University job postings seldom get noticed by the public. But this spring, Quebec politicians, the National Post and even Fox News took umbrage at advertisements for Canada Research Chair (CRC) positions at Université Laval, the University of Toronto and others that stipulated only women, visible minorities, Indigenous people and people with disabilities should apply.

A Queen’s University posting for an engineering chair that was open only to women; a University of Waterloo faculty of environment position for someone who identifies as a woman, transgender, non-binary, or two-spirit; and a Western University ad for a Tier 1 CRC job for a person with a disability “in any area of research across Western’s eleven faculties” have similarly been drawing attention.

All of these institutions were following guidance and diversity targets laid out by the Tri-agency Institutional Programs Secretariat, which is the government body responsible for administering the CRC program. Amid these small-scale controversies, the secretariat’s directives may be transforming diversity mandates at Canadian universities. “What we’ve heard from many faculty and institutions is that our work to promote equity, diversity and inclusion has increased discussions and actions within institutions, and the research ecosystem more broadly,” said Marie-Lynne Boudreau, the secretariat’s director.

The CRC targets are based on the 2016 census and will ramp up, by 2029, to see 50 per cent women, 22 per cent racialized minorities, 4.9 per cent Indigenous peoples and 7.5 per cent persons with disabilities holding chair appointments. As of October 2021, women held 40.9 per cent of these prestigious research jobs, visible minorities 22.8 per cent, Indigenous peoples 3.4 per cent, and people with disabilities 5.8 per cent.

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