The Chartered Professional Accountants of British Columbia (CPABC) carries out its primary mandate to protect the public by enforcing the highest professional and ethical standards and contributing to the advancement of public policy.
CPABC is committed to continuing to become a more equitable, more diverse, and more inclusive organization, recognizing that this is an ongoing journey. The Board and staff have developed a common understanding of the concepts of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion:
Equity is recognizing, understanding, and appreciating that not everyone starts from the same place given different personal circumstances and the existence of different realities, including the impact of discrimination, which require processes for enabling access to opportunities and fair outcomes.
Diversity is essentially the quantitative representation of differences. It is about the representation of different people and communities in our society and in our organization.
Inclusion is the qualitative experience around differences, and the extent to which people can bring their whole true, authentic selves into their interactions, be heard, feel valued and attract opportunities.
As CPABC reviews the work that has been undertaken to date towards achieving more equity, diversity, and inclusion and plans for what more will be done, the following Commitment Statement will guide our way forward.
CPABC commits that it will:
- Continue the learning and listening journey, both as individuals and as a collective.
- Explore what the commitment to Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion means for CPABC.
- Take immediate and prudent steps to advance Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion.
- Establish clear measurable goals and act to implement, track, and ensure accountability.
This Commitment Statement will guide CPABC on its journey and help CPABC understand what actions can be taken to ensure that the organization continually moves towards greater Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion.
CPABC is committed to creating an organization and profession that is diverse, equitable, and inclusive for all students and members. Information collected will help us obtain an accurate picture of the composition of our profession and will allow us to measure progress over time.
You will be asked if you self-identify as part of the following groups:
- Gender
- 2SLGBTQQIA+
- Racialized Person
- First language other than English or French
- People with Disabilities
- People with Neurodiversity
Indigenous self-identification is included as part of the dues renewal process and is therefore not included in the census.
We are starting with these categories that are used widely in Canada as part of diversity data collection. The CPA profession strives to be progressive and equitable and we will continue to implement programming that supports all designated protected groups under the Human Rights Code in British Columbia.
As a provincially regulated organization in the province of British Columbia we are governed by the Human Rights Code, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of age, family status, marital status, disability, race, colour, place of origin, ancestry, Indigenous identity, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, criminal conviction, or political belief. Under this code it is legal to implement a program with the objective of the improved conditions of individuals or groups who are or were disadvantaged because of the protected grounds listed above.
We are inviting all members to participate in the census and have provided an option for members who would prefer not to answer the questions. Choosing to self-identity or not self-identify will in no way affect your membership status at CPABC.
We will use this information to benchmark and measure our progress. Understanding where we are helps us to identify the improvements we need to make in increasing representation and inclusion for underrepresented groups. The data collected through the census will help us to build our equity, diversity, and inclusion programs.
CPABC recognizes the importance of respecting the privacy of all members and this information will be kept in strict confidence. The information collection is also anonymous and will only be available at an aggregate level.
Data is being collected as part of the dues renewal process.
All responses are confidential and will be reported only in summary or aggregate form.
You can direct your enquiries to info@bccpa.ca.
Includes, but not limited to: Two-Spirit, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Questioning, Intersex, Asexual/Androgynous
Denoting or relating to a person whose sense of personal identity and gender does not correspond with their birth sex.
Nonbinary gender is an umbrella term to describe any gender identity that does not fit into the gender binary of male and female.
An Indigenous person who adopts some combination of male and female gender identity, dress, and social roles, and/or who identifies as gay, lesbian, transgender, etc.; a culturally distinct gender apart from the male and female gender.
A disability exists when a physical, attitudinal, or procedural barrier prevents a person with a long-term impairment from full and equitable participation in the workplace. For example, a person with a physical or cognitive disability or a person who lives with a mental health condition.
Some examples of disabilities include:
- Coordination/dexterity impairment (ie: arthritis, cerebral palsy, multiple sclerosis)
- Deaf/hard of hearing
- Long-Term Mental illness (ie: depression or anxiety, schizophrenia, addiction)
- Non-visible physical impairments (ie: asthma, diabetes, epilepsy)
- Speech impairment (ie: aphasia)
- Mobility impairment (ie: amputation, paraplegia)
Visual impairment (if glasses/contact lenses correct your vision do not include yourself in this category)
Neurodiversity describes the idea that people experience and interact with the world around them in many ways; there is no one “right” way of thinking, learning and behaving, and the differences while not “neurotypical” are not viewed as deficits, referring to the diversity of all people. It is often used in the context of autism spectrum disorder (ASD), as well as other neurological or developmental conditions such as ADHD, Down Syndrome, Dyslexia, Tourette’s Syndrome, dyspraxia, or learning disabilities.