Employment Equity Annual Report 2023-24

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, 2023, to March 31, 2024. 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 2023–24, 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 2023–24, the CNSC had a total population of 1,045 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 2023–24, 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. Workplace design – consulting the employee networks and using the Gender-Based Analysis Plus (GBA Plus) lens to inform management workplace decisions; ambitious hiring goals have been established 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 self-identification form is currently being updated to better reflect the diversity of identities in the Canadian population. Once the form is updated, the CNSC will work to implement it.

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, 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 be very engaged 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 high, and senior management uses the PSES results as a key measurement tool to gauge how the CNSC is doing as an employer and to inform management decision making. The last PSES was held from December 2022 to February 2023.

Furthermore, to stay informed of employee perceptions, the CNSC continues to engage employees through various listening activities and administers regular 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. Some of the questions in the CNSC’s October 2023 Pulse survey on the flexible work model were the same as those in the PSES.

In monitoring responses to EDI-related questions from the 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 83% in 2022) in employee responses agreeing with the statement “In my work unit, every individual is accepted as an equal member of the team.” The most recent PSES results also show that the CNSC is ahead in most diversity and inclusion categories in comparison to the overall federal public service (PS). For example, the CNSC received a higher percentage of positive responses than the overall PS to the following statements:

• “My department or agency implements activities and practices that support a diverse workplace”
  • The results were 79% for the PS compared to 86% for the CNSC, with the CNSC results broken down as follows:
    • 90% for women
    • 85% for persons with a disability
    • 89% for Indigenous peoples
    • 86% for members of visible minorities
  • The overall result for this question increased to 88% in the October 2023 CNSC Pulse survey.
• “Overall, my department or agency treats me with respect”
  • The results were 84% for the PS compared to 89% for the CNSC, with the CNSC results broken down as follows:
    • 91% for women
    • 79% for persons with a disability
    • 95% for Indigenous peoples
    • 94% for members of visible minorities
  • The overall result for this question increased to 94% in the October 2023 CNSC Pulse survey.
• “I think that my department or agency respects individual differences (e.g., culture, work styles, ideas, abilities)”
  • The results were 75% for the PS compared to 82% for the CNSC, with the CNSC results broken down as follows:
    • 88% for women
    • 83% for persons with a disability
    • 79% for Indigenous peoples
    • 86% 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 data used to calculate LMA comes from the 2016 Census of Canada and the 2017 Canadian Survey on Disability. National LMA data was used to calculate the LMA of all EEDGs and employment equity occupational groups (EEOGs).

As of March 31, 2024, the CNSC had 962 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

** Representation calculated using the LMA, based on data from the 2016 Census of Canada and the 2017 Canadian Survey on Disability.

In 2023–24, representation in 2 of the 4 EEDGs was lower than the LMA. Although there was a slight increase in the representation of Indigenous peoples and persons with disabilities in 2023–24, it remains below the LMA. The representation of women and members of visible minorities at the CNSC continues to exceed the LMA and saw a slight increase again this year.

Specifically, representation as a percentage of LMA:

• increased from 106.6% to 108.0% for women, who make up 52.1% of the CNSC’s total workforce
• increased from 54.8% to 57.2% for Indigenous peoples, who make up 2.3% of the CNSC’s total workforce
• increased from 43.3% to 46.8% for persons with disabilities, who make up 4.3% of the CNSC’s total workforce
• increased from 103.9% to 106.4% for members of visible minorities, who make up 22.7% 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

The Employment Systems Review conducted in 2020 recommended reviewing the CNSC’s projected EEOG representation objectives (hiring goals) to improve workforce representation across all occupational categories and the 4 EEDGs. In 2021, the CNSC created an advisory committee on employment equity hiring goals. The committee consisted of employee volunteers representing different salary ranges, branches, preferred official language, and EEDGs. The purpose of this advisory committee was to provide recommendations on proposed adjustments to the 2022–25 hiring goals and generate ideas about implementing the goals and communicating them to the rest of 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 following table compares the CNSC’s current representation to its 3-year hiring goal representation by 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, “Met” indicates areas where it meets the 3-year goal, and “Below” indicates areas that are below the 3-year goal.

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

As seen in table B, the CNSC has met or surpassed 10 out of 24 (42%) 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 surpassed the hiring goals in 1 of the 6 EEOGs (senior managers)
• persons with disabilities met 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)

SUPP* – Data suppressed to protect the confidentiality of information by using residual suppression, or when the representation number was between 1 and 5.

As seen in table C, the professionals group is the predominant EEOG at the CNSC, representing 70.9% of all employees. The CNSC hires specialized scientific and engineering employees in the nuclear field primarily in this group. Members of visible minorities and, for the first time, Indigenous peoples are fully represented in the professionals group (105.5% and 103.9% of the LMA, respectively). While there has been an increase in the representation of women and persons with disabilities in this group in comparison to previous years, they remain under-represented (81.8% and 47.8% 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, 2023, to March 31, 2024.

Hiring

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

The CNSC hired 114 new employees in 2023–24. Overall, 57.0% of the hires were women, which is higher than the LMA of 48.2%. The hiring rate for women exceeded the LMA in 3 EEOGs: senior managers, middle and other managers, and administrative and senior clerical personnel. The hiring rate for women was lower than the LMA in the 3 other EEOGs: professionals, semi-professionals and technicians, and clerical personnel.

The overall hiring rate for Indigenous peoples was lower (percentage suppressed) than the LMA; however, it was higher than the LMA in 2 EEOGs: professionals, and administrative and senior clerical personnel. It was lower than the LMA in the 4 other EEOGs: senior managers, middle and other managers, semi-professionals and technicians, and clerical personnel.

The overall hiring rate for persons with disabilities was lower (percentage suppressed) than the LMA. The hiring rate for persons with disabilities was higher than the LMA in the administrative and senior clerical personnel EEOG, but lower than the LMA for all other EEOGs.

The overall hiring rate for members of visible minorities was higher than the LMA (22.8% vs 21.3%). Furthermore, it was higher than the LMA in 3 EEOGs: semi-professionals and technicians, administrative and senior clerical personnel, and clerical personnel. It was lower than the LMA in the other 3 EEOGs: senior managers, middle and other managers, and professionals.

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 2023–24, compared with 98 in 2022–23. Promotions occurred in all 4 EEDGs.

Overall, 55 women were promoted. The rate of promotion for women was above their internal representation (59.1% vs 52.1%). Women were promoted in 5 EEOGs (senior managers, middle and other managers, professionals, semi-professionals and technicians, and administrative and senior clerical personnel), with most of these promotions (40) occurring in the professionals EEOG.

There were 6 promotions for Indigenous peoples. The rate of promotion for Indigenous peoples was above their internal representation (6.5% vs 2.3%). All of these promotions were in the professionals EEOG.

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

A total of 18 members of visible minorities were promoted. The overall rate of promotion for members of visible minorities was lower than their internal representation (19.4% vs 22.7%). The promotions happened primarily in the professionals EEOG.

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

Departures

Overall, 61 employees left the CNSC in 2023–24, a decrease from the 67 departures in 2022–23. Departures occurred in all 4 of the EEDGs.

The overall rate of departure for women was lower than their internal representation (42.6% vs 52.1%). The 26 women who left the organization came from most EEOGs, with the majority (15) in the professionals EEOG. Of the 26 women, 22 left indeterminate positions. Broken down as a percentage, 36% left for a job in another department (e.g., promotion or lateral movement), 36% for retirement, and the remainder for external employment or for personal reasons.

The overall rate of departure for Indigenous peoples was above (percentage suppressed) their internal representation. Those who left were from 3 EEOGs: professionals, semi-professionals and technicians, and clerical personnel. Indigenous peoples who left indeterminate positions did so for a job in another department or organization (e.g., promotion or lateral movement) or for retirement.

The departure rate for persons with disabilities in 2023–24 was slightly above (percentage suppressed) their internal representation. Those who left were from 2 EEOGs: professionals, and administrative and senior clerical personnel. Persons with disabilities who left indeterminate positions did so for a job in another department or organization (e.g., promotion or lateral movement) or for external employment.

The overall rate of departure for members of visible minorities was higher than their internal representation (27.9% vs 22.7%). The 17 members of visible minorities who left the organization in 2023–24 came from 4 EEOGs: professionals, semi-professionals and technicians, administrative and senior clerical personnel, and clerical personnel. Of the 17 members of visible minorities, 15 left indeterminate positions: 53% left for retirement, while the remainder left for a job in another department, for external employment or 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 56% of employees earned $100,000 or more in 2023–24, compared to 55% in the previous fiscal year.

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

• 40.5% were women
• 1.5% were Indigenous peoples
• 3.7% were persons with disabilities
• 22.3% were members of visible minorities

When comparing the breakdown of those who earned $100,00 or more to CNSC EEDG representation, the greatest gap is among women, who represent 52.1% of the CNSC workforce yet only account for 40.5% of employees who earned $100,000. As seen in table 3 (appendix A), this is due to the high representation of women employed in the administrative and senior clerical (87.8%) and the clerical personnel (86.5%) EEOGs. Women represent 45% 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 safe-space conversations, 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 a number of activities in 2023–24.

• Open learning sessions were offered to all staff to build awareness about:
  • National Indigenous History Month
  • Pride Network
  • history of federal pay equity
  • anti-ableist language
  • neurodiversity in the workplace
  • adaptive technologies (accessibility-focused)
  • EDI and microaggressions
• TechTalks continued to be held to provide information on the accessibility features of the CNSC’s digital environment tools (MS365).

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 and the CNSC Accessibility Progress Report 2023 was published in December 2023. The accessibility plan serves as the CNSC’s accessibility roadmap until 2025. TBS recognized the CNSC’s employment priority area in the accessibility plan for its strong and promising action times. The CNSC has made important progress in implementing the actions laid out in the accessibility plan, but there is still work to be done. The CNSC Accessibility Progress Report 2023 provides an update on the status of the objectives set out in the accessibility plan. In the last year, 10 action items have been completed; a further 27 items are in progress. 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 is continuing to work on removing barriers identified in the accessibility plan and will publish a progress report in December 2024.

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, key initiatives are underway to support the CNSC employee networks. Redefining the roles and responsibilities of the chairs and champions is one of the ongoing activities.

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 2023–24, the network focused its efforts on:

• raising awareness about various accessibility topics and commemorative days/weeks
• issuing a survey to CNSC staff to determine what accessibility topics they would like to learn about
• supporting the EDI hub in the development and facilitation of 3 open learning sessions
• engaging external resources to learn more and gain new ideas for the network Employment Accessibility Resource Network (EARN, Environment and Climate Change Canada’s Employee Accessibility Network)
• establishing a new format and goals for 2024–25

Black Employees Network

The Black Employees Network (BEN) continues to educate, speak truth to power, and equip allies to stand up against discrimination in all its forms. The BEN:

• participates in the Intergovernmental Black Employees Network
• liaises with other caucuses to coordinate efforts and provide support

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 2023–24, the DEN:

• continued, with the help of the network champion, to garner the support of management to raise diverse voices at the CNSC
• worked to shed light on some of the experiences that members of diverse groups face within the organization
• worked to address and understand microaggressions
• continued to develop the internal Teams chat, which was created at the DEN’s early inception and which serves as an open discussion forum for all members and as a way for the core team to share information and engage members
• participated in a panel discussion on allyship along with other networks (June 2023)
• shared an all-staff message for Canadian Multiculturalism Day, with a learning tidbit on Eid (June 2023)
• continued to provide a safe space for members to engage with one another, share experiences and meet new staff across the organization; this included a meet-and-greet session in August 2023
• participated in the All Employee Networks Social (December 2023)
• organized an open learning session on EDI and microaggressions (March 2024)

Indigenous Network

In 2023–24, the Indigenous Network focused its efforts on:

• 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, while introducing a larger collaborative approach to further EDI goals
• 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:

• hosting a highly attended Speaker event featuring Veronica Mayfield
• working with the Commission to eliminate the use of gendered honorifics in Commission proceeding transcripts and during proceedings
• consulting on the travel process to incorporate proactive 2SLGBTQIA+ considerations
• issuing communications for 2SLGBTQIA+ commemorative days / days of awareness
• hosting social outings for winter and summer Pride

Women in STEM Network

The CNSC’s Women in STEM Network (WISN) aims to provide an inclusive space for all CNSC staff to come together; share experiences about their careers and personal lives in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM); inspire one another; and build confidence. Under the CNSC’s Women in STEM (WISTEM) initiative, the WISN also aims to meet the goals of empowering women in establishing and growing their careers and making women more visible in the STEM field. In 2023–24, the WISN contributed to these goals by:

• hosting a National Engineering Month event on March 19, 2024, called “What’s Your Story?”, where 6 amazing women shared their STEM career experiences

Women in STEM initiative

While the CNSC has an employee network focused on women in STEM, the former CNSC President and CEO, Rumina Velshi, and current acting CEO Ramzi Jammal, continued to champion gender equity, paying particular attention to STEM inside and outside the CNSC. The CNSC Women in STEM (WISTEM) initiative, which consists of the WISN and 4 pillars (research, coaching and mentoring, and advocacy), promotes the balanced participation of women in STEM careers at the CNSC and in broader nuclear and scientific communities.

The research pillar 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, and occupying senior research positions in the nuclear field. In 2023–24, the research task force contributed to this goal by offering meaningful work to students and supporting Carleton University’s Women in Engineering and Information Technology Program and the National Research Council’s Celebrating the Success of Women in STEM Symposium.

The coaching and mentoring pillar aims to help staff develop, improve and implement mindsets and behaviours, and give women tools and strategies to increase their confidence and competency in their STEM work life. In 2023–24, the coaching and mentoring task forces contributed to this goal by managing the mentoring program and opening it up to all staff; offering a coaching skills training series with an external coach to 2 cohorts; and promoting internal one-on-one coaching services.

The advocacy pillar supports the Executive Team and CNSC senior managers in planning and executing activities and events, including:

• Driving Advancement for Women in Nuclear (DAWN)
• Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA) High-Level Group on Improving Gender Balance in the Nuclear Sector
• NEA International Mentoring Workshop Canada 2023 – This was the first NEA mentoring workshop in Canada, and the first one weaving together Indigenous and Western knowledge. It took place in May 2023 and resulted in students deciding to change their high school courses to include more STEM.
• International Gender Champions Impact Group on Gender Equality in Nuclear Regulatory Agencies – The group collaborated with the NEA to measure quantitative and qualitative gender data from regulatory agencies to assess the status of gender equality and develop report cards to promote action.
• STEM Workshop for Indigenous Girls 2024 – In collaboration with the University of Saskatchewan, the WISTEM team planned a 4-day workshop for 40 Indigenous girls to explore STEM activities and connect with successful women in STEM.
• Gender Champions in Nuclear Policy – Acting CEO Ramzi Jammal joined the leadership network in February 2023.
• various speaking events, including:
  • International Framework for Nuclear Energy Cooperation Ministerial Conference, and NEA International Workshop: Harmonising requirements: Is it in reach? (November 2023)
  • NEA International Mentoring Workshop in Ghana (November 2023)
  • IAEA 30th International Conference on Nuclear Engineering (ICONE30) panel on the recruitment and retention of women experts in the nuclear energy sector (April 2023)
  • International Women’s Day Fireside Chat with Ramzi Jammal, Karen Owen-Whitred, and special guest Alice Wong (March 2024)

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 Public Services and Procurement Canada's Office of Shared Ombuds Services, the Informal Conflict Management System (ICMS) coordinator, the Senior Officer of Disclosure (under the Public Servants Disclosure Protection Act), and the Senior Ethics Advisor. The mechanisms include union representatives, labour relations, APEX, the Workplace Harassment and Violence Prevention support team, the Employee and Family Assistance Program, the Occupational Health and Safety coordinator, and 3 mechanisms to support scientific integrity in a regulatory environment.

In 2023, the Office of Values and Ethics created an easy-to-use, one-page visual tool detailing the context of and contact information for each of the mechanisms available to staff for resolving issues, which was well received. A copy of the tool was shared with the Interdepartmental Network on Values and Ethics.

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 is 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
• Inclusive Workplace Policy
• Open Door 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
• Employee networks
• Answers to questions submitted anonymously to “Ask JacKey” via the CNSC’s monthly internal newsletter, Synergy

Gender-Based Analysis Plus

The CNSC applies GBA Plus to the development and review of programs, policies and services in order to ensure that they are inclusive and accessible. The CNSC continues to seek opportunities to apply GBA Plus to internal policies, programs and services.

In addition, in 2023–24, the CNSC participated in GBA Plus Awareness Week, led by Women and Gender Equality Canada. The CNSC promoted GBA Plus learning events internally through all-staff messaging and intranet pages, and externally via its social media accounts. 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. The CNSC’s Key Behavioural Competencies remain an essential facet of employee attitude, performance and success. Both competency frameworks are embedded in all human resource management practices and contribute to a healthy regulatory safety culture.

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 in the 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 4 town hall meetings in 2023–24. 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:

• hybrid work environment
• vision and priorities for 2024
• career conversations

In addition, Management Committee meetings continue to be open to all employees, who can observe them virtually.

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 recently developed and 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.

Furthermore, the CNSC has invested in a new Employee and Family Assistance Program. 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 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 105 times in 2022–23, and 51 times in 2024 so far. Some of the more popular titles of 2024 have been:

• The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle, by Stuart Turton
• All You Can Ever Know, by Nicole Chung
• So You Want to Talk About Race, by Ijeoma Oluo
• Truth Telling, by Michelle Good
• Fearing the Black Body, by Sabrina Strings
• Born a Crime, by Trevor Noah
• I Heard Her Call My Name, by Lucy Sante
• Pageboy, by Elliot Page

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, 20 Fierce Conversations sessions were delivered to 139 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, 11 sessions on emotional intelligence were delivered to 90 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 methods, 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 and 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 launched new episodes of its quarterly podcast, CNSC in Conversation, which provides insight into the diverse perspectives of employees across the organization. Topics included:

• a conversation with the Accessibility Network
• a conversation with the Pride Network
• a conversation with the new Regulatory Affairs Branch Vice-President

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:

• launched the Personal Protective Equipment Guideline, with an emphasis on an inclusive and flexible approach when choosing appropriate safety work wear that suits all body types
• reviewed the Workplace Accommodation Directive
• hosted a combined Safety and Health Week and Mental Health Week in May with the Corporate Security team
• ensured that harassment and violence prevention notices can be submitted in a variety of ways (anonymous, MS Forms, email in both official languages)
• continued to offer virtual and in-person proactive ergonomic coaching sessions and full ergonomic assessments to all staff
• promoted policies, programs, resources and tools available to support employee mental health and well-being (Employee and Family Assistance Program, LifeSpeak 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 (Mental Health Awareness Week and October’s Healthy Workplace Month, monthly mental health breaks)

Conclusion

In 2023–24, the CNSC’s overall workforce exceeded the LMA in 2 EEDGs: women and members of visible minorities. Indigenous peoples and persons with disabilities continue to be under-represented, despite a slight increase in representation for both EEDGs. The under-representation of these 2 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 intends to revise its EDI strategy in fiscal year 2024–25. To assess the effectiveness of the EDI strategy, the CNSC will monitor progress using key performance indicators (KPIs) included in the implementation plan. These KPIs will include the Organizational Health Report, which helps identify and raise awareness about workplace and workforce risk; 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 evolve its EDI strategy in consultation with key internal stakeholder groups and will include measures to strengthen the organization’s ability to attract and retain members of EEDGs.

By working with partners from the Office of Values and Ethics, the NUREG Group and the employee networks, and by continuing to provide open learning sessions on inclusion, race and marginalization, the CNSC will be able to not only enhance the representation of equity-seeking groups, but also create an even more respectful, trusting and inclusive workplace.

Appendix A: Workforce representation data tables as of March 31, 2024

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

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

Table 2: Representation of EEDGs in the NCR and provinces

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

Table 3: Representation of EEDGs by EEOG

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

Table 4: Representation of women by EEOG and LMA

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

Table 5: Representation of Indigenous peoples by EEOG and LMA

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Table 8: Hiring of EEDGs by EEOG

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

Table 9: Promotions of EEDGs by EEOG

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

Table 10: Departures of EEDGs by EEOG

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

Table 11: Representation of EEDGs by salary range

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