Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Public Accountability and Transparency

Reflecting the requirements of the Canada Research Chairs Program (CRCP) Equity, Diversity, Inclusion Action Plan, all participating institutions with five or more Canada Research Chair (CRC) allocations must clearly publish on their websites information related to the management of their chair allocations, as outlined below. Institutions must continue to meet these requirements, and must review and update their public accountability webpages annually, to remain eligible for the program. Accordingly, information presented below will be periodically updated to reflect updates in Memorial’s engagement in the CRCP.

Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Commitment Statement

Memorial University is strongly committed to employment equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) within the CRCP, as well as through the broader institution. Memorial encourages applications to all such employment opportunities from qualified equity-deserving members of our community, including, but not limited to, the four designated groups (FDGs) of Indigenous Peoples, Persons with Disabilities, Racialized Individuals, and Women and Gender Equity-Seeking Groups.

Memorial acknowledges that career paths can be diverse and that certain circumstances may legitimately affect a nominee’s record of research achievement. Applicants to CRC opportunities at Memorial are encouraged to explain, in a cover letter, any personal circumstances resulting in career interruptions (if applicable) in order to allow for a fair assessment of their research productivity.

Memorial University respects people's needs and is committed to providing an inclusive learning and work environment. If there is anything required to ensure an applicant’s full participation in the CRC recruitment process, equity@mun.ca should be contacted directly so that appropriate arrangements can then be made.

Memorial’s Canada Research Chair Policies

Canada Research Chairs are a critically important research resource. They are deployed through a rigorous institutional process designed to optimize their effectiveness in strategically advancing the University's research enterprise, while creating equitable opportunities for access to the CRCP across Memorial’s faculties, schools and campuses. Memorial’s policy, Reallocation, Renewal and Reduction of Canada Research Chairs (CRCs) at Memorial University (i.e., currently under review) addresses the management of its CRC allocation. This policy is consistent with the terms of Memorial’s Collective Agreement with its Faculty Association which provides for recruitment, appointment, promotion and tenure of all faculty members at Memorial University, as well as with the CRCP's Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Requirements and Practices. In addition, institutional guidance related to the use of awarded CRC funds is provided by Memorial’s 2021 CRCP Financial Arrangements.

CRCP EDI Action Plan: Governance and Administration

Memorial’s 2019 CRCP EDI Action Plan may be reviewed here.

This plan has been reviewed and approved by the CRCP and will be reviewed and revised from time to time in accordance with the requirements of the CRCP, as well as in alignment with any changes to policies and procedures at Memorial University, and/or to ensure ongoing consistency with Memorial’s Collective Agreement with its Faculty Association.

The CRCP is administered at Memorial by Research Initiatives and Services (RIS). For questions or concerns related to the administration of the CRCP at Memorial, please contact:

Dr. Brent Myron
Associate Director
Tel: (709) 864-4791

Pamela White
CRC and CFI
pwhite@mun.ca

Memorial’s Equity Officer provides support in relation to the CRCP in the event of any arising concerns related to equity, diversity and inclusion. Any concerns should be directed to the Equity Officer who will monitor concerns received and report them to RIS and the Vice-President (Research) such that they can be monitored and addressed. For questions or concerns related to CRCP equity and diversity at Memorial, please contact:

Equity Officer
equity@mun.ca

Equity Targets

In 2021, the CRCP implemented a new equity target-setting methodology to aid participating institutions in reaching population-based equity targets by 2029. All CRCP eligible institutions are required to meet progressively increasing targets by Dec. 31 of 2022, 2025, 2027 and 2029. Data related to the Equity Targets, progress towards reaching targets and gaps for each of the FDGs (Indigenous Peoples, Persons with Disabilities, Racialized Individuals, and Women and Gender Equity-Seeking Groups) can be viewed on the CRCP website, while the Program's Population-Based Institutional Equity Targets 2021 to 2029 can be found here. The 2019 Addendum to the 2006 Canadian Human Rights Settlement Agreement can be located here.

Memorial University's equity targets from 2022, and its projected equity targets for 2025-2029, can be found here. In addition, please see Memorial’s 2024 CRCP Representation Data of individuals from the FDGs. Please note that, for both documents, numbers less than five and their associated percentages have been withheld to protect the privacy of the Chairholders in alignment with the Privacy Act.

Memorial’s Canada Research Chairs Utilization

CRCP-eligible institutions have online access to their institutional CRC utilization information, which outlines how many chair allocations the institution has, how many chairs are filled and by which Chairholders (including start and end dates, term, agency and tier) and which allocations are available. Memorial’s current CRCP utilization, which is posted annually, can be viewed here.

Canada Research Chair Opportunities

The recruitment and nomination of all CRC positions must follow the CRCP’s requirements, which are based on the principles of openness, transparency and accountability. Memorial’s current, and previous, CRC opportunities can be viewed on its Academic Recruitment website. In accordance with the Reallocation, Renewal and Reduction of Canada Research Chairs (CRCs) at Memorial University policy, and Memorial’s Collective Agreement, CRC opportunities are open to all qualified internal and external candidates, advertised broadly and in keeping with Memorial’s 2021-2029 Equity Targets. 

Reporting

A public report on the progress made in meeting Memorial University’s objectives as presented in the 2019 CRCP EDI Action Plan must be posted annually. Memorial’s most recent EDI Progress Report, submitted to the CRCP in December 2023, can be viewed here. In addition, Memorial’s 2019 and 2020 report, submitted to CRCP in May 2021, can be found here.

Employment Equity Survey Report

In August 2021, Memorial University hired Knightsbridge Robertson Surrette (KBRS) to conduct a Canada Research Chairs Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Survey. The survey was launched on Aug. 27, 2021, and closed on Sept. 13, 2021. The survey was sent out to all active CRCs as well as 50 members of Memorial’s administration. A total of 37 responses were collected; 18 of whom identified as current CRCs and 12 identified as part of administration and some may also identify as faculty. Please click the following links for more information: Memorial Report_KBRS Survey and Response to KBRS .