Our commitment to diversify senior leadership – a message from the Secretary of the Cabinet

Equity is about fair treatment for all employees.

It's about recognizing talent and building a culture in which employees from underrepresented groups have equitable opportunities to thrive and advance in the Ontario Public Service (OPS).

It's about building an OPS that reflects the people we serve in Ontario.

Representation matters. All employees deserve to see themselves reflected in their senior leadership of the OPS and to have the opportunity to progress in their careers.

I acknowledge that systemic employment barriers exist in the OPS that limit the opportunities for people from underrepresented groups to advance their careers, including employees with disabilities and Indigenous, Black, racialized, francophone, transgender, non-binary and/or Two-Spirit and LGBTQ+ employees and women.

This is why I, along with my deputy minister leadership team, re-committed to diversifying senior leadership as part of the OPS Leadership Pledge, a broad commitment to create an inclusive, diverse, equitable, anti-racist and accessible workplace that is free from discrimination and harassment.

We cannot be satisfied with the status quo. That is why we are using our authority and influence to lead and to champion senior leadership diversification – and we are collectively accountable for making change happen. This includes identifying and removing systemic employment barriers that limit access to leadership opportunities for people from underrepresented groups.

Yet the task of building an equitable OPS is not ours alone. We need to ensure our leaders are held accountable and our systems are fair for all employees. Every member of our organization has a role to play in bringing about cultural and behavioural change.

We must challenge our own biases and misconceptions that advancing underrepresented candidates lowers the quality of our talent. We must recognize that representative talent and diverse ideas are crucial to solving the complex challenges facing Ontario and meeting the needs and expectations of the people we serve.

The 2021 Senior Leadership Diversification Progress Report provides an overview of the progress we've made to close gaps in representation between our senior leadership and the Ontario labour force.

Based on this year's annual report, we continue to see that OPS employees with disabilities, Indigenous and other racialized employees are experiencing the greatest gaps in representation in senior leadership roles relative to the Ontario labour force. Transgender and non-binary and/or Two-Spirit employees are also underrepresented in Senior Leadership compared to the OPS overall. There are, however, early signs of incremental change. For example, the 2021 data shows more OPS managers identify as belonging to a racialized group and as women than in 2019. The data also shows many instances of increased participation of employees from underrepresented groups in pathways that typically lead to senior leadership roles.

We need to take action to diversify senior leadership in the OPS every day. Our work to diversify senior leadership will continue to focus on improving recruitment, promotion, career development and workplace culture to achieve our goals. We are committed to ensuring a merit-based system that benefits all employees equitably to better serve the people of Ontario.

Sincerely,

Michelle E. DiEmanuele
Secretary of the Cabinet and Head of the Ontario Public Service