Welcome to the Diversity Assessment Tool
The Diversity Assessment Tool (DAT) App is a free-to-use digital tool developed by the Diversity Institute at Toronto Metropolitan University to assess the equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) policies and practices of your organization and help you develop a customized strategy. It is an easy-to-use tool designed for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMES) that provides examples of best practices to help you move forward.
Just complete the questions, and you will receive a customized report by email.
Welcome to the Diversity Assessment Tool
The Diversity Assessment Tool (DAT) App is a free-to-use digital tool developed by the Diversity Institute at Toronto Metropolitan University to assess the equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) policies and practices of your organization and help you develop a customized strategy. It is an easy-to-use tool designed for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMES) that provides examples of best practices to help you move forward.
Just complete the questions, and you will receive a customized report by email.
What Is Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI)?
- Equity means that all people are treated fairly and respectfully. In Canada, the focus of employment equity is designated groups: women, Indigenous Peoples, racialized people and persons with disabilities.
- Diversity reflects differences in characteristics, experiences and perspectives of individuals in a group; this may include race, ethnicity, religion, gender, disability, sexual orientation, age, socioeconomic class and more.
- Inclusion refers to a welcoming and respectful environment for all people.
Importance of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion
- Organizations need effective EDI strategies to keep pace in a rapidly changing environment.
Statistics:
- Immigrants account for 80% of Canada’s population growth and by 2036 will be 30% of Canada’s working age population; nearly 40% of immigrants will belong to a racialized group.
- Indigenous youth are the fastest-growing segment of the population.
- Women account for the majority of decision-makers for purchasing and almost one-half the workforce.
- The proportion of persons with disabilities is growing with the aging population and evolving definitions.
How EDI Benefits Organizations
Labour markets are changing, and skills shortages are affecting almost every sector. A strong EDI policy can help you attract and retain the talent you need to grow. It can provide access to new ideas for innovation. As markets change, so do the opportunities and expectations of consumers, investors and the government. There is also evidence it helps improve employee engagement and retention. If that is not enough, it is also important in helping manage financial, legal and reputational risks.
To develop and implement a strategy, you need to know where you are. Our proprietary diversity assessment will tell you where you are, the opportunities for improvement and examples to help you move forward. We know many SMEs have a lot on their plates, and the DAT App can help save time and effort in developing and implementing an EDI strategy that supports their corporate goals.
The Diversity Institute at Toronto Metropolitan University developed the DAT App and it has been tested and applied in various industries and organizations. It will help you assess your leadership and governance, human resources, culture, performance indicators, value chain and community engagement and compare them to leading practices. To date, more than 300 SMEs have used the DAT App to advance their EDI strategies, policies and practices.
80%
Immigrants account for 80% of Canada’s population growth.
40%
By 2036, according to Statistics Canada, nearly 40% will belong to a racialized group.
30%
By 2036, according to Statistics Canada, nearly 30% of Canada’s working age population will be immigrants.
Instructions
STEP 1:
Complete the DAT App questionnaire about your organization’s practices, policies and processes. There are six sections, with about 60 questions in total.
STEP 2:
If needed, consult with your colleagues or your organization’s policies and procedures documents to confirm your answers. The DAT App will automatically save your progress as you go.
STEP 3:
After completing the DAT App, you will receive a report via email with your EDI assessment, recommendations and examples of best practices to help you build and advance EDI within your organization.
FAQs
The DAT App is funded by the 50 – 30 Challenge; as a result, it is available as a free-to-use resource until March 31, 2025.
You can use the DAT App as many times as you like. Many organizations like to compare how their scores change over time as they improve their EDI strategy by implementing the recommendations in the report.
The DAT App consists of about 60 questions. This should take about 20 minutes to complete, but can take longer depending on the person and situation.
The DAT App asks questions about the company’s overall strategy, including policies, recruitment strategies, pay bands and other components. We recommend that the DAT App be completed by someone in the organization’s senior management (e.g. owner, CEO) or the head of the human resources department.
The DAT App automatically generates the report based on the answers you submit. You should receive the report in your inbox after several minutes. Please check your junk/spam folder if you have not received it. If you still have not received your EDI strategy report, please email our team at [email protected] for assistance.
With your consent, your responses to the survey will be anonymized and analyzed by the Diversity Institute and used to develop additional tools and programs to benefit EDI in Canada. More information on this can be found in the Consent Form.
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