Equity and Inclusive Communities fosters the development of an inclusive and transformational university culture where individual distinctiveness and a sense of belonging for every member drives excellence in research, teaching, learning and working at Carleton. Such a culture facilitates cross-cultural and interdisciplinary collaboration, local and global engagement, and expands an environment of innovative intellectual inquiry where all can fulfil their potential.

Our commitment strengthens connections and cohesion within and across university communities on EDI abd Human Rights commitments and goals.
For more information, please call 613-520-5622 or e-mail equity@carleton.ca.

Education, Training and Professional Development

The Department offers programming to foster the development of personal competencies and the implementation of structural elements necessary to accelerate an inclusive and transformational university culture:

  • Cultural Competencies for Inclusive Workplaces
  • Unconscious Bias Training
  • Equity in the Classroom and Workspaces

Employment and Educational Equity Policy

The EIC supports Carleton University’s commitment to providing equity in employment (including pay equity) and maintaining a supportive, hospitable and welcoming employment environment for all individuals. The University is committed to achieving and maintaining a diverse workforce and to initiating special measures as required to ensure full participation and advancement of employees in groups that have traditionally been under-represented, to enable them to compete for positions and work with others on an equitable basis.

The EIC also supports Carleton University’s commitment to excellence in teaching, scholarship and research and to providing equity in its educational programs and services. The University strives to provide the best possible educational experience for all of its students and to encourage and assist all students to succeed academically and as members of the University community. The commitment to provide educational equity extends to members of disadvantaged groups as outlined in the University’s Statement on Conduct and Human Rights, and includes international students within these categories.

Provisions relating to both employment and educational equity are contained in the Human Rights Policy.

Events and Campaigns

Cultural transformation involves awareness-building and visibility. The EIC sponsors or commemorates events and campaigns across campus to celebrate and illuminate the principles and practices related to equity and inclusive communities including:

  • Inclusion Week
  • International Women’s Day
  • Black History Month
  • National Indigenous Peoples Day

Policy Advice and Counsel

The EIC is a leading Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) voice and champion, collaborating with university partners in advocating to embed equity, inclusion and Indigenous ways of knowing and learning in all strategic institutional priorities.

Among other programs, EIC works with the Office for Research Initiatives and Services to support the Canada Research Chairs program. Click here for more information.

Consultation and Planning

EDI Action Plan

Following a robust consultative process led by EIC in 2020, the Carleton University EDI Action Plan was officially launched in March 2021.

Carleton’s EDI Action Plan outlines ways to reimagine curricular and pedagogical practices, and commits to further enhancing student supports, research infrastructure, leadership development for academic and non-academic staff, organizational culture and more. Please read the final Carleton University EDI Action Plan. A more concise companion is also available, along with the 2023 EDI Action Plan Progress Report. 

Self-Identification Survey

Carleton University’s success, now and into the future, must be built upon the best information, evidence and data available about the experience of all our students, faculty and staff through the lens of equity, inclusion and Indigenous ways of knowing and learning. To support this goal, one of the first priorities determined in the EDI Action Plan is the need to internally collect disaggregated demographic data for all students, faculty, and staff.

To ensure data is collected effectively, the EIC offered Students, Faculty, and Staff the opportunity to provide feedback on the draft Self-Identification Survey through a variety of means including closed consultation events and online feedback.

The consultation and feedback timeframe is now closed. Thank you to everyone who participated. More information will follow as we work toward a Fall 2023 term launch.

Find out more about the Self-Identification Survey

Engagement in National EDI Initiatives

Carleton has reaffirmed its leadership intent in the areas of equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) in other ways. By endorsing the NSERC Dimensions Program Charter, the university adopts its principles designed to achieve greater research excellence, innovation and creativity in higher education through EDI: Dimensions: Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Canada.

Carleton is also a member of Universities Canada and as such the university has committed to the seven principles of Inclusive Excellence.