Annual Report 2015-2016

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© Her Majesty the Queen in Right of Canada, represented by the Minister of National Revenue, 2016.

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La version française de cette publication est intitulée L’équité en matière d’emploi et la diversité à l’Agence du revenu du Canada - Rapport annuel 2015-2016.

Message from the Commissioner and the Deputy Commissioner

We are pleased to present to the Parliament of Canada the Employment Equity and Diversity at the Canada Revenue Agency: Annual Report 2015-2016.

The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) places a high priority on establishing and maintaining a workforce that is diverse in its talents, skills, and perspectives. Our human resource policies and practices recognize that diversity fuels the innovation, agility, collaboration and creativity our organization needs to succeed.

That is why we are very pleased to note that, for the 13th year in a row, all four employment equity groups—Indigenous peoples, persons with disabilities, visible minorities, and women—were fully represented within the CRA, exceeding their Canadian labour market availability. In 2015-2016, the CRA continued to make steady progress in advancing and strengthening employment equity and diversity in its workforce, eliminating barriers for employment, and reducing the level of under-representation in all occupational groups.

We are also delighted to report that, again this year, the representation of Indigenous peoples and women in the CRA’s Executive/Cadre Group remains above their labour market availability rate. In addition, 95% of employees across the country self-identified with respect to their participation in an employment equity group. This is the highest level ever, well above the 80% rate that the Canadian Human Rights Commission recommends.

In 2015-2016, the CRA undertook a comprehensive review of its employment system. It showed that we have been successful in building a diverse and representative workforce at the regional and national level through our recruitment, training, education and employment equity initiatives. In the year to come, we will continue to seize the opportunities highlighted in the system review to ensure we continue to identify and prevent barriers to hiring, promoting, and retaining employees from the four designated groups.

An inclusive workplace, based on mutual respect and appreciation for cultural and generational differences, is critical to creating an environment that fosters well-being, prevents discrimination and harassment, and allows our employees to focus on providing exemplary service to Canadians. We invite you to read this year’s report to see how the CRA is creating a diverse and representative workforce.

• Bob Hamilton
• Commissioner Chief Executive Officer
• John Ossowski
• Deputy Commissioner

• Table of Contents

• Executive summary
• Key performance highlights
• Key achievements
  • Self-identification
  • Review of employment systems, policies, and practices
  • Employment equity consultation and committees
  • Commemorative events
  • Indigenous peoples
    • Indigenous programs - student hiring
    • Aboriginal Student Employment Program
    • The Aboriginal Tax Officer Apprenticeship Program
    • Indigenous awareness training
    • Indigenous recruitment and retention
  • Persons with disabilities
    • Workplace Accommodation Fund
    • Adaptive Technology Program
    • Disability management
    • Sensitivity awareness training
  • Visible minorities
    • Career development
    • Student hiring
    • Diversity sensitivity training
  • Women
    • Professional development
    • Student hiring
• Employment equity at the CRA by the numbers
  • Internal Representation of Designated Group Members
  • Hiring, Promotion Into the CRA by Designated Group, and Separation From the CRA by Designated Group
  • Representation of Designated Group Members by Region
  • Representation of Designated Group Members by Employment Equity Occupational Group
  • Distribution of CRA Employees by Designated Group and Salary Range
  • Distribution of Designated Group and Age Range
• Appendix A – Technical Notes
• Appendix B – Definitions

Executive summary

Employment Equity and Diversity at the Canada Revenue Agency: Annual Report 2015-2016 has been prepared according to section 21 of the Employment Equity Act. The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) produces an employment equity report for submission to the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat and then for tabling in the Parliament of Canada.

This report outlines results and progress on the representation rate of the four employment equity groups: Indigenous peoples, persons with disabilities, visible minorities, and women. It presents some of the key achievements the CRA realized in 2015-2016 in support of the most recent national multi-year Employment Equity and Diversity Action Plan 2015-2016 to 2017-2018.

The action plan contains objectives and key activities aligned with the Agency’s Workforce Plan and the Agency’s Corporate Business Plan. The plans ensure that all employees have equal access to employment opportunities and work in a respectful and inclusive workplace environment that supports recruitment, development, and retention of individuals in the four designated groups.

Extensive consultations on the action plan included the National Employment Equity and Diversity Committee, the Young Professionals Network, human resources professionals across Canada, and the two national unions. Included in the plan for the first time is a part on diversity to foster a work environment where the benefits of diversity and inclusion are understood and integrated within the CRA’s business priorities and culture.
In 2015-2016, the CRA undertook an employment system review to identify potential barriers to hiring, promotion, and retention of employees from the four designated groups. The report indicated that overall, the CRA is very well positioned. Recommendations from the report will be implemented, as appropriate.

Key performance highlights

• The four employment equity groups are exceeding their labour market availability at the national level.

• Indigenous peoples are fully represented in four of the five major EE occupational groups, but are underrepresented in the professionals group.

• Persons with disabilities remain fully represented in four of the five major occupational groups. They are still under-represented in the supervisors occupational group.

• Visible minorities are fully represented in four of the five major occupational groups, with under-representation only in the supervisors occupational group.

• Women are fully represented in three of the five occupational groups, but remain under-represented in the professionals and program administration and senior clerical occupational groups.

• In the Executive/Cadre Group, Indigenous peoples and women are fully represented, while persons with disabilities and visible minorities are under-represented.

In 2015-2016, the CRA continued to encourage hiring managers to pursue targeted recruitment and employment equity as a staffing requirement when an area of under-representation was identified in their workforce plans. This approach to hiring qualified individuals who identify themselves as being part of an employment equity group contributed to significantly reducing or eliminating the CRA’s under-representation of an employment equity group. For this fiscal year, a total of 219 appointments were made using this approach. Staffing board members are given training to be sensitive to employment equity, through online training and verbal briefings.

Through Indigenous career fairs and expositions and such programs as the Aboriginal Student Employment Program, the CRA continued to recruit, develop, and retain Indigenous peoples.

The CRA facilitated developmental opportunities and assignments to help designated group members develop the experience, knowledge, skills, and competencies needed to progress from one occupational group to the next.

The CRA also pursued its efforts to develop and offer employment equity sensitivity and awareness training sessions to employees and managers across the country on such topics as duty to accommodate, Indigenous cultures, diversity, and mental health.

Key achievements

Self-identification

As part of its legislated activities under the Employment Equity Act, the CRA collects information on the composition of its workforce to determine the internal representation of designated group members through a workforce profile questionnaire. Although completing the questionnaire is optional, all employees are asked to acknowledge its receipt by completing Section A of the questionnaire. For the Public Service of Canada to reflect Canadian labour market availability, the Canadian Human Rights Commission requires a minimum participation rate of 80%.

The questionnaire also helps the CRA focus its efforts on recruiting, developing, and maintaining a competent workforce that is representative of the Canadian labour market. Through ongoing targeted and automated communication efforts, the self-identification participation rate in 2015-2016 reached its highest level ever at 95%. With its annual campaign to have employees self-identified, the CRA aims to promote diversity and foster a positive and respectful workplace.

Review of employment systems, policies, and practices

According to the Employment Equity Regulations, when there is under-representation of the employment equity groups in any occupational group, the employer must review its employment systems, policies, and practices to determine if any of them is an employment barrier against persons in the employment equity groups.

In 2015-2016, the CRA hired a senior employment equity consultant to do an employment systems review. The purpose of the review was to identify the progress to date and to recommend proactive measures that the CRA could take to improve the work environment for the four employment equity groups. The review showed that the CRA has been successful in building a diverse and representative workforce at the national level through targeted recruitment activities, training and education, and employment equity initiatives. The review noted areas for improvement, such as the need to do the following:

• better promote the CRA’s self-identification campaign
• raise greater awareness of the availability of accommodation tools and the need to accommodate
• engage employees to help reduce the social stigma around mental health (invisible disability)
• address gaps in the Executive Group
• state that every manager and employee is accountable for creating a respectful workplace

The CRA is developing strategies for the Executive Group to be part of the CRA Employment Equity Action Plan to address gaps. Also, the strategies will be incorporated into the Aboriginal Peoples Recruitment and Retention Strategy for 2016-2019.

Employment equity and consultation committees

In 2015-2016, the CRA continued to consult with its network of employment equity stakeholders, including the National Employment Equity and Diversity Committee, the regional human resources community, the Young Professionals Network, the management community, and the Public Service Alliance of Canada and the Professional Institute of the Public Service Canada unions.

The National Employment Equity and Diversity Committee is a forum for the regional employment equity and diversity champions, executives, designated group members and the unions. They consult and collaborate to move the CRA beyond the requirements of the employment equity legislation by assuming a leadership role in providing advice and recommendations on national equity and diversity matters. The CRA regions held employment equity forums and meetings to discuss their regional workforce analysis, develop or modify action plans to address areas of under-representation, and share best practices. Regional union representatives also participated in these meetings.

Through the Young Professionals Network, engaged CRA employees share best practices, link their local activities to national initiatives, and support a young and diverse network of professionals across the CRA. Participants promote career development in the following ways:

• networking
• creating partnerships
• mentoring
• coaching and learning
• identifying career needs and helping with career development
• providing opportunities for personal growth

The CRA continued to maintain a strong relationship with several employment equity committees from other federal organizations: Visible Minorities Champions and Chairs Committee, Persons with Disabilities Champions and Chairs Committee, and Champions and Chairs Circle for Aboriginal Peoples.

Each committee has established priorities, taken stock of progress against employment equity objectives, and developed strategies and activities to address employment equity challenges in the federal public service.

Commemorative events

In 2015-2016, the CRA held various commemorative events, which were featured on the main page of the CRA’s intranet. These events raise awareness, support, and respect for employment equity and diversity among employees and managers. The events include:

• Black History Month
• International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination
• Aboriginal Awareness Week
• International Day of Persons with Disabilities
• International Women’s Day
• National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women
• Asian Heritage Month

Champions of employment equity took the initiative to raise awareness and to increase participation in these activities by promoting them and sharing information through Twitter and email.

Indigenous peoples

In 2015-2016, some of the key CRA priorities included the recruitment, development, and retention of Indigenous peoples through development programs, targeted recruitment and retention. The CRA also promoted the Aboriginal Awareness training course to its employees.

Indigenous programs - student hiring

Indigenous programs like the Aboriginal Student Employment Program and the Aboriginal Tax Officer Apprenticeship Program were a contributing factor in achieving full representation of Indigenous peoples in four of the five occupational groups. Both programs owe their success to the ongoing efforts of senior management and hiring managers at the CRA. Members of the CRA’s Indigenous committees have developed strong relationships with various local groups and organizations serving Indigenous communities within each region to promote the CRA’s student employment opportunities.

Aboriginal Student Employment Program

The CRA is committed to increasing its recruitment of high-school and post-secondary students from Indigenous peoples through the Aboriginal Student Employment Program (ASEP). By self-identifying on the Federal Student Employment Program application form on the www.jobs.gc.ca website, students are automatically considered for the ASEP. Through this program, challenging work assignments are provided to Indigenous youth in various areas of the CRA during the school year in preparation for future career opportunities. Through the program in 2015-2016, the CRA hired 44 Indigenous students.

The Aboriginal Tax Officer Apprenticeship Program

This 24-month program offers work assignments in areas such as audit, client services, and debt management compliance to Indigenous college and university graduates. On-the-job coaching and specialized training courses are provided for each assignment. Apprentices are full-time employees with competitive salaries and benefits. On successful completion of the program, apprentices are promoted to the next group and level.

Indigenous awareness training

In 2015-2016, the CRA continued to raise awareness among employees and managers about Indigenous peoples from a historical, cultural, and contemporary perspective through its online Aboriginal Awareness course. A total of 1,581 employees and managers completed the course in 2015-2016.

Indigenous recruitment and retention

To address current and future under-representation, the CRA collaborated with the Canadian Human Rights Commission and several Indigenous networks to develop a monitoring framework, with a focus on initiatives that provide Indigenous peoples with meaningful career opportunities leading to management and leadership positions

Persons with disabilities

Accommodation and accessibility, as well as sensitivity and awareness training were key priorities the CRA focused on to build and maintain the representation of persons with disabilities. The Workplace Accommodation Fund, the Adaptive Technology Program, the awareness of disability management and the duty to accommodate were initiatives that supported these priorities.

Workplace Accommodation Fund

To help create a more accessible workplace for persons with disabilities, the Workplace Accommodation Fund covers some of the costs associated with providing work-related technical aids to support employees with disabilities at the CRA. Some of the tools and services available include: braille displays, zoom text, attendant services, captioning services, electric height-adjustable workstations, oversized computer monitors, and psychological assessments during a staffing process. In 2015-2016, of the 17 requests made to the fund, 10 were approved. The total amount of the fund used was $25,912.

Adaptive Technology Program

The Adaptive Technology Program, which supports employees who have disabilities when using work-related technology, provides software and hardware that have been designed to help them do their work. The CRA provided adaptive technology services to 882 employees. For 2015-2016, the CRA allocated $140,000 to the program.

Disability management

In 2015-2016, the CRA substantially reviewed several of its corporate policy instruments. Among others, the CRA replaced the Injury and Illness Policy with the Directive on Early Intervention and Return to Work. The Managing Illness and Injury Process tool helps support employees who have an injury, an illness, a medical condition, or a disability to stay at work or return to work when medically able to do so. The focus of the process tool is on early intervention, making sure that cases are identified early and that support and services are provided to achieve the best possible results, given individual circumstances.

The CRA adopted the Directive on Discrimination and Harassment Free Workplace and the Procedures on the Duty to Accommodate, as part of promoting respectful behaviour in the workplace and supporting the well-being of employees and candidates for employment. The directive and the procedures were developed in consultation with an external harassment investigation consultant; CRA subject matter experts from the Human Resources Branch, Legal Services Branch and Finance and Administration Branch; the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat; and union representatives.

The directive and the procedures aim at solving in a consistent manner issues associated with inappropriate behaviour and employment barriers, including those that may contravene the Employment Equity Act and the Canadian Human Rights Act. The directive and the procedures also support a workplace that recognizes and welcomes differences, promotes diversity, and encourages ongoing communication and engagement regarding workplace accommodation.

Sensitivity awareness training

Over the years, information sessions and workshops on accommodation and disability issues have:

• helped raise awareness and understanding of the strengths and challenges of persons with disabilities

• addressed concerns, stereotypes, and misconceptions

• created an open, accommodating, and respectful work environment

In 2015-2016, 1,343 employees completed the online course "Workplace Accommodation for Designated Group Members" which raises awareness of the importance, the benefits, and the underlying principles of workplace accommodation.

Through the "Just Ask Me" interactive workshop offered by the CRA, employees gained a better understanding of accommodation issues in the workplace, by reviewing the legal obligations of workplace accommodation.

The CRA’s Employee Assistance Program continued to promote a psychologically healthy work environment by offering workshops and information sessions to employees and managers.

Visible minorities

For several years, the CRA’s has been effective in maintaining the representation of visible minorities within four of the five occupational groups and in increasing temporary and permanent appointments of post-secondary graduates from visible minorities. To reduce their under-representation in the supervisor’s occupational group, the CRA has focused its efforts on helping visible minorities acquire leadership skills and competencies as part of developmental assignments and opportunities.

Career development

The CRA continued to offer developmental assignments to help visible minority employees develop the competencies and gain the experience needed in management positions. Out of the total of acting assignments offered by the CRA, 22.5% were provided to members of visible minorities.

As part of the Leadership Development Program, which is an accelerated development program for emerging and rising leaders who have the potential to succeed at higher levels, visible minorities were represented at 21.7% as of March 31, 2016.

Student hiring

As part of its post-secondary recruitment priorities, the CRA participated in career fairs and recruitment outreach on post-secondary campuses and community centres across the country. In 2015-2016, the CRA hired 1,101 students, of whom 26.1% (287) were visible minorities. A total of 276 students were bridged into temporary or permanent appointments, of those 40.6% (112) were visible minorities.

Diversity sensitivity training

The CRA continued to offer diversity awareness training to managers and employees across the country, as part of promoting an inclusive and respectful workplace. In 2015-2016, 5,109 employees and managers accessed the CRA’s online course called "Diversity: Our Differences, Our Similarities." The course gives employees strategies to improve service delivery to an increasingly diverse population, while improving communication with co-workers. The CRA also promoted the orientation program, A Good Start, to all new employees. Through this customized onboarding program, new employees learn about federal legislation such as the Employment Equity Act.

Women

To support women in their professional development in management and leadership positions and to maintain their representation in the professional occupational group, the CRA focused on several initiatives, including mentoring and coaching, learning activities, leadership developmental opportunities, and recruitment and retention of post-secondary women graduates.

Professional development

In 2015-2016, the CRA exceeded the labour market representation of women in the professional occupational groups. The participation rate of women in the Leadership Development Program was 69.9% as of March 31, 2016. In addition, to improve representation of women in the professional occupational group, various development opportunities were provided in the CRA’s tax centres to women pursuing professional accounting designations.

Mentoring and coaching programs were offered nationally for those women who had showed an interest in becoming managers, including The Young Professionals Network, development learning circles, and employee orientation sessions. As a result of these initiatives, significant progress has been made to reduce the national under-representation of women in the professional occupational group.

Student hiring

The CRA continued to offer assignment opportunities to students. In 2015-2016, the CRA hired 1,101 students, of whom 568 (or 51.6%) were women. A total of 276 students were bridged into temporary or permanent appointments, of those 54.0% (149) were women.

Employment Equity at the CRA by the numbers₁

• Source: Data is from the CRA’s Corporate Administrative System on March 31, 2016.
• Note: Executives are not included.

• Source: Data is from the CRA’s Corporate Administrative System on March 31, 2016.
• Note: Executives are not included.

• Source: Data is from the CRA’s Corporate Administrative System on March 31, 2016.
• Note: Executives are not included.

1. For more information on the data source and the weighted method implied, see Appendix A – Technical Notes

• Source: Data is from the CRA’s Corporate Administrative System on March 31, 2016.
• Note: Executives are not included.

Source: Data is from the CRA’s Corporate Administrative System on March 31, 2016.

• Source: Data is from the CRA’s Corporate Administrative System on March 31, 2016.
• Note: Executives are not included.

• Source: Data is from the CRA’s Corporate Administrative System on March 31, 2016.
• Note: Executives are not included.

Appendix A - Technical Notes

1. Period under review

This report covers the fiscal year of April 1, 2015, to March 31, 2016.

2. Workforce covered by the report and the source of data

This report used the 2011 federal census data and is based on the objectives and key activities mentioned in the CRA Employment Equity and Diversity Action Plan 2015-2016 to 2017-2018.

This report contains information on permanent employees and term employees of three months or more. It takes into account active and temporarily inactive employees, such as employees on maternity leave and people on leave for the care and nurturing of preschool children.

This report does not include data on students or term employees of less than three months.

The data in this report comes from the CRA’s Corporate Administrative Systems (CAS).

The data related to the Executive/Cadre Group is provided by the CRA Executive Programs and Leadership Development Directorate, and the data includes EX-01 to EX-05, EC-01, and DM.

The self-identification information (obtained through voluntary disclosure) of employees who are of the Indigenous peoples, persons with disabilities, and visible minorities is kept confidential and secure. Only authorized employees in the Human Resources Branch and CRA employees responsible for maintaining and supporting CAS employment equity data have access to the data. The data on women comes from employee files.

This report presents the statistical profile of the members of the four designated groups at the end of the fiscal year and compares their internal representation rates with their labour market availability rates. Employment and Social Development Canada provided the labour market availability rates for members of the four designated groups. The labour market availability rates of Indigenous peoples, visible minorities, and women came from the 2011 National Household Survey from the Census of Canada. The labour market availability rate of persons with disabilities derives from the 2012 Canadian Survey on Disability.

3. Weighting method

The CRA workforce analysis uses the national occupational classification system, developed by Employment and Social Development Canada in cooperation with Statistics Canada. This system classifies occupations using two criteria: type of skills (type of occupation or field of work) and level of skills (time and length of training). The CRA workforce analysis measures the internal representation of members of the designated groups and compares it with their labour market availability.

Appendix B - Definitions

Employment equity occupational group

The unit group of occupations from the National Occupational Classification (NOC), used by Statistics Canada, and regrouped into 14 employment equity occupational groups to reflect the occupational structure within an organization under Schedule V of the Finance Administration Act.

Hiring

An employee (permanent employee or term employee of three months or more) hired at the CRA during the fiscal year that this report covers. The figures reflect the number of employees hired and may include more than one staffing action for term employment.

Indigenous Peoples

Indigenous peoples and Aboriginal peoples are one and the same. As stated in the Employment Equity Act (EEA), Aboriginal peoples represent persons who are Indians, Inuit or Métis.

Permanent employee

An employee appointed to the CRA for an unspecified time.

Promotion

An appointment to a new position where the maximum rate of pay is greater than that of the employee’s substantive position by:

• an amount equal to the lower increase in the new position; or
• an amount equal to a maximum rate of 4% of the new position.

Separation

A permanent employee or term employee of three months or more who leaves the CRA during the fiscal year covered by this report. The figures reflect the number of employees who leave the CRA and may include more than one staffing action for term employees. The number of separations includes people who retired or resigned and those whose term employment ended. People on leave without pay are not included in the separation data, because their leave is temporary.

Workforce availability

The CRA workforce availability includes the distribution of persons in the designated groups as a percentage of the entire Canadian workforce. This includes data for Canadian citizens and landed immigrants, which is reflected in the organization’s staffing directives. Workforce availability for employees is based on the figures for the total Canadian workforce (in accordance with the Census of Canada definition) who held employment in the Canadian labour market corresponding to the occupations at the CRA.

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