The Daily UbuntuThread 06 · Economy and Inequality · September 25, 2026
A public service that looks like us
In Quebec public bodies, visible minorities rose from 2.7% to 11.2% of the workforce between 2009 and 2022.
1 · The scene
At the hospital, an elderly woman searches for her words in Creole at the admissions counter. The clerk who greets her answers in the same language, and the woman's face relaxes all at once. Behind her, the line moves faster.
Later, in the cafeteria, the clerk tells a colleague she would like to become a department head one day. She adds, half laughing, that she has never yet seen anyone who looks like her on that floor.
Original vignette
2 · The documented case
A law that moves the numbers
In force since April 1, 2001, the Act respecting equal access to employment in public bodies requires bodies such as municipalities, health and education institutions, Crown corporations and the Sûreté du Québec to put equal access programs in place. It targets five groups historically subject to discrimination in employment, including visible minorities. The Commission des droits de la personne et des droits de la jeunesse (CDPDJ) monitors its application in 338 bodies.
Its report published in January 2023 shows real progress: the share of visible minorities in the workforce rose from 2.7% in 2009 to 11.2% as of March 31, 2022, with a sharper increase in the greater Montreal area. But the provincial target indicator, drawn from the 2016 Census, is 16.8%. The Commission also notes that these employees are more often found in lower-level positions, and that a "glass ceiling" seems to limit their access to senior management in some networks.
The report says two things at once: the rules work when they are applied, and the road is not finished. A public service that looks like the population it serves cares, teaches and protects better. It is a very concrete way of living Ubuntu: I am better served because we are all represented.
3 · The voice
“achieving better representation of the five target groups requires more determination”
4 · The question
In the public services you use, who welcomes you, who decides, and what does that gap stir in you?
Sources
- CDPDJ, annual report on visible minorities (Act respecting equal access to employment in public bodies), January 2023 (in French). www.cdpdj.qc.ca
- CDPDJ, tabling of the report on the Act respecting equal access to employment in public bodies, June 9, 2020 (in French). cdpdj.qc.ca
Every figure on this page links to a verifiable public source.
Tags
Read also
The résumé and the name
In 2012, a test run in Montreal with fictitious résumés showed that, with equal skills, a name weighed heavily on who got an interview.
ReadNaming the invisible walls
Sparked by a citizens' petition, the OCPM consultation led Montreal, in 2020, to recognize the systemic nature of racism and discrimination.
ReadThe diploma in the drawer
Nearly one in three recent immigrants with a degree says they are overqualified for their job; Quebec is trying to speed up recognition of skills acquired elsewhere.
Read