Employment Equity
and Diversity
The Institut national de la recherche scientifique (INRS) subscribes to the equal access and employment equity programs.
Equal access and employment equity programs
The equal access and employment equity programs are designed to counter discrimination. They were created to ensure that members of groups that suffer discrimination are fairly represented on the staff of public bodies.
They make it possible to identify and eliminate potentially discriminatory aspects of hiring and staff management processes.
Candidates for hiring processes at INRS
INRS welcomes applications from all qualified candidates, especially women, members of visible and ethnic minorities, Indigenous people, and people with disabilities. They are invited to answer the self-identification questions on the application form.
Self-identifying as a member of a group covered by the equal access and employment equity programs may give you priority for hiring or promotion if you have the skills required for the job.
Selection is always based on skills, but all skills being equal, you may be given preference if you are part of one of these groups.
Legal definitions of target groups
Person with a disability
Person with a disability
Canadian Workplace Equity Program
Persons with disabilities have a long-term or recurring physical, mental, sensory, psychiatric, or learning impairment and:
- Consider themselves to be disadvantaged in employment by reason of that impairment, or
- Believe that an employer or potential employer is likely to consider them to be disadvantaged in employment by reason of that impairment.
This definition includes persons whose functional limitations owing to their impairment have been accommodated in their current job or workplace.
Source: Employment Equity Act
Quebec Equal Access Employment Program
Quebec law uses the term “handicapped persons” and defines it as people with deficiencies causing a significant and persistent disability, who are liable to encounter barriers in performing everyday activities. This includes people with autism spectrum disorder, people with mental health disorders that result in significant and persistent disability, and people whose disabilities are episodic or cyclical.
Source: Act to secure handicapped persons in the exercise of their rights with a view to achieving social, school and workplace integration
Indigenous peoples
Indigenous peoples
Canadian Workplace Equity Program
This law uses the term “Aboriginal peoples” and defines it as persons who are “Indians,” Inuit, or Métis.
Source: Employment Equity Act
Quebec Equal Access Employment Program
An Indigenous person is one who self-identifies as belonging to one of the following groups: First Nations, Inuit, and Métis in Canada.
Source: https://www.cdpdj.qc.ca/en/your-rights/the-laws-protecting-your-rights/LAEE
Visible minority
Visible minority
Canadian Workplace Equity Program
Members of visible minorities are persons, other than Aboriginal peoples, who are non-Caucasian in “race” or non-white in colour.
Source: Employment Equity Act
Quebec Equal Access Employment Program
Non-Indigenous people who identify themselves as a visible minority because of their “race” or skin colour.
Source: https://www.cdpdj.qc.ca/en/your-rights/the-laws-protecting-your-rights/LAEE
Ethnic minority
Ethnic minority
Quebec Equal Access Employment Program
People whose mother tongue is neither French nor English, and who belong to a group other than the Aboriginal peoples group or the visible minorities group.
Source: https://www.cdpdj.qc.ca/en/your-rights/the-laws-protecting-your-rights/LAEE
INRS staff members
As part of its equal access and employment equity programs, INRS is required to analyze its workforce in order to determine the number of people in the target groups for each type of job. It therefore invites all staff members to fill out a self-identification questionnaire so it can collect the data for that analysis.
INRS collects its data using a LimeSurvey questionnaire that is sent to staff members shortly after they start their job. The information gathered through the self-identification questionnaire allows INRS to assess how well groups that experience discrimination on the job market are represented on its staff. It then takes steps to remedy any under-representation.
INRS staff members can update their self-identification at any time by emailing the person responsible for equity, diversity, and inclusion at edi@inrs.ca. They will send you a link to the confidential questionnaire.
Learn more about equal access and employment equity
Everybody has a part to play in strengthening equal access to employment. Find out more:
- Watch this video from the Commission des droits de la personne et des droits de la jeunesse (CDPDJ) on self-identification questionnaires and the Equal Access Employment Program
- Read the Guide pour mieux comprendre le processus d’auto-identification aux groupes visés par les programmes d’accès à l’égalité en emploi (PDF; in French only) produced by the CDPDJ
A career at INRS
Human Resources departments
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