…/2 Slater Street / 344, rue Slater Ottawa, Ontario, Canada K1A 1E1 www.chrc-ccdp.gc.ca September 21, 2023 BY EMAIL Standing Senate Committee on Human Rights The Senate of Canada Ottawa, Ontario Canada, K1A 0A4 Dear Honourable Senators, When I appeared before the Senate Committee on Human Rights on May 8, 2023, some members had questions on the current experiences of racialized employees working at the Commission. In advance of your return to session, I am sharing a Hill Times

article from this summer, entitled “Canada’s public service employee survey 2022-23 reveals ‘best agencies to work for’.” The Canadian Human Rights Commission is ranked first out of 68. The Hill times ranking is based on the 2022-2023 Public Service Employment Survey results, which was administered by Statistics Canada, the Office of the Chief Human Rights Commissioner, and the Treasury Board Secretariat with the view to collect data on employee experiences. The survey is voluntary and anonymous and it was conducted between November 2022 – February 2023.

The index that determines the ranking is inspired by Gallup Organization's "Great Places to Work“ and was developed by Jake Cole (a former federal public servant). When we first saw the article, it was important for us to understand if it was reflective of the views of Black, Indigenous and racialized employees at the Commission. After careful analysis of the results, I can tell you that Commission employees participated in the survey, 68 of whom self-identified as racialized.

This allows us to interpret that almost all Black, Indigenous, and racialized people employed at the Commission participated in this survey and that their views are indeed strongly reflected in the survey results. I am sharing this

article with you to highlight a fuller perspective that Commission staff have of their workplace. I feel that it would be a disservice to them to not allow all of their voices to be heard. - 2 - We recognize there is a long road ahead on our anti-racism journey. The survey provides us with new data on which to assess the progress we’ve made and the work we have yet to do. Our new Director of Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, Accessibility and Anti-Racism is working on disaggregating the results and we will publish more details in our upcoming Anti- Racism Action Plan Update.

Yours sincerely, Charlotte-Anne Malischewski Interim Chief Commissioner Enclosures: Public Service Employee Survey 2022-23 C anada’s federal public service has been surveying its employees over the last 20 years. The surveys ask a lot of questions, over of them in this most recent survey, conducted in late 2022-2023. As a sort of insider, I have been reporting on the results of these surveys since 2008, trying to dig out the key messages that employees are actually providing in their re- sponses.

I do this because the official reports from these surveys are typically not too informa- tive, and because it’s not clear whether there is any substantive follow-through with the results. I worked there for more than 30 years in six different agencies and by doing this, I hope to insti- gate a more meaningful response than that. How does my analysis work? Back in 2006, with the help of several other public servants, we developed a reporting index for that year’s survey that was somewhat similar to the Gal- lup Organization’s “Great Places to Work” periodic rankings.

Based on that same index, we can look at Canada’s public service through a similar lens today. Here is my initial ‘take’ on the Public Service Employ- ee Survey results. It lists the ma- jor federal agencies on a best-to- worst ranking, based directly on their employees’ responses from this latest survey. In a future article, I’ll be digging a little more deeply into the key outcomes that one can glean from this current survey, as well as some insights from some of those “best” agencies. For now, here is a ranking of each major federal government agency in a “best places to work for” style. Scores are out of 100.

Jake Cole is a former feder- al public servant who worked for more than 30 years in six different federal agencies and departments. The Hill Times Canada’s public service employee survey 2022-23 reveals ‘best agencies to work for’ Each major federal government agency is ranked in a ‘best places to work for’ style. Scores are out of 100.

Opinion THE HILL TIMES | MONDAY, JUL Y 17, 202322 Jake Cole Opinion The Best Federal Agencies to Work For in Canada Department Score Survey Rank Survey Canadian Human Rights Commission Prairies Economic Development Canada Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council Administrative Tribunals Support Service of Canada Communications Security Establishment Canada Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission Financial Consumer Agency of Canada Canada Revenue Agency Office of the Chief Electoral Officer Canadian Institutes of Health Research Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission Canadian Space Agency Canadian Transportation Agency Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council Canada School of Public Service Parole Board of Canada Employment and Social Development Canada Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre Impact Assessment Agency of Canada Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ont. 47 Public Service Commission of Canada National Research Council Canada Public Services and Procurement Canada Shared Services Canada Transport Canada Environment and Climate Change Canada Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada Women and Gender Equality Canada Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada Parks Canada Transportation Safety Board of Canada Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada Canadian Heritage Department of Finance Canada Department of Justice Library and Archives Canada Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages Public Prosecution Service of Canada Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat Veterans Affairs Canada Canadian Grain Commission Privy Council Office Natural Resources Canada Canada Economic Development for Quebec Regions Health Canada Infrastructure Canada Royal Canadian Mounted Police Fisheries and Oceans Canada Department of National Defence Public Health Agency of Canada Courts Administration Service Statistical Survey Operations Canada Energy Regulator Canadian Food Inspection Agency Office of the Auditor General of Canada Office of the Secretary to the Governor General Public Safety Canada Statistics Canada Indigenous Services Canada Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada National Film Board of Canada Global Affairs Canada Canada Border Services Agency Correctional Service Canada Canadian Security Intelligence Service Source: Public Service Employee Survey, 2022-23 According to the federal public service survey, the Canadian Human Rights Commission ranked No. 1, while CSIS ranked last.

The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade