The federal public service is facing calls to combat antisemitism after Jewish civil servants reported experiencing disproportionately high levels of discrimination in the workplace.
In 2024, the annual federal employee survey tracked responses based on religion for the first time. A breakdown of the responses found that 18 per cent of Jewish civil servants reported experiencing discrimination and harassment in the workplace, including offensive remarks.
Some Jewish community leaders say the survey confirms anecdotal reports they’ve heard about rising antisemitism within the public service.
Across the federal civil service, 9 per cent of employees who responded to the survey said they had experienced discrimination in the workplace in the preceding 12 months, with 11 per cent reporting they had faced harassment.
Thirteen per cent of Muslim public servants said they had experienced discrimination in the year preceding the survey, with 12 per cent reporting they had experienced harassment.
Only half of civil servants responded to the survey, including approximately 67,820 Christians, 6,550 Muslims, 3,130 Hindus, 1,830 Sikhs and 1,500 Jews.
Fourteen per cent of Sikh public servants who responded said they had experienced harassment, with 13 per cent saying they had suffered discrimination, including on the basis of their race.
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Artur Wilczynski is a retired senior public servant who held roles supporting LGBTQ persons, and combatting antisemitism and other forms of discrimination in the workplace. He said the high rate of Jewish employees reporting discrimination “demonstrates that the government of Canada still has a lot of work to do.”
Mr. Wilczynski, a former ambassador to Norway, said the experiences of Black and Indigenous public servants have been “really problematic” for many years.
But the experiences of religious minorities in the public service had not been measured until the latest survey, which meant they previously had no opportunity to record what had been going on at work.
“The initial data from Jewish public servants is particularly alarming,” he said. “The data that we are seeing today points to really high levels of discrimination amongst those Jewish employees that feel comfortable in self-identifying. A lot of folks still hide their identity because they’re afraid.”
Jewish employees at the Department of Canadian Heritage, which includes the government’s Anti-Racism Secretariat and is responsible for Canada’s Action Plan on Combatting Hate, reported the highest rate of discrimination, according to the survey.
Thirty-four per cent of Jewish civil servants working at Canadian Heritage said they had experienced discrimination, compared to an average of 10 per cent across the department.
At Global Affairs, 30 per cent of Jewish civil servants said they had experienced discrimination, compared to 11 per cent in the department overall.
Among those who pushed for public servants’ religion to be recorded in the annual survey was Amira Elghawaby, who served as Canada’s first special representative on combatting Islamophobia.
She said the federal government has a legal responsibility to ensure that public servants are treated fairly in environments free of harassment.
“These survey numbers, which likely only tell part of the story due to possible underreporting, nevertheless point to the ongoing urgency for training on Islamophobia and its impact on people’s experiences at work,” she said in a text message.
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One Jewish civil servant told The Globe and Mail the public service was a very welcoming place when she joined it decades ago, but she and others now feel so intimidated they are reluctant to openly share they are Jewish with colleagues.
She said some had been asked in meetings – including in a French class – to publicly cite their views on Israel’s policies and conflicts in the Middle East, while others have been confronted with antisemitic tropes and conspiracy theories. The Globe is not naming the public servant as she is not authorized to discuss the matter publicly.
Noah Shack, chief executive of the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs, said the data in the survey “confirms what we have been hearing anecdotally from Jewish public servants in recent years with reports escalating in recent months as antisemitism surges across society.”
“This corrosive behaviour undermines the public service’s ability to effectively serve Canadians,” he added in a statement. “We expect the federal government to take concrete action in line with the Prime Minister’s commitment to a whole-of-government approach to combating antisemitism.”
In June, Prime Minister Mark Carney launched a new Ministerial Advisory Council on Rights, Equality, and Inclusion to be chaired by the Minister of Canadian Identity and Culture, Marc Miller.
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At the time, Mr. Carney said the council will co-ordinate “a whole-of-federal-government approach to antisemitism because combating antisemitism is a responsibility we all share.”
Hermine Landry, spokesperson for Mr. Miller, said “antisemitism and hate are unacceptable and have no place in our communities, our institutions or our workplaces.”
“Public servants rightly expect a workplace free from discrimination and it is everyone’s responsibility to uphold the highest standards,” she said in a statement.
The Canadian Heritage department added in a statement that it takes the survey findings seriously and has been analyzing them “to better understand the experiences of its workforce and to inform meaningful actions.”
Transgender public servants also reported experiencing disproportionately high levels of harassment in the 2024 survey. Among those who responded, 22 per cent said they had experienced harassment, with 71 per cent cent of those saying they had heard offensive remarks in the workplace. Twenty-four per cent said they had faced discrimination.
Among Indigenous civil servants, 20 per cent said they had experienced workplace harassment, with 16 per cent saying they had faced discrimination.
Twelve per cent of Black public servants said they had experienced harassment and 15 per cent said they had experienced discrimination at work in the 12 months preceding the survey.
“The Department has a zero-tolerance policy for discrimination of any kind, including antisemitism. We are committed to a workplace where all employees feel safe and respected,” said Charlotte MacLeod, a Global Affairs spokesperson. She said in 2024 the department introduced a “check-in survey” for all employees, three times a year, to provide insights into workplace well-being and areas for improvement.