Français

Why is the Goal of the 50 – 30 Challenge Important for You and for Organizations Across Canada?

About the 50 – 30 Challenge

The 50 – 30 Challenge is an initiative between the Government of Canada, business and diversity organizations. Together with project co-creators, many of whom have been striving to increase corporate diversity for decades, the government has developed a plan to improve access for women and/or non-binary people and other equity deserving groups, including those identifying as: Racialized, Black, and/or People of Colour (“Visible Minorities”), People with disabilities (including invisible and episodic disabilities), 2SLGBTQ+ and/or gender and sexually diverse individuals, and Aboriginal and/or Indigenous Peoples. The program and participants recognize Aboriginal and/or Indigenous Peoples, including those that identify as First Nation Peoples, Métis Nation, and Inuit, as founding Peoples of Canada and underrepresented in positions of economic influence and leadership.

The goal of the program is to challenge Canadian organizations to increase the representation and inclusion of diverse groups within their workplace, while highlighting the benefits of giving all Canadians a seat at the table. The government has always believed in seeking the best available advice when making decisions.

The 50 – 30 Challenge asks that organizations aspire to two goals:

  1. Gender parity (“50%” women and/or non-binary people) on Canadian board(s) and/or senior management; and
  2. Significant representation (“30%”) on Canadian board(s) and senior management of other equity-deserving groups: Racialized, Black, and/or People of Colour (“Visible Minorities”), People with disabilities (including invisible and episodic disabilities), 2SLGBTQ+ and/or gender and sexually diverse individuals, and Aboriginal and/or Indigenous Peoples. The program and participants recognize Aboriginal and/or Indigenous Peoples, including those that identify as First Nation Peoples, Métis Nation, and Inuit, as founding Peoples of Canada and underrepresented in positions of economic influence and leadership.

 

Canada is home to a variety of industries and sectors. To broaden participation and to address their unique needs, the Challenge is open to:

  • Large corporations
  • Small and medium-sized enterprises (SME)
  • Post-secondary institutions, not-for-profits (including hospitals), charities, and agencies, boards and commissions (ABCs)
 

The streams allow participating organizations to strive to achieve their 50 – 30 Challenge goals in ways that best suits and reflects their needs acknowledging the variety of sizes and structures of organizations, including those without boards of directors or senior management teams.

Learn More and Register​

For more information about the challenge and to register, please visit the 50 – 30 Challenge Website.

Learn More

The Value of 50 – 30 Challenge

The evidence is clear and abundant: organizations limited in diversity harness only a fraction of their talent’s potential and leave opportunities for creativity, innovation, and impact untapped. When organizations create access to those opportunities and resources, bring all ideas and voices to the table, and advocate for inclusion, they see:

  • Greater operational efficiency
  • Increased capacity and capability to deliver leading services, and
  • Improved employee satisfaction that will raise retention rates and instill feelings of belonging for years to come.

 

Pursuing and achieving the goal of the 50 – 30 Challenge will also strengthen our social fabric, build a stronger economy, and drive Canadian innovation on the world stage.

Reaching this goal is not only about filling positions now, but thinking about the pipeline for decades ahead and how we can equip people to grow and develop into these positions.

Working towards this goal is also about creating spaces where people feel they belong and are welcome, which can drive our long-term success and impact as organizations and communities.

A key part of driving that is considering access:

  • How do we create access to opportunity and resources, and make sure people are in a position to access these?

 

With the 50 – 30 Challenge, the ultimate goal is for representation at the leadership and board levels, but it starts with making sure everyone has that access and opportunity from a young age, and identifying supports needed to reach and sustain that goal going forward.

Figure 1
Figure 1

The spectrum of belonging has 5 key terms presented horizontally in a sequential manner.

1. Diversity, which is the way in which individuals differ.

2. Inclusion, which is the respect, support and removal of barriers to contribution.

3. Anti-racism and anti-oppression, which is actively opposing racism by challenging and changing systems and structures.

4. Equity, which is the fair treatment, access and opportunity for all people.

5. Belonging, which is a feeling of security, support and acceptance.

When an organization actively opposes racism and challenges the systems and structures in place, they have the opportunity to embed equity into them. When striving for equity, the organization can challenge itself to approach these changes in an anti-racist manner, creating an iterative process of evaluation and change.

The sixth term, accessibility, runs across the bottom of the diagram. It means that individuals differ in what and how they can access and how they can access, it is key to remove barriers to improve accessibility for all, and that building equitable access and opportunity for everyone is key to fostering a sense of belonging for all.

Alignment with the Publicly Available Specification (PAS) ​

It is important to note that terminology is ever evolving and may not be reflected in external links and resources throughout the What Works Toolkit. The terms used within the toolkit align with the Publicly Available Specification (PAS) document developed by the Diversity Institute, and sponsored by the Standards Council of Canada in support of the Government of Canada’s 50 – 30 Challenge. Section 3.1 in the PAS defines Equity-Deserving Groups as follows:

3.1 Equity-Deserving Groups

The Challenge’s equity-deserving groups include those identifying as: Racialized, Black, and/or People of Colour (“Visible Minorities”), People with disabilities (including invisible and episodic disabilities), 2SLGBTQ+ and/or gender and sexually diverse individuals, and “Aboriginal” and/or Indigenous Peoples. The program and participants recognize First Nation Peoples, Métis Nation, and Inuit as founding Peoples of Canada and under-represented in positions of economic influence and leadership.

Please refer to the PAS for additional information on the 50 – 30 Challenge as well as tools and resources for your organization.

Definition

Microaggression

Microaggression is defined as: “A comment or action that subtly and often unconsciously or unintentionally expresses a prejudiced attitude toward a member of a marginalized group” – Source: Merriam Webster

Definition

Unlearning

Unlearning is defined as: “To make an effort to forget your usual way of doing something so that you can learn a new and sometimes better way” – Source: Cambridge Dictionary

Definition

Intersectionality

Intersectionality is defined as: A framework for understanding how different aspects of a person’s social and political identities (e.g., gender, race, class, sexuality, ability, physical appearance, etc.) combine to create unique modes of discrimination and privilege. Intersectionality identifies advantages and disadvantages that are felt by people due to this combination of factors – Source: Kimberlé Crenshaw, TIME

Definition

Privilege

Privilege is defined as: “The unfair and unearned advantages individuals are granted for having, or being perceived to have, social identities that align with those deemed to be superior according to societal rules and norms. It is often experienced as an absence of barriers related to a particular social identity (e.g., White privilege, straight privilege)” – Source: Egale

Definition

Safe Space

Safe Space is defined as: “A place intended to be free of bias, conflict, criticism, or potentially threatening actions, ideas, or conversations” – Source: Merriam-Webster

Safe spaces allow individuals to feel comfortable having brave and honest conversations.

Definition

Emotional Tax

Emotional Tax is defined as: “The combination of feeling different from peers at work because of gender, race, and/or ethnicity, being on guard against experiences of bias, and experiencing the associated effects on health, well-being, and ability to thrive at work” – Source: Catalyst

Definition

Tokenism

Tokenism is defined as: “Performative policies that ostensibly promote diversity or equality (placing women or diverse groups in leadership positions), but do not truly have a positive impact on the workplace. Tokenism isn’t progressive, and it especially causes harm to tokenized individuals, causing extra pressure to succeed due to being perceived as representative of a group and often leaving them in an alienating work environment” – Source: Catalyst

Definition

Psychological Safety

Psychological Safety is defined as: “An environment that encourages, recognizes and rewards individuals for their contributions and ideas by making individuals feel safe when taking interpersonal risks. A lack of psychological safety at work can inhibit team learning and lead to in-groups, groupthink and blind spots” – Source: Gartner