City of Vancouver named one of Canada's best diversity employers

The City of Vancouver has been named as one of Canada’s best diversity employers.

“We welcome differences for the richness and creativity it brings to the workplace,” says Anne Nickerson, Vancouver’s Equal Opportunity Director. “I love my job because of the wide variety of people I meet, work with and learn from. We take pride in our workforce diversity – for us, it’s a point of excellence.”

The annual competition recognizes leaders who create inclusive workplaces and programs for employees from five groups: women, members of visible minorities, persons with disabilities, Aboriginal Peoples and lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered (LGBT) peoples.

To determine this year’s winners, the competition reviewed diversity and inclusiveness initiatives from employers who applied for the Canada’s Top 100 Employers project. The finalists represent diversity in their industry and their region of Canada.

According to the competition selection, some of the reasons why the City of Vancouver of was selected as one of Canada’s Best Diversity Employers (2017) are:

• Working with 65 partner organizations, the City of Vancouver launched the Vancouver Immigration Partnership to help increase local capacity to assist newcomers with engagement, integration and access to services in Vancouver — the City also embarked on its 5th annual mentorship program for new Canadians, offered in partnership with the Immigration Employment Council of British Columbia and various service providers — additionally, Vancouver Public Library runs Skilled Immigrant InfoCentre, an on-line and in-person resource to help newcomers find employment-related information

• In partnership with ACCESS, the City of Vancouver’s Police Department maintains an Aboriginal Cadet Program, providing summer employment for 2 to 3 Aboriginal youths each year — additionally, the City’s 3-1-1 Call Centre created a 16-month internship to increase the employability of Aboriginal applicants (created in partnership with Essential Skills for Aboriginal Futures)

• Vancouver’s City Council recently passed two motions to support equal opportunities for women — the first motion is to increase the number of women appointed to city advisory committees to 50% or greater and the second is to investigate the creation of a mentorship program for women interested in a career in public service

The City wasn’t the only Vancouver employer to make the 2017 winners list. Dentons Canada LLP, TELUS Corporation, and UBC also made the grade.