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About The Royal’s EDII committee and accessibility committee
The EDII committee at The Royal celebrates cultural diversity, encourages a supportive environment for all, and drives positive change.
The EDII committee supports the ongoing advocacy, integration, and commitment to anti-oppressive practice, diversity, equity, inclusion and access within The Royal in a manner that aligns with the organization’s core values, vision, mission and strategic priorities such as:
- Embedding anti-oppressive practice, diversity, equity and inclusion within the organizational culture through continuous and sustained engagement across the whole organization
- Facilitating collaboration and engagement in activities supporting EDI across the organization
- Reviewing and revising the organization’s policies, processes and systems with an EDI lens as required
- Creating a safe, trusting and inclusive forum where EDI knowledge and experiences are shared, valued and respected
- Engaging the voices of clients, families, and community partners for input and consultation
- Promoting awareness-raising initiatives and sharing opportunities for collaboration
- Supporting the ongoing learning and professional development of the committee members to invest in EDI at The Royal
- Through the accessibility committee, identifying and addressing infrastructural barriers while enhancing access to mental health and substance use health services and supports.
Through collaborative efforts across the organization, the EDII committee, alongside the accessibility committee, is committed to creating a workplace where every individual feels valued, heard, and empowered to thrive.
Equity, diversity, inclusion, indigeneity and accessibility initiatives at The Royal
- From 2024 onward, the EDII committee, alongside the accessibility committee and other groups, began collaborating with the learning and development team to develop an organization wide EDIIA education and training plan in order to meet our health equity goals.
- From 2023-2024 the EDII committee participated in a needs assessment led by The Royal’s EDI specialist to learn more about our staff and ensure the initiatives, strategies, education and training we design are relevant, appropriate and evidence-based to recruit, retain, engage, develop and promote new talent for the future, while also supporting current staff and the communities we serve.
- From 2023-2024, the EDII committee collaborated with our partners at CAPSA to spearhead collaborative approaches to addressing intersectional stigma and advancing anti-racism, culminating in a summit scheduled for the spring of 2024.
- Beginning in 2023, The Royal’s learning and development team, in collaboration with EDI, initiated a partnership with Noojimo Health to offer Indigenous cultural safety training for staff, while also providing supplemental virtual support for our clients and families.
- From 2023 onward, The Royal’s IMHR intersectional women in science employee resource group began sponsoring an award for the annual conference of the Neuroscience & Mental Health Trainee Network (NeuMe-TN). The award is to recognize a graduate student poster presentation that demonstrates innovative approaches to integrating Gender Based Analysis (GBA+) into mental health and/or substance use health research.
- In 2023, the EDII Committee drafted a Terms of Reference for Employee Resource Groups (ERGs), after which the committee supported the creation of dedicated groups intended to build community, provide support and contribute to personal and professional development. These efforts have since resulted in the creation of groups like Intersectional Women in Science, The Royal Rainbow Coalition and most recently, the Anti-Racism ERG.
- Beginning in 2023, The Royal’s learning and development team, in collaboration with EDI, began the roll out of tailored EDI training called “Respect Training” that will provide all incoming and current staff a baseline understanding of equity, diversity and inclusion within a healthcare workplace.
- Beginning in 2023, The Royal began collaborating with our partners at Waypoint and Ontario Shores to improve and update the EMHR Meditech system so that it better reflects the people we serve.
- In 2022, the EDII committee revised the Anti-Racism, Discrimination and Harassment Free Workplace Policy to ensure it appropriately recognized the organization’s role in addressing racism, with clear steps of how to address instances of discrimination.
- In 2021, The Royal signed the Dimensions Charter, a document that outlines the principles and objectives of the Dimensions pilot program, which aims to foster increased research excellence, innovation and creativity through greater equity, diversity and inclusion) in the post-secondary sector across all disciplines. The charter includes a set of nine voluntary principles including institutional collaboration, transparency, and the sharing of challenges, successes and promising practices.
Share your feedback
We welcome your feedback! Your input shapes our way forward and our commitment to excellence. Send an email to EDI@theroyal.ca or click here to fill out the client and family feedback form.
Thank you for taking the time to contribute to the ongoing enhancement of our services.