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Equality, Diversity and Inclusion

On June 28, 2022, Convocation approved a motion to not release the Inclusion Index developed in 2019 pursuant to Recommendation 6 of the Working Together for Change: Strategies to Address Issues of Systemic Racism in the Legal Profession report. The Law Society is working to develop a new protocol for the collection and publication of data pertaining to equity, diversity and inclusion in legal workplaces.


The Equality, Diversity and Inclusion initiative comprises five strategies the Law Society is implementing to address racism and discrimination in the professions.  The strategies were recommended in the final report of the Challenges Faced by Racialized Licensees Working Group.

What you need to know and do

Educating for change

CPD Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Requirement
Licensees subject to the Continuing Professional Development Requirement are to complete 3 Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Professionalism Hours by 2020, and one EDI Hour of CPD per year starting in 2021.
 

CPD EDI Programs

Measuring progress

The Law Society is measuring progress by gathering data through:
  • work place self-assessments (required for legal workplaces with 10 or more licensees)
  • inclusion and self-identification questions (voluntary) in the Annual Report Filing
  • an inclusion survey (voluntary). 
The data collected will enable the Law Society to better understand demographic trends, and will inform our efforts to promote equality and diversity in the legal professions.

Accelerating diversity

Human Rights and Diversity Policy
Legal workplaces of at least 10 licensees are required to develop, implement and maintain a human rights/diversity policy for their legal workplace addressing at the very least fair recruitment, retention and advancement.

CPD Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Requirement Read the Working Together for Change final report
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