Many Indigenous public servants work in just three departments—a trend that is 'deeply concerning'

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A lack of Indigenous representation across federal government organizations and pay levels is “deeply concerning” and “problematic” according to an academic focused on politics and Indigenous resurgence.

The government’s latest employment equity report shows Indigenous people make up 5.3 per cent of the core public service (compared to 5 per cent of the total population in Canada, according to the 2021 Census). While the government trumpets that this percentage has increased, though only by 0.1 per cent since last year, a deeper look at data within the report reveals many of those employees are concentrated in just a few departments and agencies.

The organizations with the highest representation were Indigenous Services Canada (28.5 per cent), Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada (16.9) and the Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency (25 per cent).

At the same time, there are federal departments and agencies with very little or no Indigenous staff, including the RCMP External Review Committee and the Canadian Human Rights Commission.

Academics say this concentration of Indigenous employees in a few federal organizations limits them to roles typically linked with Indigenous-specific issues.

“Such clustering restricts the spread of Indigenous perspectives and expertise across the broader scope of government functions, limiting the ability of Indigenous worldviews to shape policies and programs in areas like finance, health, or international relations,” said Elliot Goodell Ugalde, a PhD student in political studies at Queen’s University, specializing in international relations, Indigenous resurgence scholarship and political economy.

Ugalde said that greater inclusion of Indigenous people in other organizations would foster genuine reconciliation within the federal public service. He added that this dynamic undermines the federal government’s goal of equitable participation across the federal public service.

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