Jewish public servants face disproportionately high levels of discrimination at work, survey finds

Jewish public servants face disproportionately high levels of discrimination at work, survey finds MARIE WOOLF OTTAWA PUBLISHED 56 MINUTES AGO Open this photo in gallery: The survey confirms anecdotal reports about rising antisemitism within the public service, some Jewish community leaders say. JONATHAN HAYWARD/THE CANADIAN PRESS SHARE SAVE FOR LATER Listen to this article Learn more about audio Log in or create a free account to listen to this article. The federal public service is facing calls to combat antisemitism after Jewish civil servants reported experiencing disproportionately high levels of discrimination in the workplace. In 2024, the annual federal employee survey tracked responses based on religion for the first time. A breakdown of the responses found that 18 per cent of Jewish civil servants reported experiencing discrimination and harassment in the workplace, including offensive remarks. Some Jewish community leaders say the survey confirms anecdotal reports they’ve heard about rising antisemitism within the public service. Across the federal civil service, 9 per cent of employees who responded to the survey said they had experienced discrimination in the workplace in the preceding 12 months, with 11 per cent reporting they had faced harassment. Thirteen per cent of Muslim public servants said they had experienced discrimination in the year preceding the survey, with 12 per cent reporting they had experienced harassment. Only half of civil servants responded to the survey, including approximately 67,820 Christians, 6,550 Muslims, 3,130 Hindus, 1,830 Sikhs and 1,500 Jews. Fourteen per cent of Sikh public servants who responded said they had experienced harassment, with 13 per cent saying they had suffered discrimination, including on the basis of their race. Editorial Board: The betrayal of Jewish students needs to end Artur Wilczynski is a retired senior public servant who held roles supporting LGBTQ persons, and combatting antisemitism and other forms of discrimination in the workplace. He said the high rate of Jewish employees reporting discrimination “demonstrates that the government of Canada still has a lot of work to do.” Mr. Wilczynski, a former ambassador to Norway, said the experiences of Black and Indigenous public servants have been “really problematic” for many years. But the experiences of religious minorities in the public service had not been measured until the latest survey, which meant they previously had…