Employment Equity Annual Report 2021-2022

1. Introduction

As required under the Employment Equity Act, the NRC reports annually on its progress towards achieving a representative workforce.

The annual report includes workforce analysis of employment equity (EE) designated groups under the Act—women, Aboriginal peoples^{Footnote *}, persons with disabilities and members of visible minorities^{Footnote *}—by EE occupational group (EEOG), geographic region, salary range, as well as shares of hires, promotions, and terminations.

The workforce data in this report includes indeterminate employees and employees in service terms of three months or more. The report does not include data on students, employees on secondment from other organizations, employees in terms of less than three months, or visiting workers.

The report also outlines the NRC's progress in implementing its Workforce and Workplace Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) Strategy, as well as mechanisms in place to consult employees with respect to EE issues.

In order to adhere to confidentiality rules related to self‑identification information, all statistics that include 5 employees or less are suppressed from this report with the following symbol "±". Data on women does not come from the self‑identification process and is therefore not subject to the same restrictions.

Note: At the NRC, data pertaining to the representation of women in our workforce is collected from information provided by new employees at the time of hire and may be updated at any time through Human Resources. Data on the representation of the other designated groups is collected via a voluntary self-identification survey made available to employees at the time of hire and every time they change positions within the NRC. Employees may update their self-identification information at any time through an employee self-service portal.

2. Workforce analysis

On March 31, 2022, the NRC employed a staff of 4,247 in 12 EEOGs, an increase of 12 employees from the 4,235 employees reported in the previous reporting period.

Labour market availability (LMA) estimates for fiscal year (FY) 2021-2022 are based on the 2016 National Household Survey (Census) and the 2017 Canadian Survey on Disability results. All percentage calculations in this report are rounded up or down to one decimal place.

2.1 Representation of designated groups within the NRC workforce – Progress over FY 2020-2021 and FY 2021-2022

On March 31, 2022, the NRC had representation gaps for 3 of the 4 EE designated groups.

The representation for women in the NRC's overall workforce surpassed LMA, while steady progress is noted in the remaining designated groups. The representation of Indigenous Peoples relative to LMA at the end of FY 2021-2022 was 60.5%, an increase from 52.4% reported in the previous fiscal year. The representation of persons with disabilities relative to LMA increased from 43.3% in FY 2020-2021 to 44.6% in FY 2021-2022. The representation of racialized persons relative to LMA increased from 92.6% reported in FY 2020-2021 to 93.9% in FY 2021-2022.

In terms of employee count, the representation of women at the NRC surpassed LMA estimates by 41 individuals. Representation of Indigenous peoples was below LMA estimates by 36 individuals. Representation of persons with disabilities was below LMA estimates by 201 individuals. Representation of racialized persons at the NRC was below LMA estimates by 61 individuals.

2.2 Representation of designated groups by EE occupational group: FY 2021-2022

As noted in table 2.2, the Professionals group constitutes the largest EEOG at the NRC, comprising 51.8% of the workforce. The Semi-professionals and technicians group follows at 23.3%; Administrative and senior clerical personnel at 11.2%; Middle and other managers at 5.7%; Clerical personnel at 3.0%; and Skilled crafts and trades workers at 2.1% of the workforce. Other smaller EEOGs account for the remainder of the NRC population.

The data and supporting narrative that follow in tables 2.3 through 2.6 denote the NRC's findings and analysis for each EE designated group at the EEOG level as of March 31, 2022, as well as their respective number of hires, promotions, and terminations during FY 2021-2022.

2.3 Women: hires, promotions and terminations by EE occupational group

• On March 31, 2022, women represented 38.5% of the NRC's workforce, slightly above the LMA estimate of 37.6%, surpassing the availability benchmark by 41 individuals.
• When reviewing the data by EEOG, the representation of women at the NRC met or surpassed LMA estimates in 8 of the 12 occupational groups. Gaps were still present in the Professionals group (-9 individuals), Supervisors, crafts and trades (-4 individuals), Intermediate sales/service (-2 individuals) and Other manual workers (-1 individual).
• The proportion of women hired increased from 44.9% in the previous fiscal year to 45.1% in FY 2021-2022, and remained higher than the LMA estimate of 41.6%.
• At 43.7%, the proportion of women promoted remained steady from FY 2020-2021 through 2021-2022, surpassing the LMA estimate of 38.0%.
• In FY 2021-2022, 175 women departed from the NRC, representing 41.9% of all terminations, a slight decrease from the 42.9% reported in the previous period.

2.4 Indigenous peoples: hires, promotions and terminations by EE occupational group

2.6 Racialized persons: hires, promotions and terminations by EE occupational group

• Racialized persons represent 21.9% of the NRC workforce, below the LMA estimate of 23.3%, resulting in a gap of -61 individuals.
• Racialized groups are underrepresented within 7 of the 12 EEOGs with the greatest gaps seen in the Semi-professionals and technicians group at -31 individuals, followed by the Professionals group at -23 individuals, and Middle and other managers group at -15.
• The proportion of racialized persons hired in FY 2021-2022 increased to 28.2%, from 26.9% reported last fiscal year, remaining higher than the LMA estimate of 23.6%.
• The proportion of promotions for racialized persons decreased in FY 2021-2022 to 23.2%, from the 24.2% reported last period, falling below the LMA estimate of 23.5%.
• The proportion of racialized employees who left the NRC was much higher in 2021-2022 at 23.7% compared to the 16.7% reported last fiscal, surpassing the LMA estimate of 21.5%.

2.7 Hires of designated groups by EE occupational group

2.8 Promotions of designated groups by EE occupational group

2.9 Terminations of designated groups by EE occupational group

2.10 Representation of designated groups by geographic region

2.11 Representation of designated groups by salary range

3. Progress implementing EE action plans

During fiscal year 2021-2022, the NRC launched a new 3-year Workforce and Workplace Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Strategy ("the strategy"). The 2021-2024 strategy follows a comprehensive employment systems review along with an assessment of the NRC's state of readiness for the implementation of the Accessible Canada Act, both conducted in 2020-2021. The new strategy also aligns with the Clerk of the Privy Council's Call to Action on Anti-Racism, Equity, and Inclusion in the Federal Public Service, the Many Voices One Mind: A Pathway to Reconciliation Action Plan, Deputy Minister Commitments on Diversity and Inclusion, and the NRC Senior Executive Committee (SEC) Commitment of Action toward a Diverse, Inclusive and Anti-Racist NRC.

The strategy supports the overall 5-year NRC Strategic Human Resources Plan for 2019-2024 and includes 5 pillars designed to enable the NRC to:

• hire diverse talent
• support the career development and advancement of diverse talent
• foster an inclusive, accessible and anti-racist culture
• address barriers in policies and systems
• enable sustained, measurable progress

The following describes the NRC's progress in implementing its strategy and action plans over the course of fiscal year 2021-2022.

Hire diverse talent

During the reporting period, the NRC continued to make steady progress in improving representation for EE designated groups:

• As part of the annual workforce planning process, business units were asked to consider the NRC's EE gaps (including noted EEOGs) when identifying staffing needs and determining hiring strategies.
• SEC approved updated representation and hiring goals (to 2024) for each of the EE designated groups. The data shared through previous EE annual reporting served to inform these goals and provide a baseline.
• Tools to support hiring managers were made available including an inclusive hiring checklist and a summary of competitive hiring options and poster language available to advance EE. Hiring managers were encouraged to consider EDI at each stage of the hiring process and in considering job requirements including qualifications, location of work and the potential for alternative work arrangements.
• The NRC careers page and job posters were updated to better encourage candidates to self-declare during the job application process. Posters also indicated when the competition gave priority consideration to one or more designated groups.
• The NRC continued to give priority to qualified students who self-declared as members of EE designated groups. During the reporting period, the NRC hired 435 students of which 44.8% self-identified as women, 1.4% as Indigenous peoples, 1.6% as persons with disabilities and 44.1% as racialized persons.
• In November 2021, the NRC participated in Ottawa's first annual Indigenous Student Career Fair, cohosted by both the University of Ottawa and Carleton University, and participated in the first ever BE-STEMM conference hosted by the Canadian Black Scientists Network.
• To increase outreach, the NRC renewed its partnership with Indigenous Link, a career service provider dedicated to supporting Indigenous job seekers. The NRC also began a partnership with Equitek, a channel that provides access to a network of employment counsellors and job seekers.

Support the career development and advancement of diverse talent

During 2021-2022, the NRC launched a number of initiatives to support employee career development:

• On April 27, 2021, the NRC launched Mentoring@the NRC, a mentorship program open to employees at all levels and at all locations. The program followed a pilot focusing on Women in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM). The program enables connections between mentors and mentees on a range of topics including acquiring new leadership skills, career development and career advancement. The program leverages the Together Platform, an online tool to facilitate matching and the mentoring process. As part of their employee profile, mentors and mentees are invited to self-declare as a member of an employment equity group. As of the end of the reporting period, there were 486 registered users which included: 264 mentees, 90 mentors, and 132 users who were both mentors and mentees with 46.9% of users self-declaring as women, a small percentage as Indigenous peoples, 2.3% as persons with disabilities, and 14.8% as racialized persons.
• During the reporting period, the NRC submitted nominations for the Canada School of Public Service (CSPS) Executive Leadership Development Program (ELDP) EX 01 to 03. This year, a callout message was sent to all executives inviting those eligible to express interest and to self-declare as a member of an employment equity group as part of the process. The NRC also submitted nominations for the EX 04-05 program. EE was a consideration in both processes and of the employees enrolled in the ELDP in 2021-2022, 75.0% self-declared as members of the designated groups.
• NRC leadership also participated in the CSPS Supervisor Development Program, Manager Development Program, Aspiring Directors Program and New Directors Program. Out of the 181 participants enrolled in 2021-2022, 48.1% identified as women, a small percentage as Indigenous peoples, 3.3% as persons with disabilities, and 24.3% as racialized persons.
• The NRC regularly communicated available learning and development programs including those organized across the federal public service through its employee newsletter and other communication channels.

Foster an inclusive, accessible and anti-racist culture

Throughout the reporting period, a number of actions were taken to establish a solid foundation for the strategy and to enable employees and leaders to foster an inclusive, accessible and anti-racist workplace culture:

• In January 2022, the NRC launched a speakers' series to invite grassroots organizations to present a portrait of the realities faced by underrepresented groups and engage with senior leaders on how to improve employment and education conditions for these groups. The series began with the Canadian Black Scientists Network, a national coalition of Black scholars who seek to increase the intake, retention and representation of Black Canadians in STEMM, presenting to and engaging with SEC. In March 2022, the NRC's Executive Committee (EXCO) welcomed members of Lotus STEMM, a grassroots non-profit organization which seeks to provide networking and leadership platforms to South Asian women in STEMM in Canada and abroad.
• In February 2022, the NRC launched an anti-racism training series for senior leadership, led and delivered by Culture Check. This three-part series focused on the principles of creating an anti-racist organizational culture, fostering psychological safety, operationalizing our values, and creating belonging. Training started with SEC who received 6 hours of training over one month. This was followed by over 60 executives receiving 9 hours of training throughout March and April 2022. The series also included a townhall session open to all employees at the NRC, which was attended by over 1,200 people.
• New NRC employees continued to complete two mandatory introductory courses as a part of their onboarding process: Diversity and Inclusion Fundamentals and Unconscious Bias. New supervisors were also required to complete the Managing Bias in Hiring, which is a requirement for hiring delegation at the NRC. These mandatory courses are offered through a partnership with the Canadian Centre for Diversity and Inclusion.
• New employees were introduced to the NRC's commitment to EDI during the Onboarding event. Furthermore, resources on EDI, anti-racism, wellness and respectful workplace were shared with new employees in the Welcome toolkit.
• Both planned and on-demand training on Gender-Based Analysis Plus (GBA+) was offered to business units and planners throughout the reporting period.
• The NRC Industrial Research Assistance Program (IRAP) offered Indigenous Cultural Safety training to its senior leadership, delivered by San'yas Indigenous Cultural Safety Foundations.
• In addition to training led corporately, a number of the NRC's divisions, research centres and corporate branches offered training and invited guest speakers on a variety of themes including anti-racism and Indigenous lived experiences.
• In fall 2021, the first ever NRC Black Employee Resource Community (BERC) was formed. This employee resource group (ERG) aims to connect Black NRC employees across Canada and create safe spaces and platforms for community, exchange, and belonging. The community also provides an avenue for consultation to ensure that Black employee voices are represented when revising and designing programs, services, and initiatives.
• Information on ERGs was communicated to employees and supervisors including the NRC BERC and Women in STEM network, as well as a number of federal networks including the Federal Black Employee Caucus, Indigenous Federal Employees Network, Jewish Public Servants Network, Muslim Federal Employees Network, Network of Federal Asian Employees, Public Service Pride (PSP) Network, PSP Executive Network, and the Racialized Women Belonging Group.
• During the reporting period, the NRC provided financial support to a number of groups working toward the advancement of EDI in STEM through its Outreach Initiative. The Outreach Initiative provides grant funding to support non-profit organizations and charities for a variety of science- or innovation-based initiatives or projects including conferences, workshops, symposia, and other activities aimed at promoting outreach to, and engagement with, Canadians, including those from under-represented groups interested in STEM.
• A number of tools and resources were developed and shared with employees including:
  • An organizational guide to land acknowledgements made available on the NRC's intranet. The non-prescriptive guide provides information on the significance of acknowledging traditional land and considerations for when and how to do so. By the end of the reporting period, the guide to land acknowledgements had received 1,222 views.
  • Building on an anti-racism resource portal launched in 2020-2021, a new anti-racism library guide was launched in September 2021. The guide includes a curated list of resources designed to help employees incorporate anti-racist practices into their everyday work and research. It also provides employees with access to 8 bestselling e-books, a collection of scholarly articles, statistics, toolkits and a variety of other resources. The tools and resources page received 341 views throughout the reporting period whereas the reading list attracted 198 viewers.
  • A learning resources page was also launched by the Indigenous Engagement Network. This site includes books, training, articles, reports and other resource to support understanding and engagement with Indigenous Peoples. By the end of the reporting period, the learning resources page had received 524 views.
  • In fall 2021, the NRC added a section devoted to EDI news and events, information, tools and resources to its weekly internal newsletter.
• Throughout 2021-2022, the NRC recognized and communicated a number of commemorative events including:
  • Asian Heritage Month, Canadian Multiculturalism Day, National Indigenous Peoples Day, National Indigenous History Month, Acadian Day, Linguistic Duality Day, National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, Disability Employment Awareness Month, Women's History Month, International Men's Day, Transgender Day of Remembrance, Human Rights Day, Pride Season including Public Service Pride Week, International Day of Persons with Disabilities, Black History Month, Journée internationale de la Francophonie, International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, International Day of Women and Girls in Science, International Pronouns Day.
  • As part of Asian Heritage Month in May 2021, a panel discussion was hosted by the Vice-President, Human Resources and EDI Champion, and featuring three organizational leaders. The discussion touched on the lived experience of panelists and some of the barriers they faced in their career in STEM and in society.
  • The NRC BERC hosted a trivia event as part of Black History Month in February 2022. The event encouraged employees to come and test their knowledge on notable figures in history, culture, music, and art, in a fun and engaging way.
• In addition to the Workforce and Workplace EDI Strategy, the NRC also launched a refreshed Wellness strategy, 2021-2024, approved in June 2021. Activities advanced in year one included the delivery of mental health crisis training to supervisors. Nine sessions were delivered by the Employee Assistance Program, Specialized Organizational Services. Additional wellness-themed learning events included 6 sessions delivered by the NRC wellness advisor to 862 participants and 4 additional speaker events attended by 1,230 participants. Mental health services and supports were also promoted particularly in the context of the pandemic and specific events.

Address barriers in policies and systems

The NRC Workforce and Workplace EDI Strategy includes a number of initiatives designed to address and remove barriers to employment, advancement and full participation in the workplace. Activities undertaken in 2021-2022 included:

• The formation of 2 working groups led by the NRC Women in STEM committee: one to review researcher access to resources (e.g., budget allocation, lab time, etc.) with a goal of identifying differential access for equity deserving groups, and one conducting a review of progress and remaining gaps relative to the 2017 Recruitment and Retention of Women (RRW) study and corresponding strategy. This work continues in 2022-2023.
• The NRC participated in the last phase of the Realizing Identity-Safe Environments (RISE) study conducted by the University of British Columbia's Engendering Success in STEM research team. A total of 44 employees attended the virtual workshops on June 16, 2021 and October 20, 2021, with an additional 9 employees participating in the survey portion of the research only.
• Work toward gender inclusivity within HR management systems continued in 2021-2022. In the job application form, a question on gender was removed and replaced with an option to self-declare as belonging to the 'women' EE designated group, similar to the self-declaration questions pertaining to the other designated groups. In addition, the NRC has started the process of removing all forms of salutations from its job application form (the use of salutations has been made optional pending implementation) and from its employee self-service portal.
• During the reported period, the NRC communicated its obligation to move forward in implementing the Pay Equity Act, which came into force on August 31, 2021. This work will include the development of a pay equity plan within three years.
• The NRC continued to integrate GBA+ into the assessment of the potential impacts of policies, programs and initiatives on equity deserving groups. GBA+ is conducted on cabinet and treasury board submissions as well as in program design and evaluation, departmental planning and reporting tools, and plans for new initiatives, and processes. During the reporting period, GBA+ and accessibility assessments were included in the review of planned improvements to the NRC new employee onboarding process.

Enable sustained, measurable progress

During the reporting period, the NRC took a number of steps to renew its commitment to EDI, and ensure sustained progress and accountability:

• Members of SEC and EXCO signed a Commitment of Action toward a Diverse, Inclusive and Anti-Racist NRC. This commitment is designed to confirm personal and collective responsibility to learn and take concrete steps to drive positive and enduring change.
• All NRC executives were assigned a common commitment to advance EDI and anti-racism during the reporting period which included actions to remove barriers, address representation gaps, support the professional development of diverse talent, encourage inclusion of diverse voices in decision making, and engage in and promote continuous learning about anti-racism, reconciliation, accessibility and allyship.
• An updated executive commitment for 2022-2023 was assigned at the end of the reporting period which included specific hiring goals for the year: 50% of external hires will be qualified candidates who have self-declared as members of the following EE groups: Indigenous peoples, persons with disabilities and racialized persons. The NRC will also continue to prioritize hiring women in EEOGs, positions and business units where the NRC has gaps.
• During the reporting period, SEC approved the updated Workforce and Workplace EDI Strategy and met in December 2021 and February 2022 to establish, confirm and approve the NRC's updated hiring and representation goals to 2024. Quarterly reporting against progress as well as more fulsome strategy progress reports will commence in 2022-2023.
• In summer 2021, the NRC submitted a progress report to the Clerk of the Privy Council on the Call to Action on Anti-Racism, Equity, and Inclusion in the Federal Public Service. All departments and agencies' response letters were published on the Privy Council Office website.
• In February 2022, a callout was issued to NRC executives for a variety of champion roles, including: accessibility and disability inclusion, anti-racism, 2SLGBTQ+ inclusion, wellness and mental health and official languages. Champions were subsequently confirmed and announced in the following fiscal year.
• The NRC Council, which oversees the performance of the organization, established an EDI working group to provide advice and guidance to support the NRC in making meaningful progress in advancing EDI.
• The NRC Committee on EDI (CEDI) held a number of meetings throughout the reporting period and provided input on the strategy as well as a number of specific initiatives. The committee's membership was also refreshed following the end of a number of membership terms.
• The NRC's EDI community of practice (CoP) brings together 40+ individuals identified as leading EDI initiatives at the working-level across the NRC. The CoP provides a forum for exchange on current initiatives, best practices and challenges in their respective areas. The CoP also enables a coordinated, system-level approach to advancing EDI.
• A self-identification campaign was held throughout March 2022. The completion rate remained steady, increasingly slightly from 90.3% to 90.8%. The NRC also undertook a preliminary review of its self-declaration (in job applications) and self-identification (for all staff) questionnaires in order to identify potential improvements including expanding the number and definitions of equity deserving groups, updating and modernizing language, and enabling better collection and reporting of disaggregated data to drive improvements. Further input was gathered from the CEDI early in 2022-2023.
• NRC exit interviews provide information on reasons for employee departures and inform retention strategies. Employees are asked specifically whether they encountered any barriers during their employment as a result of being a member of an EE designated group. Throughout the reporting period, a total of 80 exit surveys were completed of which 62 individuals identified as a member of one or more designated groups. Less than 6 individuals reported encountering barriers during their employment.
• Work toward continuous improvement in data collection and reporting against key performance indicators was carried out in 2021-2022 and continues into 2022-2023.

4. Consultations with employees

A number of consultations were held in the first quarter of 2021-2022 pertaining to the development of the new Workforce and Workplace EDI Strategy for 2021-2024 including consultations with bargaining agent representatives, CEDI, and the Women in STEM committee. These consultations followed several individual and group interviews conducted in 2020-2021 as part of the employment systems review and accessibility assessment that informed the strategy.

The NRC CEDI met twice in 2021-2022. In addition to providing input on the strategy and its related components, members of CEDI provided input on overall efforts to increase representation of EE designated groups as well as the development of an NRC employer value proposition and talent attraction strategy.

The Women in STEM committee met 4 times during the reporting period to advance work on the recommendations outlined in the NRC's Recruitment and Retention of Women in STEM Strategy and provide input on EDI initiatives. This committee actively engaged NRC colleagues in their work throughout this reporting period on topics such as outreach, mentoring and networking. The committee also provided input on the new strategy and the development of an NRC employer value proposition and talent attraction strategy.

Consultations were also held with members of the BERC and a number of Indigenous employees regarding the development of a sponsoring program to support aspiring executives.

In addition to these consultations, the NRC continued to integrate the results of the most recent Public Service Employee Survey data and themes into its programming and implementation.