OFFICE of RESEARCH SERVICES
Canada Research Chairs
The Canada Research Chairs Program (CRCP) was established by the Government of Canada in 2000 with the goal of attracting and retaining world-class researchers to promote academic research excellence in Canadian post-secondary institutions.
Currently, over 2,000 research professorships are allocated across 78 Canadian institutions, with an annual investment of approximately $300 million from the Government of Canada.
Through this support, research chairs work to improve knowledge, train the next generation of highly skilled professionals and strengthen Canada’s international competitiveness in all fields.
Dr. Kristopher Wells, Tier II Canada Research Chair for the Public Understanding of Sexual and Gender Minority
Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI)
The CRCP recognizes that a diverse, inclusive and equitable culture is essential to foster innovative, impactful research advances that respond to global needs and challenges. Participating institutions commit to providing a supportive and inclusive workplace, while continuing to meet institutional equity and diversity targets that comply with the goals of the CRCP.
In 2006, the CRCP was required, in a settlement agreement, to implement specific measures to increase representation of four designated groups: women, persons with disabilities, Indigenous peoples and members of visible minorities.
In 2017, the agreement was made a federal court order at the request of equity-seeking plaintiffs, as not enough progress was made. An addendum to the 2006 Settlement Agreement was subsequently signed in 2019, establishing a ten-year framework for the CRCP to reflect the diversity within Canada.
2019 ADDENDUM TO 2006 CANADIAN HUMAN RIGHTS SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT
The CRCP’s Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Action Plan requires institutions to develop their own action plans that address the representation of members from the four designated groups among their chair allocations. Institutions are required to set EDI objectives that will enable meaningful progress towards achieving their equity targets and to improve transparency and accountability of the allocation process.
The Office of Research Services, in conjunction with the Office of Human Rights, received a research stipend from CRCP to begin the development of MacEwan’s EDI action plan for this program. As a point of engagement, MacEwan faculty members were invited to participate in surveys and interviews conducted by an external consultant. This was done to help understand MacEwan’s unique culture and practices and to identify next steps for the eventual creation of a CRCP EDI action plan.
Public accountability and transparency
As of 2021, institutions with fewer than five chairs are required to publish information related to the management of their chair allocations, in accordance with CRC program’s public accountability and transparency requirements. This information is as follows:
MacEwan University, located on Treaty Six Territory, is committed to creating and sustaining equitable and inclusive practices and policies which foster a welcoming, inclusive and diverse teaching, learning and working environment. MacEwan uses learnings and reflections gained from persons most impacted by non-inclusive practices to guide our actions. This commitment requires cultural shifts at all levels of the organization and will occur over time.
MacEwan University is committed to diversity, equity and inclusion. We encourage Indigenous people, persons living with a disability, sexual and gender minorities, women and members of all minority groups to apply and self-identify. All qualified candidates are encouraged to apply; however, Canadians and permanent residents are given priority.
MacEwan is committed to the principles of diversity, equity and inclusion and recognizes and addresses barriers to employment. The University values the diverse backgrounds, points of view and identities of its employees. The University recognizes the importance of this diversity in creating a welcoming learning environment for students and an inclusive and equitable working environment for employees. MacEwan’s Employment Equity and Inclusion policy raises awareness of MacEwan’s commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion in recruitment and establishes guidelines regarding the collection and use of Employment Equity Data.
The Office of Human Rights at MacEwan administers many EDI-related initiatives and provides training and resources to the entire university community of faculty, students and staff. In addition, an EDI Accelerator Team was recently created to lead institution-wide initiatives to maintain a sustained commitment to collecting EDI data in support of programs, to create safe spaces for ongoing dialogue and to advance improvements in recruitment.
All institutions that receive agency funding are expected to meet equity and diversity targets.
Canada Research Chairs data is updated after the results of the nominations are made public.
Reporting on the use of the $50,000 EDI stipend provided by the program in 2020-21.
Disputes and grievances relating to issues governed by the Collective Agreement between the university and the faculty association are outlined in detail in Article 4 of the agreement.
Should any employee have concerns about institutional climate, equity or any other aspect of inclusivity, they would follow policies in place for all employees, such as:
- Sexual Violence Policy
- Responding to Sexual Violence Procedure
- Employee Code of Conduct
- MacEwan’s Confidence Line
- Free, third party, confidential service for students, staff and faculty
- Reports may be submitted online or by phone at 1-800-661-9675
- Reports are directed to the appropriate staff and administrator depending on the nature of the concern. This could be the faculty dean, academic integrity officer, Security Services or the police
MacEwan University has equity targets and gaps for each of the four designated groups. Numbers less than five must be withheld to protect the privacy of chairholders, unless all of the institution’s chairholders give explicit permission to share the data.
As MacEwan has less than five CRCs, this section focuses on high-level demographic data that helps inform and identify gaps as it relates to CRC recruitment.
The Count Yourself In survey was created to collect basic information on the diversity of MacEwan University employees. Results from the survey will help set realistic equity, diversity and inclusion goals for the University and highlights MacEwan’s commitment as a signatory to the Universities Canada principles on equity, diversity and inclusion.
MACEWAN EMPLOYEE DEMOGRAPHIC SURVEY
Current CRCP equity targets and gaps are provided on the Program Statistics page.
The CRCP provides a tool to determine equity targets at institutions. The equity target-setting tool for small to medium institutions is accessible from the CRCP page.
ESTABLISHING EQUITY & DIVERSITY TARGETS
Using this tool, the current CRC equity targets for MacEwan are:
Applicable policies are listed below and are available on MacEwan’s Current Policies page:
The CRCP utilization spreadsheet outlines how many chair allocations MacEwan University has, how many are filled, the chairholder start date and term end, type of flex moves used and which allocations are available.
All Canada Research Chair positions must be filled using the Recruitment and Nomination Requirements.
No current chair recruitment postings (internal).
Not applicable.
Archived chair recruitment postings
JULY 2018 CRC Sexual and Gender Minority Youth Issues