V. Mihalo notes the foregoing organizations will be added to the community outreach list.

S. Colley-Vegh asks what percentage of job postings go externally considering that diversity cannot be increased quickly if the status quo is required to be chosen first and the current makeup is not fully reflective of the community.

V. Mihaho responds that she does not have this information, however, she will review the external postings from 2019 and will report back to the committee.

The Chair states that the language of the diverse communities is not reflected in the job postings. He refers to city employees who provide coaching and opportunities for their family members to transition into city positions. He adds he would like to hear the specific platforms that the city has taken to address the issue of increasing minority populations within the city’s workforce.

V. Mihalo advises that the unionized positions must be posted internally first. When a posting goes externally, it allows for diversity to come into the Corporation. The numbers of diverse employees that are currently working are increasing so it is trending in the right direction. As it relates to family members, they would be considered as external candidates.

The Chair indicates that due to familial connection, the external candidates already have the privilege of having the experience and background to assist them in the interview process which places others at a disadvantage.

V. Mihalo replies that is why we try to look at different placements in terms of student placements, co-op placements and volunteers. She adds there is a need to increase these placements so everyone has an opportunity to be able to see what the process is.

G. Jones adds that they have been looking at how to make the postings more user friendly and more likely that diverse candidates would apply to those jobs. In research, it is noted that when you have a job posting, someone like a white male who does not have 100% of the qualifications, is likely to apply for that job posting whereas a female or racialized person is less likely to apply unless they have most or all of the qualifications. We are endeavouring to tweak our job postings to eliminate that barrier. We are in the process of creating a tool in-house to maximize the likelihood that more people will apply.

J. Bell refers to the Government of Canada’s Talent Cloud Platform which is a Beta project; an experimental initiative that looks at testing the introduction of a new category of worker. He asks if the city is looking at plans of non-traditional ways of documenting skills and validating experience and making that a part of the hiring process as well.