UBC has a robust strategy for raising awareness of our commitment to and the benefits of equity, diversity and inclusion within the Canada Research Chair Program (CRCP) and our broader research enterprise.
Our strategy includes the following:
UBC’s CRC Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Action Plan (UBC/CRC EDIAP)
UBC is committed to raising awareness of its commitment to equity and ensuring the university community is aware of the benefits of equity, diversity, and inclusion within the CRC Program and beyond.
In May 2017, the Canada Research Chairs Program advised universities that there was a need for 'greater transparency and accountability in the processes used by institutions for allocation and selection of chairholders to ensure that institutional equity and diversity targets are met.'
The UBC Canada Research Chair Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Action Plan (UBC/CRC EDIAP) guides our efforts to sustain the participation of underrepresented individuals from the federally designated groups (FDGs) – women and gender minorities, Indigenous Peoples, persons with disabilities, and visible minorities.
- In support of the inclusion theme in Shaping UBC's Next Century: UBC's Strategic Plan, UBC's “Building Inclusive UBC: An Inclusion Action Plan” raises awareness of the CRC Program and its commitments to EDI specifically in Goal 4.0: Learning, Research, and Engagement / Action D: Advance the principles and intended outcomes of the equity, diversity and inclusion initiatives of the CRC Program and the Dimensions Charter, as well as other existing and future government programs.
The Strategic Equity and Anti-Racism (StEAR) Framework and Roadmap for Change further incorporates awareness of and aligns the CRC EDIAP with broader EDI efforts at UBC.
- Regular updates regarding the progress in our CRC EDI Action Plan are provided to Deans, Heads and Directors, Faculty Equity Leads, and the institutional and divisional implementation structures for the StEAR Framework.
- The CRC EDI Program Advisory Committee includes CRCs and members of the administration to guide and promote the commitments and initiatives of UBC’s CRC Program towards greater equity, diversity, and inclusion.
- Regular communications are maintained with faculties and departments to ensure compliance with equity and diversity requirements for CRC recruitment processes, and to provide research results and tools to support greater inclusion in onboarding and retention.
UBC's CRC Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Action Plan (TIPS Approved 2020)
UBC's CRC Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Action Plan (Updated 2022)
CRC's Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Action Plan
Research reports examining equity, diversity and inclusion in UBC’s CRC Program
With thanks for funding received from the federal Canada Research Chair program, the Equity & Inclusion Office, in partnership with the Office of the VP, Research & Innovation, has been able to publish two research reports examining equity, diversity and inclusion for Canada Research Chairs (CRCs).
The reports focus on two specific actions identified in the UBC/CRC EDIAP:
- Addressing underrepresentation of person with disabilities; and
- Creating more equitable experiences for current and future chairholders at UBC.
The Equitable Research Productivity Assessments report examines issues arising in hiring, retaining, and supporting scholars with disabilities in Canada Research Chairs and throughout academia, and offers some solutions to these issues. The report highlights the systemic barriers, the bias, and the discrimination faced by disabled scholars. It also discusses institutional ableism, such as how accommodations for disabilities can often be an afterthought; the ways in which disabled people have to spend extra time and energy navigating spaces that aren’t accessible; and how the language used in hiring and selection processes can be discriminatory and overly medicalized.
The report calls for changes to the criteria for assessing scholarly activity and research productivity to better fit evolving values and requirements, yielding enhanced research excellence as a result of accommodating a wider range of perspectives. Further recommendations include: ensuring a more proactive approach to improving accessibility; educating staff and faculty; supporting the visibility of disabled people; and including disabled people on selection committees.
UBC’s Focus on Equity in Canada Research Chair Experiences is a qualitative research report looking at barriers and inequities in the program for CRCs. The findings of this report reveal that institutional and, more specifically, departmental environments play a critical role in the experiences and success of a chairholder. To address these obstacles, the report recommends: mentorship connections; networking opportunities; equitable negotiations; and program transparency – as well as more support and recognition from within UBC and through the Canada Research Chair’s federal program. Such measures would help create a more equitable environment and support all Canada Research Chairholders in reaching their full potential.
UBC/CRC EDIAP Progress Report
Institutions must establish equity and diversity targets to ensure the CRC program benefits from equity, diversity and inclusion, and that individuals from the four federally-designated groups (women, persons with disabilities, Indigenous peoples and members of visible minorities/members of groups that are racially categorized) participate in the program. Progress in implementing the overall EDIAP Action Plan and meeting equity and diversity targets and objectives must be reported on annually.
Progress Reports
Guidance to Meet CRC EDI Nomination Requirements
As part of UBC’s CRC EDIAP implementation, UBC developed the Guide to Equitable Hiring Practices: Faculty Recruitment, and supporting Employment Equity Advisor (EEA) Program, including a full-day training workshop and continuing community of practice for EEAs. These align with and support UBC Human Resources Guidance to Faculty Recruitment (CWL required) and, as part of the Faculty Relations Faculty Recruitment Guide (CWL required) and orientation sessions, hiring committees are encouraged to use proactive, individual efforts to advertise and contact diverse groups.
Nomination and recruitment processes must be transparent, open, and equitable, and diverse search committees are expected for all searches. This applies to the nomination of all new chairs, regardless of whether they are intended to facilitate the recruitment or the retention of research faculty.
UBC has also provided search committees the flexibility to consider the full range of potential applicants for Tier 2 CRC recruitment, including promising candidates early in their careers who have strong potential but are still establishing their publication and research program. The CRC program’s Tier 2 justification process also clarifies eligibility for a Tier 2 Chair. Further, UBC has developed a strategy for increasing the diversity among CRC chairholders by reserving a proportion of Tier 2 chairs for international recruitment, which routinely involve international advertising to increase the diversity in the pool of applicants.
Currently, UBC is in a period of restricted recruitment, selection and nomination for the Canada Research Chair Program, meaning that nominations for new chair positions will not be peer-reviewed, except in cases where a nomination involves someone who has self-identified within one or more of the following federally designated groups: women and gender minorities, Indigenous Peoples, persons with disabilities, and visible minorities.
Emergency retention mechanism
UBC Deans must justify an emergency retention to the Provost’s Office that would comply with all EDI requirements, and the transparency requirements of the CRC program on the public accountability and transparency web pages.
Learn more about the requirements for recruiting and nominating Canada Research Chairs.
Specific Steps to CRC Nomination
Advertising for CRCs
All CRC positions must be clearly advertised since they are publicly funded. It is important that the recruitment process be open and transparent to allow all eligible candidates to apply. This applies to the nomination of all new chairs (including foreign candidates), whether the chair is used for retention purposes (internal recruitment), the advancement of a Tier 2 chairholder to a Tier 1 chair, or as a recruiting tool.
Until further notice, nominations to the CRC program are restricted to individuals who self-identify as belonging to one or more of the four federally-designated equity groups to redress the imbalance of representation with the CRC program.
Recruitment for all faculty positions can be found on the Canada Research Chairs job postings page or the central UBC recruitment site.
For positions where central posting is not a requirement such as retention candidates, information is provided on the Faculty websites.
Diversifying Your Applicant Pool
In order to ensure that your job posting is reaching a diverse pool of qualified candidates in your field, we have developed the Diversifying Your Applicant Pool database. Database entries capture professional associations, publications, networks and grassroots communities that specifically serve scholars from equity-seeking groups and are not the traditional sites of advertisement for searches. Entries in this database can be used to support the Employment Equity Policy HR11 minimum requirements for advertising in searches.
Governance
To oversee the implementation and updating of UBC's CRC EDIAP, UBC has established the UBC Canada Research Chair EDI Program Advisory Committee (CRC PAC). The CRC PAC advises the CRC EDIAP Implementation Team on matters that help to advance EDI within the CRC program. The Implementation Team comprises the AVP Research & Innovation, the AVP Equity & Inclusion, and relevant members of the Office of the Vice-President Research & Innovation and Equity & Inclusion Office who are tasked with implementing UBC’s EDI Action Plan.
Implementation of the required elements of the CRC EDI action plan include:
- data collection on:
- all current Canada Research Chairholders (diversity, institutional environment, and equitable experiences)
- applicants to ensure diversity in recruitment processes to meet nomination requirements
- meeting the CRC Program's Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Public Accountability and Transparency Requirements.
- accessibility and researching initiatives to ensure a more inclusive environment for CRCs with disabilities.
- final approval and oversight from the Associate Vice-President, Research & Innovation, and Associate Vice-President, Equity & Inclusion.
Responsibility for implementing UBC's CRC EDI agenda, allocation of chairs, and monitoring of equity targets falls under UBC Vancouver's Provost's Office, and questions or concerns related to EDI can be addressed to Prof. Lisa Sundstrom Associate Vice-President, Research & Innovation; and Dr. Arig al Shaibah, Associate Vice-President, Equity & Inclusion.
The Canada Research Chairs program includes best practices for promoting equity, diversity and inclusion at each state of planning for, recruiting, hiring and retaining diverse faculty members. More information on CRCP’s Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Requirements and Practices may be found here.
UBC's Equity Target Data
Equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) strengthen research communities and the quality, social relevance, and impact of research. UBC has made positive strides towards meeting the 2029 CRC equity targets to match the broader workforce, in accordance with the Population-based Institutional Equity Targets 2021-2029.
UBC CRCs by Federally Designated Group: Effective January 1, 2025
| Federally Designated Groups | Tier | Active, Approved, and Nominated Chairs as of Jan 1, 2025 | December 2027 Equity Targets** | December 2029 Equity Targets** |
| Women and Gender Minorities | 1 | 35 | 44.0% | 50.9% |
| 2 | 60 | 44.0% | 50.9% | |
| Members of Visible Minorities | 1 | 31 | 19.9% | 22.0% |
| 2 | 45 | 19.9% | 22.0% | |
| Persons with Disabilities | 1 | * | 6.3% | 7.5% |
| 2 | 5 | 6.3% | 7.5% | |
| Indigenous Peoples | 1 | * | 3.5% | 4.9% |
| 2 | 7 | 3.5% | 4.9% |
* if the number of chairholders who self-identify is less than 5, the exact number is not provided to protect the privacy of chairs.
** Target percentages are subject to latest Canadian Census numbers and inactive chairs at assessment time
In the spirit of openness and transparency, the Canada Research Chairs program is making public the results and findings of its target-setting exercise, while respecting the Privacy Act.
As an eligibility requirement, all institutions that participate in the Canada Research Chairs Program were required to develop and submit their 2021-2029 equity target plans to the program by June 2021. The plans required setting targets for each of the four designated groups for each of the target deadlines, to lead incrementally, over the period 2021-2029. Large institutions were also required to set targets by Tier, to ensure representation at both the emerging Tier 2 and established Tier 1 levels of the program.
At an institutional level, UBC initiated an Employment Equity program based on guidelines established by the federal government. UBC’s Employment Equity measures include the removal of barriers to selection, promotion and training of members of the above-noted designated groups (women, visible minorities, persons with disabilities and Aboriginal Peoples).
In April 2016, UBC’s Equity and Inclusion Office undertook a census of the university population, asking faculty and staff members to self-identify as a member of these four designated groups. The census is also collecting information on sexual orientation and gender diversity. The updated equity information will form the basis for a revised Employment Equity Plan, and assists UBC in setting its employment equity goals. This will further improve UBC's hiring, promotion and retention practices. The university's current Employment Equity Plan can be found here.
Institution-wide equity, diversity, and inclusion practices
Beyond the CRC Program, here are a few ways that exemplify UBC’s broader commitment to equity, diversity, and inclusion.
Strategic Equity and Anti-Racism Framework
Endorsed by UBC’s leadership, the Strategic Equity and Anti-Racism (StEAR) Framework guides the university’s approach to implementing equity and anti-racism priorities and to evaluating progress. It aligns and addresses the priorities articulated in UBC’s following plans and reports:
- Inclusion Action Plan
- Employment Equity Plan
- Canada Research Chair Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Action Plan
- Dimensions Action Plan for EDI in Research
- Task Force on Anti-Racism and Inclusive Excellence (ARIE) Final Report
- Trans, Two-Spirit and Gender Diversity Task Force Report
- forthcoming accessibility plan
The StEAR Roadmap for Change sets out 18 salient objectives and numerous strategic actions within the StEAR framework, to be implemented over the next three to five years.
As a living document, the roadmap will be updated to reflect new plans and reports as well as signal progress on strategic actions. Implementation sponsors, leads, and partners have been identified for each strategic action and will be included in subsequent versions of the roadmap.
Indigenous Strategic Plan
UBC’s Indigenous Strategic Plan (ISP) outlines eight goals and 43 actions the University is collectively taking to advance a vision of UBC as a leading university globally in the implementation of Indigenous Peoples’ human rights.
The Indigenous Strategic Plan (ISP) Guiding Network is responsible for facilitating the implementation of the ISP, which “provides thoughtful guidance for action and a framework for reconciliation”.
The StEAR framework (above) is meant to complement, not compete with, the ISP, the university’s organizing framework for advancing priorities related to Indigenous rights, decolonization, and reconciliation.
In collaboration with Indigenous leads, mutually beneficial mechanisms for communication, consultation, collaboration, and coalition-building across the StEAR and ISP frameworks will be in place to ensure that equity and anti-racism priorities relevant to Indigenous students, faculty, and staff are appropriately addressed and/or referred to in the StEAR framework.
Equity, diversity and inclusion training
UBC offers a suite of opportunities to support EDI capacity-building, including online addressing various aspects, and, for faculty members in particular, facilitated workshops for teaching, and the Employment Equity Advisor Program, offering workshops and guides to equitable hiring practices for faculty & staff.
Guides, tools, and templates are designed to support students, staff, and faculty in advancing equity and inclusion across the university, in particular the Activating Inclusion Toolkit, the Indigenous Strategic Plan Self-Assessment Tool, and the currently being piloted Workplace Accessibility & Inclusion Action Research Toolkit.
Respectful Environment at UBC
The Respectful Environment Statement speaks to our freedoms and responsibilities. It provides the guiding principles to help us build an environment where respect, civility, diversity, opportunity, and inclusion are valued.
The Bullying and Harassment Prevention at UBC website provides information for UBC faculty, staff, and student employees on how to prevent and address bullying and harassment in the workplace, and how to support a respectful environment.
At UBC, we distinguish discriminatory harassment from bullying or harassment that is not discriminatory based on the protected grounds in the BC Human Rights Code. Policy SC7 – Discrimination sets out a process for dealing with such harassment.
Policy HR11: Employment Advertising
In Policy HR11: Employment Advertising, UBC requires that each advertisement for an academic position include the following paragraph:
"Equity and diversity are essential for academic excellence. An open and diverse community fosters the inclusion of voices that have been underrepresented or discouraged. We encourage applications from members of groups that have been marginalized on any grounds enumerated under the B.C. Human Rights Code, including sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, racialization, disability, political belief, religion, marital or family status, age, and/or status as a First Nations, Metis, Inuit, or Indigenous person."
In practice, this means that UBC sees diversity as a prime criterion in the search and appointment for all candidates, particularly those in prestigious positions such as Canada Research Chairs. Through the briefing of search committees, UBC emphasizes the importance of diversity competencies and the requirement for skills to work with diverse populations in all appointments.
Policy HR10: Employment Equity
UBC’s Policy HR10: Employment Equity, was approved by the Board of Governors in November 1990 and upholds the principles of individual merit and achievement to ensure that selection, training, and promotion decisions are based on how well an individual’s skills, knowledge and experience match specific performance criteria.
"The University of British Columbia has established a program of employment equity to provide a fair and equitable workplace and to offer all individuals full opportunity to develop their potential. Accordingly, the University will identify and eliminate any discriminatory barriers that interfere with employment opportunities in all jobs and at all levels throughout the University. Both current and prospective faculty and staff will receive equitable treatment in hiring, training, and promotion procedures."
Concerns regarding equity and inclusion policies
UBC has a comprehensive set of mechanisms to address concerns related to equity and diversity, depending on the issue and one's position at UBC and/or an affiliated hospital (i.e. faculty, staff or student).
- For concerns of harassment and discrimination, faculty, staff, or students can contact the Human Rights Advisor at the Equity & Inclusion Office. The Human Rights Advisor coordinates with other relevant parties to address these concerns.
- For concerns related to a respectful environment, faculty can contact their Head of Department or their Human Resources Advisor.
- The Provost has a Senior Advisor on Racialized Faculty (role currently vacant) and a Senior Advisor to the Provost on Women and Gender-Diverse Faculty – both act as resources for faculty members with concerns about gender and race.
- Through the annual Comparative Experiences Survey of the Canada Research Chairs, CRCs are able to voice their concerns confidentially and/or anonymously, invited to discuss them further with the Associate Vice-President, Equity & Inclusion, and concerns are reviewed and discussed with faculty deans.
Concerns are addressed as follows:
- Concerns of human rights-based inequities are addressed informally by the Human Rights Advisor at the Equity & Inclusion Office. If the Advisor is unable to arrive at an informal resolution, the Advisor will assist the complainant in making a formal complaint under UBC’s Policy SC7: Discrimination. The formal complaint is investigated by UBC’s Independent Investigations Office. More information about investigations can be found in Policy SC8: Investigations.
- Concerns related to respectful environment are investigated by the Administrative Head of Unit supported by Faculty Relations.
- Concerns shared with the Senior Advisors are directed and shared as appropriate.
- Concerns that are raised in the Comparative Experiences Survey representing broader issues are discussed and resolved at meetings of the Deans and Provost, as set out in UBC’s CRC Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Action Plan (EDIAP).
Reporting on concerns is done as follows:
- Annual progress reports on the CRC Equity, Diversity & Inclusion Action Plan.
- The Equity & Inclusion Office prepares an Annual Report each year. Policy SC7 requires that we provide statistical data on cases/complaints we have received, the grounds under which the complaints are based, and whether the complaints are brought by faculty, staff or students. The Independent Investigations Office further reports on all formal investigations under Policy SC7.
- Through its annual report, Human Resources provides information on complaints received under the Respectful Environment Statement.
For further information on equity, inclusion and diversity at UBC, please visit the Equity and Inclusion website.