This literature review provides insight into the current state of LGBTQI2S workplace inclusion in Canada and beyond. The current national and international contexts through which LGBTQI2S people navigate at work are examined, and an overview of the gaps in research specific to LGBTQI2S workplace inclusion in Canada is explored.
In our research, policy, and community engaged work, Egale has witnessed a culture of change in LGBTQI2S workplace inclusion. However LGBTQI2S people in Canada continue to face discrimination and exclusion in the workforce, and there exists particular harm for transgender and gender non-conforming people. Sexuality and gender oppression intersect with experiences of racism for Black, Indigenous, and people of colour within LGBTQI2S populations in Canada. Persistent issues for LGBTQI2S people in the workplace make visible the failure of organizations to protect LGBTQI2S employees and the failure of Canada’s current workplace and human rights frameworks.
This report provides a three section overview of the current landscape of LGBTQI2S workplace inclusion in Canada by identifying the central workplace concerns for Canadian LGBTQI2S people. The sections are:
- LGBTQI2S Workplace Inclusion: Canadian Contexts, inclusive of gaps in research and literature on workplace inclusion in Canada.
- LGBTQI2S People and work: Specific forms of violence, harassment, and discrimination that LGBTQI2S people experience in the realms of work, labour, and employment.
- LGBTQI2S Workplace Inclusion: Outlining the current state of LGBTQI2S workplace inclusion policy, and promising practices for inclusion.