University of Waterloo
PA-5: Diversity and Equity Coordination

Waterloo has created the position of Associate Vice President, Human Rights, Equity and Inclusion, to guide and lead efforts across campus. Reporting to the Associate Vice President are the Provost’s Advisory Committee on Equity (PACE), the Equity Office, Indigenous initiatives, the Sexual Violence Response Coordinator, and the Conflict Management and Human Rights Office. Equity at the University of Waterloo encompasses inclusion, diversity, substantive equality, and accessibility. The Equity Office proactively promotes and removes barriers to equity and strives to achieve excellence in equity. In 2014, the Provost’s Advisory Committee on Equity (PACE) was convened to advise on Inclusion, Diversity, Equity and Accessibility for Success (IDEAS) at University of Waterloo. PACE is comprised of student, faculty and staff representatives. Major initiatives to advance diversity and equity include:
- Women’s Centre – run by the Waterloo Undergraduate Students Association, it aims to provide a female-positive and supportive environment for women and trans* campus community members. It organizes education and advocacy activities, and provides resources on issues ranging from women’s health to sexual violence.
- GLOW Centre for Sexual and Gender Diversity – Glow is the oldest queer and trans* student organization in Canada, starting in 1971. Run entirely by student volunteers, Glow offers a wide variety of discussion groups, social events, advocacy opportunities, awareness campaigns, resources, and information.
- Gender-neutral washrooms: Waterloo is committed to creating washrooms that are safe and inclusive spaces for all. Single use inclusive washrooms facilities help meet the needs of diverse students, faculty and staff, including those individuals who identify as transgendered or gender variant, parents with children of the opposite sex/gender, persons with disabilities, men and women. Over the past three years, over 60 washrooms on campus have been renovated into inclusive washrooms.
- Adapting university processes for inclusion: Graduating students now have options to label their degrees with gender-neutral options, replace "bachelor" with "baccalaureate" and "master" with "magisteriate". In addition, Waterloo has a process to assist individuals in changing their names and genders.
- The Equity Office delivers learning and development programs on equity-related matters, including workshops on addressing unconscious bias in evaluation processes, equity fundamentals, equity promotion, duty to accommodate, and more.
- The Sexual Violence Prevention and Response Office (SVPRO) offers workshops and trainings on creating consent culture, trauma-informed approaches to responding to disclosures, intersectional understandings of sexual violence including the differential experiences of targeted and marginalized populations, and more.
- RAISE is a student based service that provides support to address racism and xenophobia across campus, in order to promote an equitable environment, and is led by the Waterloo Undergraduate Student Association

The Equity Office hosts lectures involving equity topics, as well as workshops for students, staff, and faculty (ex. A Respectful and Inclusive Workplace). Some examples of workshops include:
• Addressing Unconscious Bias in Evaluation Processes (employee-focused)
• Equity Fundamentals (e-learning course for students)
• Equity, Diversity and Inclusion: What is in it for me? (students)
• Promoting Equity: A Respectable and Inclusive Workplace (employees)
• Equity Considerations in Recruitment and Selection (faculty)
• Promoting Equity: Leading the Change (employees)
• Promoting Equity: The Duty to Accommodate Employees (for Chairs/Directors/Managers and Employees)
• The Duty to Accommodate Students (for Faculty, Instructors, and Teaching Assistants)
• An Equitable Workplace: Recognizing the Rights of Transgender Persons (for Managers and Employees)
• Making Spaces for LGBTQ+ Persons (for Employees)
The Sexual Violence Prevention and Response Office (SVPRO) also embeds content regarding intersectionality and systems of oppression into their workshops regarding Responding to Disclosure (employees), Creating Consent Culture (students), student leader trainings and more.
In addition, Waterloo’s Organizational and Human Development department has created a Principles of Inclusivity certificate program to explore relevant themes and provide practical suggestions for practicing and promoting inclusivity, through seven half-day workshops. The Equity Office also hosts workshops and lectures as part of Waterloo’s annual staff conference on indigenization programming.