Employment Equity Annual Report 2024-25

In compliance with the requirements of the Employment Equity Act, this Employment Equity Report presents statistical information and highlights employment equity related initiatives and activities undertaken at the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) from April 1, 2024, to March 31, 2025. The report also provides a picture of CNSC’s ongoing progress in implementing employment equity.

While employment equity focuses on four groups (women, Aboriginal peoples, persons with disabilities, and members of visible minority groups), this report also includes two-spirit, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, and additional sexually and gender diverse people (2SLGBTQI+).

To view the PDF version of the Employment Equity Annual Report 2024–25, please email cnsc.info.ccsn@cnsc-ccsn.gc.ca.

Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission – General overview

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.

Our work

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.

Our organization

The CNSC is an independent, quasi-judicial administrative tribunal and federal regulatory agency. As a departmental corporation under Schedule II to the Financial Administration Act, it reports to Parliament through the Minister of Energy and Natural Resources. At the end of 2024–25, the CNSC had a total population of 1,088 employees (indeterminate, term and students). The CNSC is led by a president and maintains 12 offices across Canada. These include its headquarters and a laboratory in Ottawa, Ontario, as well as 4 regional offices in Laval, Quebec; Mississauga, Ontario; Saskatoon, Saskatchewan; and Calgary, Alberta. There are also offices at each of the 4 Canadian nuclear power plants – Point Lepreau in New Brunswick, and the Darlington, Pickering and Bruce generating stations in Ontario – and at Chalk River Laboratories in Ontario.

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

The CNSC believes that equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) are fundamental to its regulatory safety culture and are critical to spurring innovation, solving complex problems, and improving its ability to provide effective results. At its core, the CNSC values respect, integrity, service, excellence, responsibility and safety (RISERS). It is committed to ensuring that its workforce is representative and reflective of Canadian society and the available labour market. The CNSC strives to provide a safe and healthy work environment that is inclusive and free from harassment and discrimination, where all employees can use their skills, expertise and experience effectively to achieve the CNSC’s important mandate.

Ongoing diversification of the workforce

Employment equity and diversity are necessary, although not sufficient, conditions for a respectful, inclusive and trusting workplace. In fiscal year 2024–25, the organization continued to focus on the following areas:

1. Inclusive leadership – clarifying expectations and integrating them into performance management, committing to recruitment strategies to close gaps, and creating safe spaces for conversations
2. Increased representation – establishing ambitious hiring goals to increase representation so that it aligns with national labour market availability (LMA)
3. Building EDI capability – building racial literacy, challenging assumptions, reflecting on bias, and developing skills to identify and address micro-aggressions in the moment
4. Empowerment and accountability – equipping employees and managers to be confident and ready to navigate situations that create mistrust and undermine an inclusive workplace

Employment equity records

As part of the online onboarding process, all new employees are asked to complete a self-identification questionnaire that is entered into the human resources information system. New employees receive an online form that can be signed and submitted electronically to facilitate the CNSC’s ongoing collection of employment equity data. In addition, employees can update their workplace equity status, or self-identify if they have not already done so, by completing an online form or by contacting the Human Resources Directorate’s EDI team.

The CNSC continues to explore disaggregating employment equity data in various surveys to better understand the employment experience of employment equity subgroups and of marginalized populations.

Monitoring and reporting

In accordance with the Employment Equity Act, the CNSC submits the annual employment equity report to the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat (TBS) Office of the Chief Human Resources Officer. The report details the status of the 4 employment equity designated groups (EEDGs) within the CNSC workforce,^{Footnote 1} as well as the activities and events carried out to comply with the legislation and support the government’s diversity and inclusion initiatives. In addition, managers are provided with a dashboard on workforce equity representation in their business unit to further inform action.

The CNSC continues to participate in the Public Service Employee Survey (PSES), specifically in terms of monitoring employees’ responses to questions related to a healthy, respectful and inclusive workplace. CNSC response rates continue to be strong, and senior management uses the PSES results as a key measurement tool to gauge how the CNSC is doing as an employer to inform management decision making. The last PSES was held from October 28 to December 31, 2024.

Furthermore, to stay informed of employee perceptions, the CNSC continues to conduct various listening activities, including administering Pulse surveys, on key workplace themes. Data is analyzed using an inclusion lens to understand the lived employment experiences of all employees and how those experiences may differ for employees who identify with equity-seeking groups.

In monitoring responses to EDI-related questions from the 2024–25 PSES, the CNSC is seeing stable and improving trends on respect and inclusion key indicators. For example, there was a positive increase (from 73% in 2019 to 82% in 2024) in employee responses agreeing with the statement “In my work unit, every individual is accepted as an equal member of the team.” The PSES results indicate that the CNSC is performing better than the overall federal public service in all of the diversity and inclusion categories. For example, the CNSC received a higher percentage of positive responses than the overall public service (PS) to the following statements:

• “My department or agency implements activities and practices that support a diverse workplace”
  • The results were 76% for the PS compared to 88% for the CNSC, with the CNSC results broken down as follows (results for Indigenous peoples were supressed by Statistics Canada to protect the confidentiality of information):
    • 90% for women
    • 82% for persons with disabilities
    • 83% for members of visible minorities
• “Overall, my department or agency treats me with respect”
  • The results were 78% for the PS compared to 90% for the CNSC, with the CNSC results broken down as follows:
    • 94% for women
    • 87% for persons with disabilities
    • 91% for members of visible minorities
• “I think that my department or agency respects individual differences (e.g., culture, work styles, ideas, abilities)”
  • The results were 69% for the PS compared to 82% for the CNSC, with the CNSC results broken down as follows:
    • 86% for women
    • 75% for persons with disabilities
    • 84% for members of visible minorities

Workforce representation data analysis

Employment equity representation was determined through data collection and analysis. This data was then compared to the CNSC’s hiring goals.

Representation of employment equity designated groups

The new data used to calculate labour market availability (LMA) comes from the 2021 Census of Canada and the 2022 Canadian Survey on Disability and represents the available members of the population who are eligible to work in Canada. National LMA data was used to calculate the LMA of all EEDGs and employment equity occupational groups (EEOGs). The 2021 LMA data reflects labour population growth in Canada in 3 EEDGs, with representation increasing among members of visible minorities (from 21.3% to 26.8%), persons with disabilities (from 9.1% to 12.3%) and Indigenous peoples (from 4.0% to 4.2%).

As of March 31, 2025, the CNSC had 997 active indeterminate employees and term employees of more than 6 months. The following pages highlight the representation of the 4 EEDGs in the organization as of that date.

Representation of employment equity occupational groups

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

Note that the 2023–24 representation difference is due to a recalculation using the newly received LMA, which is based on data from the 2021 Census of Canada and the 2022 Canadian Survey on Disability.

In 2024–25, representation in 3 of the 4 EEDGs was lower than the 2021 LMA. Although there was an increase in the representation of persons with disabilities and members of visible minorities in 2024–25, they, along with Indigenous peoples, are below the 2021 LMA. The representation of women at the CNSC continues to exceed the 2021 LMA and saw a slight increase again this year.

Specifically, representation as a percentage of the 2021 LMA:

• increased from 108.0% to 109.0% for women, who make up 52.6% of the CNSC’s total workforce
• decreased from 54.5% to 52.5% for Indigenous peoples, who make up 2.2% of the CNSC’s total workforce
• increased from 34.7% to 45.7% for persons with disabilities, who make up 5.6% of the CNSC’s total workforce
• increased from 84.6% to 91.3% for members of visible minorities, who make up 24.5% of the CNSC’s total workforce

See table 1 in the appendix for detailed data on the representation of the 4 EEDGs at the CNSC, and table 2 for their distribution by region and province.

Representation compared to the CNSC’s 3-year hiring goals

Following the 2020 Employment Systems Review, which highlighted the need to reassess the CNSC’s projected EEOG representation objectives (hiring goals), an effort was made to improve workforce representation across all occupational categories and the 4 EEDGs. In 2021, the CNSC established an advisory committee on employment equity hiring goals, bringing together volunteers representing diverse salary ranges, branches, language preferences and EEDGs.This committee was tasked with providing recommendations for refining the 2022–25 hiring goals and with developing strategies for their implementation and effective communication across the organization. The Executive Team accepted the advisory committee’s recommendation to set ambitious national LMA targets, at a minimum, for each occupational group.

The table below compares the CNSC’s current workforce representation to the 3-year hiring goal representation for 2022–25. To protect confidentiality, data was suppressed when the representation number was between 1 and 5. The terms “Surpass”, “Met” and “Below” have been included for those areas where data was suppressed. “Surpass” indicates areas where the CNSC’s current representation surpasses the 3-year goal, and “Below” indicates areas that are below the 3-year goal.

The 2022–25 hiring goals took into consideration the representation gap for EEOGs, the availability of qualified persons in the Canadian workforce, and the anticipated turnover of employees.

As seen in table B, the CNSC has surpassed 9 out of 24 (37.5%) of its EEOG 2022–25 hiring goals. Specifically:

• women surpassed the hiring goals in 4 of the 6 EEOGs (senior managers, middle and other managers, administrative and senior clerical personnel, and clerical personnel)
• Indigenous peoples were below the hiring goals in all 6 EEOGs
• persons with disabilities surpassed the hiring goals in 2 of the 6 EEOGs (senior managers, and middle and other managers)
• members of visible minorities surpassed the hiring goals in 3 of the 6 EEOGs (professionals, semi-professionals and technicians, and administrative and senior clerical personnel)

As seen in table C, the professionals group is the predominant EEOG at the CNSC, representing 72.8% of all employees. The CNSC hires specialized scientific and engineering employees in the nuclear field primarily in this group. Indigenous peoples are fully represented in the professionals group (99.2% of the LMA). While there has been an increase in the representation of women, members of visible minorities and persons with disabilities in this group in comparison to previous years, they remain under-represented (84.4%, 86.2% and 44.5% of the LMA, respectively). See tables 4 to 7 in the appendix for full details.

Representation in hiring, promotions, departures and remuneration

This section summarizes new employee hirings, promotions, departures, and salary ranges from April 1, 2024, to March 31, 2025.

Hiring

Throughout this section, certain percentages have been suppressed where the number per occupational group was 5 employees or less.

The CNSC hired 83 new employees in 2024–25. Overall, 59% of the hires were women, which is higher than the LMA of 48.2%. The hiring rate for women exceeded the LMA in 4 EEOGs: middle and other managers, semi-professionals and technicians, administrative and senior clerical personnel, and clerical personnel. The hiring rate for women was lower than the LMA in the 2 other EEOGs: senior managers, and professionals.

The overall hiring rate for Indigenous peoples was lower (percentage suppressed) than the LMA. It was higher than the LMA in 1 EEOG, that of semi-professionals and technicians, but lower than the LMA in the 5 other EEOGs: senior managers, middle and other managers, professionals, administrative and senior clerical personnel, and clerical personnel.

The overall hiring rate for persons with disabilities (10.8%) was lower than the LMA. The hiring rate for persons with disabilities was higher than the LMA in the middle and other managers, professionals, and administrative and senior clerical personnel EEOGs, but lower than the LMA for all other EEOGs.

Overall, 26.5% of new hires were members of visible minorities, which is slightly lower than the LMA (26.8%). It was higher than the LMA in 3 EEOGs: middle and other managers, semi-professionals- and technicians, and administrative and senior clerical personnel. It was lower than the LMA in the other 3 EEOGs: senior managers, professionals, and clerical personnel.

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

Promotions

Promotions at the CNSC are formal staffing processes. A total of 93 employees were promoted within the organization in 2024–25, the same as in 2023–24. Promotions occurred in all 4 EEDGs.

Overall, 56 women were promoted. The rate of promotion for women was above their internal representation (60.2% vs 52.6%). Women were promoted in 5 EEOGs (senior managers, professionals, semi-professionals and technicians, administrative and senior clerical personnel, and clerical personnel), with most of these promotions (43) occurring in the professionals EEOG.

There were some promotions for Indigenous peoples (number suppressed). The rate of promotion for Indigenous peoples was above their internal representation (2.2%). These promotions were in the professionals and the administrative and senior clerical personnel EEOGs.

There were some promotions for persons with disabilities, but at a rate below (percentage suppressed) their internal representation. The promotions were in the professionals and the administrative and senior clerical personnel EEOGs.

A total of 22 members of visible minorities were promoted. The overall rate of promotion for members of visible minorities was lower than their internal representation (23.7% vs 24.5%). The promotions happened primarily in the professionals EEOG, with the remainder happening in the middle and other managers, administrative and senior clerical personnel, and clerical personnel EEOGs.

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

Departures

In 2024–25, a total of 53 employees left the CNSC, a decrease from the 61 departures in 2023–24. Departures were observed in all 4 EEDGs.

The departure rate for women was slightly higher than their internal representation (52.8% vs 52.6%). The 28 women who left the organization represented most EEOGs, with the majority (16) from the professionals EEOG. All 28 women left indeterminate positions. In terms of reasons for departure, 39% retired, 29% left for a job in another department (e.g., promotion or lateral movement), and the remainder left for external employment or for personal reasons.

The departure rate for Indigenous peoples was above (percentage suppressed) their internal representation. Those who left were from 2 EEOGs. Indigenous peoples who left indeterminate positions did so for a job in another department or organization (e.g., promotion or lateral movement) or chose to retire.

The departure rate for persons with disabilities was slightly above (percentage suppressed) their internal representation. Those who left were from 2 EEOGs. Persons with disabilities who left indeterminate positions did so either to retire or to pursue external employment.

The departure rate for members of visible minorities was lower than their internal representation (11.3% vs 24.5%). The 6 members of visible minorities who left the organization came from 3 EEOGs: middle and other managers, professionals, and semi-professionals and technicians. All 6 left indeterminate positions, with the majority retiring or leaving for personal reasons.

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

Remuneration

As the CNSC has highly specialized professionals throughout the organization, roughly 70% of employees earned $100,000 or more in 2024–25, compared to 56% in the previous fiscal year. The growth was partially driven by a new collective agreement that was signed in May 2024.

Of those employees who earned $100,000 or more:

• 45.1% were women
• 1.6% were Indigenous peoples
• 5.4% were persons with disabilities
• 24.6% were members of visible minorities

When comparing the breakdown of those who earned $100,000 or more to CNSC EEDG representation, the greatest gap is among women, who represent 52.6% of the CNSC workforce yet only account for 45.1% of employees who earned $100,000. As seen in table 3 (appendix A), this is due to the higher representation of women employed in the administrative and senior clerical (86.1%) and the clerical personnel (86.5%) EEOGs. Women represent 46.5% of the professionals EEOG, which is the largest EEOG at the CNSC.

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

Equity, diversity and inclusion

The CNSC continues to make steady progress in creating an inclusive workplace that is representative of the Canadian labour market, but it acknowledges that there is more work to do. This work, along with the efforts of the employee networks, the ongoing open learning opportunities to build awareness and understanding of the employment experience of colleagues, and the integration of inclusive behavioural indicators into executive selection and performance, will not only improve the representation and retention of equity-seeking groups, but also create a respectful and inclusive workplace.

To ensure that it continues to make progress in fulfilling its EDI targets, the CNSC undertook several activities in 2024–25.

• Open learning sessions were offered to all staff to build awareness about:
  • Black History Month
  • how to cultivate a culture of care at work together
  • how to be an ally (with the Legacy of Hope Foundation)
  • official languages
  • CNSC pay equity
• An all-staff message was sent by the President on standing together for an inclusive workplace. The message was a reaffirmation of our shared commitment to fostering a respectful, equitable and inclusive environment where every voice is valued and every individual feels a sense of belonging.
• All managers were given access to workforce data (through Power BI dashboards) for their business unit, which included their representation data to inform their decision making
• Equity, diversity and inclusion remained a standing agenda item for Labour Management Consultation Committee meetings, reflecting its ongoing importance within our organizational priorities.
• During National Public Service Week, the CNSC hosted its annual event, where employee networks set up booths so that staff could stop by and learn more about each network.
• Workplace harassment and violence prevention tools were designed with inclusivity in mind; scenarios and examples used in training materials are intentionally neutral to avoid reinforcing stereotypes.
• The CNSC’s internal newsletter, Synergy, featured a series of articles on equity, diversity, and inclusion related initiatives. Below is a list of some of the articles that were highlighted:
  • The meaning of Etuaptmumk, or Two-Eyed Seeing, and how it can improve the CNSC’s processes
  • International Day of Persons with Disabilities and CNSC updates on accessibility and accommodations
  • Respectful terminology and relationship building
  • Pathways to Indigenous allyship
  • Black History Month
  • From Canada to the world: Celebrate Pink Shirt Day
  • Modernization of the Official Languages Act and the linguistic profiles of positions
  • Celebrating International Women’s Day
  • What you need to know about land acknowledgements
• A range of outreach initiatives were undertaken to foster inclusion and engagement with persons with disabilities and Indigenous communities. Key initiatives included:
  • Indigenous Student Career Fair at the University of Saskatchewan, 2025
  • Ottawa Aboriginal Coalition (OAC) Career Fair, 2024
  • Curve Lake First Nation Energy Fair, 2024
  • MAMU! First Nations and Inuit Job Fair, 2025
  • Employment Accessibility Resource Network (EARN) annual conference, 2024
  • Career Fair for Students with Disabilities at Concordia University, 2024
  • Black Youth in STEM Career Fair, 2025
  • Indigenous Summer Employment, 2024 and 2025
  • Student with Disabilities Inventory, 2025
• TechTalks continued to be held to provide information on the accessibility features of the CNSC’s digital environment tools (MS365).

Building on its foundational EDI initiatives, the CNSC expanded its focus to encompass broader inclusion efforts that addressed systemic barriers and fostered a more accessible and welcoming environment for all.

Additional inclusion efforts

Accessibility plan

The CNSC is dedicated to creating a barrier-free, diverse and inclusive environment for all employees and the public. The CNSC is working to strengthen its culture of equity, diversity and inclusion, as these are essential qualities of a thriving, healthy and effective organization. Demonstrating leadership and implementing measures to promote equity is a key focus for the CNSC.

In accordance with the Accessible Canada Act, the CNSC Accessibility Plan 2022–25 was published in December 2022. The CNSC Accessibility Progress Report 2024 was published in December 2024.

The accessibility plan serves as the CNSC’s accessibility roadmap until 2025. The CNSC has made important progress in implementing the actions laid out in the plan, but there is still work to be done. The CNSC Accessibility Progress Report 2024 provides an update on the status of the objectives set out in the accessibility plan. Of the 48 action items, 15 have been completed, 30 are in progress or are ongoing, and 3 are set to be completed by the end of 2025. The organization is moving in the right direction and will continue to work towards building an inclusive and barrier-free workplace.

The CNSC will seek feedback from persons with disabilities, as their input will continue to inform the plan’s implementation and future iterations.

The CNSC will be publishing an updated accessibility plan by December 2025 to reflect the work done so far and the new action items to remove more barriers across the priority areas.

Employee networks

The networks continue to contribute to creating a safe and inclusive environment where everyone feels free to bring their whole selves to work. This has provided a space for meaningful learning and thought-provoking conversations. Based on insights and feedback shared with the EDI team, several key initiatives are now in motion to support these networks. One of the major steps included redefining the roles and responsibilities of the network champions and chairs, ensuring they are well-supported and positioned for success in their leadership roles. This relaunch marks a renewed chapter in our journey toward fostering an inclusion organization – where every employee feels seen, heard and valued.

Engagement with CNSC leadership

In January 2025, the Employee Network leads participated in a meet-and-greet session with the new President of the CNSC. During this meeting, they provided an overview of the network’s purpose and activities, and shared insights on opportunities for organizational improvement from an employee network perspective.

Enhancing visibility and engagement

In February 2025, the Employee Networks launched a dedicated Viva Engage page. This initiative aims to increase the network’s visibility across the organization and to offer a new, interactive platform for discussion, collaboration, and engagement among members.

Accessibility Network

The Accessibility Network provides members with a forum where they can discuss issues related to ableism and accessibility, ensure the full participation of employees with disabilities at the CNSC, and identify ways to maintain and improve the CNSC’s safe, healthy, diverse and inclusive workplace. In 2024–25, the network focused its efforts on:

• onboarding a new chair
• establishing a format and goals that are fit for purpose
• liaising with the federal accessibility network
• hosting learning sessions about various accessibility topics and commemorative days/weeks
• providing input on event accessibility considerations to annual event planners
• launching an Accessibility Engage page to serve as a space to engage with network members and CNSC staff in discussions about accessibility opportunities and challenges, share resources, and so on
• sharing tips and tricks for using accessibility features built into new digital tools
• participating in consultation activities to shape the CNSC’s accessibility plans, policies and programs

Black Employees Network

The mission of the Black Employees Network (BEN) is to create and maintain an environment that fosters open dialogue, helps make the CNSC a trusted place to have complex and sometimes difficult conversations about anti-Black systemic racism, and ensures that the CNSC is a barrier-free organization for Black, Indigenous and racialized employees. In 2025, the BEN:

• participated in the Intergovernmental Black Employees Network and connected with other federal Black employee networks
• liaised with other employee networks to exchange information, pursue joint interests, coordinate efforts and provide support
• onboarded 2 new network champions and 2 new co-chairs
• participated in a meet and greet with President Tremblay to share the goals of BEN for 2025
• launched the BEN Viva Engage page to share resources, keep members and staff informed, connect with co-workers, gather ideas, share experiences and increase belonging
• celebrated Black History month, in collaboration with the Government of Canada Workplace Charitable Campaign, by hosting an event to discuss the topics of immigrant women and organizations that support underserved communities
• hosted an open house to introduce the new co-champions and co-chairs, and opened the space to share experiences and ideas for future network activities
• collaborated on events with the Diverse Employees Network and the Pride Network to build relationships, promote shared interests and coordinate efforts

Diverse Employees Network

The Diverse Employees Network (DEN) strives to provide members with a forum to discuss issues related to improving the work experience of diverse employees. By adding new diverse voices, the DEN joins other employee networks in their efforts to foster a safe and inclusive workplace. In 2024–25, the DEN:

• onboarded a new network champion (June 2024)
• continued to develop the internal Teams chat, which serves as an open discussion forum for all members and as a way for the core team to share information and engage members
• liaised with other employee networks to exchange information and pursue joint interests (ongoing)
• engaged its membership to determine priorities for the fiscal year (April 2024)
• presented the DEN and its activities to new co-op students (May 2024) and shared an all-staff message for Canadian Multiculturalism Day, with a learning tidbit on intersectionality (June 2024)
• hosted a DEN booth at the CNSC Annual Event, with an interactive element asking visitors, “What is diversity for you?” (June 2024)
• continued to provide a safe space for members to engage with one another, share experiences and meet new staff across the organization; this included meet-and-greet sessions and coffee chats in November 2024 and February 2025

Indigenous Network

The Indigenous Network offers its members a space to engage in meaningful discussions on internal issues impacting Indigenous communities. It also serves as a resource for the CNSC and its members, sharing insights on Indigenous culture, traditional knowledge, available services, and more. In 2024–25, the Indigenous Network focused its efforts on:

• onboarding a new network champion
• creating a new “Internal Ally” position within the network
• appointing a new secretary (2025)
• announcing annual themes (June), with the 2024 theme being allyship and the 2025 theme being awareness of the Indigenous perspective
• developing perspective statements to provide guidance on the implementation of CNSC policies in a manner that takes into account Indigenous considerations
• developing awareness among CNSC management and employees of the reconciliation mandate and changes in approach to Indigenous matters to enhance the CNSC workplace
• developing a strategic plan to maintain core activities
• leveraging stewardship, mentorship and allyship to support the co-chairs, leaders and other members in their initiatives and in sharing their experiences to build corporate knowledge
• raising awareness within the CNSC of Indigenous issues and aspirations, providing advisory services and human resources and recruitment assistance, and engaging in CNSC communications to build awareness

Pride Network

The Pride Network aims to provide members with a forum where they can discuss gender and sexual identity–based issues they may face at work or in their daily lives and identify ways to maintain and improve the CNSC’s safe, healthy and inclusive workplace. The Pride Network continues to take an action-focused approach to achieve many of its goals. Some highlights include:

• onboarding new co-chairs
• organizing a highly attended speaker event featuring drag queen Selena Vyle
• working with the Human Resources Directorate to add gender-neutral titles in the Personal Information Profile
• issuing communications for 2SLGBTQIA+ commemorative/awareness days
• hosting social outings for winter and summer Pride
• procuring pronoun pins and progressive pride flag pins for CNSC staff to wear
• promoting the use of pronouns on Teams
• connecting with other federal Pride networks through the Pride Network Chairs Committee organized by the Public Service Pride Network

Women in STEM Network

The CNSC’s Women in STEM Network (WISN) continues to build on the strong foundation laid by the Women in STEM (WISTEM) initiative, which launched in 2019 to encourage girls and women to pursue STEM education and careers, increase the presence of women in STEM roles at the CNSC, and raise awareness of their contributions across government, industry, and academia.

Although the WISTEM initiative formally concluded in fall 2024, its impact endures through the WISN, which remains a vibrant and inclusive space for all CNSC staff to:

• share experiences in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM)
• inspire one another and build confidence
• empower women in establishing and growing their careers
• increase the visibility of women in STEM fields

In 2024–25, the WISN advanced these goals by:

• establishing new connections with the World Institute for Nuclear Safety and the Department of National Defence
• organizing a hygiene product drive for Cornerstone Housing
• launching the new WISTEM Network Engage page and SharePoint site
• supporting the Women in STEM panel hosted by Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada

The WISN also reflects the spirit of WISTEM’s 3 pillars—research, coaching and mentoring, and advocacy—by continuing to:

• promote meaningful research opportunities and partnerships (e.g., with Carleton University and the National Research Council of Canada)
• support professional development through mentoring programs that reached over 60 participants
• advocate for gender equity through collaborations with national and international organizations, such as the Nuclear Energy Agency’s High-Level Group on Gender Balance, and through STEM workshops for Indigenous girls

Together, WISN and the legacy of WISTEM represent the CNSC’s ongoing commitment to gender equity, career development, and leadership for women in the nuclear and broader scientific communities.

Regulatory safety culture

The CNSC has numerous safe spaces and mechanisms through which employees can raise concerns or ask for guidance. The employee’s supervisor is typically the first point of contact for addressing concerns. The safe spaces include the Informal Conflict Management System (ICMS) coordinator, the Senior Officer for Disclosure (under the Public Servants Disclosure Protection Act), and the Senior Ethics Advisor. The mechanisms include union representatives, labour relations, Association of Professional Executives of the Public Service of Canada (APEX), the Workplace Harassment and Violence Prevention support team, the Employee and Family Assistance Program (EFAP), the Occupational Health and Safety advisors, and 3 mechanisms to support scientific integrity in a regulatory environment.

CNSC management strongly believes that an organization that actively fosters a healthy regulatory safety culture can have a powerful influence on employee attitudes and behaviours, and consequently, on individual and corporate safety performance. EDI behaviours and actions are an important component of the CNSC’s workforce and workplace strategy, contributing to a healthy regulatory safety culture.

Policies and processes

The CNSC understands how critical it is to foster a culture where workers can voice concerns without worrying about retaliation. Intentionally designing policy frameworks and management procedures that make expectations clear and that guarantee accountability for inclusive attitudes and abilities is necessary to achieve an inclusive workplace.

Policies

• CNSC Regulatory Safety Culture Policy
• Workplace Harassment and Violence Prevention Policy
• Workplace Accommodation Directive
• Open Door Policy
• Conflict of Interest Policy
• Policy on Informal Conflict Management System
• Policy on Science in a Regulatory Environment

Processes and feedback mechanisms

• Differences of professional opinion process
• Non-concurrence process
• Opportunity for improvement process
• Publishing and posting of technical papers and journal articles
• Informal Conflict Management System Office
• Executive-led employee round tables
• CNSC-wide town hall discussions led by the President
• Pulse surveys
• Public Service Employee Survey
• Office of Values and Ethics
• Viva Engage community of practice pages
• Employee networks

Gender-based Analysis Plus

The CNSC applies Gender-based Analysis Plus (GBA Plus) to work-related areas where the Government of Canada has established GBA Plus requirements. These areas are:

• the development, implementation and review of regulations
• the conduct of evaluations
• the development of Cabinet proposals (such as Treasury Board submissions and memoranda to Cabinet)

The CNSC expands the application of GBA Plus beyond the mandated areas to include other activities where its application would be beneficial, such as its hybrid work model, the regulatory framework, Indigenous engagement, and communication activities. The decision to undertake a GBA Plus assessment on corporate projects is determined on a case-by-case basis.

In 2024–25, the CNSC’s GBA Plus Responsibility Centre continued to act as the organization’s centre of expertise by providing advice related to GBA Plus, liaising with other departments and agencies, and leading the integration, promotion, monitoring and reporting of GBA Plus activities. Throughout the year, staff in the GBA Plus Responsibility Centre participated in the GBA Plus Interdepartmental Working Group on Environment and Science, led by Environment and Climate Change Canada. In addition, the Director General of Strategic Planning served as the interim Departmental GBA Plus Champion.

In 2024–25, the CNSC participated in GBA Plus Awareness Week, led by Women and Gender Equality Canada. The CNSC promoted GBA Plus learning events through its internal newsletter and intranet pages. The CNSC looks forward to its participation in and promotion of the next GBA Plus Awareness Week.

Key leadership and behavioural competencies

The CNSC understands that EDI starts with leadership. It uses TBS’s Key Leadership Competencies (KLCs) to shape desired leadership and management behaviour at the supervisory and executive level across the organization and has interwoven the characteristics of inclusive leadership into the KLCs. In addition, employees are expected to demonstrate the CNSC’s Key Behavioural Competencies (KBCs): live the CNSC’s values, own their actions, build relationships, and commit to their professional and personal learning.

Both competency frameworks are embedded in all human resource management practices and contribute to a healthy regulatory safety culture. It is recommended that first-time hiring boards complete training to reduce bias in hiring process.

The CNSC also includes EDI practices in the executive talent review process. During executive performance review committee discussions with the senior executive team (vice-presidents and President), the committee is reminded of various forms of personal bias and how they may manifest in performance reviews. This encourages all committee members to be aware of their own biases and the impacts that these may have on their perceptions and decision making. As part of their responsibility as inclusion stewards, all committee members challenge one another to uphold uniform standards, provide factual context for discussions, and identify and address any instances of bias if they appear. For the current executive cadre, as well as those identified as potential successors, official languages and employment equity self-identification data is also provided to the executives. This ensures that the executive committee is aware of and can monitor areas of progress and areas identified as requiring further focus. In order for the committee to engage in that monitoring and take appropriate action, the data is compared to the CNSC employment equity hiring goals.

Listening to employees

It is important for the CNSC to remain well informed of the health of its regulatory safety culture and to monitor the effectiveness of new and ongoing programs, policies and processes. The CNSC also wants to know how employees are doing. To that end, it regularly listens to employees through various mechanisms, including the PSES, Pulse surveys focused on specific topics (such as measuring the performance of the flexible work model and performance and career discussions), president-led town hall meetings, and senior executive–led employee round-table discussions.

There were 2 town hall meetings in 2024–25. These meetings present an opportunity for employees to ask questions, bring forward ideas for improvement, and raise issues in a public forum. In response to employees’ concerns around psychological safety, the CNSC established guidelines for participation and provides an opportunity for employees to raise “ask me anything” questions to their Executive Team. These questions and the comments shared are reviewed to ensure that they follow the guidelines for participation before they are shared live within the meeting. Some of the topics discussed at these meetings included:

• introduction of CNSC President Pierre Tremblay
• a look back on accomplishments

Consultations

The Nuclear Regulatory Group (NUREG) executive and representatives meet regularly with CNSC management and the Human Resources Directorate to discuss issues pertaining to employment practices, such as EDI, and the health of the workplace. NUREG is regularly consulted on the development of employee listening questions and pilot programs, such as the CNSC’s efforts to address career progression.

Strengthening EDI capabilities

The CNSC supports all employees in their second-language journey. For this reason, it has put in place a supply arrangement with 9 language schools that focus on Canada’s official languages – English and French. The CNSC is diverse in terms of languages spoken and recognizes that the organization has some employees whose first language is neither English nor French.

In addition to offering second-language training opportunities to employees, the CNSC has implemented its 3-year Official Languages Strategy 2023–2026. The strategy defines the organization’s efforts to create a bilingual workplace for its employees and ensure that it is upholding the legislative requirements of the Official Languages Act. The strategy is built around 3 key pillars – communication, leadership and governance – and identifies 9 priority areas with corresponding actions. Presentations to management and staff through an open learning session were offered to employees in early 2024 to increase awareness as well as individual responsibilities with respect to official languages. Additional learning sessions will be offered to employees throughout 2025, covering themes such as linguistic insecurity and staffing as it relates to official languages. A best practice guide for managers will be launched, highlighting support for employees while on second language training. Furthermore, the CNSC continues to invest in the EFAP. Employees can now meet with counsellors who identify similarly to them and can access counselling services in 17 languages. An interpreter service is used for requests that fall outside the CNSC provider’s language competencies, offering immediate over the phone interpretation in over 200 languages. The EFAP also includes access to elder services for Indigenous employees, providing culturally appropriate support and guidance.

The CNSC has also invested in acquiring reading materials to further enhance the inclusion literacy of employees. Use of the Cloud Library, which includes e-books and audiobooks in both official languages, remains popular among staff. The online platform offers a variety of EDI material. Employees borrowed e-books and audiobooks 88 times in 2024–25. Some of the more popular titles were:

• American Nations - A History of the Eleven Rival Regional Cultures of North America, by Colin Woodard
• The Prettiest Star, by Carter Sickels
• The Serviceberry, by Robin Wall Kimmerer
• Love After the End, edited by Joshua Whitehead
• Anxiety at Work, by Adrian Gostick and Chester Elton
• Stumbling Towards Inclusion, by Dr. Priya Nalkur
• Into Thin Air, by Jon Krakauer

The CNSC also continues to equip employees and managers with fundamental skills to feel confident in managing a variety of situations that can either build trust or create mistrust in the work environment. Specifically, 13 Fierce Conversations sessions were delivered to 96 employees. These sessions provide staff with the tools for having a respectful dialogue to challenge assumptions, provoke learning, address difficult challenges, and enrich their relationships with their peers and managers.

Using the Institute for Health and Human Potential model, 4 sessions on emotional intelligence were delivered to 23 employees. Learning about emotional intelligence begins with the understanding that emotions are contagious. They spread from one person to another quickly, strengthening or harming an organization.

Through the delivery of Fierce Conversations training and other relevant programs, the CNSC is equipping staff to feel comfortable asking questions, expressing differences of opinion, and giving and receiving feedback. The CNSC is investing in skills that contribute to the development of team and organizational trust along with building psychological safety, where people feel valued and respected. In addition, these offerings strengthen the workforce’s ability to manage their relationships and interactions with licensees.

The CNSC works to ensure a safe, inclusive, and physically and psychologically healthy work environment to help all employees perform at their best. Workplace wellness continues to be an important area of focus. In addition to the activities already mentioned, the CNSC:

• hosted a combined Safety and Health Week and Mental Health Week in May with the Corporate Security team
• used Accessibility, Accommodation and Adaptive Computer Technology services to support individual accommodation needs; this proactive approach promotes an inclusive and accessible work environment for all staff
• ensured that harassment and violence prevention notices can be submitted in a variety of ways (anonymous, email in both official languages)
• continued to offer virtual and in-person proactive ergonomic coaching sessions and full ergonomic assessments to all staff
• offered 2 sessions of The Working Minds to managers and employees
• promoted policies, programs, resources and tools available to support employee mental health and well-being (EFAP, Homewood Pathfinder-digital wellness platform, ICMS).
• promoted healthy workplace workshops, seminars, webinars, training, resources and tools available in the broader public service or from other sources via the Promoting Health and Wellness bulletin board on the intranet (e.g. for Mental Health Awareness Week and October’s Healthy Workplace Month, and monthly mental health breaks). Activities included:
  • Guest speaker: The Journey to Wellness – One Step at a Time
  • All-staff email: Bell Let’s Talk Campaign
  • Pink Shirt Day awareness
  • Guest speaker: Targeting Bullying and Harassment in the Workplace
  • Guest speaker: Respectful Relationships in the Workplace
  • Guest speaker: Beyond Stigma
  • Panel discussion with CNSC network champions - Creating a Healthy Workplace

Conclusion

In 2024–25, the CNSC’s overall workforce exceeded the LMA in 1 EEDG: women. Members of visible minorities, Indigenous peoples and persons with disabilities were under-represented, despite a slight increase in representation in 2 EEDGs: persons with a disabilities and members of visible minorities. The under-representation of these groups has been perpetuated by higher rates of departure compared to their internal representation, as well as lower hiring rates.

The CNSC is committed to increasing representation in all employment equity groups. With this goal in mind, the CNSC developed its 5-year EDI strategy. The CNSC will monitor progress using key performance indicators (KPIs) included in the implementation plan. These KPIs include the Organizational Health Report, which helps identify and raise awareness about workplace and workforce risks; the PSES; internal Pulse survey results; and other indicators related to EDI found in the Accessibility Plan and the Official Languages Strategy. Furthermore, the CNSC will look to update the hiring goals in the 2025–26 fiscal year.

The CNSC will continue to advance its EDI strategy through ongoing collaboration with key internal stakeholders. This includes implementing targeted measures to enhance the organization’s capacity to attract and retain individuals from EEDGs.

By partnering with the Office of Values and Ethics, the NUREG Group, and employee networks – and by maintaining a commitment to open learning sessions on inclusion, race and marginalization – the CNSC aims to not only improve the representation of equity-seeking groups, but also foster a more respectful, inclusive and trusting workplace culture.

Appendix A: Workforce representation data tables as of March 31, 2025

The following tables present the data for different employment equity designated groups in the workforce.

Representation of employment equity designated groups

In the tables below:

• EEDG = employment equity designated group
• EEOG = employment equity occupational group
• LMA = labour market availability
• NCR = National Capital Region

Table 1: Representation and LMA of EEDGs

Table 2: Representation of EEDGs in the NCR and provinces

Table 3: Representation of EEDGs by EEOG

Table 4: Representation of women by EEOG and LMA

Table 5: Representation of Indigenous peoples by EEOG and LMA

Table 6: Representation of persons with disabilities by EEOG and LMA

Table 7: Representation of members of visible minorities by EEOG and LMA

Table 8: Hiring of EEDGs by EEOG

Table 9: Promotions of EEDGs by EEOG

Table 10: Departures of EEDGs by EEOG

Table 11: Representation of EEDGs by salary range