Ontario HR Compliance · Employment Equity Act
Employment Equity Act: Reform Status
A government-commissioned task force recommended adding new designated groups and updating terminology, and Ottawa has announced its intent to act on that, but as of mid-2026 none of it is in force — the four original designated groups remain the current law.
The Employment Equity Act is mid-reform, and it’s worth tracking rather than treating as settled. An arms-length task force chaired by Professor Adelle Blackett released “A Transformative Framework to Achieve and Sustain Employment Equity” on December 11, 2023, with roughly 187 recommendations. The government responded with an announced intent to modernize the Act: adding two new designated groups — Black people and 2SLGBTQI+ people — replacing “Aboriginal Peoples” with “Indigenous Peoples,” replacing “members of visible minorities” with “racialized people,” and aligning the definition of disability with the Accessible Canada Act. A public consultation on the changes ran from May 3 to July 31, 2024.
None of this is in force as of mid-2026. The four original designated groups — women, Aboriginal peoples, persons with disabilities, and members of visible minorities — remain the operative law, and Employment Equity Act: The 100-Employee Threshold and Annual Report reflects that current state, not the proposed one.
Treat the reform as a maintenance liability: watch for the bill that would actually enact these changes, and don’t rely on the new categories, or the renamed ones, until it passes. This is general information, not legal advice; confirm the current state of the Act before relying on it, since this is one of the more likely parts of federal employment law to change in the near term.
Source: Government of Canada — Employment Equity Act modernization consultation ·
Also: Hicks Morley — Employment Equity Act Task Force releases final report
Last reviewed .
Confidence: Verified
Related notes
- Employment Equity Act: The 100-Employee Threshold and Annual Report — Federally regulated private-sector employers and Crown corporations with 100 or more employees must analyze their workforce against four designated groups, maintain an employment equity plan, and file an annual report by June 1 — an obligation that doesn't apply at all below 100 employees.
- Accessible Canada Act: Applicability and the Planning/Reporting Cycle — The Accessible Canada Act governs accessibility for federally regulated organizations in place of Ontario's AODA, and runs on a repeating 3-year cycle of an accessibility plan, two progress reports, and an updated plan.
- Federal vs. Ontario Jurisdiction: The Employment-Law "Instead Of" Rule — A federally regulated employer follows the Canada Labour Code and related federal statutes in place of Ontario employment law, not on top of it — the federal regime replaces the ESA, OHSA, Human Rights Code, AODA and Pay Equity Act rather than adding to them.