Universities have until December 15 to show how they will improve diversity of CRC holders

Canadian postsecondary institutions have until December 15, 2017 to create action plans laying out how they will foster more diversity in their candidates for the Canada Research Chairs program. The new policy was unveiled late last week with the stated goal of addressing the chronic underrepresentation of women, Indigenous people, those with disabilities, and visible minorities within the CRC program. After creating their action plan, the institutions will have another 18 to 24 months to ensure that the demographics of award recipients reflect the demographics of those who are eligible to receive them. CRC steering committee head Ted Hewitt says that he hopes the new measures will have a broader effect on diversity within the PSE environment as a whole. “We are doing what we can through this federal program,” said Hewitt. “We believe this might have a broader effect on the ecosystem.” Globe and Mail