Do you know the difference between Equity & Equality?

Find out the difference between Equity & Equality and a little back-story into why we have ‘equality’ in our name! To build upon our (ex)clusion podcast episode, “Cracking the DEI Code- Making Sense of DEI Jargon” – check out this graphic.

You’ve probably seen different versions of this graphic that are incorrect. Rest assured that this one includes the terminology and definitions that are consistent with the UN, federal government and provincial government.

The image on the left: same treatment, equal treatment.

The image in the middle: equitable treatment. Treatment according to people’s unique individual needs.

The image on the right: equality. The systemic barrier (the fence) is replaced with a chain-link fence and all people can effectively view the game. Ideally, there wouldn’t be ANY fence anymore to achieve equality, but nonetheless, the chain link fence will do.

Equity and Equality are not interchangeable. They are distinct and different. They are important.

We chose to include ‘equality’ in our name, Canadian Equality Consulting, because we desire to live in a world where equality exists. We work towards achieving equality every day and we do so by designing, creating and leading equity initiatives.

Note: language and terminology shift and evolve over time, Canadian Equality Consulting and our (ex)clusion podcast shares the latest most current definitions.

Categories: Blog