Employment Equity

To pursue excellence in research, innovation, and student success, we must foster opportunity for a diverse workforce. Put simply, understanding and implementing employment equity helps achieve inclusion and fairness, brings rich diversity to UBC as a workplace, and creates the necessary conditions for innovation and excellence.  

Overview

At UBC, we are committed to equity in employment, with the fundamental principle for recruitment and retention of faculty and staff being individual achievement and merit. Consistent with this principle and our commitments, the university will:

  • advance the interests of federally designated groups – Indigenous peoples, racialized people, people with disabilities, and women;
  • ensure that fair and equal opportunity is afforded to all who seek employment at the University;
  • and treat equitably all faculty and staff.

The university will identify and eliminate any discriminatory barriers that interfere with employment opportunities in all jobs and at all levels. Both current and prospective faculty and staff will receive equitable treatment in hiring, training, and promotion procedures.

Although sexual and gender minorities are not identified in the Employment Equity Act, UBC recognizes that people with diverse sexual and gender identities may also have experienced discrimination in the above areas.

  • Employment Equity Policy

    Updated in July 2019, UBC’s Employment Equity Policy affirms our commitment to employment equity and identifies four objectives to meet those commitments.

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  • Employment Equity Plan

    Updated in 2019, the Employment Equity Plan identifies three institutional objectives and informs our approach to advance employment equity.

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  • Employment Equity Survey

    Annual survey enables UBC employees to confidentially self-identify with federally and other designated groups, and helps deepen our understanding of the demographics and diversity of experiences at UBC.

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  • Employment Equity Reports

    Annual reports provide an analysis of the workforce demographics across federally and other designated groups, job categories and occupational groups, as well as track progress towards objectives of our Employment Equity Plan.

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  • Employment Equity Advisor Pilot Program

    The Employment Equity Advisor Pilot Program is an opportunity for faculty members, as well as staff members involved in faculty hiring, to develop their expertise in accessible and equitable hiring practices.

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  • Guide to Equitable Hiring Practices: Faculty Recruitment

    The Guide to Equitable Hiring Practices: Faculty Recruitment provides leaders, hiring committee members and human resource practitioners with a suite of promising practices designed to ensure equitable hiring practices in accordance with university policies, government legislation and collective agreements.

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Related Institutional Plans 

UBC’s Strategic Plan 

Core Area: People and Places
Strategy 1: Great People

Attract, engage and retain a diverse global community of outstanding students, faculty and staff 

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Strategic Equity & Antiracism Framework and Roadmap for Change 

Compositional Change Domain 

Objective 3.1 Review and improve faculty and staff hiring processes to better integrate equity and anti-racism principles. 

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Canada Research Chairs (CRC) Equity Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Action Plan 

Goal 1: Recruitment Goal 2: Retention & Success 

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Dimensions Action Plan for EDI in Research 

Priority Area: Faculty and Staff Hiring Practices, Progression and Retention (Action Plan Objectives 11 – 18) 

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Inclusion Action Plan 

Goal Area: Recruitment, Retention and Success

UBC will actively recruit, support, retain, and advance students, faculty, staff, and leaders from systemically marginalized communities. 

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Focus on People 

Catalysts 1-4 

Focus on People 2025 identifies four catalyst areas to make UBC an inspiring place to teach, research and work. 

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Indigenous Strategic Plan 

Goal 6: Recruiting Indigenous people

Position UBC as the most accessible large research university globally for Indigenous students, faculty and staff. 

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