The disconnect extends well beyond this report. DEI strategies for Canadian employers are increasingly documented on paper. According to Benefits Canada’s 2025 Future of Work Survey, 78 percent of Canadian employers now report having a documented or in-progress DE&I strategy, up sharply from 65 percent in 2024 – yet only 64 percent of employees rate their employer’s DE&I efforts as good. More tellingly still, 23 percent of employers in that same survey said they had reduced or eliminated DE&I programs over the past year – yet only 9 percent of employees noticed the change at all. A strategy can exist entirely on paper. Refinement only exists if someone is actually checking.

 

A total of 13 Canadian organizations met the bar for 2026 recognition, each required to clear an 80 percent or greater average employee satisfaction rating across a structured, anonymous internal survey. Scores this year ranged from the high 80s to nearly 99 percent. What the two winner profiles in this report make clear is that none of this year’s leaders treat their score as an achievement to bank. Each is already planning its next survey, its next policy review, and its next round of harder questions because in DE&I – the work never stops.

Across all 5-Star Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Employers 2026 nominees, 47 percent of the 525 employees who answered the survey’s demographic question identified as part of a diverse or underrepresented group, according to CHRR’s research. Employees rated “feeling a strong sense of belonging” as the single most important factor in a good DE&I program (4.79 out of 5), while “regularly measuring and reporting DE&I progress” rated lowest of all nine items (4.20), trailing even “creating employee resource or affinity groups” (4.30) and “having a good training program” (4.41) – even though both winning organizations profiled here point to measurement as the practice that drove their results.

That tension is not new, and it is not improving on its own. CHRR’s own survey data show employee agreement with “I feel like I belong at my company” has actually slipped slightly since 2023, from 91.0 percent to 89.0 percent in 2026, even as agreement with “knowing where to report DE&I issues” climbed from 91.5 percent to 92.95 percent over the same period. Employees increasingly know the mechanics of a DE&I program better than they feel its effects – a gap that rewards exactly the kind of year-over-year measurement this year’s leading nominees practise.

That context matters. DE&I commitments are under pressure globally, and Canada is not immune. Sartaj Sarkaria, president and CEO of the Canadian Centre for Diversity and Inclusion (CCDI) in Toronto, says the defining characteristic of genuine DE&I leadership right now is staying the course under that pressure.

“The ones I’d call true leaders are doubling down – not because it’s trendy, but because they understand that inclusion is a business imperative and a human one,” she says. “Real leadership means being willing to say publicly what you believe privately and then backing it up with resources, accountability structures, and decisions that reflect your values even when there’s pressure to retreat.”

That tension is not unique to this report. Research from The Conference Board, a US-based organization whose findings on DE&I measurement are widely cited across North American HR circles, found that the share of workers and leaders reporting a positive personal impact from DE&I initiatives fell from 57 percent in 2024 to 50 percent in 2025. The same research identified a structural cause: 71 percent of executives said their organization dedicated more DE&I resources in 2025 than in 2024, compared with just 41 percent of employees who said the same.

As Allan Schweyer, principal researcher in human capital at The Conference Board, put it, “When leaders measure progress by what they launch, and employees measure it by what they experience, a credibility gap opens.” The implication for Canadian employers is the same one this report sets out to test: DE&I credibility depends on data that reflects employee experience, not internal milestones alone.

Closer to home, Catalyst’s 2025 analysis of workplace inclusion trends in Canada notes that Canada’s inclusion language and practices remain grounded in legal and cultural frameworks focused on equitable access, distinct from the more politically contested DE&I climate in the United States. That context matters for how this year’s 5-Star winners frame their work: not as a response to political pressure but as an operational practice grounded in ongoing measurement.

Disability and neurodivergence, in particular, remain an area where most employers are still operating on assumption rather than data – a gap that matters acutely for neurodiversity in the Canadian workplace specifically, given how few organizations measure it directly. Deloitte Global’s Disability Inclusion @ Work Report, which surveyed 10,000 people with disabilities, chronic health conditions, or who are neurodivergent across 20 countries, found that many workers in this category do not disclose their status to employers at all, leaving organizations with an incomplete picture of who they actually employ unless they ask directly. That is precisely the kind of gap this year’s 5-Star winners set out to close through their own demographic surveys, rather than waiting for employees to volunteer the information.

Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA) Durham and YMCA of the National Capital Region both built their 2026 results on exactly that premise: regular, externally informed, or demographically grounded data collection that surfaced gaps leadership did not know existed.

Sarkaria says the best-performing Canadian employers have already made this shift. “The best employers are treating DE&I data with the same rigour they bring to financial reporting,” she says. “That means disaggregated workforce data collected consistently over time, clear targets with timelines, and transparent reporting – internally and externally.” Increasingly, she adds, leading organizations are also tying diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility (DEIA) outcomes to executive compensation – a structural signal, not a symbolic one. Yet she is clear that measurement is only as strong as the questions behind it. “If you’re not tracking belonging, psychological safety, and advancement rates by identity, your data is only telling you part of the story,” she says.

None of this is free, and it would be fair to ask whether the 5-Star standard quietly rewards organizations with more HR capacity to measure, rather than organizations doing the best with what they have. A national YMCA chapter with a dedicated AVP of people and culture and a budget for external consultants is not starting from the same place as a regional mental health nonprofit. CMHA Durham’s own accessibility upgrades, for instance, remain constrained by what the organization describes as the cost pressures common to nonprofit budgets – it is still funding washroom accessibility improvements one floor at a time.

But the scores complicate that worry rather than confirm it. CMHA Durham, a regional nonprofit, posted one of this year’s highest satisfaction ratings – on par with far larger, better-resourced organizations. Measurement does not appear to require a large budget so much as a decision to prioritize it. A demographic survey and an anonymous employee form cost far less than the accessibility renovations or competitor-grade consultants some winners can also afford; what separates this year’s leaders looks less like resourcing and more like whether leadership treats the answers as instructions rather than as background noise.

Sarkaria identifies a further gap. “Intersectionality is still largely invisible in how employers collect data and design programs,” she says. “We talk about equity-deserving groups as though they’re separate silos, but people live at multiple intersections simultaneously. Until employers get serious about that complexity, the gaps will persist.”

Candace Singh, equity, diversity, inclusion, accessibility, and anti-racism (EDIA-A) lead at CMHA Durham, did not set out to discover that a quarter of her organization’s workforce identifies as neurodivergent. The figure emerged from a demographic report her team built with the support of an Ontario Tech University placement student – proof, Singh says, that her organization’s progress has come from measuring rather than assuming.

“Neural inclusion is something I’m building into our frameworks so that people don’t even need to ask for support. If we have a quarter of our employees identifying like this, why don't we make the changes right away without being asked?” adds Singh.

“My company effectively fosters diversity, equity, and inclusion across all levels” was one of eight statements CMHA Durham’s employees rated on a five-point scale; the organization posted a 94.27 percent overall satisfaction rating, among the highest of this year’s 5-Star winners.

“DE&I work is about perspective taking. I’m empathizing in an elevated way with people where I see their perspective, understand that their experiences are unique, and know everybody’s an individual,” says Singh.

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Once the neurodivergence data surfaced, CMHA Durham moved quickly: interview questions are now shared with candidates in advance, fidget toys are normalized in meetings and Recovery College classes, and the broader EDIA-A framework – Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, Accessibility, and Anti-Racism, with equity deliberately positioned first – was built around the principle of meeting people where they are rather than waiting for individual accommodation requests. Singh explains, “It gives people that sense of security that they can be themselves and be human and still be that professional in that space.”

CMHA Durham operates five employee resource groups (ERGs), including one for religious minorities – a category Singh notes “many organizations don’t address” – and an Indigenous communities ERG established after leadership identified a representation gap relative to the demographics of the Durham Region it serves. That work led directly to hiring a dedicated Indigenous outreach specialist. Singh says, “Some leaders need numbers to prove that something is important, and right away that buy-in was there because it just made sense."

The organization’s EDIA-A Plan Extension for 2026–2027 CMHA Durham’s Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, Accessibility and Anti-Racism plan formally schedules its next full policy review for 2028, treating the framework as a living document rather than a fixed deliverable. Seventy-six percent of staff participated in the most recent engagement survey, with 80 percent reporting awareness of the organization’s EDIA-A values and 78 percent reporting a strong sense of belonging.

That organizational buy-in did not happen by accident. Singh points to a change in leadership as a turning point: a new CEO brought lived experience of equity work in healthcare settings, which helped move EDIA-A from a side initiative to something embedded directly in CMHA Durham’s strategic plan. Singh details what drives her: “I stay motivated by seeing the change that I’m hoping to see.” The organization also used Durham Region’s own demographic profile as evidence, comparing it against its employee base to demonstrate concrete representation gaps to leadership rather than relying on anecdote.
 

 

The Indigenous communities ERG illustrates how the data-led approach plays out over time. When the organization noticed a lack of Indigenous representation among staff, rather than treating it as an isolated gap to patch, it opened sustained conversations with the community to understand why Indigenous people had not been drawn to the organization in the first place. That relationship-building has since translated into the hiring of a dedicated Indigenous outreach specialist and continued growth in Indigenous representation – a result Singh attributes directly to trust built over time, not a single recruitment push.

That approach closely mirrors what Sarkaria describes as the standard for meaningful Indigenous inclusion. “It starts with a relationship – a genuine, sustained relationship with Indigenous communities, not a consultation checkbox,” she says. Meaningful inclusion, he argues, requires Indigenous peoples to have real decision-making power rather than advisory roles and employers to understand that truth and reconciliation is not an HR initiative. “Land acknowledgments matter when they’re connected to action,” Sarkaria says. “When they’re not, they can do harm by creating the appearance of progress where none exists.” CMHA Durham’s sustained community engagement model – relationships built over time, leading to structural hires – is the practice Sarkaria is describing.

Community engagement at CMHA Durham extends well beyond the workplace itself. Beyond the Eid celebration and Fiesta Week participation, the organization has made physical accessibility a recurring priority: recent elevator renovations repositioned buttons at accessible heights and added automatic door buttons that don’t require hand use, while support and therapy animals are welcomed throughout its facilities. French-language services have also been expanded to better serve the community CMHA Durham operates in, and the organization is now pursuing funding to make washrooms accessible on every floor – currently only one per floor qualifies – despite the cost pressures common to nonprofit budgets.

Singh credits much of her own ability to keep the program current to staying engaged outside formal channels: she attends conferences, co-chairs a community of practice, and treats street-level conversations as more valuable than formal coursework alone for keeping pace with where EDIA-A work needs to go next.

Q: How have you changed your interview process for neurodivergent candidates?

A: We’re not testing people on their memorization; we’re testing people on their skills. So, giving people the questions ahead of time and the ability to plan ahead of time is a really great, but simple example.

Q: How do you keep the work from becoming static?

A: For us, EDIA-A work is like starting friendships with communities – something that requires time, effort, and trust-building just like any friendship, and it is sustained through ongoing events, employee resource group input, and yearly KPI reviews rather than a single completed initiative.

Q: Why do employees feel comfortable disclosing personal information for these surveys?

A: I would highlight our internal survey’s 76 percent participation rate as evidence in itself: high disclosure rates suggest employees feel safe sharing personal information without fear of discrimination, trusting that the data will be used to improve their workplace rather than held against them.

Q: It’s not so common to have a religious minorities ERG. What was the motivation behind it?

A: A lot of organizations don’t touch that, but we see that it’s a huge part of people’s identity. Why would we not talk about religion if it's something that’s so deeply important, especially in a healthcare environment? Spirituality is very important in healthcare.

For Laurie Mezger, AVP of people and culture at the YMCA of the National Capital Region, credibility came from bringing in outside eyes. Rather than rely solely on internally designed surveys, the YMCA partnered with an external consultant to strengthen both its annual inclusion, diversity, equity, and accessibility (IDEA) survey methodology and its pay equity review process.

That rigour paid off: the YMCA achieved an 80 percent participation rate across its 2026 employee and stakeholder surveys – covering staff, volunteers, housing residents, daycare parents, and newcomer and employment service clients – and posted a 91.25 percent overall satisfaction score.

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The data told a striking story about who makes up the organization. Fifty percent of YMCA of the National Capital Region’s employees are landed immigrants or permanent residents, 65 percent of whom arrived in Canada within the past 10 years, while three percent identify as Indigenous, above the national average. Many staff members were previously clients of the YMCA’s own newcomer and employment services before joining as employees, creating what Mezger describes as a cycle in which lived experience directly shapes service delivery.

That demographic picture lines up with a broader national trend: federal public service data shows 71.3 percent of the core public administration belonged to one or more employment equity groups as of March 2025, and the latest Public Service Employee Survey expanded for the first time to ask about religion, ethno-religious identity, and 2SLGBTQIA+ identity as distinct categories, reflecting a sector-wide shift from tracking representation alone toward tracking lived experience.

“You can’t do DE&I training and just leave it. It needs to always be looked at. It’s a continuous effort to ensure you’re learning and developing. It's not a one-and-done,” says Mezger.

Inclusive hiring has been a deliberate, multi-year investment rather than a single policy change. The YMCA’s hiring processes are designed to be welcoming and accessible while still focused on identifying the best talent, with inclusive language used throughout recruitment materials and accommodations – translators, visual impairment support, and other accessibility needs – proactively advertised at the start of the application process rather than left for candidates to request. Managers receive dedicated support and training to apply these practices consistently, with the explicit goal of embedding inclusive hiring into organizational culture rather than treating it as a compliance exercise tied to Ontario employment law.
 

 

That same data, via the survey work mentioned above, surfaced psychological safety as a priority area the YMCA had not fully appreciated. In response, the organization has built out an online training series covering topics such as burnout, supplemented by its employee assistance program (EAP) and proactive HR outreach during stressful periods – simple check-in calls timed to when employees are most likely to need support. Mezger is candid that DE&I training is a continuous journey rather than a one-and-done exercise, and the YMCA is actively seeking a consultant to further evolve its training programs rather than treating its current offering as finished.

Mezger is equally clear that responsibility for this work doesn’t sit with HR alone. The cross-functional IDEA Committee – Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, Accessibility – includes representatives from across the organization’s programs specifically to avoid a single-department view of DE&I, meeting online regularly and gathering in person twice yearly; its most recent in-person session took place outdoors at a downtown Ottawa park. Mezger says, “Sometimes it’s just that one little call, that reach out, that makes a difference.”

In 2026, the YMCA also introduced a five-part competencies framework for leadership: dignity, compassion, inclusion, excellence, and accountability. Leadership training began deliberately with dignity and compassion. “I found they were the most difficult to describe but very impactful. If you know how to communicate, you can be compassionate,” says Mezger. “It’s about listening to the person in front of you, not speaking over them, active listening, controlling your own emotions in a very difficult conversation, which creates dignity.”

Q: Some of your staff have been part of your programs. How does this happen?

A: They have come through our services, our newcomer services and employment services, and are now employed by us. So, they go through our programs, and then they end up working with us and helping others. When you’ve gone through that experience, you can really help serve others in the community. It’s a great cycle.

Q: What’s next for the DE&I program?

A: Another full survey is planned for fall 2026 specifically to measure change against this year’s benchmark – a deliberate, built-in mechanism for tracking whether 2026’s gains hold or grow.

Q: What does psychological safety actually look like in practice at your organization?

A: We’re really working hard on psychological safety because that came up in our survey data. It is first and foremost about ensuring that communication and transparency is there, which builds trust.

Q: Who is responsible for DE&I at your organization?

A: It is everyone’s responsibility across the organization, not just HR’s domain – the IDEA Committee was deliberately structured with representatives from every program area specifically to avoid a single-person or single-department approach to the work.

If resourcing doesn’t explain this year’s gap between leaders and laggards, what will separate next year’s 5-Star contenders? Three things are worth watching. The first is external validation: as more Canadian employers face pressure to substantiate DE&I claims rather than simply state them, expect third-party consultants, demographic audits, and recurring benchmarking – not just internal surveys – to become a stronger differentiator among 5-Star contenders in future reports, which already showed early movement in this direction.

The second is intersectional data. Both winners profiled here measured single categories well – neurodivergence at CMHA Durham, immigration status at the YMCA – but this can be taken further to overlap with tenure, role, or pay. Organizations that start cross-referencing demographic data with career outcomes, rather than treating each survey question as a standalone metric, will take things further.

The third is the business case holding up under scrutiny. In the Benefits Canada 2025 survey, employers cited fostering an inclusive culture (66 percent, up from 56 percent in 2024), attracting and retaining talent (65 percent, up from 44 percent), and expanding the hiring pool (47 percent, up from 31 percent) as their leading reasons for maintaining DE&I strategies. Those numbers are all rising. If they start falling instead, it will be the clearest sign yet of which employers were measuring because they believed in it and which were measuring because it was fashionable.

Strip away the policy language, and Canada’s DE&I workplaces have one thing in common: they want to go further and understand in greater the landscape in greater detail. CMHA Durham didn’t know a quarter of its workforce was neurodivergent until it measured. The YMCA of the National Capital Region didn’t fully grasp its own workforce diversity until working with an outside consultant laid it bare. Neither organization found that out by feeling good about its program; they found out by checking.

That is the entire difference between a DE&I program that performs well on paper and one that performs well for people. Measurement is not a finishing touch bolted onto good intentions – it is the mechanism that catches what good intentions miss.

So neither winner is treating 2026 as an arrival. CMHA Durham’s next full policy review is already locked in for 2028. The YMCA has already scheduled its next benchmarking survey for fall. Recognition didn’t end the work; it reset the clock on it.

That is the standard now. Not a louder commitment to DE&I, but a harder one: keep measuring, keep asking, keep being willing to be wrong about your own workplace. Sarkaria puts it plainly: “The organizations that get this right have stopped asking ‘What’s our DEIA strategy?’ and started asking ‘How does inclusion show up in every strategy we have?’” DEIA, she says, has to live in how organizations hire, promote, run meetings, allocate budgets, respond to conflict, and make decisions under pressure – not in a standalone program that sits alongside everything else. The employers who win next year’s 5-Star recognition won’t be the ones with the cleanest mission statement. They’ll be the ones who already know what their next survey is going to tell them.

 

Best Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in the Workplace in Canada | 5-Star DE&I Employers 
 

2,500–9,999 employees

• Western Financial Group
• Westland Insurance Group

500–2,499 employees

• Flight Centre Travel Group

100–499 employees

• Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA) Durham
• Centurion Asset Management
• Dejero
• Hyundai Auto Canada
• Organizational Solution
• Syngenta Canada
• The Mutual Fire Insurance Company of British Columbia
• YMCA of the National Capital Region

10–99 employees

• BioTalent Canada
• Tiny Toes Castle