ARCHIVED – Annual Report on the Operation of the Canadian Multiculturalism Act 2008-2009

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Part II: Implementation of the Canadian Multiculturalism Act across federal institutions

Mathieu Da Costa Challenge
National Writing and Artwork Contest

2009 Winner: 16 to 18 years of age category

IRENE PENG
Title: From Sea to Sea: Building the National Dream
Killarney Secondary School
Vancouver, British Columbia

Charcoal-coloured piece depicting a steam engine train (foreground) framed by a portrait of a Chinese railroad worker, two workers depicted in the background and a life-like rippling Canadian flag.

Introduction

Federal institutions are required by the Canadian Multiculturalism Act to carry out their activities in a manner that is both sensitive and responsive to the multicultural reality of Canadian society. These institutions include federal departments, Crown corporations, agencies and offices established to perform a government function through legislation or a Governor in Council appointment.

Federal institutions vary significantly in size and mandate, and their activities in implementing the Act are equally wide-ranging. These include promoting policies, programs, services and practices that enhance understanding of, and respect for, the growing diversity of Canadian society; undertaking public education and outreach activities; initiating programs and policies to encourage equal opportunities for employment and advancement; actively consulting and collaborating with communities and establishing partnerships; and conducting and disseminating research on multiculturalism issues.

Each year, these accomplishments are documented in the Annual Report on the Operation of the Canadian Multiculturalism Act.

In preparation for the 2008–2009 report, CIC’s Multiculturalism Program provided federal institutions subject to the Act with a submission guide and form to indicate how they had met their obligations during 2008–2009. The Multiculturalism Program also delivered a series of workshops to assist federal institutions in preparing their submissions and increase awareness of the obligations that federal institutions have under the Canadian Multiculturalism Act.

The response rate during this reporting year is impressive, with 122 out of 147 (83 percent) of eligible federal institutions providing submissions. After reviewing these submissions, CIC selected a range of examples to demonstrate the many varied and innovative ways in which federal institutions are working to meet their responsibilities under the Act.

As in previous years, activities for the 2008–2009 fiscal year are grouped thematically to illustrate the breadth and depth of activities undertaken, beginning with a section on key achievements highlighting institutions that have demonstrated leadership and innovation in promoting multiculturalism. The approximate size of the federal institutions is also included. The groupings, including small (1–500 employees), medium (501–1,500 employees) and large (over 1,500 employees) are based on sizes as defined by the Treasury Board Secretariat.

While space would not allow for a full account of all submissions received, the list of all institutions that provided submissions can be found at the end of this report.

2.1 Key achievements

During the 2008–2009 reporting period, a number of federal institutions implemented programs or carried out activities that warrant special recognition. This section highlights the work of federal institutions that have demonstrated special commitment or creativity in carrying out their responsibilities under the Canadian Multiculturalism Act.
 
Key achievements are presented in alphabetical order according to the federal institution. They include innovative partnerships, successful initiatives to overcome systemic barriers, as well as outreach activities, and the organization of a discrimination prevention forum.

Canada Post (Large~72,400) – Community Partnership to Increase Recruitment

In January 2008, Canada Post developed a partnership with the Ottawa-based Local Agencies Serving Immigrants (LASI) World Skills, a group that partners employers with new immigrants. This partnership helped increase the representation of members of visible minorities in the Canada Post work force.

The LASI World Skills external immigrant support group helped to recruit rural and suburban mail carriers for Canada Post. They identified eligible candidates, helped coordinate the recruitment process, provided assistance during the online application process, and advised Canada Post on best practices for the candidate interview and selection phase.

Throughout this initiative, Canada Post identified approaches and practices in need of modification or enhancement in order to reach the corporation’s hiring goals. For example, potential employment barriers were identified such as the challenges associated with the use of the fairly new Canada Post e-recruitment tool and the need for training for the group to ensure greater participation in the recruitment process. The e-recruitment tool was revised to include a radio button for the candidate to identify himself as a LASI World Skills member. This helped recruiters select and assess these individuals for employment opportunities. It also had a positive impact on the participation of the designated group members.

Further to the success of its partnership with LASI World Skills and to help address recruitment issues, Canada Post has since entered into new partnerships with two other groups serving new immigrants in Alberta.

The job poster for the positions and the invitation to attend an orientation session was developed in several languages and distributed by LASI World Skills. More than 80 candidates attended the information session, which included details on how to submit an application online.

Of the 64 qualified candidates, eight were hired for full-time mail service carrier or rural and suburban mail carrier positions.

Further to the success of its partnership with LASI World Skills and to help address recruitment issues, Canada Post has since entered into new partnerships with two other groups serving new immigrants in Alberta.

Citizenship and Immigration Canada (Large~4,400) – Foreign Credentials Referral Office

In 2008–2009, Citizenship and Immigration Canada’s Foreign Credentials Referral Office (FCRO) continued to offer comprehensive and authoritative information, path finding and referral services on the Canadian labour market, and processes for credential assessment and recognition in Canada. Thus, the FCRO facilitates the transition of new immigrants into Canadian society and promotes longer term full and equitable participation in the Canadian labour market.

In 2008–2009, 35,534 clients accessed the in-person service through 330 Service Canada centres and 2,146 calls were received from individuals seeking foreign credential recognition information. A total of 287,378 visits to the FCRO website were recorded from July 2008 to March 2009.

During the reporting year, the FCRO collaborated with Human Resources and Skills Development Canada to develop:

• A pan-Canadian framework on foreign qualification recognition, in partnership with the provinces and territories, that will support the establishment of a common approach to foreign credential assessment;
• An overseas platform that will support a larger pool of immigrants from more source countries whose credentials and experience are linked to identified priority occupations, which will facilitate the timely, effective and long-term integration of internationally trained individuals into Canada’s labour market; and
• An employer’s roadmap, designed to help small- to medium-sized employers better understand the foreign credential recognition process.

Human Resources and Skills Development Canada (Large~23,100) – Multi-Language Service Initiative

Human Resources and Skills Development Canada launched a new pilot program through Service Canada’s Multi-Language Service Initiative that offers a third-party telephone interpretation service to people who call the Service Canada Centre for information or assistance. To provide the service, a global company that provides telephone interpretation services in 150 languages has been contracted by Service Canada. When a Service Canada employee who speaks the client’s language is not available, the client is connected to a professional interpreter within sixty seconds.

The pilot program has shown that telephone interpretation services are an inexpensive way to overcome a major barrier to assisting clients where staff is unable to communicate effectively in the client’s language.

The pilot program has shown that telephone interpretation services are an inexpensive way to overcome a major barrier to assisting clients where staff are unable to communicate effectively in the client’s language. It also builds on existing multilingual service initiatives.

Indian and Northern Affairs Canada (Large~5,250) – First Nations Education Reform Initiative

In 2008–2009, Indian and Northern Affairs Canada advanced the Canadian Multiculturalism Act by implementing strategies key to the First Nations Education Reform Initiative. Both the First Nations Student Success Program and the Education Partnership Program reflect initiatives that the institution is implementing to meet its commitment to better position Aboriginal peoples to contribute to Canada’s cultural landscape. The goal is to work in collaborative relationships that will attain stronger educational outcomes and improve Aboriginal integration within the labour market and society.

The Education Partnership Program is part of an overarching commitment of the Government of Canada to set the foundation for long-term reform of First Nations education. This proposal-driven program promotes collaboration between First Nations, provinces, Indian and Northern Affairs Canada and other stakeholders in improving the success of First Nations elementary and secondary students in First Nations and provincial schools. The program supports the establishment and advancement of formal partnership arrangements that aim to develop practical working relationships between educators in regional First Nations organizations and schools, and those in provincial systems, in order to facilitate information sharing and coordination between First Nations and provincial schools.

The First Nations Student Success Program (FNSSP) encourages schools to develop success plans, conduct student assessments and put in place performance management systems to assess school and student progress. The FNSSP is a proposal-driven program designed to support First Nations educators on reserves (kindergarten to grade 12) in their ongoing efforts to meet their students’ needs and improve student and school results. In particular, the program will help First Nations educators to plan and make improvements in the three priority areas of literacy, numeracy and student retention.

Natural Resources Canada (Large~4,380) – Visible Minority Talent Management Program

The Visible Minority Talent Management Program at Natural Resources Canada is a major initiative for creating an inclusive and barrier-free work environment. This program aims to support the career development of indeterminate employees who are members of a visible minority group. Launched in August 2008, the program has three components.

The Talent Mapping Pilot for visible minority employees at the executive level was launched in November 2008 with information sessions offered to interested employees and managers. By the end of January 2009, 39 candidates had applied and been mapped. In March, senior managers discussed the mapping results and the identified development opportunities with their respective participants. After the completion and assessment of this pilot, the Department intends to implement the program for other groups.

The Career Enhancement Program began its pilot in December 2008. It consisted of courses of varying lengths over three months. Fifteen participants successfully graduated from the pilot in February 2009.

The Leadership Mentoring Program for visible minority employees continued with its second cohort of 10 participants in September 2008 and has successfully matched the participants with mentors.

Royal Canadian Mounted Police (Large~28,400) – Multicultural Feature of the Month

In March 2009, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police launched the exciting, informative educational initiative Multicultural Feature of the Month. This awareness series was initiated by the Departmental Champion for Multiculturalism in partnership with the Employment Equity Section. This series of articles is introductory in nature, giving little-known facts about a featured religion or culture and inviting interested parties to read more by providing useful links. It is designed to promote discussion on diversity among employees and to make the learning experience fun in the hope that increased knowledge will eliminate existing biases in the workplace. To date, much positive feedback has been received from employees.

This represents an example of how senior management can help foster greater understanding of and respect for the diversity of members of Canadian society.

Statistics Canada (Large~5,600) – Ethnocultural Outreach Program

The Ethnocultural Outreach Program was developed at Statistics Canada with the ongoing diversity of the Canadian population in mind. The purpose of the program is to develop and maintain relationships with third-language media in an effort to raise awareness of Statistics Canada within ethnic communities. Effort is focused on educating the new ethnic media each year. During the 2008–2009 fiscal year, Statistics Canada continued to establish and maintain relationships with ethnocultural organizations and ethnic media through various outreach activities.

The ethnocultural outreach initiative entails working closely with the ethnic media to disseminate results of the census and other important surveys to members of ethnocultural communities. This not only helps community members understand their communities better, but also serves to foster and solidify Statistics Canada’s long-standing partnership with these diverse communities.

The ethnocultural outreach initiative entails working closely with the ethnic media to disseminate the results of the census and other important surveys to members of ethnocultural communities. This not only helps community members understand their communities better, but also serves to foster and solidify Statistics Canada’s long-standing partnership with these diverse communities.

One example of the many events that took place through this initiative was a conference held in Vancouver in February 2009 called Diversity Matters. About 250 participants attended the one-day conference, representing all levels of government, educational institutions, businesses and multicultural organizations from across the Western Region.

A Turning Stats into Stories for the Media workshop was presented to members of multicultural media outlets in the Central Region. This workshop provided a comprehensive introduction to the Statistics Canada website, census data and writing with statistics. Working relationships with the media outlets and organizations was solidified with each presentation of this workshop.

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