This is a long-standing program of the federal government. I think it dates back nearly three decades now.
Under the federal contractors program, any university that has a contract with the federal government is required to report. Contracts through tri-council and other grants are the way most of us fund our research and the way many universities find other operating streams. We are required to report, and one of the requirements for reporting has included.... Again, it began with gender-disaggregated data, but it could—and should, I would say—be strengthened so that it includes other axes of inequity.
What this will require is for universities to meet reporting requirements and the kind of accountability that comes from external scrutiny, which pushes, nudges and coaxes equity-enhancing behaviour inside universities.
The threshold was moved too high. At one point, it was $200,000. It's now up to over $1 million on each one, so the threshold could come down. The CAUT probably has a closer handle on how this operates nationally, but I'm aware that at the University of Manitoba, historically some of the women's groups on campus had to go to the federal contractors compliance reports to learn about what was happening inside our own universities.
The creation of data for equity has a very positive cascade effect that can allow other people to use it.