A: Employment Equity Partnership (EEP) is a public-private sector partnership on data driven solutions to systemic racism and inequitable employment in Canada. EEP seeks to address longstanding issues of racism and gendered inequalities by engaging public and corporate-sector employers and larger non-profits to benchmark the diversity of their current workforce and codevelop pathways for engaging talent from equity-deserving groups. EEP is an initiative of The Inclusion Project (TIP), a social innovation network and resource hub for organizations, communities, and institutions engaged in knowledge development and practice, to further intersectional Accessibility, Racial Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (AREDI+). TIP has been engaged in building a robust system for assessing AREDI+ within organizations across Canada, through the Employment Equity Partnership program.

The inaugural Partners’ Roundtable, hosted in partnership with Excellence Canada and the Canadian Council for Aboriginal Business, held as a three-day event in March 2021 on the theme, “Moving with the Data: Data-driven Solutions to Employment Equity”. The event brought together over 250 business leaders, activists, researchers, policymakers, community members, academics, and employers across Canada. Keynote presentations were delivered by the Honourable Ratna Omidvar (Senate of Canada) and the Honourable Janet Austin (Lt. Governor of British Columbia). The 2nd Partners’ Roundtable, hosted in partnership with the Global Centre for Pluralism, held as a three-day hybrid event in April 2022 on the theme, “Partnership for an Inclusive Future”. The event brought together over 200 participants, with a keynote presentation by the Right Honourable Mary Simon, Governor General of Canada and closing keynote by the Honourable Salma Lakhani (Lt. Governor of Alberta).