EDI Strategy and Assessment

The University of Winnipeg's Involvement in Dimensions

In 2019 The University of Winnipeg endorsed the Tri-Agency Dimensions Charter and became one of 17 Canadian postsecondary institutions to be selected for the Dimensions pilot program, an initiative developed to publicly recognize postsecondary institutions seeking to increase equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) in their environments and across the research ecosystem. The Dimensions recognition program is modeled on programs such as Athena Swan in the UK and Australia and SEA Change in the United States, but goes beyond the gender- and STEM-based goals of these initiatives by including all equity-deserving groups and all disciplines.

Over the course of three years, UWinnipeg worked to co-develop the framework for the Dimensions recognition program and conduct an institutional self-assessment focused on barriers to EDI. In October 2022 UWinnipeg applied for and received Dimensions recognition at Stage 1 - Foundation.

Stage 1 - Foundation means that the institution is in the early stages of strategically addressing EDI in a coordinated way and has established a strategy for collecting representational data.

Download UWinnipeg's Dimensions Charter endorsement.

Read about UWinnipeg's Dimensions recognition.

EDI Institutional Capacity-Building

In accordance with the Canada Research Chair Program’s Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Action Plan, The University of Winnipeg is committed to addressing country-wide underrepresentation of members of the Government of Canada’s four designated groups (women, persons with disabilities, Indigenous Peoples, and members of racialized communities) in Chair positions. The University of Winnipeg Canada Research Chairs Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Plan has been in place as of December 2017, and more details about UWinnipeg's CRC EDI planning and progress can be found on the EDI in the Canada Research Chairs Program page.

In 2019 The University of Winnipeg applied for and was awarded an NSERC Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) Institutional Capacity-Building Grant to foster EDI at UWinnipeg through a focus on the identification and elimination of systemic barriers that impede the career advancement, recruitment, and retention of equity-deserving groups, including, but not limited to, women, Indigenous Peoples (First Nations, Inuit, and Métis), persons with disabilities, members of a racialized groups, and 2SLGBTQ+ people. This grant has been used to initiate institutional self-assessment activities to inform the development of our first Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Action Plan. For more information see UWinnipeg EDI Plans and Impact.