Does the government impose quotas for hiring members of the four designated groups?
No. Employment equity programs in Canada do not contain mandatory quotas. Instead, they allow institutions to set their own realistic goals and timetables to increase the representation of members of target groups in their workforce. Employment equity is about hiring the best person for the job, not about hiring and promoting unqualified or less qualified persons. It attempts to include members from the designated groups in the applicant pool so that everyone has a fair chance for employment and/or promotion. Employment equity means hiring and promoting people based on their skills and abilities to do a job. UBC continues to hire the best-qualified candidates, and employment decisions are based on job performance criteria, such as skills, knowledge, and abilities. Employment equity requires that we remove barriers and overcome both direct and indirect discrimination. In this way, the pool of excellent candidates increases substantially. Hiring quotas are not involved.
