Employment Equity Act
Sections and provisions with full text and the judgments that cite each one.
Section 1 — Short title
This Act may be cited as the Employment Equity Act .
Section 2 — Purpose of Act
The purpose of this Act is to achieve equality in the workplace so that no person shall be denied employment opportunities or benefits for reasons unrelated to ability and, in the fulfilment of that…
Section 3 — Definitions
In this Act, Aboriginal peoples means persons who are Indians, Inuit or Métis; ( autochtones ) Canadian workforce means all persons in Canada of working age who are willing and able to work; (…
Section 4 — Application
This Act applies to private sector employers; the portions of the federal public administration set out in Schedule I or IV to the Financial Administration Act ; the portions of the federal public…
Section 5 — Employer’s duty
Every employer shall implement employment equity by identifying and eliminating employment barriers against persons in designated groups that result from the employer’s employment systems, policies…
Section 6 — Employer not required to take certain measures
The obligation to implement employment equity does not require an employer to take a particular measure to implement employment equity where the taking of that measure would cause undue hardship to…
Section 7 — Employment of Aboriginal peoples
Notwithstanding any other provision of this Act, where a private sector employer is engaged primarily in promoting or serving the interests of Aboriginal peoples, the employer may give preference in…
Section 8 — Certain rights not employment barriers
Employee seniority rights with respect to a layoff or recall under a collective agreement or pursuant to the established practices of an employer are deemed not to be employment barriers within the…
Section 9 — Analysis and review
For the purpose of implementing employment equity, every employer shall collect information and conduct an analysis of the employer’s workforce, in accordance with the regulations, in order to…
Section 10 — Employment equity plan
The employer shall prepare an employment equity plan that specifies the positive policies and practices that are to be instituted by the employer in the short term for the hiring, training, promotion…
Section 11 — Reasonable progress
Every employer shall ensure that its employment equity plan would, if implemented, constitute reasonable progress toward implementing employment equity as required by this Act.
Section 12 — Implementation and monitoring of plan
Every employer shall make all reasonable efforts to implement its employment equity plan; and monitor implementation of its plan on a regular basis to assess whether reasonable progress toward…
Section 13 — Periodic review and revision of plan
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…
Section 14 — Information about employment equity
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…
Section 15 — Consultation with employee representatives
Every employer shall consult with its employees’ representatives by inviting the representatives to provide their views concerning the assistance that the representatives could provide to the…
Section 16 — New employers
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. The Commission may not…
Section 17 — Employment equity records
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…
Section 18 — Reports of private sector employers
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…
Section 19 — Availability of reports of private sector employers
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…
Section 20 — Consolidation to be tabled
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…
Section 21 — Report of Treasury Board
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…
Section 22 — Compliance audits
The Commission is responsible for the enforcement of the obligations imposed on employers by sections 5, 9 to 15 and 17. The Commission shall, in discharging its responsibility under subsection (1),…
Section 23 — Powers of compliance officers
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 at any…
Section 24 — Security requirements
Every compliance officer or any other person acting on behalf of or under the direction of the Commission who receives or obtains information relating to a compliance audit under this Act shall, with…
Section 25 — Employer undertaking
Where a compliance officer is of the opinion that an employer has not collected information or conducted an analysis referred to in paragraph 9(1)(a) or conducted a review referred to in paragraph…
Section 26 — Direction of Commission
Where a compliance officer is of the opinion that an employer has failed to give reasonable assistance or to provide information as required by subsection 23(4), the compliance officer shall notify…
Section 27 — Employer’s request for review
An employer to whom a direction is issued under subsection 25(2) or (3) or 26(1) may make a request to the Chairperson for a review of the direction in the case of a direction issued under subsection…
Section 28 — Establishment of Tribunals
If an employer makes a request under subsection 27(1) or the Commission makes an application under subsection 27(2), the Chairperson shall establish an Employment Equity Review Tribunal to consider…
Section 29 — Powers of Tribunal
A Tribunal may in the same manner and to the same extent as a superior court of record, summon and enforce the attendance of witnesses and compel them to give oral and written evidence on oath and to…
Section 30 — Decision of Tribunal
A Tribunal may, after hearing a request made under subsection 27(1) or an application made under subsection 27(2), by order, confirm, vary or rescind the Commission’s direction; and make any other…
Section 31 — Enforcement of orders
Any order of a Tribunal made under section 30 may, for the purposes of its enforcement, be made an order of the Federal Court and is enforceable in the same manner as an order of that Court. To make…
Section 32 — Report of activities of Human Rights Commission
The Commission shall include in its annual report referred to in section 61 of the Canadian Human Rights Act a report of its activities, including an assessment of their effectiveness, under this Act…
Section 33 — Limitation
The Commission may not give a direction under section 25 or 26 and no Tribunal may make an order under section 30 where that direction or order would cause undue hardship on an employer; require an…
Section 34 — Privileged information
Information obtained by the Commission under this Act is privileged and shall not knowingly be, or be permitted to be, communicated, disclosed or made available without the written consent of the…
Section 35 — Violation
Every private sector employer commits a violation of this Act who without reasonable excuse, fails to file an employment equity report as required by section 18; without reasonable excuse, fails to…
Section 36 — Assessment of monetary penalty
The Minister may, within two years after the day on which the Minister becomes aware of a violation, issue a notice of assessment of a monetary penalty in respect of the violation and send it by…
Section 37 — Notice of assessment of monetary penalty
A notice of the assessment of a monetary penalty shall identify the alleged violation; specify the amount of the monetary penalty; and specify the place where the employer may pay the monetary…
Section 38 — Employer’s options
An employer may, not later than thirty days after receiving a notice of assessment of a monetary penalty, comply with the notice; or contest the assessment of the monetary penalty by making a written…
Section 39 — Review by Tribunal
On receipt of a copy of a written application or a copy of a notice of assessment, the Chairperson shall establish a Tribunal consisting of one member selected from the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal…
Section 40 — Registration of certificate
A certificate issued under subparagraph 39(4)(b)(i) may be registered in the Federal Court and when registered has the same force and effect, and all proceedings may be taken on the certificate, as…
Section 41 — Regulations
The Governor in Council may make regulations defining, for the purposes of the Act, the expressions “employee”, “hired”, “occupational group”, “promoted”, “salary” and “terminated”; prescribing the…
Section 42 — Powers, duties and functions of Minister
The Minister is responsible for developing and conducting information programs to foster public understanding of this Act and to foster public recognition of the purpose of this Act; undertaking…
Section 43 — Delegation
The Minister may authorize those persons employed in the federal public administration whom the Minister considers to be appropriate to exercise any of the powers and perform any of the duties and…
Section 44 — Review of operation of Act
Five years after the coming into force of this Act, and at the end of every five year period thereafter, a comprehensive review of the provisions and operation of this Act including the effect of…
Section 45 — Compliance with certain provisions
The Treasury Board, the Public Service Commission and any person who is an employer to whom the Employment Equity Act , R.S., c. 23 (2nd Supp.), applied shall, within one year after the coming into…
Section * 55 — Coming into force
This Act or any provision of this Act comes into force on a day or days to be fixed by order of the Governor in Council.