Equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) are vital to healthcare. We know members and patients experience racism and inequities and that this significantly affects physicians, threatens patient safety, and creates medico-legal risk.
We have a responsibility to address this risk and help mitigate bias and inequity in the services we provide and in our own workplace. Addressing EDI is directly tied to our mission, and is why we are prioritizing this important work.
Our EDI vision and mission
Vision
The CMPA is an organization where employees and members can be their authentic selves and are valued for their diverse experiences and perspectives.
Mission
As an essential component of the Canadian healthcare system, we must prioritize equity, diversity, and inclusion in order to reflect the values of our communities and protect the integrity of physicians while contributing to safe medical care in Canada.
Understanding CMPA’s role in EDI
The CMPA’s mission is to protect the professional integrity of physicians and promote safe medical care in Canada. We regularly hear from members who are experiencing medico-legal problems related to EDI, including systemic racism, discrimination, and inequities. We pay particular attention to experiences of racism and discrimination that Black, Indigenous, and racialized physician members face. We recognize hate such as the antisemitism and Islamophobia that members experience. We are also mindful of the exclusion, discrimination, and hate our members experience based on sexual orientation, gender expression and identities, and disabilities.
Our case data support these claims. Lack of focus on EDI negatively and significantly affects physicians, threatens patient safety, and, by extension, creates medico-legal risk. We have a responsibility to address this risk and help mitigate bias and inequity in the services we provide and in our own workplace. Addressing EDI is therefore directly tied to our mission, and it is why we are prioritizing this important work. See the Appendix to learn more about how we believe EDI is relevant to our members and employees and the Glossary for relevant terms.
Michael T. Cohen, MD,
CMPA President
(August 2020 – August 2022)
A message from the President
The CMPA is an essential component of the Canadian healthcare system. Our mission is to protect the professional integrity of physicians and promote safe medical care in Canada. As the country’s largest medical association for physicians, with over 105,000 physician members, we are uniquely positioned to tangibly and positively impact the lives of physicians, the safety of medical care, and the sustainability of the healthcare system.
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CMPA Council recognizes and champions the importance of equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) at the CMPA. At the CMPA, we believe fostering EDI is critical to our support of members and employees and to our success as an organization. We also recognize that effective leadership and mindful governance practices are needed to support members and employees, and to contribute to safe medical care.
To guide the development of this EDI Strategy, Council created an EDI Sub-Committee to set priorities and steer our development work. I’d like to thank all my Councillor colleagues who participated in this Committee. Your vision and willingness to listen, learn, and engage in challenging discussions have helped develop a strategy which will contribute to safe medical care by supporting EDI for both members and employees.
Acknowledging the importance of our EDI work, oversight of the various EDI Strategy elements will be rolled into the respective mandates of the appropriate existing Council Committees. By leveraging the leadership support and governance knowledge of our Councilors, we will create accountability and sustainability for our EDI work at all levels of the organization – effectively positioning the CMPA to foster EDI within the organization and within our member services.
As we implement and continue to evolve our EDI Strategy, I look forward to working with Council, management and our incoming President, Dr. Jean-Hugues Brossard, to enhance and foster a more inclusive and equitable future.
Lisa Calder,
MD, MSc, FRCPC,
CMPA Chief Executive Officer
A message from the CEO
At the CMPA, we recognize that racism and inequities exist in the Canadian healthcare system, of which we are a part. We regularly hear from members who are experiencing medico-legal challenges related to EDI. These experiences significantly affect both physicians and the quality of patient care across the country.
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I am committed to being there for our members and employees, modernizing the CMPA, and doing so collaboratively – and this includes finding new ways to support members and contribute to safe medical care. As an organization, the CMPA has a responsibility to prioritize EDI. Doing so is critical to achieving our mission, to supporting our members and employees, and to enhancing the safety of medical care for patients. This is why I am excited to share the CMPA’s Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) Strategy.
Our strategy is rooted in a growth and learning mindset and serves as a guide to help us take intentional and sustainable steps to achieve our EDI vision. Our EDI Strategy will address 5 essential elements: members, governance, employees, learning, and advocacy. We will begin by focusing on members, governance, and employees. As we learn and grow, we will evolve and expand our strategy to include member-focused learning and advocacy efforts. Our intent is to be an organization where members and employees are valued for their diverse experiences and perspectives, and where we provide members with fair and equitable support – helping them provide safe medical care.
I hope you are as excited as I am about CMPA’s EDI efforts. I look forward to working together to build a more inclusive CMPA where everyone feels and knows they belong.
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Our EDI Strategy will address 5 essential elements: members, governance, employees, learning, and advocacy.
To be effective, we recognize we cannot address everything at once. As such, we are taking an agile approach and prioritizing our efforts based on data and insights. Over the next 3 years, we will focus on members, governance, and employees.
Members
Engage with EDI stakeholders and members to understand how we can combat anti-black racism and better support anti-racist approaches.
The CMPA is committed to advancing EDI in the services we provide to our members. We strive to create an inclusive environment where all members can express their medico-legal concerns in a safe space and receive fair, equitable support.
We serve an ever-growing and changing membership with diverse needs. We have the opportunity to leverage our unique position to better understand our members’ experiences and challenges, to support them, and to make a difference in how they provide safe medical care to their patients. Our goal is to build our awareness and understanding of the racism and discrimination that Black, Indigenous, and racialized members face. We recognize the antisemitism and Islamophobia members experience. We are also mindful of the exclusion, discrimination and hate our members experience based on sexual orientation, gender expression and identities, and disabilities.
Foster truth, healing, and reconciliation for Indigenous members and healthcare stakeholders.
To remain relevant to our members, and as an organization focused on member support, it is important that members see themselves reflected within the CMPA workforce and services. This is why we are exploring how we can enhance representation in our front-line assistance and our service delivery model to better reflect our membership.
Our 3 goals to enhance EDI for members are:
To support this goal we will:
- Continue to listen and learn from our members, and consult with them to identify areas where we can offer our services differently to enhance inclusion and mitigate unconscious biases.
- Develop measures to evaluate the safety and inclusivity of our services, focusing on providing members with a culturally and psychologically safe environment when they are seeking medico-legal advice.
- Build the capacity and skills of our physician advisors and other front-line employees, to ensure they are able to have sensitive conversations with members, mitigate bias, and deliver comprehensive, culturally sensitive, non-judgmental, and safe assistance.
- Develop our ability to collect and analyze qualitative and quantitative data on the EDI issues facing our members to inform our member services and prepare for advocacy efforts.
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To support this goal we will:
- Engage relevant stakeholders in conversations to better understand less adversarial dispute resolution approaches in situations of discrimination, such as: exploring restorative approaches as they apply to healthcare within a medico-legal environment – including culturally sensitive dispute resolution, alternative mediation, and arbitration.
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To support this goal we will:
- Continue to evolve inclusive hiring and promotion practices for all employees -- including physician advisors and other front-line member service staff – so that members can receive services that are more reflective of the diversity of our membership.
- Engage with stakeholders and members to better understand how we can:
- include anti-Black racism and anti-racist approaches in our service delivery model
- better support International Medical Graduates (IMG) experiencing discrimination
- better support members who identify as Women and/or 2SLGBTQI+ persons and who are experiencing sexism and/or discrimination
- foster truth, healing, and reconciliation for Indigenous members and healthcare stakeholders.
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Employees
Create a compelling employee experience – where our employees are inspired, connected, and empowered to bring the Association’s vision, mission, and strategic plan to life in service of our members.
One of the CMPA’s greatest assets are our employees. As we aim to further enhance the workplace culture at the CMPA, we strive to:
- Be an organization where our talented and skilled employees feel they belong and are able to participate fully as valued and respected contributors.
- Be a place where people want to work – where we are able to recruit and retain amazing talent with diverse perspectives and lived experiences.
- Prioritize the safety and well-being of employees – where employees feel safe to be their authentic selves at work and voice opinions, thoughts, or ideas in a collaborative atmosphere.
- Create a compelling employee experience – where our employees are inspired, connected, and empowered to bring the Association’s vision, mission, and strategic plan to life in service of our members.
At the CMPA, we are enriched by each other and our differences. We strive to better understand our employees' experiences and challenges. Our goal is to build our awareness and understanding of the racism and discrimination that Black, Indigenous, and racialized employees may face. We recognize the antisemitism and Islamophobia employees may experience. We are also mindful of the exclusion, discrimination, and hate our employees may face based on sexual orientation, gender expression, and identities, and disabilities.
Ultimately, we want to support a workplace culture and environment where there is a strong sense of trust and belonging among employees. As we advance along our EDI journey, we are confident this will strengthen the CMPA as an organization and allow us to innovate, make better decisions, and better support our members in their provision of safe medical care in Canada.
Our 3 goals to enhance employee EDI are
To support this goal we will:
- Define how people leaders and employees will be accountable for fostering an inclusive workplace culture.
- Establish a framework to support employee engagement and two-way communication.
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To support this goal we will:
- Establish accessible, safe spaces and processes for raising issues of inequity, harassment, sexism, and discrimination.
- Apply anti-racist and anti-discrimination approaches to core organizational systems to address the experiences of under-represented or marginalized groups, including Black persons, Indigenous Peoples, racialized persons, 2SLGBTQI+ persons, persons living with visible and invisible disabilities, Women, Francophone persons and IMGs.
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To support this goal we will:
- Create more equitable and transparent job opportunity and advancement processes.
- Continue to support learning and career development for all employees, focusing on improving trust and belonging among those who identify as Black Persons, Indigenous Peoples, racialized persons, 2SLGBTQI+ persons, persons living with visible and invisible disabilities, Women, Francophone persons and IMGs.
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Governance
Value the varied perspectives and lived experiences of all Council members and strive for representation that is reflective of the diverse Canadian physician community.
CMPA Council recognizes that EDI is a crucial part of supporting and sustaining effective governance and organizational health. Council strives to demonstrate and uphold the principles of EDI in all aspects of its work. The CMPA values the varied perspectives and lived experiences of all Council members and strives for representation that is reflective of the diverse Canadian physician community. We are working to build a governance environment that is both equitable and inclusive with understanding and awareness of the specific experiences of racism and discrimination that Black, Indigenous, and racialized Council members may face. We recognize the antisemitism and Islamophobia that Council members may experience. We are also mindful of the exclusion, discrimination and hate Council members may face based on sexual orientation, gender expression and identities, and disabilities.
Our 3 goals to enhance governance EDI are:
To support this goal we will:
- Continue to review and adjust our nomination procedures to support recruitment practices that are more inclusive and consider representation and diversity as important components of our Council nomination process.
- Provide ongoing learning to the Nomination Committee, with focus on EDI and bias training in the nomination process.
- Work with our partners and stakeholders (e.g., Indigenous Physicians Association of Canada, Black Physicians of Canada, etc.) to make our governance opportunities more apparent and accessible to candidates.
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To support this goal we will:
- Explore expanding diversity within Council governance committees (where appropriate) through the addition of external members and guest speakers. This will support diversified voices and perspectives, bringing the expertise and experiences of our members and stakeholders directly to our Council committees.
- Commit to an ongoing review of our governance structures, including Council size and composition, to sustain the ability of Council to understand the EDI challenges facing members.
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To support this goal we will:
- Enable Councillors to participate in governance procedures and meetings through virtual and hybrid formats – letting them attend in a way that meets their accessibility needs.
- Offer French and English simultaneous interpretation within Council and all Committee meetings to support inclusive dialogue.
- Evaluate our governance environment for cultural and psychological safety and make improvements as appropriate.
- Provide ongoing EDI learning and training opportunities to Council members.
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Learning
Develop learning opportunities for our members and employees and provide them with the tools necessary to support EDI both within the organization and externally.
The CMPA knows that, to be an organization where members and employees can be their authentic selves and be valued for their diverse experiences and perspectives, learning is essential. Accordingly, learning is integrated throughout our EDI Strategy and will support all of our 5 elements.
As we begin our strategy work by focusing first on members, governance, and employees, we will deliver learning to employees, leaders, and Councillors. Once our foundation is in place, we will develop member-focused learning experiences centered around dialogue, active listening, trauma-informed approach, and meaningful engagement. Learning opportunities for our members and employees will provide the tools necessary to support EDI initiatives both within the organization and externally, allowing us to better serve our members and collaborate more effectively with stakeholders.
As such, our goal is to design and develop learning and education with awareness and understanding of the experiences of racism and discrimination that Black, Indigenous, and racialized members and employees face. We recognize the antisemitism and Islamophobia members and employees face. We are also mindful of the exclusion, discrimination, and hate our members and employees experience based on sexual orientation, gender expression and identities, and disabilities.
Our 2 goals to enhance EDI through learning are:
To support this goal we will:
- Provide effective EDI learning tools and programs to all CMPA employees to empower them with the skills and knowledge necessary to cultivate an equitable, diverse, inclusive, and productive work environment.
- Support continued and open dialogue with our employees around key EDI principles in safe and inclusive learning environments while building competencies and increased awareness around unconscious biases.
- Build a comprehensive learning framework through learning tools, workshops, learning objectives, and accessibility to learning resources.
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To support this goal we will:
- Create the internal conditions needed to provide learning that promotes safe medical care which is culturally safe, equitable, and inclusive for providers and the diverse patient populations they serve within Canadian healthcare.
- Better understand the EDI challenges members face, and explore opportunities to develop learning resources and programs to address these needs.
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Advocacy
Prepare and strengthen our foundation for effective EDI advocacy.
We work with numerous government and stakeholder organizations to advocate for system enhancements that allow physicians to focus on providing safe, quality care to their patients. Our data, research, insights, and unique perspectives enable us to provide input on key laws, regulations, and policies as well as on a range of subjects that can affect the safety of care and the culture of healthcare environments – including issues related to EDI.
As such, our goal is to help governments and stakeholders understand the experiences of racism and discrimination that Black, Indigenous, and racialized physicians face. We recognize the antisemitism and Islamophobia physicians face. We are also mindful of the exclusion, discrimination, and hate physicians face based on sexual orientation, gender expression and identities, and disabilities.
During the first three years of our EDI strategy, we will focus on preparing and strengthening our foundation for effective EDI advocacy. As we grow and learn, we will further develop and clarify our advocacy goals, detailing the activities we will take to support members and the healthcare system.
Our goal to prepare to engage in EDI advocacy is:
To support this goal we will:
- Engage community leaders and healthcare organizations in meaningful conversations on EDI issues.
- Work with partners and stakeholders to understand relevant and emerging EDI issues in the external environment, both provincially and nationally, and continue to support the Canadian Medical Forum’s (CMF) anti-discrimination work.
- Consult with stakeholders to understand their EDI needs within the medico-legal realm.
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Measurement and evaluation
As we continue in our work, we will measure and evaluate how we are enhancing the safety and culturally sensitivity of the support and services we provide to members, and how we are improving the inclusion experience of employees. We will continue to listen, learn, and measure our progress through effective key performance indicators (KPIs) linked to feedback mechanisms, such as surveys, one-on-one outreach, and focus groups.
Our long-term EDI journey: supportive, modern, and collaborative
Our efforts to support EDI will be long-term and continuous. We believe this work is a journey and not a destination. The EDI Strategy is a roadmap that will guide us to continuously foster EDI for our members, governance, and employees, and direct our learning and advocacy work. The strategy clearly outlines our vision and goals, and is intended to provide guidance to our implementation plans. This will support EDI becoming integrated into our daily activities and allow us to build actions into our operational plan.
Moving forward
Moving forward, we will continue to engage and inform members and employees. As next steps, we will:
- Develop a comprehensive implementation plan, including the identification of structures and resources needed to support our EDI work.
- Integrate EDI activities into our operational plans, building EDI into our daily work.
- Update the mandate of relevant Council committees to ensure oversight of our 5 EDI elements.
Listening and learning will be embedded throughout our EDI journey, and we will make adjustments to our strategy along the way. By adopting an agile, open, and adaptive mindset, we will help create an environment where everyone – members and employees - can be their authentic selves and feel valued for their diverse experiences and perspectives.
Why is EDI at the CMPA relevant to our members?
The CMPA is committed to being there for our members. This includes ensuring our members feel seen, heard, and supported when they contact us. By fostering EDI, we can improve the inclusiveness and safety of our member services and help our members provide culturally safe care. Additionally, it will help us better understand our members’ needs and subsequently create a more relevant, relatable, forward-looking, and trusted CMPA.
Why is EDI at the CMPA relevant to our employees?
The CMPA recognizes that diverse backgrounds, viewpoints, and insights are critical to our ability to support members and employees. Ultimately, we see improved equity as a tool to reduce conflict, enhanced diversity as a mechanism to reduce corporate risks, and inclusivity as a way to create a sense of belonging among our workforce. By fostering EDI, we will attain and attract talented and skilled employees and build a culture where everyone feels included and accepted for who they are.
How will our strategy evolve?
We pride ourselves on being an adaptive, agile, and learning organization. We know there will be challenges along the way, but by adopting a growth mindset, we will adapt and evolve the strategy as needed to be an organization that truly embodies and supports a compelling employee and member experience.
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accessibility: ability of everyone to use a service or product, in whatever way each person encounters it;1 typically used in conjunction with access for people living with disabilities2
accommodation: to treat every person appropriately, according to what they need or deserve, or both3
alternative dispute resolution: manner of settling a legal dispute other than through a formal decision by a court, tribunal, or other decision-making body4
arbitration: manner of negotiating a resolution among disputing parties through the use of a neutral third party who makes a decision with respect to the dispute; the decision may or may not be binding on the parties5
bone fide occupational requirement: a requirement of a job that can be defended as an absolute must‐have (e.g. use of a hard hat, a driver's license)6
discrimination: an act, instance, policy, etc. of unjust or prejudicial treatment, especially on the grounds of race, age, or sex
diversity: the variety of unique dimensions, qualities, and characteristics all people possess, including race, ethnicity, age, gender, sexual orientation, religious beliefs, economic status, physical abilities, and life experiences7
equity: equity means supporting each person according to what they need rather than treating everyone the same8
equity-seeking groups: any group of individuals who are (or feel they are) in the minority in some way and seek equity within a particular circumstance9
equality: the state of treating two or more people exactly the same10
gender expression: the way in which a person presents themselves, for example in their clothing or behaviour11
gender identity: the gender with which an individual identifies, regardless of biological sex. Gender being, a similar category of human beings that is outside the male or female binary classification and is based on the individual's personal awareness or identity12
human rights: inherent rights of all people, whatever their nationality, national or ethnic origin, place of residence, sex, colour, religion, language, or any other status13
inclusion: a culture that embraces, respects and values diversity; a mindful and equitable effort to meet individual needs so everyone feels valued, respected, and able to contribute to their fullest potential14
intersectionality: the interconnected nature of social categorizations such as race, class and gender as they apply to a given individual or group, regarded as creating overlapping and interdependent systems of discrimination or disadvantage15
2SLGBTQI+: Two-Spirit, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans, Queer, Intersex; the + symbol represents any self-identified sexuality or gender that may not be represented in the other letters16
learning: the process of acquiring skills and understanding
mediation: manner of negotiating a resolution among disputing parties with the assistance of a neutral third party (mediator); a mediator does not make a decision with respect to the dispute17
psychological safety: a shared belief that anyone on the team can speak up and share their opinion respectfully without fear of retribution; an environment where all individuals feel safe to ask questions, ask for feedback, be respectfully critical of a plan, and offer suggestions for improvement18
representation: the participation of historically underrepresented groups at all levels of an organization and reflected in the organization’s composition and culture
restorative approaches in healthcare: an approach to responding to patients harmed by their healthcare that seeks to address patient harm by providing an opportunity for patients and those involved in their care to communicate about the harm and address their needs arising from the harm19
sex: the biological physical characteristics a person was born with20
sexual orientation: to whom an individual is sexually or romantically attracted21
References
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Interaction Design Foundation. Accessibility [cited 2022 May]. Available from: https://www.interaction-design.org/literature/topics/accessibility
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Bach M. Birds of All Feathers: Doing Diversity and Inclusion Right. Page Two Books, 2020.
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Bach. Birds of All Feathers: Doing Diversity and Inclusion Right.
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Government of Canada, Canadian Intellectual Property Office. Alternative methods to resolve intellectual property disputes [2021; cited 2022 May]. Available from: https://www.ic.gc.ca/eic/site/cipointernet-internetopic.nsf/eng/wr04443.html
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Government of Canada, Department of Justice. Dispute resolution reference guide. [2017; cited 2022 May]. Available from: https://www.justice.gc.ca/eng/rp-pr/csj-sjc/dprs-sprd/res/drrg-mrrc/06.html
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Bach. Birds of All Feathers: Doing Diversity and Inclusion Right.
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Canadian Centre for Diversity and Inclusion. Glossary of terms [2022 January; cited 2022 May]. Available from: https://ccdi.ca/media/3150/ccdi-glossary-of-terms-eng.pdf
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Bach. Birds of All Feathers: Doing Diversity and Inclusion Right.
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Bach. Birds of All Feathers: Doing Diversity and Inclusion Right.
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Bach. Birds of All Feathers: Doing Diversity and Inclusion Right.
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Bach. Birds of All Feathers: Doing Diversity and Inclusion Right.
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Harper Collins. Random House Unabridged Dictionary
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Bach. Birds of All Feathers: Doing Diversity and Inclusion Right.
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Canadian Centre for Diversity and Inclusion. Glossary of terms [2022 January; cited 2022 May]. Available from: https://ccdi.ca/media/3150/ccdi-glossary-of-terms-eng.pdf
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Bach. Birds of All Feathers: Doing Diversity and Inclusion Right.
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Canadian Centre for Diversity and Inclusion. Glossary of terms [2022 January; cited 2022 May]. Available from: https://ccdi.ca/media/3150/ccdi-glossary-of-terms-eng.pdf
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Harvard Law School, Program on negotiation. What is a neutral third party? [cited 2022 May]. Available from: https://www.pon.harvard.edu/tag/neutral-third-party/
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Adapted from: Edmondson A. Psychological Safety and Learning Behavior in Work Teams. Adm Sci Q. 1999 Jun;44(2):350-383. doi: https://doi.org/10.2307/2666999
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Canadian Intergovernmental Conference Secretariat. Principles and Guidelines for Restorative Practice in Criminal Matters [2018; cited 2022 May]. https://scics.ca/en/product-produit/principles-and-guidelines-for-restorative-justice-practice-in-criminal-matters-2018/
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Bach. Birds of All Feathers: Doing Diversity and Inclusion Right.
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Bach. Birds of All Feathers: Doing Diversity and Inclusion Right.
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