The University of Alberta is proposing to eliminate Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) from its hiring policy.
The move comes a year after the school’s president announced the U of A was moving away from the term, saying it had become polarizing for some.
In the current university recruitment policy, the recommendation is when two candidates are similarly qualified for a position, hiring panels should favour candidates from historically under-represented groups.
A draft recruitment policy heading to the board of governors for approval removes that practice and eliminates references to the university’s commitments to correct employment disadvantages.
The university said in a statement that the policy has been through extensive consultations since June 2025.
“While the current policy includes aspirational language about fair recruitment and the removal of barriers, the university has found in practice that qualified candidates may still face barriers,” it read.
The university said the proposed new policy is intended as a step toward addressing that issue.
But some members of the university say they worry it shows a lack of transparency and walks back commitments.
The issue was discussed at a general faculties council where Lise Gotell, a professor of women’s and gender studies, tabled a motion opposing it, which council passed.
Gotell told CBC News the board of governors ultimately gets the final say, but matters such as academic hiring have historically been left up to the general faculties council.
She said academics should have been consulted and she was surprised to see the issue on the agenda.
“We just had this rationale that basically said, ‘Oh, we’re just streamlining policy.’ And you had to click through to actually find out that the fundamental change was the elimination of EDI,” she said.
She said she worries institutional autonomy is being diminished.
“I do believe that there’s been pressure by the government on post-secondaries to abandon EDI policies,” Gotell said. “Because it’s not really clear to me why we would be abandoning a framework that we just put in place six years ago.”
Kristine Smitka, vice president of the Association of Academic Staff of the University of Alberta, said the union was consulted on the policy, but the employer did not incorporate any suggested revisions.
“What we’re hearing is a very consistent alarm from our members that what they’re seeing in this policy revision is part of a larger backlash against EDI initiatives,” Smitka said.
A spokesperson for the province said decisions about recruitment and hiring are the responsibility of post-secondary institutions and their boards.
Ajibola Adigun decided to attend the University of Alberta, in part, because of its commitments to equity and fighting anti-black racism. The third-year PhD student in the faculty of education also sits on GFC.
Adigun said he was reassured to see faculty reject the new policy, but is worried what message it could send if the board of governors approves it.
“There’s never been a time where merit was sacrificed on the altar of equity,” he said, pointing to the existing policy.
“So to suggest, then, that there needs to be removal of equity seems to buy into the stereotypes.”
Adigun said he believes the university is walking back its commitments.
How it started
A year ago, University of Alberta President Bill Flanagan wrote in a letter published in the Edmonton Journal that the school would no longer be using the language or framework of EDI. Instead, it created a new term: Access community and belonging.
Gotell said Flanagan told GFC members at the time that the university was still committed to the work of EDI, but the language had become polarizing for some.
She said this draft recruitment policy seems to contradict that message.
“I was incredibly surprised that this was happening, but also about the manner in which it was happening,” she said.
Flanagan’s letter said the move to ‘access community and belonging’ was grounded in “extensive consultations with over 1,000 community members.”
CBC obtained the notes from those sessions through an access to information request.
The consultations spanning from fall 2023 to spring 2024 were part of forming a new EDI action plan for the university. They did not ask particular questions about a name change or eliminating EDI entirely.
Students and faculty were asked questions like, “What gets you excited about the future of EDI at the U of A? What keeps you up at night?”
Some themes, the notes show, are burnout from some staff taking on EDI work, a need for more practical resources, and a lack of representation of women and Indigenous faculty and students in STEM fields.
Others expressed concern over whether the current environment of EDI at the university was making a difference, saying there is a lack of clarity on what it means in practice and increasing apathy and resistance.
“EDI statements are sometimes creative works of fiction — not really how people run their research groups,” one respondent said.
“Being worried or scared to say a joke or comment that will come back at you. Wanting to be yourself but also not offending people,” another participant told facilitators.
A note from another respondent shared that some feel left out.
“Our language is a bit demonizing, turns people away. For example, on awards applications (cis white man) — is it forcing people to feel excluded.”
Others expressed worry that there’s a belief that equitable hiring practices mean lower standards.
“It is always worrying when someone is hired under an EDI initiative — I worry about people showing them disrespect — suspicion among the faculty that this hire is getting in from the side door and not the front door.”
‘Fantastic work,’ chief of staff writes
Smitka said the university may be influenced by the Mintz report, a provincially appointed expert panel’s recommendations for Alberta post-secondaries. The panel wrote that, in order to continue receiving public funding, post-secondaries should commit to a culture of greater neutrality.
The Mintz panel wrote that the recommendation stems from concern that some perspectives are being silenced on campuses and people are being hired for reasons other than merit.
“We didn’t really see it as coincidental,” Smitka said.
Rajan Sawhney, then-advanced education minister, told CBC News last year the university’s initial departure from EDI was made internally, but the government supported the move.
Emails obtained by CBC through an access to information request show that Flanagan’s newspaper letter was sent by the university’s government relations department to staff at the Ministry of Advanced Education before it was published.
“I’m writing to let you know that starting January 1, the Office of the Vice-President (Equity, Diversity and Inclusion) will embrace a new name: Access, Community, and Belonging,” the email read.
“This evolution shifts our focus from acronyms to outcomes, and is the result of inclusive consultations.”
Sawhney’s chief of staff expressed approval in a response back.
“The changes are very well received. U of A has done fantastic work on this. Really well done,” the December 2024 email read.
A statement from Neil Singh, press secretary for the minister of advanced education, said the ministry is still reviewing the Mintz panel recommendations — but repeated that internal policies are up to post-secondaries and their boards.
“The university did not seek approval from the government regarding proposed changes to its recruitment policy, nor is such approval required.”
The policy will go to a board of governors for approval in March.
