Ontario Public Service anti-racism policy progress report: April 2020 to July 2021

Message from the Secretary of the Cabinet

All employees have the right to respectful, equitable treatment at work and deserve the opportunity to progress in their career.

However, systemic racism, discrimination and employment barriers continue to harm the wellbeing and careers of Ontario Public Service (OPS) employees who are Indigenous, Black, other racialized, LGBTQ+ and employees with disabilities.

The OPS is committed to creating conditions to build a more anti-racist, accessible, diverse and inclusive workplace that is free from discrimination and harassment. This starts by acknowledging that systemic racism exists in the workplace – a reflection of broader society – and challenging it head-on.

I am committed to engaging employees and leading senior executives in this shared responsibility. This calls for creating a culture of accountability and transparency in the workplace.

Creating a culture of accountability means setting clear and attainable expectations of what success looks like at all levels, building foundations of trust and psychological safety with a shared responsibility to holding everyone to the same standards. To sustain a culture of accountability, it is important that expectations and results are transparently reported to show trusted progress.

This means using levers for change, such as the OPS Anti-Racism Policy to establish an enterprise-wide, systemic anti-racism and anti-oppressive approach regarding all aspects of employment in the OPS with reporting on measurable advancements in racial equity that are achieved through targeted, anti-racism efforts.

While we have begun to move forward, we still have a long way to go, and although we have had some success, we are by no way successful.

Leading by example in the advancement of racial equity and accelerating cultural change calls for a purposeful and action-oriented approach to address racism, discrimination and harassment in the OPS. By having a purposeful, action-oriented approach and holding each other accountable, I am confident that the OPS can be a leader in service change and cultural transformation.

Through our collective efforts, we will show trusted progress in ensuring lasting cultural and systemic change in the OPS.

Sincerely,

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

Executive summary

Real change in the OPS depends on the leadership of staff at every single level of this organization. Progress depends on the commitment of individual staff to addressing bias, inequity and racism in the many forms and facets that it takes – whether in policies, programs or practices long-embedded and accepted as business as usual.

Anti-racism, accessibility, diversity, equity and inclusion are important values we aspire to, both in society and in our workplace as public servants.

As one of the largest employers in the province, the OPS is committed to becoming an anti-racist and inclusive organization, as well as leading by example to advance racial equity. This is demonstrated in our collective responsibility and ongoing anti-racism efforts across ministries to take action against systemic racism.

Using the OPS Anti-Racism Policy (the Policy), we continue to:

• establish an anti-racism and anti-oppressive approach to employment
• identify, remove, prevent and mitigate any systemic racism barriers in employment facing Indigenous, Black and other racialized employees^{footnote 1[1]}

The Policy continues to be a lever for change, in the fiscal years 2021 and 2022, for organizational change towards embedding racial equity as demonstrated in initiatives undertaken to build anti-racism competency and capacity, advance diversity in senior leadership and drive an anti-racism culture and accountability.

While this annual report focuses on the progress made by both the Anti-Racism Directorate (ARD) and Treasury Board Secretariat (TBS), it is important to recognize and acknowledge the ongoing anti-racism initiatives occurring within ministries across the OPS, such as:

• inclusive job ads
• promoting anti-racism practices in partnership with bargaining agents
• race-based data collection
• anti-racism educational sessions

Collectively, we continue to strive for a racially equitable and inclusive workplace in which racial and Indigenous identities are not a barrier to employees’ career development or advancement, and all employees feel safe and supported in advancing an anti-racist approach to business processes, partnerships and strategy.

2020-21 numbers at a glance

Building anti-racism competency and capacity^{footnote 2[2]}

• 100%
  of Senior Management Teams and DMs took ARCC for Senior Leaders (ARCCSL)
• 94%
  of ARCCSL survey respondents committed to applying an anti-racism lens in their current role
• 3,700+
  staff took 47 Anti-Racism 101 and 28 Anti-Black Racism training sessions

Diversifying senior leadership^{footnote 3[3]}

• 74%
  increase in Indigenous OPSers in the Diversity Career Champions Program
• 27%
  increase in Black OPSers in the Diversity Career Champions Program
• 18%
  increase in racialized OPSers confirmed to take executive level roles

Creating an anti-racism culture and accountability

• 10
  key commitments to creating an anti-racist workplace signed by SOC and 100% of DMs
• 100%
  of ministries developed and are implementing an anti-racism action plan
• 4,000+
  employees engaged in the Third-Party Review of OPS inclusive workplace policies
• 100%
  of DM scorecards now include disaggregated race-based data to enhance accountability for Indigenous, Black and racialized employees

Please see the report for more details on each of the points above.

Introduction

The Policy commits the OPS to identify and address any systemic racism barriers in employment to better support employees, including those that self-identify as Indigenous, Black and other racialized. The Policy works in conjunction with other OPS human resource (HR) policies, to create a foundation of policies, procedures and practices that build an equitable and inclusive workplace in which every employee is safe, valued and heard. It provides clear accountability for organizational change through its guiding anti-racism principles:

• Taking a proactive and systemic approach
• Using evidence-based decision making (with data and information)
• Integrating employee engagement
• Ensuring accountability through public reporting/transparency
• Incorporating intersectionality into the analyses
• Promoting targeted universalism
• Ensuring sustainability

The ARD along with TBS, Ministry of Government and Consumer Services, other ministries and employee networks continue to undertake anti-racism initiatives across the OPS to drive organizational change towards embedding racial equity. This marks a significant movement in the fiscal years 2021 and 2022 towards positioning the OPS for transformative change and building an anti-racist and inclusive organization.

This change strategy speaks to advancing organizational change, beginning with the cultural transformation needed to create a more inclusive and anti-racist OPS with a focus on:

• building anti-racism competency and capacity
• advancing diversity in senior leadership
• creating an anti-racism culture and accountability

The outcome will be the achievement of racial equity in the OPS. This means equity in all we do with opportunities for all.

Building anti-racism competency and capacity

Careful attention to the common paths of oppression is needed as the OPS continues to prioritize issues addressing anti-racism, diversity and inclusion.

We recognize that equal care must be taken not to create a situation in which OPS employees form a hierarchy of oppression. To this end, one person’s pain should not be more legitimate than another’s.

The sharing of individual experiences with prejudice and discrimination provides employees with valuable insight into how all people are involved in some way in oppressive structures.

Building anti-racism competency and capacity means developing individual understanding, knowledge, and skills to apply anti-racism leadership competencies and anti-racism approaches. In the fiscal years 2021 and 2022, the OPS continued to facilitate Race Talks, anti-Black racism and anti-racism educational programming as well as the Anti-Racism Competency and Capacity building program.

Race Talks toolkit

This toolkit of supports guides leaders in having conversations so they can foster safe and authentic dialogue on how to address racial disparities and promote actions that change culture and build confidence to be more anti-racist and inclusive. The aim is to support senior management teams to champion the conversations about race and anti-racism among their management teams and to lead with racial equity.

The ARD used an inclusive process and consulted with senior leaders on the development of the toolkit. As part of enterprise-wide implementation, ARD staff facilitated over 20 Engaging in Conversations about Anti-Racism sessions with ministry’s senior management teams and delivered seven Engaging in Conversations about Anti-Racism sessions for over 200 managers.

These facilitated dialogues call for OPS staff and senior management teams to embrace courage, leverage influence and show compassion. These sessions provide leaders with the guidance to engage in respectful, open and ongoing communication with employees in the interest of advancing racial equity and maintaining an anti-oppressive and inclusive process.

Senior management teams continue to leverage support tools to engage in conversations about race, racism with their teams, peers and leadership, demonstrating that these sessions were instrumental in their anti-racism learning journey, as well as contributing to an anti-racist workplace.

To support leaders and staff in their anti-racism journey, the ARD created educational resource guides.

Anti-Black racism and anti-racism education

Conversations amongst leaders and their respective staff about anti-racism can help to implement an inclusive and racially equitable workplace. The ARD developed educational resource guides to support and guide leaders in these conversations, so they can foster safe and authentic dialogue on how to address racial disparities and promote actions that change culture and build confidence.

The ARD, in collaboration with staff and employee networks, curated a comprehensive list of resources to develop educational resources focusing on:

• anti-Racism educational resources and support services for all OPS staff
• anti-Black racism and anti-racism resources for managers
• engaging in conversations about anti-Black racism (for managers and leaders)
• anti-Indigenous racism (for all OPS staff)
• anti-Black racism (for all OPS staff)
• anti-Asian racism (for all OPS staff)
• antisemitism (for all OPS staff)
• Islamophobia (for all OPS staff)

OPS staff have taken proactive steps in using these resources. The anti-racism educational resources and support services for all OPS staff has been viewed over 5,200 times with the average time spent on the page 44% higher than time spent on any OPS Intranet webpage. The anti-Black racism and anti-racism resources for managers has been viewed over 3,000 times with the average time spent on the page 16% higher than the average OPS Intranet page. Additionally, the engaging in conversations about anti-Black racism (including Qs&As and key messages) has been downloaded over 1,100 times.

These educational resource guides support conversations about anti-racism with the aim of:

• promoting the understanding of racial equity in the workplace
• enhancing racial equity by increasing knowledge and understanding of race, White privilege, and unconscious bias
• equipping leaders with equity literacy tools to have conversations about race in their workplace
• defining the principles and values of racial equity leadership

To support staff as they engage with these educational resource guides, the ARD also worked to build organizational anti-racism awareness through the facilitation of 90-minute anti-racism and anti-Black racism educational workshops for ministries across the OPS and within Commission Public Bodies (CPBs).

The ARD delivered 47 Anti-Racism 101 and 28 Anti-Black Racism presentations (made upon request) to over 3,700 staff in five ministries and two CPBs, and developed and delivered six hours of customized Anti-Black Racism training to 35 members of the North Youth Probation Management Team within the Ministry of Community and Social Services (MCCSS) in partnership with Youth Justice.

In addition to dialogues and educational resources, the ARD in collaboration with TBS and employee networks developed a suite of evidence-based, applied learning programs.

Complementing the dialogues and educational resources, the ARD has participated in over 100 ministry and divisional townhalls, and management meetings to support their journey toward racial equity.

These educational resources, sessions and workshops build the capacity for leaders and employees at all levels of the organization to create a more inclusive, diverse, equitable and anti-racist OPS.

Anti-Racism Competency and Capacity Building Program

The Anti-Racism Competency and Capacity Building Program (ARCC) is a series of foundational, applied learning programs to help equip OPS employees with anti-racism knowledge, skills and tools needed to build a public service that is more inclusive, equitable and responsive to the needs of all peoples in Ontario.

ARCC focuses on anti-Indigenous racism and anti-Black racism. Its suite of evidence-based applied learning programs includes the following:

• ARCC for Senior Leaders, which supports leaders to better understand their role in demonstrating principles of anti-racism leadership, as well as identifying and dismantling systemic racism across the organization.
• ARCC for Current and Future Leaders, a pilot endeavor by the ARD with TBS and MCCSS.
• ARCC Digital Learning Program, which comprises of seven e-learning modules, self-reflection guides and job aids to support staff learning on anti-racism and an anti-racism approach.

All 24 Senior Management Teams (comprised of approximately 250 leaders) took the ARCC for Senior Leaders training within 65 days. As well, for the first time, ARCC for Senior Leaders was delivered to 16 political chiefs and deputy chiefs of staff. Evaluation surveys show over 94% of survey respondents indicated they will apply what they have learned to ensure that an anti-racism lens is used in their current role to meet the needs of an increasingly diverse set of employees, as well as the public. An important learning echoed by respondents is the essential role they have in creating and maintaining an anti-racist and inclusive work environment, through modelled behavior and clear expectations. Respondents confirmed they are challenging and educating themselves on unconscious biases and apply an anti-racism in their hiring practices.

As a commitment to recognizing the importance of developing anti-racist leadership across the organization, the ARD delivered for the first time, ARCC for Current and Future Leaders. This included four sessions to 84 participants of the MCCSS Leadership, Learning and Development program, and four sessions to 74 graduates of the Advancing into Management and Leadership Development Program.^{footnote 4[4]} Evaluation surveys show over 83% of respondents indicated they will apply what they have learned to ensure that an anti-racism lens is used in their current role to meet the needs of an increasingly diverse set of employees, as well as the public. A common call to action from respondents is using their privilege and sphere of influence to champion and sponsor Indigenous, Black and other racialized staff.

ARCC for Senior Leaders, and ARCC for Current and Future Leaders continue to be essential in supporting existing and emerging leaders across the OPS to better understand their role in demonstrating principles of anti-racism leadership, as well as identifying and dismantling systemic racism.

To continue to support the OPS’ organizational transformation towards-achieving racial equity in the workplace and becoming an anti-racist and inclusive organization, the ARD, in collaboration with TBS and employee networks, are developing an ARCC Digital Learning Program. This Digital Learning Program is designed specifically for HR practitioners, management and all OPS staff. The e-learning modules focus on:

• a history of racism in Canada
• systemic racism
• examining microaggressions
• applying an anti-racism approach
• contributing to a racially equitable workplace
• building racial equity in HR practices
• building racial equity in management practices

These anti-racism initiatives contribute to:

• developing organizational knowledge of systemic racism and its impacts
• equipping staff with the tools and competencies to improve the OPS’ workforce diversification and inclusion
• public policy/program development
• service delivery to meet the needs of Ontario’s growing and changing racial demographics

Providing OPS-wide guidance and education to foster a more inclusive environment remains a commitment and extends to putting in place changes to ensure that workplace discrimination and harassment complaints are heard and resolved quickly and effectively.

Workplace discrimination and harassment training for managers and HR professionals

The Workplace Discrimination and Harassment (WDHP) Office, in collaboration with TBS, has developed a new training program as part of its mandate to promote a respectful workplace and prevent issues from developing into workplace complaints. The new facilitated interactive training program helps managers and employees to identify concerns and understand their roles and responsibilities under the Respectful Workplace Policy.

The training is delivered to managers and HR professionals. Since July of 2020 1,700 managers and HR professionals have been trained through external vendors provided by TBS. In addition, the WDHP office has delivered the training to over 1,200 employees. Evaluation surveys reveal that over 80% of participants who responded indicate being highly satisfied with the training and its applicability to their current position. Using case studies and interactive discussions the training creates opportunities for managers and employees to explore in a very practical manner how they can proactively create respectful work environments and identify issues that could lead to complaints of harassment and discrimination.

Within the OPS, Government Information Technology Ontario (GovTechON) has set a goal to have all managers complete WDHP training by December 31, 2021, with 154 of 448 managers have completed it thus far. Additionally, approximately 1,000 GovTechON staff participated in a Neutral Language Terminology Review survey about with 17 terms being reviewed and alternative terms being recommended for adoption.

All of these programs have created a groundswell of support for further anti-racism actions and laid the foundation for change on our journey towards racial equity.

Diversifying senior leadership

The OPS is committed to building senior leadership teams that reflect the diversity of Ontario. Representative leadership, engaged in inclusive decision-making, will enable the OPS to deliver services that meet the needs of Ontario’s diverse communities.

We are taking bold actions to diversify by setting targets, using data to hold senior leaders accountable and engaging in transparent reporting.

Setting the OPS goal and reporting publicly on progress

The OPS continues to work towards the goal of achieving parity with the Ontario labour force by 2025 for the most underrepresented groups in senior leadership.^{footnote 5[5]}

Our strategy is focused on setting ministry-specific targets to increase access for underrepresented talent to OPS pathways to leadership, such as:

• coaching and mentoring
• leadership development programs
• succession plans
• recruitment shortlists

The OPS annually tracks and publicly reports on gains made. For example, in November 2020, its first public report on its strategy and baseline data used to track progress towards its goal.^{footnote 6[6]} The OPS has also released on an annual basis, disaggregated race data to show representation of Black, East/Southeast Asian, Latino/Latina/Latinx, Middle Eastern and South Asian, employees in manager and executive roles across ministries.

Five-year ministry targets

Ministries have set five-year targets to diversify their senior leadership teams. Using socio-demographic data from the Employee Experience Survey (EES), ministries identified gaps in representation and developed annualized targets, accounting for geographic and ministry-specific factors. These include labour market and industry-specific considerations, such as available candidate pools and the makeup of the populations they serve. Ministries developed five-year targets focused on increasing participation of underrepresented groups across four pathways – coaching/mentoring, succession planning, leadership development programs and recruitment shortlists.

The OPS collected identifiable socio-demographic data from applicants to senior manager and executive competitions to understand and address barriers, and to intervene in real-time to help underrepresented talent achieve equity of opportunity.

Deputy Minister Diversity and Inclusion Scorecards

The OPS is driving accountability for diversity and inclusion commitments by linking annual outcomes to Deputy Minister performance assessments. Deputy Minister Scorecards provide a platform to increase accountability, build capacity in using equity data to drive progress and engage leaders and employees on results.

The annual scorecards report on ministry-level outcomes, such as:

• the socio-demographic make-up of leadership teams
• results on leadership pathway targets
• inclusion indicators
• employee experiences of discrimination and harassment
• complaints received by the WDHP Office
• Deputy Minister achievements, priorities and commitments

Accountability through annual reporting allows the OPS to report on ministry-level outcomes using disaggregated race-based data from the EES. The OPS implemented annual Deputy Minister Diversity and Inclusion Scorecards to hold senior leaders accountable for results. It also used disaggregated race-based data from the EES to show representation of Black, East/Southeast Asian, Latino/Latina/Latinx, Middle Eastern and South Asian employees in manager and executive roles at the ministry-level.

Progress made to date

The OPS tracks and reports on annual gains made to diversify senior leadership and pathways to leadership. When comparing results for OPS pathways to leadership for the 2019-2020 to 2020-2021 fiscal years, we find that:

• The participation of Indigenous employees in the Diversity Career Champions Program has increased from 1.9% to 3.3%, and from 4.4% to 5.1% in leadership development programs, including those focused on development manager and director level talent.^{footnote 7[7]}
• The participation of Black employees in the Diversity Career Champions Program has increased from 12.9% to 16.4%, and from 5.9% to 11.0% in leadership development programs. The proportion of Black employees shortlisted for executive level roles increased from 4.0% to 10.7% between fiscal years.
• The representation of racialized employees as confirmed successors to executive level roles has increased from 28.3% to 33.4%. Racialized employees made up 27.0% of shortlisted candidates to executive roles in 2019-2020, which has increased to 32.9% in 2020-2021.

A progress report profiling the 2021 socio-demographic makeup of OPS senior leadership and more comprehensive reporting on pathways to leadership was released publicly in November 2021. Transparent annual reporting is driving organizational accountability and efforts to achieve results.

Creating an anti-racism culture and accountability

A productive approach to anti-racism work recognizes that systemic racism and other forms of oppression is a concern for all people.

Understanding how institutional oppression adversely affects all members of society is a primary stage in fully realizing this concept. These forms of oppression can be experienced because of conscious and deliberate acts or through unconscious and unintentional incidents, as some individuals and/or communities are often unaware of the level of privilege and power that is afforded them. Often this can result in insensitivity towards the needs of target group members and sets up a situation in which people in positions of power can be misunderstood, resented, feared, or disliked by members of target groups.

The OPS recognizes that creating an anti-racism culture and accountability means equity-focused organizational change initiatives to identify and address systemic barriers in employment, build leadership accountability and promote opportunities for all employees.

Third-party review of OPS inclusive workplace policies and programs

The OPS is committed to building and fostering a more inclusive, diverse, equitable, anti-racist, accessible and respectful workplace, free from discrimination and harassment. To further the work towards this goal, in September 2020, the OPS launched an external, third-party review with the aim of assessing its approach to addressing workplace discrimination, harassment and systemic employment barriers.^{footnote 8[8]}

The third-party review included:

• a broad review stream that included all Ontario Human Rights Code grounds, with a focus on anti-racism, including anti-Indigenous racism, transphobia and specific barriers for persons with disabilities
• an anti-Black racism stream in the context of the global and local events related to anti-Black racism

This review sought recommendations to promote racial equity in the OPS and make it a better place to work for all staff, at every level, in every part of the province. Over 4,000 employees were engaged through:

• surveys
• discussion groups
• one-on-one interviews
• written communication

The final reports described how systemic racism, discrimination and employment barriers continue to harm the wellbeing and careers of OPS employees who are Indigenous, Black, racialized, LGBTQ+ and persons with disabilities. They contained over 200 recommendations focusing on areas including, but not limited to:

• leadership accountability
• anti-racism strategies
• education and training
• employment systems reviews

Following the release of the final reports of the Third-Party Review, and to accelerate cultural and systemic change across the organization, the Secretary of the Cabinet and all Deputy Ministers apologized for the harms done to Black, Indigenous and all employees, and committed to taking ten concrete steps to address the root causes racism, discrimination and harassment in the OPS in the form of the OPS Leadership Pledge.

The former and current Secretaries of the Cabinet, along with all Deputy Ministers signed the apology and the and Leadership Pledge focusing on the reports’ recommendations and priorities, and committing to concrete actions.

A Leadership Pledge Secretariat has been established within Treasury Board Secretariat to create an integrated plan for the implementation of initiatives in the Leadership Pledge, including amplifying employee voices. The Secretariat will work with partners to provide regular and transparent updates on the status of the implementation of Leadership Pledge commitments to employees.

The findings and recommendations from the Third-party review reports and the the Leadership Pledge provide a catalyst to make meaningful change across the OPS. This purposeful change includes concrete steps to transform the OPS.

Culturally responsive counselling services

Supporting the mental health of all OPS employees, continues to be a priority, including for those employees across the organization who self-identify as Indigenous, Black and other racialized.

Culturally responsive counselling services consider differences in cultural values and experiences of an individual (for example, background, ethnicity and belief system). Counsellors incorporate cultural responsiveness into their work to accommodate and respect differences in opinions, values, and attitudes of various cultures and different types of people.

In April 2021 the OPS established, in partnership with our Employee and Family Assistance Program service provider, a dedicated program for culturally responsive counselling services. Staff and their families can access a team of counsellors with the background, experience and expertise to provide services responsive to the identified needs of individuals (for example, specific spiritual, cultural, race, gender, sexual orientation and/or age).

Between April 1 to July 31, there were 75 accesses for culturally responsive counselling services with 62 calls for counselling (for example, personal, work related) and 13 calls for work-life services (for example, personal health and wellbeing).

Providing the right support for staff is important, as we embrace and promote diversity and inclusiveness within the OPS. Supporting the mental health of OPS employees and their families continues to be a priority, particularly given the pressures associated with the pandemic and global events surrounding racism and social justice. Expanding resources and services contribute to fostering an inclusive environment.

In particular, OPS-wide strategies need to be developed to combat anti-racism, including anti-Indigenous racism, anti-Black racism, anti-Asian racism, antisemitism and Islamophobia.

Roadmap to racial equity

As one of the largest employers in the province, the OPS has a responsibility to lead by example to promote racial equity. Strengthening our workforce diversity through recruiting, retaining, and developing the best and brightest talent is essential to our long-term success as an organization. It is also vital to creating better programs, services and outcomes for the people of Ontario.

Taking an evidenced-based approach, the ARD conducted disaggregated race-based data trend analysis of the 2018 and 2019 EES that informed the development of the first enterprise-wide anti-racism action plan under the OPS Anti-Racism Policy, as a requirement under the Policy’s Systemic Barrier Removal and Identification Process which involves data analysis, engagement and action planning.

The Roadmap to Racial Equity in the OPS (roadmap), released in January 2021, is an enterprise-wide plan under the OPS Anti-Racism Policy. It enables the OPS to:

• build anti-racism competency and capacity
• diversify the talent pipeline
• foster and be accountable for an anti-racist and inclusive workplace^{footnote 9[9]}

The objectives and goals of the roadmap are being implemented through the ministry and CPBs local anti-racism action plans (ARAPs). ARAPs include tactics that are comprehensive and integrated to achieve and sustain tangible progress toward racial equity and inclusion.^{footnote 10[10]}

In January 2021, an Anti-Racism, Diversity, and Inclusion (ARDI) table launched, comprising of 29 executive leads who will oversee and coordinate the implementation of the Roadmap and respective local ARAPs, providing overarching governance and accountability.

To mobilize change across the OPS, ministries and CPBs submitted their first ARAPs to the ARD by March 31, 2021 with a requirement to report annually on their implementation progress.

The ARD evaluated 34 ARAPs and continue to provide support with periodic check-in with ministries, to provide guidance on ongoing enhancements of their ARAPs in relation to implementation of initiatives that support employee wellbeing and career opportunities.

Some of the initiatives outlined by ministries and CPBs in their ARAPs included, but are not limited to:

• the Diverse Interview Panel Program that sources leaders who identify as part of an OPS underrepresented group to volunteer as interview panel members, and support the OPS commitment to assembling a more representative interview panel that ensures greater diversity of our recruitment practices
• the prioritization of underrepresented groups for Leadership Development Programs
• using the ARD’s Anti-Racism Impact Assessment Framework to identify, remove and prevent systemic racial barriers in transfer payments, policies, programs and initiatives
• the expansion of the Indigenous Internship Program to postsecondary graduates within the past five years who self-identify as Indigenous^{footnote 11[11]}
• the development of an addressing anti-Black racism action plan and implementation of a neutral language review for IT systems
• mandating the Ontario Human Rights Commission’s Call It Out Training for all Information + Information Technology (I+IT) staff within GovTechON (99% completion rate)
• collecting identifiable socio-demographic data from over 5,000 candidates in the Correctional Officers recruitment process
• the establishment of the Corrections Conflict Management Office

These initiatives, amongst others, speak to fulfilling a key commitment of the policy to develop an enterprise-wide action plan, with clear, actionable guidance to support the development of concrete local-level ARAPs.

These initiatives speak to:

• promoting bias- and barrier-free recruitment practices
• enhancing fairness and transparency in hiring practices
• bringing a diverse perspective and range of subject matter expertise/skills to the candidate selection process
• providing conflict resolution services and supporting managers with workplace conflict resolution

To create a racially equitable organizational culture calls for modernization of tools to ensure the OPS is providing equitable access to career development and investment opportunities for all staff.

Forte

To have a dynamic and responsive public service, the OPS must be ready to source, develop, assess and deploy diverse talent.

Forte enables the organization to achieve this goal. It is a digital application that provides a consistent tool for performance planning and assessment, which reduces bias and increases transparency. Additionally, Forte’s talent search functionality creates the opportunity for recruiters and hiring managers to quickly and easily search for talent across the OPS, breaking down talent silos and enabling more inclusive recruitment and succession planning processes.

Forte, launched in the Summer of 2020, provides executives, managers and non-unionized employees the opportunity to:

• profile their skills, experiences, achievements and career interests (similar to an online resume)
• receive regular feedback on their work using their performance plan
• seek additional sources of feedback on their performance, beyond their immediate manager (for example, peers, clients and stakeholders)
• understand where their work fits in by connecting their performance goals to broader organizational priorities
• create and share learning goals with their managers
• be named as a successor to potential future roles

Forte aligns with the government priority of creating more responsive and flexible public services under the Ontario Onwards Action Plan. Furthermore, the application enables the OPS priority to diversify the talent pipeline, a key objective of the Inclusion & Diversity Blueprint and a contributor to anti-racism practices.

It is important that the OPS proactively identify and address systemic employment barriers with a focus on continuing to improve:

• recruitment
• promotion and career development systems
• workplace culture

Anti-racism change within the OPS is a collective responsibility – we all have a part to play in critically assessing and addressing racial disparities and inequities.

The way forward

Progress depends on leadership at every level of this organization. The OPS has much work to do to address systemic racism, which requires meaningful and concerted efforts, as we share a responsibility to speak out and take action.

Our commitment to achieving and maintaining an inclusive, respectful and anti-racist workplace means a shared responsibility across the OPS as we collectively work towards our targeted priority:

• Building anti-racism competency and capacity
• Advancing diversity in senior leadership
• Creating an anti-racism culture and accountability

The OPS acknowledges the importance of taking an intentional anti-racism approach to addressing systemic employment barriers. This will be demonstrated in the transfer of the OPS Anti-Racism Policy from the ARD to TBS, which in its capacity as the employer, will lead the development of an integrated plan, as identified in the Leadership Pledge, that outlines the pathway forward to cultural change to support anti-racism, accessibility, diversity and inclusion.

The ARD will continue to work across government and lead initiatives that build capacity to address systemic racism and advance racial equity in public policies, programs, and services for the people in Ontario.

The improved outcomes in OPS workplace equity that we are looking for will be measured by quantitative and qualitative data findings. These include, but are not limited to the Employee Experience Survey, employee qualitative and anecdotal reports, reaching parity with the Ontario labour force by 2025 for the most underrepresented groups, and tracking career progression using voluntary socio-demographic data collection from OPS employees.

The OPS remains committed to building on the progress made thus far and challenging systemic racism by contributing to a more racially equitable and inclusive workforce. This calls for an anti-racism approach that acknowledges racism exists and taking deliberate steps to change racially inequitable outcomes and power imbalances between different racial groups.

As public servants we have a shared civic responsibility to acknowledge that systemic racism exists in the workplace — a reflection of broader society — and challenge it head-on.

We each have a role as changemakers and culturemakers in advancing racial equity. Equity in all we do with opportunities for all.