Equity Initiatives

The Equity Office engages with partners across campus to create new processes, remove systemic barriers, and build a culture of belonging at UWaterloo

Below is a snapshot of some current Equity Office initiatives. This is not a comprehensive list – feel free to email us at equity@uwaterloo.ca if you have questions about a project you don’t see listed here:

Dimensions: equity, diversity and inclusion Canada

Dimensions: Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Canada (hereafter referred to as Dimensions is a Federal Government initiative led by the tri-council agencies – NSERC, SSHRC, and CIHR. It is designed to foster increased research excellence, innovation and creativity within the post-secondary sector in Canada across all disciplines, through greater equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI).

Dimensions consists of a Charter of Principles and a Pilot Program for post-secondary institutions seeking public recognition for their efforts in increasing EDI in their environments and across the research ecosystem.

Waterloo has endorsed the Charter of Principles and is participating in Dimensions as an affiliated institution, enabling access to a repository of tools and references as well as a community of practice on EDI.

In support of the Dimensions Project, the Equity Office is working to establish a Self-Assessment Team, an environmental scan of equity initiatives, processes, gaps, obstacles and barriers as well as a university-wide strategy for the collection and use of equity data.

For more information on the Dimensions Project, contact Tamara Zur, Project Manager, Equity Initiatives.

Religious & Spiritual Celebration Initiative

With stakeholders across our community, the Equity Office is currently working on creating a centralized campus resource on religious, cultural and spiritual days of observance.

Campus community members will utilize this resource when planning and scheduling, so we want to ensure the information contained within this resource is accurate and that days of significance have not been overlooked. Please email equity@uwaterloo.ca if you have suggestions or recommendations on days of observance the Equity Office should mark.

Here is a non-exhaustive list (pdf) of dates of spiritual and religious significance for 2022 that students, faculty and staff members may choose to consider when making scheduling decisions; for example, when planning dates for class requirements, examinations, or events.

Welcoming Spaces

The Equity Office aims to create more welcoming and inclusive spaces on campus. This may include, but is not limited to:

More spaces for spiritual or religious practices;
More quiet rooms;
Accessible and inclusive classroom layouts;
Guidelines on how to hold inclusive meetings and events;
Access to spaces for breastfeeding/expressing breast milk on campus;
More inclusive washrooms (e.g. physically accessible, gender inclusive, washrooms with bidets etc.);
Access to free, or low-cost menstrual products across campus.

Status and next steps: The Equity Office will continue to pursue plans and actions to support more welcoming and inclusive spaces on campus and will engage with campus stakeholders throughout these processes.

For more information on Welcoming Spaces, contact Emily Burnell, Equity Coordinator.