Self-Identification - FAQ

Self-identification helps the Public Service create a representative workforce and achieve equitable participation by eliminating any disadvantage in employment experienced by women, Indigenous peoples, persons with disabilities, persons in a visible minority group and persons belonging to the LGBTQ2+ community.

The Employment Equity Act requires that employers conduct a workforce survey to determine internal representation of designated groups (i.e., women, Aboriginal peoples, visible minorities, and persons with disabilities). We must have accurate and up-to-date information on the internal representation of designated groups, to:

• determine appropriate internal representation rates
• identify the gaps in employment by occupational group
• review employment systems to identify barriers
• implement positive policies and practices to remedy the under-representation
• set goals against which we can monitor progress

The employment equity commitment can only be fully supported when all employees count themselves in. By providing your information, we will be able to determine how the make-up of our workforce compares to the external workforce in our area. Even if you are not a designated group member or a person belonging to the LGBTQ2+ community, you are helping the organization to ensure that information on our workforce is complete and accurate.

The self-identification information is collected, used, disclosed, retained and disposed of in accordance with the Privacy Act. At ESDC, the personal information an employee shares is collected by a limited number of HR professionals. Further, all info collected is reproduced in the form of dashboards to provide high-level statistics on the number of employees who identify as being part of an employment equity group and/or the LGBTQ2+ community. Your information will not appear as part of your personnel file.

Yes, it is. It is important to complete the self-identification form even though you are not a member of the four designated groups (i.e., women, Aboriginal peoples, visible minorities, and persons with disabilities) or identify as a member of the LGBTQ2+ community. Everyone’s participation is important in order to provide a complete picture of our organizational composition.

If you do not have access to myEMS(Peoplesoft), and would like to receive and electronic copy of the forms, please send an email to NA-Diversite-EE-Diversity-GD.

Yes. Even if you have self-identified in the past, you are asked to complete the form at this time to ensure that you are counted in and counted correctly. This will ensure that our information is up-to-date.

The purpose of the Employment Equity 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 fulfillment of that goal, to correct the conditions of disadvantage in employment experienced by women, Aboriginal peoples, persons with disabilities and members of visible minorities by giving effect to the principle that employment equity means more than treating persons in the same way but also requires special measures and the accommodation of differences.

According to the definition provided by the Accessible Canada Act, disability means any impairment, including a physical, mental, intellectual, cognitive, learning, communication or sensory impairment-or a functional limitation-whether permanent, temporary or episodic in nature, or evident or not, that in interaction with a barrier hinders a person’s full and equal participation in society.

The following are examples:

1. Coordination/dexterity impairment – difficulty using hands or arms (e.g. cerebral palsy, spinal bifida);
2. Blindness/visual impairment;
3. Speech impairment – unable to speak or difficulty speaking and being understood (e.g. stuttering);
4. Non-visible physical impairment (e.g. environmental sensitivities);
5. Developmental/mental impairment;
6. Mobility impairment – difficulty moving around for example from one office to the other or up and down stairs, etc. (e.g. muscular dystrophy);
7. Learning disability (e.g. dyslexia);
8. Deafness/hearing impairment;
9. Psychiatric impairment (e.g. severe depression or schizophrenia);and
10. Chronic illnesses (e.g. Crohn's disease, diabetes, fibromyalgia, multiple sclerosis).

The participation of every employee is important in helping ESDC. Completing the self-identification forms gives employees an opportunity to influence departmental workforce recruitment and development efforts. Information gathered helps develop and implement programs and policies to ensure the equitable recruitment, retention, and promotion of designated group members and members of the LGBTQ2+ community. It is also use to ensure there are no systemic barriers affecting the full participation of employees in the workplace.

In addition, if you are in a designated group and/or you are a member of the LGBTQ2+ community, you may also consent to your self-identification information being used for human resources management purposes as such as possible participation on advisory committees; seeking your advice on specific employment equity issues through focus groups; participation on assessment boards and in other departmental Employment Equity Plan activities.

The Employment Equity Act requires that employee self-identification be voluntary. "Only those employees who identify themselves to an employer, or agree to be identified by an employer, as Aboriginal peoples, members of visible minorities or persons with disabilities are to be counted as members of those designated groups for the purposes of implementing employment equity." (Section 9 of the Act).

However, you should complete Part A of the survey and submit it even if you choose not to complete the rest of the form.

Yes, you are encouraged to self-identify even if you have been accommodated. The process of accommodation and the process of self-identification in a designated group are totally independent of each other. All persons with a disability, including those who have been accommodated in the workplace are encouraged to self-identify to help ensure that information on our workforce will be complete and accurate. However, an employee does not have to self-identify as a person with a disability in order to be accommodated.

Aboriginal peoples are North American Indians or members of First Nations, Métis or Inuit. North American Indians or members of First Nations include "status," "treaty" or "registered" Indians, as well as non-status and non-registered Indians.

According to the Employment Equity Act, visible minorities is defined as "persons, other than Aboriginal peoples, who are non-Caucasian in race or non-white in colour."

Because of the well-documented history of workplace discrimination, the Employment Equity Act requires federally regulated employers to identify and remove employment barriers and provide accommodations to ensure that women, persons with a disability, Aboriginal peoples, and persons from a visible minority group achieve equitable representation within the public service. Although other groups also experienced discrimination, ESDC is required to only report on the status of members of these four designated groups.

Yes, all employees, whether they are designated group members or members belonging to the LGBTQ2+ community or not, are required to participate in responding to the form. To access the self-identification form, sign in to MyEMS(PeopleSoft) and click the box called “Self-ID Forms.” If you wish to identify as LGBTQ2+, fill out the Diversity Self-Identification form. To identify as a member of an employment equity group, fill out the Employment Equity Self-ID form. If you identify in both groups, please complete both forms. If you do not identify in either group, fill out the Employment Equity Self-ID form.

Yes. Employment equity legislation permits employees to identify in more than one designated group. For example, you may identify yourself as an Aboriginal person and a person with a disability, or as being a member of a visible minority group and a woman.

No. You are responsible for completing your self-identification forms and thus self-identifying. Your manager or supervisor, or even your colleagues are not permitted to provide this information without your consent.

Yes. The self-identification process is confidential. The personal information an employee shares is collected by a limited number of HR professionals. Further, all info collected is reproduced in the form of dashboards to provide high-level statistics on the number of employees who identify as being part of an employment equity group and/or the LGBTQ2+ community.

We not only need to establish the current representation in our workforce but also to track that representation over time. It is necessary to link self-identification information with occupational group, salary ranges, hiring, promotions and separations in order to determine how the Department and the Public Service is doing in meeting its employment equity goals. The PRI is used to gather and track information. Only statistical information is relayed to management.

Yes, employees joining a new department must complete a new form. Each employee is asked to complete the form even if they have self-identified in the past to ensure they are accurately counted in. This will ensure that ESDCs employee profile is complete and up-to-date.

You may change or update information about yourself at any time, on your form available in MyEMS(PeopleSoft) Employee Self-Service application under the Self-ID Forms. If you require additional information about this process, please send your questions or comments to NA-Diversite-EE-Diversity-GD

Yes. To obtain the self-identification form electronically, please send an email to NA-Diversite-EE-Diversity-GD

Employment equity is the foundation upon which diversity and inclusiveness can be built. Diversity is acknowledging and valuing the many aspects and behaviours that make each of us different from one another, such as gender, age, religion, sexual orientation, cultural background, regional affiliation, socio-economic status, and work and life responsibilities. Diversity and employment equity are not contradictory to each other, rather they complement each other. Both are designed to reflect the diversity in our Canadian society. The ultimate goal of both diversity and employment equity is the achievement of an equitable employment system free of discriminatory practices. ESDC is committed to maintaining a diverse workforce that reflects all the people it serves and this why members of the LGBTQ2+ community can now self-identify even though they are not a designated group under the Employment Equity Act.

We all do. In fact, benefits created by employment equity and diversity affect all employees, not just the members of designated groups. All people now enjoy policies and programs that were initially implemented to accommodate the designated groups, such as automatic doors, which are useful when hands are full; maternity leave has been expanded to include paternity and adoption leave; ramped sidewalk curbs are useful for bicyclists and children in strollers.

As an employee you benefit by:

• a. Working in a supportive and welcoming workplace that is free from discrimination and harassment; and
• b. Having equal access to jobs, training and other development opportunities.

As a manager, you benefit by:

• c. Improved teamwork
• d. Reduced workplace conflict;
• e. Enhanced employee morale and job satisfaction; and
• f. Increased productivity.

ESDC benefits by:

• g. Attracting and retaining talented employees; and
• h. Improving client services, programs and policies that are more responsive to the needs of Canada's diverse communities.

Self-declaration refers to employment equity information provided voluntarily by applicants in appointment processes. This information may be used to determine eligibility when employment equity is a screening or selection criterion, and for statistical purposes. Self-identification is done voluntarily by employees at the time of hiring and during workforce survey campaigns. Employment equity information is used in statistical analysis of the workforce.

Yes. The decision has already been made that everyone selected for appointment from this process will have to meet this merit criterion, so it is appropriate to ask persons to self-declare when they apply.

1. For appointment processes where the area of selection is limited or expanded to include membership in one or more employment equity groups, self-declaration is used to ensure that the candidate meets that area of selection requirement.
2. For appointment processes where employment equity is used as an organizational need merit criterion, self-declaration is used to ensure that the candidate meets that merit criterion when it is applied for a particular appointment.
3. Organizations can use the self-declaration information provided by applicants from outside the public service for self-identification purposes when they are subsequently appointed to the public service as a result of the appointment process in which they self-declared. Self-declaration information provided by employees may also be used for self-identification purposes. Both external applicants and employees must have consented to this use. An example of where consent is provided is through the completion of the self-declaration screens in Publiservice or GC Jobs on-line application forms. When self-declaration information is used for self-identification purposes, it is retained in the Employment Equity Data Bank of the Treasury Board Secretariat and/or the standard organizational employment equity bank.

For further information, please send an email to the following address: NA-Diversite-EE-Diversity-GD