Employment Equity Act (Canada)

Canada's Employment Equity Act was originally passed in 1986 and substantially amended in 1995, receiving royal assent on 15 December 1995 and taking effect on 24 October 1996. It aims to achieve equality in the workplace so that no one is denied employment opportunities or benefits for reasons unrelated to ability, and it protects four designated groups: women, people with disabilities, Indigenous peoples, including Status Indians, non-status Indians, Metis and Inuit, and visible minorities. Rather than requiring only equal treatment, the act requires employers to take proactive, special measures and to accommodate differences among these groups. The term employment equity itself was coined by Judge Rosalie Abella during the 1984 Abella Commission, chosen deliberately to distinguish the Canadian approach from the American concept of affirmative action.