment of the equal access programmes made by the Human Rights and Youth Rights Commission of Quebec in 1998, and particularly the strengths and weaknesses of these programmes. It requests the Government to indicate the measures which have been taken or are envisaged to take into account all or some of the 36 recommendations made by the Human Rights and Youth Rights Commission with a view to consolidating equal access programmes.