Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Accessibility
Achieving a more equitable, diverse and inclusive access (EDIA) to clinical trials research in Canada is essential to creating excellence, innovation and impact necessary to advance knowledge and understanding, and to respond to local, national and global challenges. The collection of self-declarated data is driven by the Government of Canada’s commitment to equity, diversity, inclusion and accessibility to research.
As part of CANTRAIN’s commitment to EDIA, all applicants are invited to complete a confidential self-declaration through the online registration process. The self-declaration questionnaire requests voluntary participation in relation to groups that have historically faced – and continue to face – barriers in employment and engagement, including: Indigenous (First Nations, Metis, or Inuit) peoples; persons belonging to racialized communities; persons with disabilities; women; and members of marginalized sexual orientation and gender identify communities, collective referred to as equity deserving groups.
The self-declaration questionnaire was developed collaboratively by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC), the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) and the Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI). The questions are primarily based on the current standards used by Statistics Canada in census questionnaires, and wording from federal legislation, including the Employment Equity Act and Accessible Canada Act. A harmonized self-identification data collection process allows the granting agencies to monitor the diversity of participants in its programs and design new measures that achieve greater equity, diversity, inclusion and access to research.
The self-declaration questionnaire is voluntary. All information collected is confidential and will only be used in aggregate to support CANTRAIN’s efforts to broaden the diversity of our applicant pool and for annual report to federal and provincial governmental agencies. Access to these data is strictly limited to a small number of CANTRAIN staff with the appropriate training and security clearance on a need-to-know basis. Choosing to self-identify or not will have no consequences for an application.
For questions about this survey and how we use this information, contact:
