Advocate urges feds to update equity act, settle class action with Black employees

OTTAWA — An advocate is urging the federal government to update equity legislation for Black employees and to drop its fight against a discrimination lawsuit that has cost more than $15 million so far.

Nicholas Marcus Thompson, president and CEO of the Black Class Action Secretariat, told The Canadian Press that changes to Canada’s Employment Equity Act are long overdue.

In 2023, former labour minister Seamus O’Regan announced two new designated groups would be created under the act for Black and LGBTQ+ people.

The act requires that federally regulated employers, including the public service, take steps to eliminate barriers and maintain proportional representation in the workplace for members of designated groups.

A report by the Employment Equity Act Review Task Force, released at the same time, recommended adding the new groups. It also included dozens of other recommendations, like establishing an employment equity data steering committee and creating an employment equity commissioner position.

Jessica Lacombe, a spokesperson for Employment and Social Development Canada, said in an email that the government has since held consultations with affected communities and organizations representing unions and employers on how to best implement the task force’s recommendations.

She said the feedback received during the consultations is now being analyzed to help inform possible future amendments to the law.

“Any information regarding the modernization of the act will be communicated when available,” she said.

Speaking at an event marking 30 years of Black History Month in Canada earlier this month, Prime Minister Mark Carney said that while Canadian principles celebrate diversity, the country hasn’t always lived up to that promise.

He said the history of Black Canadians is one of “injustice met with resilience.”

Carney said Ottawa is committed to empowering Black Canadians, citing spending measures in the fall federal budget supporting Black entrepreneurship and mental health and well-being programs.

Given Carney’s recent statements, Thompson said it’s important that the government follows through on its commitment to update the Employment Equity Act.

“The community, we want a solid response from the government of when it intends to fulfil this commitment,” Thompson said, adding that he will soon be announcing an implementation council to push the government to make the changes.

“We’re calling on the government to bring these amendments that it has committed to in the next budget.”

“They’ve agreed to do it, and you still have to fight them to do it.”

Thompson said Carney’s government has an opportunity to fulfil the last Liberal government’s promise.

“It would be historic,” he said, adding that he’d like to see the government implement other recommendations made by the task force. “It would be legacy for generations of workers to come and level the playing field for not just Black workers, but all marginalized workers.”

“The change would bring us to become a world-class public service.”

Thompson said he’s also still calling for the government to settle a class-action lawsuit launched by Black public servants in 2020 who alleged systemic racism within the workplace.

A Federal Court judge dismissed a motion to certify the lawsuit last year, though the plaintiffs in the case are appealing the court’s decision.

A document prepared by the Department of Justice said the government’s legal costs amounted to approximately $15 million as of September 2025.

Thompson said his estimates show the government has now spent about $20 million fighting the case.

Ian McLeod, a spokesperson for the Department of Justice, said he was unable to comment on specific or updated costs as “legal fees are generally considered to be subject to solicitor-client privilege.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 16, 2026.

—With files from Craig Lord

Catherine Morrison, The Canadian Press