Employment Equity Targets

EMPLOYMENT EQUITY TARGETS

 

The Saskatchewan Human Rights Commission is pleased to provide businesses, employers, and all interested stakeholders with the latest employment targets for four designated equity groups. These targets reflect the ideal workforce representation of visible minorities, Indigenous persons, people with disabilities, and women in underrepresented occupations. In turn, these metrics are a benchmark for employers to evaluate their efforts to recruit and retain employees in the four equity groups. Expressed as percentages of the Saskatchewan population, the targets are informed by Statistics Canada’s 2016 Census and prepared with the assistance of the Saskatchewan Bureau of Statistics.

Every workplace should strive to create a representative for each of the target groups across the range of jobs and roles within its workforce.  It is not sufficient to meet equity targets through the employment of equity group members in entry level positions only. Over time, the recruitment, retention, and promotion of employees within an organization should reflect the true picture of diversity in our society.

The four equity groups are:

1. Persons reporting an Indigenous identity;
2. Members of a visible minority group;
3. Individuals reporting a disability; and
4. Women in underrepresented occupations.

 

The recommendations are derived from:

• 2016 Census of Population (conducted by Statistics Canada);
• The 2017 Canadian Survey on Disability (conducted by Statistics Canada); and
• The 2018 Labour Force Survey (conducted by Statistics Canada).

 

For the purposes of the recommended targets:

• “Working age” includes those 15 to age 74, and
• The four equity groups are defined using Statistic Canada’s definitions.

 

Equity targets in Saskatchewan also vary somewhat depending on location. For example, there are more people who are visible minorities in Regina and Saskatoon than other parts of the province, so the targets for visible minorities are higher in these two cities. Similarly, the targets for the Indigenous population is higher in the Prince Albert Census Agglomeration (CA) where there is a proportionally larger Indigenous population.

Members of a Visible Minority

As with Indigenous identity, members of a visible minority group must self-identify as belonging to a particular group at the time of census taking. For the purposes of equity targets, the Commission defines members of a visible minority as, “persons, other than Indigenous Peoples, who are people of colour.”

The Employment Equity Act, S.C. 1995, c.44 defines visible minorities as, “persons, other than Indigenous Peoples, who are non-Caucasian in race or non-white in colour.” Statistics Canada reports that the visible minority population consists mainly of people who are: South Asian, Chinese, Black, Filipino, Latin American, Arab, Southeast Asian, West Asian, Korean, and Japanese.

According to the 2016 Census, members of a visible minority group aged 15 to 74 made up 10.6% of Saskatchewan’s population. In the Census Metropolitan Areas (CMA) of Regina and Saskatoon, members of a visible minority group constitute 16.8% of the population. The proportion is somewhat higher in Regina (17.3%) than in Saskatoon (16.3%).

The Commission’s previous equity targets were set at 6.6% for the province and 11.0% for the cities of Regina and Saskatoon. With population growth, the new recommendations are 10.6% for the province and 16.8% for the cities of Regina and Saskatoon.

Table 2 – Members of a Visible Minority Group in Saskatchewan, 15 to 74 Years of Age

		2001	2006	2011*	2016
Saskatchewan	Population	618,770	697,175	671,205	790,405
	Members of a Visible Minority Group	19,470	25,235	44,570	84,115
	% Visible Minority Group	3.1%	3.6%	6.6%	10.6%
Regina and Saskatoon CMAs	Population	280,615	320,465	325,835	395,005
	Members of a Visible Minority Group	15,870	20,620	35,870	66,205
	% Visible Minority Group	5.7%	6.4%	11.0%	16.8%

15 to 74 age group not published – these figures are for the population 15 to 64 years of age
Sources: 2001 = 95F0363XCB01004, 2006 = 97-562-XCB2006017, 2011 = 99-010-X2011029 

Women in Underrepresented Occupations

The proportion of women working in underrepresented occupations depends on two factors – the labour market availability of women overall, and the particular occupational groups which are designated as underrepresented.

For example, women represent 23.3% of those working within natural and applied sciences and related occupations. By contrast, women represent 9.4% of those working in transport and heavy equipment operation and related maintenance occupations.

Based on the percentage of women available to work between 15 and 74 years of age, the equity target for any organization is that 47.0% of its workplace will be women, and that employment in those percentages is to be found at all levels of the organization (e.g., management, labour, etc.).

Table 4 – Employment by Sex, Saskatchewan

	2012	2013*	2018
Total employment	537,100	555,200	557,400
Employed women	245,900	254,500	258,600
Percent women	45.8%	45.8%	46.4%