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Marketing clients and students in a world that is increasingly hostile to inclusive employment
Editorial by Christian Saint Cyr
National Director / Canadian Job Development Network
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D.E.I. stands for 'Diversity, Equity and Inclusion'. It represents an effort in society, education, business, government, social and political organizations to ensure the workforce is diverse; that opportunities to join or advance are equitable; and that individuals who might otherwise be suitable are not excluded due to a lack of accommodations or an existing prejudice.
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On the face of it, that sounds fine. I don’t think we should discriminate against anyone because of their gender, colour of skin, age, sexual orientation, citizenship or heritage.
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Does that apply if the candidate is male, white, middle-age, heterosexual and born in Canada? Does the whole situation get a lot more complicated if the individual in question has more years of experience, education and certifications than other potential candidates?
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I was recently reading an article about common criticisms of DEI and they included: lower standards; discrimination; ineffectiveness; and a threat to meritocracy. I’ll attempt to address each of these concerns but let’s first address why this is an issue in the first place.
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White, able-bodied men have a lock on our labour market. Does that mean all men benefit from this reality? No. There are men on income assistance, there are men who are homeless, there are men who are struggling with employment and who are living a subsistence life. Not all men are benefiting from society, nor are all white people, or all born Canadians or all heterosexual people. The key is, as broader groups, these individuals often have greater advantages.
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According to Statistics Canada, the unemployment rate in January 2025 for recent immigrants in Canada was 10.3% vs. 5.8% for born Canadians.
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While the unemployment rate for Canadians who are ‘not a visible minority’ was just 5.5%, for Chinese Canadians it was 7.2%; Latin Americans 7.9%; South Asians 8.7% and for Black Canadians it was 11.8%.
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The employment rate of Non-Indigenous Canadians is 60.6% while the employment rate for Indigenous Canadians (living off reserve) is just 51.7%, seventeen percentage points lower.
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The most glaring differences occur between men and women. It’s not going to surprise you in the least when I say that women make only 84 cents to every dollar their male counterparts make. It’s widely publicised and yet very little is done to correct it because it’s viewed as too complex.
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How would you feel if your organization was hiring for two job developers and the male job developer is paid $55,000 per year but the female job developer is only paid $46,200; which happens to be 84% of the male job developer’s salary. It doesn’t seem quite so abstract all of a sudden, does it? Would we pay an Indigenous, an immigrant, a mature worker or a job developer with disabilities less?
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So, why are people hostile to DEI? People don’t like systems that advance one population over another, which is valid. But for the people who are in control of many institutions, such as business, government, professional associations and trade unions, many of them do not want to upset an order that has provided them with their opportunities and their children with similar opportunities.
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This also isn’t universal. While some high-profile individuals are coming out against DEI, the majority of large companies, educational institutions and government leaders, at least in Canada, continue to champion the benefits of DEI. Unfortunately, the high-profile detractors are doing everything they can to rally everyday citizens as to the harms of DEI.
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And our discomfort with DEI is not exclusive to tech billionaires. As I write this, you might think that accommodations for a disabled worker are fine, but why should we accommodate someone who is transgender? You may feel that accommodations for an immigrant are fine, but Indigenous workers benefit from Canadian education and networking, why should there be accommodations for them?
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As noted earlier, our labour market is not diverse, equitable or inclusive. Every single group I mentioned is under-represented in at least one of these areas including: salary, opportunities for advancement, employment, length of employment, savings, etc.
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Inclusive hiring is not a zero-sum game. It’s like trade with the United States. The U.S. doesn’t loose out simply because Canada sells more to the United States than they do to us. Both countries benefit from more trade with each other, because we have less barriers.
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In the long-term, white males are not going to suffer because more women, immigrants, people with disabilities, racialized Canadians and Indigenous workers get employment opportunities. If Canada has a more employable society, businesses can grow, the labour market can expand and the country will prosper.
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So, how do we do this fairly? Let me be clear – I don’t believe we hire people who aren’t qualified for jobs. When people say that DEI is dangerous, they’re suggesting workers aren’t qualified, and that shouldn’t be true.
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DEI needs to be rooted in skills training and education. The more we can make education and training programs equally available to all groups, the more we ensure we have the largest qualified population possible.
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Here is the challenge. Employers will get a large pool of applicants and then narrow down who to interview based on length of experience, education and training. This means the final candidates who are interviewed will typically fall outside of typical diversity groups.
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As Job Developers, one of the most important things we can do is sell employers on the benefits for a more diverse workforce. It’s critical we never sell our clients as being the ‘right thing to do’. We need to make a business case for marketing our clients.
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A more culturally diverse workforce allows businesses to better reflect the community, bring language capability and new approaches to work. A blended workforce with people of different ages and life experiences brings a diversity of approaches and perspectives; ensuring the workforce won’t be impacted by any one kind of phase-of-life choice.
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Recognizing that a quarter of Canadians have some form of disability, hiring those with disabilities allows organizations to see how their products or services are perceived or used by those with disabilities and improve them.
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A workforce which is primarily male or female can often be limited in not considering the issues and concerns of literally half the population.
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Help employers understand that diversity is STENGTH. According to BuildForce Canada, “by creating inclusive cultures, organizations can increase retention, lower recruitment costs, and build a more engaged, productive workforce, ultimately driving profitability.”
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The role of Job Development is DEI. For the vast majority of you, you are working with one of these populations whether immigrants, those with disabilities, youth, mature workers, women, Indigenous Canadians, racialized Canadians or individuals in the LGBTQ2S+ community. Anti-DEI rhetoric, like most prejudice, is abstract. The way we can combat it is with ‘WHO’ our clients really are. Specifically, with the contribution they can make and the value they bring to teams. It’s only by getting to know our clients that employers can see their real value.
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We’ll be discussing how to talk about DEI with employers who might be turned off by the term at our #MotivatingMondays meeting of the Canadian Job Development Network, Monday Feb. 18th at 8:30am Pacific; 9:30am Mountain; 10:30am Central; 11:30am Eastern; 12:30pm Atlantic and at 1pm in Newfoundland.
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On the morning of Monday February 18th 'Click this Link' to join the session LIVE.
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