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On this page:

1. Equity, Diversity & Inclusion Plan
2. ����԰AV Commitment Statement
3. Strategy for Raising Awareness
4. Governance
5. Monitoring Equity, Diversity & Inclusion Concerns
6. ����’s Equity Targets & Gaps
7. Policies and Procedures that Govern Staffing of Canada Research Chairs
8. ����԰AV Canada Research Chairs Equity Committee
9. Canada Research Chairs Program Utilization Spreadsheet
10. Canada Research Chairs Program: Equity, Diversity, & Inclusion Information
11. Public Reports

����԰AV is committed to ensuring that all CRC nominations and recruitment processes follow best practices and adhere to equity requirements.
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1. Equity, Diversity & Inclusion Plan

View ����԰AV's Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Plan

The Tri–Agency Programs Secretariat (TIPS) requires all institutions with five or more chair allocations to develop an Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Action Plan for the Canada Research Chairs Program (CRCP). This webpage details ����’s equity, diversity and inclusion initiatives and fulfills TIPS’ public transparency requirements.

This action plan guides ����’s efforts to sustain the participation of and/or address the underrepresentation of individuals from the four designated groups (FDGs)—women, persons with disabilities, Indigenous Peoples, and members of visible minorities—among ����԰AV's chairholders. The action plan captures our efforts to embed equity, diversity, and inclusion principles into ����԰AV processes and practices within the CRC program and beyond.

����԰AV is deeply committed to embedding equity, diversity, and inclusion in its policies and practices, evident in the work of the EDI Initiative, ����’s endorsement of the , and selection as a pilot institution in the .
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2. ����԰AV Commitment Statement

In accordance with the mandate from the Federal Government and the Canada Research Chairs (CRC) Program, ����԰AV (����԰AV) offers this commitment to��:

����԰AV is an institution whose strength is based on our shared commitments to diversity, equity and inclusion. Diversity is an underlying principle of our Strategic Vision, which pledges ����԰AV to “foster a culture of inclusion and mutual respect, celebrating the diversity reflected among its students, faculty staff and our community.” ����԰AV is committed to ensuring no individual is denied access to employment opportunities for reasons unrelated to ability or qualifications. Consistent with this principle, ����԰AV will advance the interests of underrepresented members of the work force, specifically Indigenous peoples, persons with disabilities, racialized persons and women; embrace gender and sexual diversity; ensure that equal opportunity is afforded to all who seek employment at the University; and treat all employees equitably. Candidates that belong to underrepresented groups are particularly encouraged to apply.

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3. Strategy for Raising Awareness

����԰AV is committed to raising awareness of its commitment to equity and ensuring the university community is aware of the benefits of equity, diversity, and inclusion within the CRC Program and beyond.

• The ����԰AV CRC Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Plan communications strategy is guided by������’s Strategic Research Plan’s��identified challenge of “strengthening civil society by advancing justice, equity, and social responsibility”; CRC Program resource guide: Equity, Diversity and Inclusion: Best Practices for Recruitment, Hiring and Retention; and the ����԰AV Faculty Association Salary Equity Recommendation Committee’s guiding principle “to advance equity, distributive justice, fairness and high integrity of all procedures and recommendations.”
• ����’s strategy to raise awareness of its commitment to equity within the institution and the benefits of equity, diversity, and inclusion with the CRC Program include:
  • creating and publicizing the work of the ����԰AV CRC Equity Committee, whose mandate was to oversee the creation of ����’s CRC Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Plan;
  • communicating equity and diversity objectives of ����’s CRC Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Plan to all faculty, staff, and students via the ����԰AV Research website and email correspondence to staff and faculty from the VPRI Office;
  • holding information sessions for faculty and staff to learn more about ����’s CRC Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Plan in 2017;��
  • overviews and detailed processes on all aspects of CRC administration (internal and external), along with training, templates, forms and checklists to assist CRC search committees, and information on equity requirements and best practices; and��
  • regular communications with faculties and departments to ensure compliance with equity requirements for CRC search processes.��
• In 2021, ����԰AV launched two new resources to raise awareness:
  • The Equity, Diversity & Inclusion in Research webpage. EDI is tightly related to research excellence and research cannot meet the bar to be considered excellent if it not inclusive. The webpage provides context of the Canadian Research Funding ecosystem and resources for incorporating EDI in research.
  • The Equity, Diversity & Inclusion in hiring training module. The module was created to help ensure procedural fairness, increase diversity in chairholders and develop diversity competencies. The module is comprehensive and includes an overview of unconscious bias, but also how unconscious bias is applied throughout various stages of the hiring process including: the job advertisement, long listing, shortlisting, interviewing and negotiating with candidates. It was first piloted with CRC search committees and is available to the University community upon request.
• In 2023, two initiatives have raised awareness:
  • The Equity Compass, which is a strategic��framework outlining the focus for ����’s institutional equity, diversity and inclusion work over the next five years (2023-2028) to help build an ����԰AV where all can thrive. The CRC EDI action plan (2017) was used to inform the Equity Compass.
  • The EDI action plan recommended the establishment of faculty mentoring programs. The 2022-23 CRC EDI stipend was used to advance this goal by conducting a needs assessment and internal and external environmental scans. The stipend will also be used to deliver events that enable networking and informal mentorship. A mentorship resources page was also created to support existing mentors and mentees.

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4. Governance

To oversee the development of the Action Plan, ����԰AV established a CRC Equity Committee comprised of members from faculty, administration, the ����԰AV Faculty Association, and staff.

• The committee’s objectives were to oversee the creation of all required elements of ����’s CRC Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Plan, which included:
  • data collection on all current Canada Research Chairholders and applicants;
  • meeting the CRC Program’s Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Public Accountability and Transparency Requirements; and
  • ����’s CRC Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Plan.
• The committee met monthly and established a governance plan that included:
  • contracting the services of an external equity advisor;
  • appointment of a project lead to set timelines, organize meetings, manage deadlines, and liaise with equity advisory to design and create deliverables for consideration of the committee;
  • committee consensus on materials and deliverables related to ����’s CRC Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Plan; and
  • final approval and oversight from the Vice-President, Research and International and Vice-President, Academic, on all documentation related to this initiative.

Oversight of the CRC program at ����԰AV, including allocation of chairs and and monitoring of equity targets, falls within the Vice-President, Research and International portfolio; final approval of chair allocations requires Executive approval.
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5. Monitoring Equity, Diversity & Inclusion Concerns

A person who believes that they have experienced discrimination, harassment based on a prohibited ground of discrimination, sexual harassment, or personal harassment can direct their complaint to ����’s Human Rights Office.��.

����’s��Associate Vice President Research��oversees the Canada Research Chair Program and is responsible for monitoring and responding to equity, diversity, and inclusion concerns in relation to the Program. Javier Tavitas, (javier_tavitas@sfu.ca), ��Equity in Research Lead, Institutional Strategic Awards, is ����’s first point of contact for bringing such concerns forward to the Director of Institutional Strategic Awards and to the AVP Research.

����’s��Specialist of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion in Faculty Relations��is responsible for:

• receiving equity, diversity, and inclusion related complaints from academic staff to prioritize and reassign or involve other service departments such as the Human Rights Office or the Sexual Violence Support & Prevention Office
• providing conflict resolution support to affected parties and collaborating as needed with other departments and stakeholder groups such as union representatives, Human Resources, and other Faculty Relations staff
• working collaboratively with Safety & Risk Services to prepare formal reporting to WorkSafeBC on bullying and harassment complaints
• providing consultation and advice on individual workplace conflicts and complaints of bullying and harassment, including providing coaching and support on conflict resolution and investigations when needed
• conducting exit interviews for academic staff resigning or retiring, and developing and maintaining an impartial interview process
• bringing complaints and concerns to the attention of the Executive Director of Faculty Relations and to the Vice President Academic and Provost, where appropriate.

����’s����is responsible for:

• receiving equity, diversity, and inclusion related complaints from non-academic staff to prioritize and reassign or involve other service departments such as the Human Rights Office or the Sexual Violence Support & Prevention Office;
• providing conflict resolution support, as needed;
• bringing complaints and concerns about equity, diversity and inclusion to the attention of the Director of Labour Relations and the Associate Vice President, Human Resources where appropriate; and
• supporting the work of ����’s Human Resources staff in relation to equity, diversity, and inclusion.

����’s Specialist, EDI, VP Academic, Strategic Initiatives works in collaboration with Human Resources, Faculty Relations, the Office of the Vice-President Research, and others across the institution to provide support for advancing equity, diversity, and inclusion.
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6. ����’s Equity Targets & Gaps

* Cell counts less than 5 are withheld to protect the privacy of chairholders
** If the number of chairs needed to fill the gap is fewer than��0.5, the cell indicates N/A
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7. Policies and Procedures that Govern Staffing of Canada Research Chairs

The Canada Research Chairs (CRC) program provides the university with the opportunity to recruit world-class scholars across all research disciplines.

More information:

• The Faculty Association of ����԰AV Collective Agreement
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8. ����԰AV Canada Research Chairs Equity Committee

The CRC Equity Committee was created in 2017 for the purpose of drafting ����’s Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Action Plan for the Canada Research Chairs Program. The Committee was comprised of:

Faculty Representatives: Lesley Shannon, Nathalie Sinclair
Faculty Relations: Doug Thorpe-Dorward, Catherine Stoddard
����԰AV Faculty Association: Ronda Arab
Major Projects Office: Theresa Burley
External Advisor: Grace Wong Sneddon
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9. Canada Research Chairs Program Utilization Spreadsheet

����԰AV CRC Utilization Spreadsheet – November 7, 2024

10. Canada Research Chairs Program: Equity, Diversity, & Inclusion Information

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11. Public Reports

����԰AV CRC EDI Progress Report 2021-22
����԰AV CRC EDI Progress Report 2020-21
����԰AV December 2029 Equity Target Plan
����԰AV CRC EDI Progress Report 2019-20
Institutional Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Action Plan: Progress Report (2018)

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12. ����԰AV's CRC advertisements

����԰AV's active and archived advertisements for internal, external and emergency retention CRCs can be found here:��/research/researcher-resources/funding-award-opportunities/research-grants/canada-research-chairs