HEC Montréal
PA-7: Support for Underrepresented Groups

Non-discrimination statements are embedded within multiple policies, covering different forms of discrimination, including, but not limited to;
Politique d’intégration des personnes en situation de handicap (Policy on integration of people in a situation of handicap - in French only)
(https://www.hec.ca/direction_services/secretariat_general/juridique/reglements_politiques/documents/politique_situation_handicap.pdf),
Policy for a Respectful, Harassment-free Study, Work and Campus Life Environment (https://www.hec.ca/direction_services/secretariat_general/juridique/reglements_politiques/documents/policy-relating-to-harassment.pdf),
Policy on Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (https://www.hec.ca/direction_services/secretariat_general/juridique/reglements_politiques/documents/policy-equity-diversity-inclusion.pdf)
and Policy to Prevent and Fight Sexual Violence at HEC Montréal (https://www.hec.ca/direction_services/secretariat_general/juridique/reglements_politiques/documents/policy-to-prevent-and-fight-sexual-violence.pdf). The EDI Policy is the most explicit regarding non-discrimination – its first article can read :
1. Guiding principles and commitments
1.1 HEC Montréal acknowledges the fundamental importance of ensuring that all
members of its community, whether it be its students, employees (faculty or nonfaculty), or administrators, can study, work and live in a safe and healthy
environment.
It therefore commits to maintaining a respectful environment free of any form of
discrimination.

Depending on the type of behaviour being reported, different processes can be engaged.
Even if the Québec legal background is very clear regarding behaviours that could be considered illegal, many situations do not fall in such categories but still require to be addressed. A comprehensive process is embedded in the EDI policy to help people to solve conflict, require support or fill a complaint when necessary. Sections 5 to 7 of the policy present the expectations for behaviour, personalized services and accommodation measures, and the terms of intervention, that can go as far as mediation by an external party for more severe cases. (https://www.hec.ca/direction_services/secretariat_general/juridique/reglements_politiques/documents/policy-equity-diversity-inclusion.pdf)
The EDI policy protocol regarding interventions and accommodations stops were other policies, such as the Policy for a Respectful, Harassment-free Study, Work and Campus Life Environment, begins. For more serious cases, the Policy for a Respectful, Harassment-free Study, Work and Campus Life Environment states that any continuous action, or a single occurring action, such as hostile or unwanted behaviour, speech or actions, that threaten the person dignity or psychological and physical integrity and impacts its work or study environment, will be considered harassment. Thereafter, any action or behaviours targeted at someone based on his or her race, religion, origin, sexual orientation or culture will be considered a form of harassment. Section 5 of the policy explain how someone who consider being a victim of harassment, or someone who witnessed such incident, can report it to the proper authority without fearing of retaliation, exclusion or any other negative outcomes. Section 6 of the policy details how decision, in the case of a formal case, will be given by the school director and expected outcome.
HEC Montréal is working closely with a partner, the BIMH, an office created and managed in collaboration with Université de Montréal. BIMH staff are specialized in harassment and discrimination behaviour, and their role is to support HEC Montréal in a fair and neutral manner to resolve problematic cases and complaints.
Ultimately, if these control and processes fail to resolve a situation, a plaintiff can bring its case to the ombudsperson, who will verify if the due diligence was followed and issue recommendations.

HEC Montréal as a long history of deserving underrepresented group. The school was founded to provide Montréal French-speaking community quality business and management education. Earlier during the 20th century, the French-speaking community was mostly excluded from the financial and business activities, and HEC was a pioneer by providing such education to this group. Today, HEC Montréal position itself as a world leader in being a French-speaking business school in North America, where English dominates the business world, and offers multiple services to attract and retain students from our four designated underrepresented groups (women, people with disabilities, indigenous people, members of visible minorities).
The actual students’ male-to-female ratio is about 50% for most of the school programs. Female students compose the majority of undergraduate and master students, but male students are still more represented and the doctoral level.
As for the student with disabilities, HEC Montréal decided to go beyond its “Politique d’intégration des personnes en situation de handicap” (people with a disability's integration policy) to attract and retain students. In 2018, the School opened the Espace Renaud for students with a disability. The space, which is located on the ground floor of the Decelles Building, is designed to be entirely accessible to students with disabilities. For example, students will be able to use the space to take exams or use adapted equipment or software. They can also use it to meet with their personal aid, learning support specialists or any other specialist, and receive any physical care they might need for their particular condition. The space can also simply function as a place for students to rest or meet up.
Foreign students’ recruitment is strategic to HEC Montréal, and school representatives are travelling the world to attract them, with a permanent office in Paris and representation in northern Africa, Asia and all across Europe. Special efforts are made to attract students from Africa and China through shared programs with local university (class exchange and shared teachers). HEC is attracting dozens of foreign students each year with its French Business Summer School, and intensive program designed for international non-francophone students who want to learn French for doing business. With a third of its student coming from 140 different countries, HEC Montréal is assuming perfectly his role through its numerous foreign students support programs.
Finally, HEC Montréal as a program to attract and retain indigenous people for its higher management program, such as the Executive MBA. Special scholarships of up to $50 000 are reserved for indigenous people who subscribe to these programs.
As for the faculty and employees, HEC Montréal respects the Québec “Loi sur l'accès à l'égalité en emploi dans des organismes publics”, and has strict obligation in consideration of hiring people from designated underrepresented groups. This applies to all employees and faculty.
HR department uses the four underrepresented groups to target in their recruitment process: women, indigenous people, people with disabilities and members of visible minorities (non-Caucasian). Consequently, The HR recruitment website was redesigned to represent the school diversity.
While recruiting people from underrepresented groups for non-faculty position does not pose a problem, fulfilling faculty and research chair positions with people from the four designated underrepresented groups remains a challenge. Because HEC Montréal is a French-speaking university located in North America, international candidates who do not already speak French rarely apply for faculty positions. Nevertheless, the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Action Plan sets target to fulfill faculty position with people coming from the designated underrepresented groups. New openings are now exclusively for people from these four groups.

Montréal being a large, multi-ethnic and French-speaking city with an especially harsh winter, integrating students of different origins and culture can sometimes prove complicated and requires constant support from the first day of their arrival. This is why the SAE (Student Services Office) mission is to support students coming from abroad in their integration at HEC Montréal, and more generally in the city of Montréal. Through a complete website with useful guides, information and references, and with the presence of specialized counselors and student squad on site, HEC Montréal is very well prepared to support students from different origins in their integration. The SAE squadron also organized peer-to-peer activities, such as a city tours, winter clothes shopping and guidance, and holiday vacation pairing.
Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, a lot of the peer-to-peer activities for foreign students have been cancelled in 2019. Most international students couldn't get their visa to travel to Canada, and are following their classes online. These students still benefit from a dedicated team of specialists they can reach at any time to support them in their preparation to come to Canada. Online activities, such as Café du Monde (world café), are also organized weekly to allow students of different origins to meet with local people and learn about the life in Montréal.