Employment Equity Annual Report 2019-20

CNSC Employment Equity Annual Report 2019–20 (PDF, 6.91 MB)

1. Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission: General overview
- The CNSC’s work
- Organizational structure
2. The CNSC’s approach to employment equity, diversity and inclusion
3. Workforce representation data analysis
4. Ongoing initiatives and practices supporting diversity and inclusion at the CNSC
5. Implementation of the Diversity and Inclusion Plan 2019‒2022
6. Additional inclusion efforts
7. Conclusion
Appendix: Workforce representation data tables as of March 31, 2020

1. Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission: General overview

The CNSC’s work

The Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) regulates the use of nuclear energy and materials to protect health, safety, security and the environment; to implement Canada’s international commitments on the peaceful use of nuclear energy; and to disseminate objective scientific, technical and regulatory information to the public.

The CNSC was established in 2000 under the Nuclear Safety and Control Act (NSCA), which sets out its mandate, responsibilities and powers. Through the NSCA and its associated regulations, the CNSC oversees:

nuclear power plants
uranium mines and mills
uranium processing and fuel fabrication facilities
nuclear research/testing facilities and non-power reactors
nuclear substance processing facilities
radioactive waste and waste management facilities
hospitals and cancer treatment centres
decommissioning of heavy water production plants
use of nuclear substances and radiation devices
packaging and transport of nuclear substances
import and export of nuclear substances and equipment

The CNSC also carries out environmental assessments for nuclear projects in accordance with the Impact Assessment Act.

Organizational structure

The CNSC is an independent, quasi-judicial administrative tribunal and federal regulatory agency. As a departmental corporation under Schedule II of the Financial Administration Act, it reports to Parliament through the Minister of Natural Resources. The CNSC is led by a president, employs more than 800 Canadians, and maintains 12 offices across Canada. These include two headquarters offices and a laboratory in Ottawa, Ontario, as well as four regional offices in Laval, Quebec; Mississauga, Ontario; Saskatoon, Saskatchewan; and Calgary, Alberta. There are also offices at each of the four Canadian nuclear power plants – Point Lepreau in New Brunswick, and Darlington, Pickering, and Bruce A and B in Ontario – and at Chalk River Laboratories in Ontario.

2. The CNSC’s approach to employment equity, diversity and inclusion

Continuing to diversify our workforce

The CNSC believes that diversity and inclusion (D&I) are critical to spurring innovation, solving complex issues and improving our results for Canadians. At its core, it values respect, integrity, service, excellence, responsibility and safety. It is committed to ensuring that its workforce is representative and reflective of Canadian society. The CNSC strives to be a safe and healthy workplace, one that is inclusive and free from harassment and discrimination, and where all employees are able to use their skills, expertise and experience effectively to help deliver on its important mandate.

While employment equity (EE) ensures representativeness and corrects past and current employment-related disadvantages experienced by designated groups, the CNSC recognizes that it must also commit to creating a positive and inclusive work environment that embraces all forms of diversity. With this in mind, the CNSC’s human resources management policies and practices aim to eliminate any systemic barriers to the full employment participation of any employee group and support the inclusion of everyone within the CNSC. D&I is a fundamental element of the CNSC’s regulatory safety culture, defined as shared attitudes, values and behaviours that influence how regulatory responsibilities are fulfilled.

As its Employment Equity Plan (2013–18) had expired, the CNSC moved to a new format and officially launched and implemented a Diversity and Inclusion Plan (2019–22). This report identifies the CNSC’s goals for building a diverse workforce and an inclusive workplace, and outlines the expected results, proposed activities and performance indicators for achieving D&I goals.

The CNSC continues to leverage the diversity of the Canadian workforce, to ensure that it is well equipped and has diverse perspectives to innovate and address the complex nuclear issues it will face as a regulator. Recognizing, however, that diversity alone is not enough, particular emphasis has been placed on inclusion. With the goal of continuing to build a healthy and respectful workplace where employees feel physically, psychologically and intellectually safe, an employment systems review began in January 2020. This review is a proactive measure to ensure continued progress towards creating an inclusive workplace that welcomes a diverse and skilled workforce that reflects Canadian society.

Employment equity records

The CNSC maintains employment equity records. All new employees are asked to complete a self-identification questionnaire that is entered into the human resources information system. In addition, the CNSC conducts an annual self-identification campaign that enables employees to refresh their employment equity status or to self-identify if they have not previously done so. Employees have the ability to review their self-identification information to ensure its accuracy.

Based on employee feedback and with a view to being a more inclusive employer, the CNSC updated the “Gender identity” section of its self-identification form to include a third option called “Gender fluid, non-binary, and/or two-spirit”. In addition, the CNSC has initiated work to update its HR systems and other HR forms in 2019‒20. The CNSC is exploring disaggregating EE data to better understand impacts of certain EE sub groups.

The CNSC recognizes that it must also identify and address the needs of other equity seeking groups to achieve a truly representative and inclusive workplace. It will monitor the TBS’ modernization of self-identification project and hopes that it will address the identification of other equity-seeking members of Canadian society.

Monitoring and reporting

In accordance with the Employment Equity Act, the CNSC submits this annual EE report to the Treasury Board Secretariat’s Office of the Chief Human Resources Officer. The report details the status of the four employment equity designated groups in the CNSC workforce, as well as the activities and events carried out to comply with the legislation and support D&I government initiatives.

The CNSC continues to actively participate in the Public Service Employee Survey (PSES), specifically monitoring employees’ views on questions related to a healthy, respectful and inclusive workplace. With a response rate of 81.4% for the 2019 survey, 86% (89% in 2018) of CNSC employees felt that the organization treats them with respect – this is higher than the result for the overall public service (82%). In addition, 73% of CNSC employees believed that every individual in their work unit is accepted as an equal member of the team, a result slightly lower than the result for the overall public service (75%). Furthermore, 82% of CNSC employees feel that the CNSC implements activities and practices that support a diverse workplace, which is higher than the results of the overall public service (79%). The CNSC is also monitoring responses specific to other D&I-related questions from the PSES.

3. Workforce representation data analysis

Representation of employment equity designated groups (EEDGs)

The data used to calculate labour market availability (LMA) comes from the 2016 Census of Canada and the 2017 Canadian Survey on Disability. National LMA data were used to calculate the LMA for all employment equity designated groups (EEDGs) and employment equity occupational groups (EEOGs).

Based on consultations with TBS, the CNSC has adjusted its reporting methodology to align with labour market methodology and EE reporting standards. This has resulted in the exclusion of students and employees on leave without pay from calculations. For EE reporting purposes, the employee population includes indeterminate employees and term employees with three months of service or more.

As of March 31, 2020, the CNSC had 843 employees. The following pages highlight the representation of the four EEDGs at the CNSC as of March 31, 2020.

Representation of EEOGs

CNSC employees are represented in 6 of the 14 EEOGs

Senior managers
Middle and other managers
Professionals
Semi-professionals and technicians
Administrative and senior clerical personnel
Clerical personnel

Table A: Comparison of CNSC employee representation in 2019–20 with the projected representation set out in the D&I plan 2019-22
Employment equity occupational group March 31, 2020	Women		Aboriginal peoples		Persons with disabilities		Members of visible minorities
	2019–20	Projected	2019–20	Projected	2019–20	Projected	2019–20	Projected
	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%
Senior managers	35.0	38.7	0.0	1.1	0.0	1.1	*	*
Middle and other managers	47.3	48.0	*	*	*	*	12.7	14.4
Professionals	41.5	44.9	2.7	3.3	3.1	3.5	24.4	23.4
Semi-professionals and technicians	35.9	40.7	*	*	*	*	*	*
Administrative and senior clerical personnel	90.2	88.4	5.9	5.7	5.9	5.7	20.6	19.3
Clerical personnel	81.0	78.0	*	*	*	*	14.3	15.6

^*Data suppressed to protect confidentiality of information by using residual suppression, or when the representation number was from 1 to 5.

With the new LMA data available and having met the majority of its EE plan 2013–18 projections, the CNSC has updated its projected representation set out in the D&I Plan 2019‒22 using the 2016 Census of Canada, 2017 Canadian Survey on Disability and internal representation. As seen in Table A, the CNSC met or surpassed (indicated in green) slightly less than half of the projected EEDG and EEOG 2021–22 representation objectives.

Table B: Comparison of CNSC employee representation with LMA, 2018–19 vs 2019–20
Employment equity designated group	Labour market availability (LMA)*	2018-19		2019-20
	Labour market availability (LMA)*	CNSC	Representation as a percentage of LMA*	CNSC	Representation as a percentage of LMA*
	%	%	%	%	%
Women	48.2	50.3	104.3	49.3	102.4
Aboriginal Peoples	4.0	3.1	76.7	2.1	53.4
Persons with disabilities	9.1	3.9	43.0	4.3	46.9
Members of visible minorities	21.3	20.4	95.9	19.9	93.6

* Representation 2019–20 calculated using the LMA based on 2016 Census of Canada data and the 2017 Canadian Survey on Disability

As noted in table B, in 2019–20, the CNSC observed lower representation in 3 of the 4 EEDGs compared to the LMA 2016 census data. There was an increase in representation of persons with disabilities, but this number remains below the LMA. Although women continue to exceed the LMA, there was a slight decrease in representation.

Specifically,

the representation as a percentage of LMA decreased from 104.3% to 102.4% for women, who make up 49.3% of the CNSC’s total workforce
the representation as a percentage of LMA decreased significantly from 76.7% to 53.4% for Aboriginal peoples, who make up 2.1% of the CNSC’s total workforce
the representation as a percentage of LMA increased from 43.0% to 46.9% for persons with disabilities, who make up 4.3% of the CNSC’s total workforce
the representation as a percentage of LMA for members of visible minorities decreased from 95.9% to 93.6%, who make up 19.9% of the CNSC’s total workforce

See table 1 in the appendix for detailed data on the representation of the four EEDGs at the CNSC, and table 2 for their distribution by regions and provinces.

Table C: Representation of EEDGs by EEOG
Employment equity occupational group March 31, 2020	Total employees		Representation
	Total employees		Women		Aboriginal peoples		Persons with disabilities		Members of visible minorities
	#	%	#	%	#	%	#	%	#	%
Senior managers	20	2.4	7	35.0	0	0.0	*	*	*	*
Middle and other managers	55	6.5	26	47.3	0	0.0	*	*	6	10.9
Professionals	585	69.4	243	41.5	11	1.9	25	4.3	141	24.1
Semi-professionals and technicians	39	4.6	14	35.9	*	*	*	*	7	17.9
Administrative and senior clerical personnel	102	12.1	92	90.2	*	*	*	*	9	8.8
Clerical personnel	42	5.0	34	81.0	0	0.0	0	0.0	*	*
Total	843	100.0	416	49.3	18	2.1	36	4.3	168	19.9

^*Data suppressed to protect confidentiality of information by using residual suppression, or when the representation number was from 1 to 5.

As seen in table C, the professionals group is the predominant EEOG at the CNSC, representing 69.4% of all employees. It is primarily in this group that the CNSC hires specialized employees in the nuclear field. As indicated in tables 4 to 7 (see appendix), members of visible minorities are fully represented in the professionals group (103.9%), while women, Aboriginal peoples and persons with disabilities are under-represented (75.5%, 78.3% and 48.0% of the LMA, respectively).

Representation in hiring, promotions, departures and salary range

Hiring

A total of 64 new employees were hired at the CNSC in 2019–20.

The overall hiring rate for women ‒ 54.7% ‒ is higher than the LMA of 48.2%, demonstrating that the CNSC is continuing to increase its representation of women. The hiring rate for women exceeded the LMA in two EEOGs: middle and other managers and clerical personnel.

The hiring rate for women was lower than the LMA in the following EEOGs: senior managers (0% vs 27.6%), professionals (44.1% vs 55.0%), semi-professionals and technicians, and administrative and senior clerical personnel (77.8% vs 82.4%). Certain percentages were supressed since the hiring numbers per occupational group were 5 or less and therefore not disclosed.

The overall hiring rate for Aboriginal peoples is lower than the LMA (0% vs. 4.0%).

The overall hiring rate for members of visible minorities (15.6%) is lower than the LMA (21.3%). The hiring rate for members of visible minorities exceeded the LMA in two EEOGs: middle and other managers, and semi-professionals and technicians. It is lower than the LMA in all other EEOGs: senior managers, professionals, administrative and senior clerical personnel, and clerical personnel. The specific percentages were suppressed since the hiring numbers per occupational group were 5 or less and therefore not disclosed.

As for hiring persons with disabilities, the overall rate is slightly above the LMA (9.4% vs. 9.1%). The hiring rate for persons with disabilities exceeded the LMA in three EEOGs: middle and other managers, professionals and semi-professionals and technicians. The hiring rate of persons with disabilities is lower than the LMA in the following occupational groups: senior managers, administrative and senior clerical personnel, and clerical personnel. The specific percentages were supressed since the hiring numbers per occupational group were 5 or less and therefore not disclosed.

For more detailed data on hiring rates, see table 8 in the appendix.

Promotions

A total of 71 employees were promoted within the CNSC in 2019–20, compared with 92 in
2018–19. Promotions occurred in all four EEDGs.

Overall, 43 women were promoted. The rate of promotion for women exceeded internal representation (60.6% vs. 49.3%). Women were promoted in all occupational groups, with the majority of these promotions (33) occurring in the professionals occupational group.

The overall rate of promotion for Aboriginal peoples exceeded the internal representation (5.6% vs. 2.1%). Most of these promotions were in the professionals occupational group.

The overall rate of promotion for persons with disabilities exceeded the internal representation (5.6% vs. 4.3%). Most of these promotions were in the professionals occupational group.

A total of 14 members of visible minorities were promoted. The overall rate of promotion for members of visible minorities was slightly lower than the internal representation (19.7% vs. 19.9%). All of the promotions of visible minorities took place in the professionals group.

For more detailed data on promotions, see table 9 in the appendix.

Departures

A total of 114 employees left the organization in 2019–20. Departures occurred in all four EEDGs. The departure rate was higher than the internal representation for 3 of the EEDGs: women, persons with disabilities and Aboriginal peoples.

The CNSC had an increase in the departure rate in Aboriginal peoples from 7.0% compared to internal representation of 2.1%. Of the 8 that left the CNSC, 50% were in the professional occupational group. Of the seven Aboriginal peoples who left an indeterminate position, the predominant reason was to take a job in another organization.

The overall rate of departure for women was higher than its internal representation (58.8% vs. 49.3%). Out of the 67 women who left the organization, most were in two EEOGs: professionals (35) and administrative and senior clerical personnel (21). Of the 46 women who were in an indeterminate position, 78.2% left to take a job in another organization while 15.2% left for retirement.

For members of visible minorities, the overall rate of departure was lower than this group’s internal representation (16.7% vs. 19.9%). Of the 19 who left the organization in 2019–20, most were in the professionals (13) EEOG. Of the 15 indeterminate members of visible minorities who left the organization, the majority left to take a job in another organization.

In total, 6 persons with disabilities left the organization in 2019–20, which is slightly above the internal representation rate (5.3% vs 4.3%). Departure reasons for persons with a disability were primarily attributed to retirement and leaving for an employment opportunity within another organization.

For more detailed data on departures, see table 10 in the appendix.

Remuneration

As CNSC has highly specialized professionals throughout the organization, roughly 56% of employees earned $100,000 or more annually compared to 53% in the previous fiscal year. With the exception of visible minorities, all other employment equity groups had a lower percentage of earnings. Salary range information for Aboriginal peoples is suppressed due to small cell counts and therefore not disclosed.

Distribution by EEDG,

42.5% of women earned $100,000 and over
47.2% of persons with disabilities earned $100,000 and over
60.1% of visible minorities earned $100,000 and over

For more detailed data on salary range, see table 11 in the appendix.

4. Ongoing initiatives and practices supporting diversity and inclusion at the CNSC

As part of its D&I Plan 2019‒2022, the CNSC continues to implement activities, such as:

raising awareness through an annual self-identification campaign that enables employees to refresh their employment equity status or to self-identify if they have not previously done so before
working in collaboration with TBS to ensure that the “gender identity” section of its self-identification form reflects appropriate wording to encourage an employee to accurately identify
promoting diversity events and stories through the internal newsletter, TV monitors on each floor, electronic banners on the intranet and the monthly activities email bulletin – examples of these events include Black History Month, International Women’s Day, International Francophonie Day, Asian Heritage Month, National Accessibility Week (Red Shirt Day), National Indigenous History Month, Women’s History Month and International Day of Persons with Disabilities
promoting mental health through the Not Myself Today campaign, which includes monthly mental health breaks, virtual health fair, fitness challenges, workshops, webinars and open learning events
the launch of all-staff training:
- Understanding Unconscious Bias (staff)
- Overcoming Unconscious Bias in the Workplace (management)
- Preventing Harassment and Violence in the Canadian Workplace (staff and management)
development of a governance framework for launch of employee networks

5. Implementation of the Diversity and Inclusion Plan 2019‒2022

The purpose of the Diversity and Inclusion (D&I) Plan 2019-2022 is to respond to the statutory requirements as per the Employment Equity Act. The D&I plan also outlines ongoing and new commitments that the CNSC intends to undertake to ensure the continued building of an inclusive workplace that welcomes a diverse, representative and capable workforce.

This plan, which was introduced to employees in October 2019, was developed based on researched best practices and insights from numerous stakeholders within the CNSC, including employees, the bargaining agent (NUREG), the Human Resources Management Committee, the Regulatory Safety Culture Working Group, the Young Professionals Network and the Administrative Professionals Network.

This plan will be updated annually to ensure the CNSC builds on its success and continues working on key areas for improvement. All voices are critical to the conversation about how diversity can be more fully embraced while fostering inclusion at the CNSC.

The plan included employee activities such as:

Participate in a design thinking session to identify innovative ways to make the CNSC a more inclusive workplace
Read the Diversity and Inclusion Plan 2019-2022
Encourage employees to have inclusion conversations with colleagues
Stay current on diversity and inclusion initiative promoted through the internal employee newsletter

With its D&I Plan 2019‒2022, the CNSC aims to achieve the following D&I goals:

The CNSC has a diverse workforce to innovate
The CNSC is a safe, healthy and respectful workplace that is free from harassment, violence and discrimination
Employees feel respected, valued, and safe and empowered to contribute and grow
Managers and employees demonstrate behaviours that foster inclusion

To achieve the above-mentioned D&I goals, the CNSC has identified the following three pillars, and outlined expected results, performance indicators and proposed activities for each:

building and retaining a diverse workforce
fostering inclusion
establishing accountability and governance

6. Additional inclusion efforts

Regulatory safety culture

At the CNSC, regulatory safety culture is expressed by the shared attitudes, values and behaviours that are demonstrated in meeting mandated responsibilities. Safety culture is the assembly of characteristics and attitudes in the organization and its workers that enables and supports safety as a key value, and that establishes that protection and safety issues receive the attention warranted by their significance.

D&I is a fundamental element of the CNSC’s regulatory safety culture. The following traits underpin and support the desired regulatory safety culture and inclusive environment that the CNSC strives to achieve:

leadership for safety
continuous learning and improvement
personal accountability
questioning attitude
safe environment for raising concerns
communication and collaboration

Demonstrating these traits in everyday work supports a continuously developing and constantly improving regulatory safety culture, which makes a significant contribution to the CNSC’s ability to be an effective regulatory body.

It is important for the CNSC to remain abreast of the current state of its regulatory safety culture and, in particular, to monitor the effectiveness of new and ongoing programs, policies and processes. To this end, the CNSC regularly monitors staff and management perceptions using a variety of mechanisms, including the PSES, town hall meetings and focused management discussions. In addition, Management Committee meetings continue to be open to all employees, who can observe and participate in person or by videoconference.

Two town hall meetings were held in 2019‒20. These town hall meetings represent an opportunity for employees to ask questions, bring forward ideas for improvement and raise issues in a public forum. In addition, the President launched a dedicated private email account that employees can use to reach her directly. Only she reads and responds to messages received through this account.

In February 2020, the CNSC launched an employee Pulse Survey on raising issues to better understand employee concerns around fear of reprisal. A summary of the 339 responses was presented to managers and shared with all employees. Based on the results, senior management committed to improving communication by providing feedback, communicating rationales and decisions, and having honest, candid discussion about a situation, regardless of the outcome.

Policies and processes designed to support a respectful and inclusive workplace

As part of its safety culture, the CNSC recognizes the importance of creating an environment in which employees feel free to raise issues without fear of reprisal. To this end, the CNSC offers employees many avenues for raising an issue or lodging a complaint. CNSC tools supporting this approach include the following:

Inclusive Workplace Policy
Respectful Workplace Policy
Policy on Informal Conflict Management System
Policy on Science in a Regulatory Environment
Open Door Policy
Non-Concurrence Process
Differences of Professional Opinion Process
Publishing and posting of technical papers and journal articles

Workplace wellness

The CNSC works to ensure a physically and psychologically healthy work environment to help all employees perform at their best. Continuing its various awareness and learning activities in support of its respectful and mentally healthy workplace, the CNSC:

delivered the “Working Mind” mental health training program to employees and managers
launched a redesigned intranet page on employee, health and well-being
introduced onboarding meetings with new managers to brief them on their new work environment from a labour relations perspective and to answer any questions or concerns related to personnel management
launched a review of the hazard prevention program to identify/address all hazards in the workplace including psychological safety
launched the Not Myself Today Campaign for the 5th consecutive year
promoted policies, programs, resources and tools available to support employee mental health and wellbeing (Employee Assistance Program, Digital wellness platform (LifeSpeak), Informal Conflict Management System, etc.)
promoted wellness through various internal newsletter articles
hosted the “Your health first and foremost” e-learning activity
hosted a wellness kiosk at its annual employee event
hosted monthly mental health break sessions
hosted a Bell Let’s Talk kiosk at head office to promote the importance of mental health
launched its first virtual health fair
hosted guest speaker sessions on different topics related to wellness
promoted healthy workplace workshops, seminars, webinars, training, resources and tools available in the broader public service or other sources

Organizational competencies

To effectively manage talent across the organization, CNSC Key Behavioural Competencies (KBCs) continue to be a requirement for all jobs, regardless of level. These KBCs underpin organizational performance and are embedded in all human resource management processes. To reinforce desired leadership and management behaviours, the CNSC also continues to use the Treasury Board Secretariat’s Key Leadership Competencies (KLCs), which form the basis of executive talent management. Deloitte’s inclusive leadership behaviours have also been mapped to those KLCs to ensure that executive assessment for selection and candidate feedback is grounded in the inclusive leadership behaviours that the CNSC expects.

Employment systems review

As one of the key initiatives from the Diversity and Inclusion Plan 2019-2022, an employment systems review (ESR) was launched in January 2020. This was a measure to ensure that the CNSC continues to progress towards building an inclusive workplace that welcomes a diverse and capable workforce that is reflective of Canadian society.

A broad scope was set for this review to look beyond the four employment equity groups (women, visible minorities, Indigenous peoples, and persons with disabilities) in hope of capturing information on best practices and barriers that may exist for all employees. The onset of COVID-19 has delayed the finalization of this work, and the report will be completed by end of January 2021.

Employee networks

Although the CNSC already had two groups in place, the Young Professionals Network (YPN) and the Women in STEM Network (WISTEM), a governance framework was developed in anticipation of launching additional networks such as a Black Employees Network and an Indigenous Peoples Network, which were both introduced in 2020. The intent was to serve as a resource for employees and the organization and to provide an opportunity for employees to connect, while providing strategic direction and leadership to foster health, safety and inclusion for everyone.

GBA+

Gender-based Analysis plus (GBA+) is a relatively new application at the CNSC, but a lot of work has been underway in this area over the past year. A GBA+ responsibility centre has been identified within the Strategic Planning Directorate, which liaises, coordinates and advises on GBA+. This group is working with the GBA+ Advisory Committee (DG-level) and a newly formed GBA+ Working Group (at staff level) to draft an internal GBA+ policy and governance structure and increase awareness throughout the CNSC. To that end, the vice-presidents of Regulatory Affairs and Corporate Services have recently been announced as co-champions for GBA+ at the CNSC.

Applying GBA+ to work at the CNSC is an ongoing and important effort toward creating and maintaining inclusive and accessible programs, policies and services. For instance, this year, GBA+ considerations were used to develop the proposed amendments to the Radiation Protection Regulations. The CNSC focused on the changes that could have unintended impacts on vulnerable groups such as female nuclear energy workers and breastfed infants.

Learning and development

The CNSC continues to invest significantly in employee learning and development, spending on average of 2 to 3% of payroll per year on learning activities,which is significantly higher than other government departments and industry. All employees are encouraged to pursue personal and professional development initiatives at all stages of their careers.

This year, the CNSC delivered an open learning session on the role of risk-taking in learning and using languages, which was presented by the Director of Canadian Centre for Studies and Research in Bilingualism and Language Planning from Ottawa University. The intent of this session was to encourage employees to incorporate learning as part of their daily activities and to promote receptive bilingualism.

As a regular practice, the CNSC promotes Canada School of Public Service learning activities and events related to D&I in the following categories:

mental health
work–life balance / wellness
respect and inclusivity
mindfulness
communication and conflict management
second language learning

Although requests for instructor-led training has decreased slightly (68 versus 59), requests for online training have more than doubled (696 versus 1,847) in the last year. The top 5 online courses for 2019–20 (excluding leadership programs) are outlined in the following table:

Course title	% of employees registered
Preventing Harassment and Violence in the Canadian Workplace	42
Understanding Unconscious Bias	37
Security Awareness	8.9
Overcoming Unconscious Bias in the Workplace	8.2
Cultural Self-Reflection: What I Know and What I Don’t Know	3

The following courses were featured as part of the CNSC’s monthly promotion of Canada School of Public Service courses:

March: Exercises in French as a Second Language
April: Introduction to Gender Based Analysis Plus
May: Developing a Plan to Further Your Career
June: Indigenous Learning Series
July: Optimizing your Work/Life Balance: Analyzing your Life Balance
August: Preventing Violence and Harassment in the Workplace
September: How to Manage Difficult Conversations
October: Your Role in the Workplace Diversity
November: Knowledge Management
December: Trust Building through Effective Communication

In addition, to better equip managers and employees to recognize and spot their own unconscious biases, different forms of harassment, and early warning signs of violent behaviour, the following short online courses from the Canada School of Public Service were identified as expected training for staff and management:

Understanding Unconscious Bias (staff)
Overcoming Unconscious Bias in the Workplace (Management)
Preventing Harassment and Violence in the Canadian Workplace (staff and Management)

Also new this year and in the spirit of building a strong regulatory safety culture, the CNSC continued to offer the “Fierce Conversations” training. This training provides CNSC employees with the tools to have conversations that question assumptions, provoke learning on both sides, tackle tough challenges and enrich relationships. Engaging in these “fierce” conversations creates a culture in which employees are comfortable raising issues, expressing differences of opinion and providing feedback.

The CNSC continues to offer the “Working Mind” training program to management and non-management employees. This program provides practical information on how to address mental health in the workplace, reduce the stigma of mental illness and provide the tools and resources required to manage and support colleagues.

Women in science, technology, engineering and mathematics

President and CEO Rumina Velshi has placed a focus on promoting gender equity, paying particular attention to science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). She appointed a Senior WISTEM advisor who, under her leadership, led the development of a 3-year plan to position the CNSC to take on an important leadership role within our organization, our nation and globally. Management is paying close attention to the representation of women in leadership positions, as well as across levels in STEM fields, and to related talent management practices. Smaller working groups are implementing specific parts of the plan including: a women in STEM employee network, a coaching and mentoring program, a women in STEM research project, as well as outreach activities.

The coaching and mentoring program’s goal is to make sure that both are available to women in STEM, at different levels, including STEM leadership. The program will help women to develop, improve and implement mindsets and behaviors, tools and strategies to increase their confidence and competencies in their STEM work life. The WISTEM-research initiative aims to build women’s capacity to take on STEM research careers by increasing the percentage of women going into research, publishing and/or presenting at conferences, occupying senior research positions in nuclear field without limiting them to that industry. Management Committee approved the initiative’s priorities in July 2020 which include an annual CNSC-NRC led research forum, skills development with a focus on student training opportunities, and the provision of opportunities for women to do research in STEM. The WISTEM tiger team has put together an outreach task force that will focus on developing tools to guide staff who conduct outreach activities while continuing to promote WISTEM representation in said activities, as well as increase strategic collaborations with STEM outreach organizations. These efforts are collectively aimed at increasing the percentage of women in STEM careers and the talent pipeline, not only within the nuclear industry, but also the wider scientific community.

Also in the spirit of supporting women in STEM, 5 staff members and the President attended the Women in Nuclear (WiN) annual conference that took place in Bruce county in 2019 and included tours of local industry. Women in STEM staff also took part in coaching and mentoring training, policy development with the Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA) and leading CNSC-wide workshops about the impact of COVID-19 on a career in STEM.

On February 7, 2020, 15 CNSC STEM employees (both men and women) attended the National Research Council of Canada symposium celebrating women shaping science across the Government of Canada. This event marked the International Day of Women and Girls in Science to recognize and celebrate women working in STEM fields across the Government of Canada.

Consultation

Representatives from the Nuclear Regulatory Group (NUREG) union meet regularly with CNSC management to discuss issues pertaining to employment practices, including diversity, equity and inclusion, through the Labour Management Consultation Committee (twice per year or more, if required) and monthly meetings with the Human Resources Directorate. Results from the EE annual report are shared with NUREG representatives. Their input was actively sought in the development of the D&I Plan 2019‒2022.

7. Conclusion

In 2019–20, the CNSC overall workforce exceeded the LMA in one employment equity designated group: women. There continues to be under-representation with Aboriginal peoples, persons with disabilities and members of visible minorities despite representation increasing slightly for persons with disabilities. The under-representation of these groups was perpetuated by lower hiring rates when compared to the LMA and higher departure rates than internal representation for each respective employment equity group.

The CNSC is committed to increasing representation in all groups. It plans to leverage the D&I Plan 2019-2022, which includes several measures to strengthen the organization’s ability to attract and retain members of employment equity groups. The CNSC also aims to ensure that its human resources management policies and practices eliminate any systemic barriers to the full employment participation.

As such, the CNSC is currently completing an employment systems review and revising the EE hiring goals based on the updated LMA data from the 2016 Census of Canada and 2017 Canadian Survey on Disability. The findings of the ESR, together with the findings of the 2020 Pulse Survey on raising issues will help the CNSC develop an action plan to address under-representation, and to promote respectful behaviour and inclusive practices. This work – together with employee networks, safe space conversations on race and the marginalization of other equity-seeking groups, and the assessment of future and current leaders on their demonstration of inclusive behaviours – will help not only to enhance representation of equity-seeking groups, but also to create the conditions for them to feel a true sense of belonging as part of a respectful, inclusive workplace.

Appendix: Workforce representation data tables as of March 31, 2020

Representation of employment equity designated groups (EEDGs)

Table 1: Representation and labour market availability of EEDGs

Employment equity designated group March 31, 2020	CNSC representation		Labour market availability (LMA)^**	CNSC representation (as a percentage of LMA)
Employment equity designated group March 31, 2020	#	%	%	%
Women	416	49.3	48.2	102.4
Aboriginal peoples	18	2.1	4.0	53.4
Persons with disabilities	36	4.3	9.1	46.9
Members of visible minorities	168	19.9	21.3	93.6

^**Source: 2016 Census of Canada and 2017 Canadian Survey on Disability

Table 2: Representation of EEDGs in the National Capital Region and the provinces

NCR and provinces March 31, 2020	Total employees	CNSC representation
	Total employees	Women		Aboriginal peoples		Persons with disabilities		Members of visible minorities
	#	#	%	#	%	#	%	#	%
National Capital Region (NCR)	772	387	50.1	*	*	*	*	151	19.6
New Brunswick	6	*	*	0	0.0	0	0.0	*	*
Quebec	5	*	*	0	0.0	*	*	*	*
Ontario (outside NCR)	42	16	38.1	0	0.0	0	0.0	13	31.0
Saskatchewan	9	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*
Alberta	9	*	*	0	0.0	0	0.0	*	*
Total	843	416	49.3	18	2.1	36	4.3	168	19.9

^* *Data suppressed to protect confidentiality of information by using residual suppression, or when the representation number was from 1 to 5