Improving anti-racism accountability systems at the workplace

Implement policy and legislative safeguards for PADs

Recommendation 10: The Ministry of Labour should ensure that there is an Anti-racism legislation that provides explicit levers against racism in employment and at the workplace. Amongst these levers, the Minister should be empowered to monitor and address the use of algorithms in sorting job applicants as they are most likely to extend human and historical biases against People of African Descent. It is also recommended that the legislation supports the establishment of a dedicated office for advising People of African Descent, and other minorities, on best practices in navigating labour relations in areas such as negotiating employment contracts or severance packages.

Improving anti-racism accountability systems at the workplace

Improve cultural sensitivity programs and anti-Black racism training

Recommendation 11: The Ministry of Labour and the Public Service Agency should promote and implement anti-Black racism training for human resource managers and recruiters, both in the public and private sectors. This is particularly critical considering concerns of lack of racial diversity on hiring committees. It is recommended that the PSA introduce specific anti-black racism modules or courses alongside its current diversity and inclusion training.

Improving anti-racism accountability systems at the workplace

Enable data collection to measure and report progress in equity and diversity

Recommendation 12: The Ministry of Labour should ensure that the race-based data legislation provides sufficient authority to collect, share and use data to evaluate fairness and equity in the wages provided to workers of African descent. This is critical to promote genuine, fair and accountable anti-racism mechanisms, both in the private and public sectors, that have been identified as non-negotiable prerequisites in contextualizing anti-racism complaints.

Improving anti-racism accountability systems at the workplace

Enable data collection to measure and report progress in equity and diversity

Recommendation 13: The PSA should be provided with adequate authority under the race-based data legislation to collect, analyze and publish periodic reports on the number of People of African Descent across the public service and their relative distribution in leadership and strategic positions.

Deepening Black representation at the workplace

Increase the recruitment of PADs

Recommendation 14: The Ministry of Labour and the BC Public Service Agency should embrace and champion equitable hiring practices such as blind hiring and interviewing to further increase fairness in recruitment. This is particularly critical for the PSA whose hiring practices have been strongly criticized by respondents and participants.

Deepening Black representation at the workplace

Increase the recruitment of PADs

Recommendation 15: The Public Service Agency should commit to hiring more employees of African descent. At the very minimum, it is imperative that a People of African Descent youth internship program be implemented before the end of the Decade to recruit future People of African Descent graduates and undergraduates in jobs showing high demands for qualified workers at all skills levels. The PSA should also commit to support and establish a People of African Descent Leadership program that will provide dedicated mentoring, coaching and career development services to employees of African descent in middle-management positions.

Improving skills development and access to employment for PADs

Increase the recruitment of PADs

Recommendation 16: The Ministry of Labour, The Ministry of Advanced Education, the Ministry of Education, and the Ministry of Jobs, Economic Recovery should work with employers, particularly those of African Descent, to provide dedicated employment, internship, volunteer and on the job training opportunities. This should include, but not be limited, to subsidized work placements opportunities for youth at risk.

Deepening PAD participation in entrepreneurship

Deepen equity in service delivery by and to PADs

Recommendation 36: The Ministry of Jobs, Economic Recovery and Innovation in collaboration with the Ministry of Labour should unequivocally support entrepreneurs of African descent through dedicated avenues for skills, products and business promotions. Amongst key measures recommended, the Government should commit to sourcing a reasonable proportion of governmental purchases and contracts from PAD businesses.

Improving anti-racism accountability systems in housing

Enable data collection to measure and report progress in equity and diversity

Recommendation 67: The Ministry of Attorney General and Minister Responsible for Housing should ensure that the race-based data legislation incorporate sufficient measures to allow BC Housing and other housing providers to collect, use, and publish data on People of African Descent housing situations in BC that would enable a holistic understanding of the prevailing trends and dynamics as they relate to ownership, accountability, access to credit, share of distributed affordable housing units, homelessness and the general place of anti-Black racism on access to housing.

Deepening representation in housing

Deepen equity in service delivery by and to PADs

Recommendation 68: BC Housing should increase housing supply for People of African Descent by establishing and funding programs that reserve portions of new affordable housing units for members of the People of African Descent community. In doing this, it is critical to partner with nonprofit developers and developers with the necessary cultural competency and ties to minority communities to prevent the formation of ghetto-like complexes.