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2. Equality in the Workplace >
3. Employment Equity >
4. Designated Groups

Designated Groups

The Labour Program promotes working conditions that achieve equality in the workplace for the four designated groups in Canada. These four designated groups are:

• women;
• Aboriginal peoples;
• persons with disabilities; and
• members of visible minorities.

The Employment Equity Act and the Federal Contractors Program require organizations under their jurisdiction to adopt policies and practices to eliminate barriers to employment for the four designated groups. The Labour Program ensures that federally regulated private sector employers and Crown corporations report annually on the representation of the four designated groups in their workplaces and on the steps they have taken to achieve full representation. The Canadian Human Rights Commission receives these reports from the Labour Program and is responsible for ensuring that employers comply with the requirements of the Act.

The Labour Program is responsible for ensuring compliance with similar requirements under the Federal Contractors Program, which covers provincially regulated employers that have 100 or more employees and have been awarded a federal government contract for goods and services of $200,000 or more.

In 1984, the Royal Commission on Equality in Employment reported that members of the four designated groups faced barriers to employment due to factors unrelated to merit. They were disproportionately excluded from the workplace because of their group membership, and most of the barriers they faced were systemic in nature. A framework was required to identify and deal with these barriers so that members of designated groups could compete fairly for jobs and promotions. This would allow them to contribute evenly to the success of their employers and to the economic and social well-being of all Canadians.

In response, the Government of Canada enacted the Employment Equity Act in 1986. The new Employment Equity Act of 1995, which came into force on October 24, 1996, builds on the framework provided by the earlier legislation, giving further clarity to the same basic obligations.

For additional information on employment equity and the four designated groups, please choose one of the following links:

• Fact Sheet on Members of Designated Groups – 2006 Census
• Employment Equity Act Annual Reports
• Employment Equity Data Reports

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Date Modified:

2011-10-25