Wishing you happy holidays and a wonderful new year!

As we reach the end of 2023, we mark a banner year in which the Diversity Institute (DI) team, now with more than 130 full-time staff, along with hundreds of partners, have had a significant impact on advancing equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI). We have also greatly contributed to the advancement of Canada's diverse entrepreneurs and helped under-employed Canadians to become job-ready and develop the skills employers are seeking. We published more than 50 research reports (opens in new window)  on topics including green skills, digital skills, competency frameworks and wraparound supports, as well as best practices for supporting equity-deserving groups in education, employment and entrepreneurship. 

Our evidence-based upskilling, reskilling and job placement programs served more than 2,000 people through ADaPT (opens in new window) , ADaPT4Success (opens in new window)  and ADaPT for Black Youth (external link, opens in new window) , and we continued to grow our support for women and diverse entrepreneurs through WE-Hub (opens in new window)  and the Newcomer Entrepreneurship Hub (opens in new window) . We welcomed MyStartr (opens in new window)  developed by MaRS Discovery District with employers like Starbucks, Home Depot, Bell Canada and Walmart to help youth get job ready. We worked with small, medium and large employers to promote the 50 – 30 Challenge (external link, opens in new window)  and helped more than 200 employers implement EDI strategies using DI’s proprietary Diversity Assessment Tool (external link, opens in new window) . We developed new tools to support inclusive design, implementation and evaluation of  programs and undertook more than 40 impact evaluation projects, many with the Future Skills Centre (external link, opens in new window) . We completed a new edition of DiversityLeads with the University of Manitoba tracking the representation of women and racialized people in leadership roles, and did a deep dive into the representation in nonprofit leadership in Ontario with CivicAction (opens in new window) . We led research that helped support the Employment Equity Act Review Task Force recommendations to add Black people and members of the 2SGLBTQ+ community to designated groups as well as updates to language. We led the development (external link, opens in new window)  of the Publically Available Specification and Technical Specification for the Standards Council of Canada to support the 50 – 30 Challenge.

We hosted and participated in more than 500 events, partnering with Metropolis, the Century Initiative, the Ontario Chamber of Commerce, Charity Village, Governance Professionals of Canada and many more, reaching almost 25,000 people across the country and world. One highlight was our two-day Online Hate, Media (Mis)Representation and Systemic Racism (opens in new window)  event, which attracted more than 450 participants, Another was our celebration of Women’s Entrepreneurship Day at the Toronto Stock Exchange.

Check out our end-of-year wrap newsletter (opens in new window) , with stories showcasing some of these projects, events and research results!

At the heart of the Diversity Institute are our passionate and creative staff, (external link)  who are working to provide Canada with groundbreaking research and innovative programs that advance economic inclusion and strengthen Canada’s diversity. As DI continues to grow, we are grateful for the collaboration and support of our valued partners. Thank you and see you in 2024!