A majority of employees in Canada’s ad sector feel that progress toward greater inclusion is being made, according to new data from the Association of Canadian Advertisers (ACA), but the country has still slid slightly on a measurement of how included employees actually are.

A vast majority (87%) of Canadians said that their company is actively taking steps to be more diverse and inclusive – 15% higher than the global average – while 63% of Canadians said the industry has become more diverse and inclusive in the past two years.

Even still, Canada’s Inclusion Index score (which is determined by employees’ sense of belonging, the absence of discrimination, and the presence of negative behaviour) slid two points from 67% in 2021 to 65% this year.

These are just a handful of the findings from the 2023 DEI Global Survey. The Canadian summary results offer key insights into the state of diversity and inclusion in this country’s ad industry.

In Canada, the census finds, race and age are the most common forms of discrimination, while the sense of belonging is lower for minority respondents across race, disability and 2SLGBTQ+ characteristics. Most minority respondents report that they have faced obstacles in their career because of who they are, with disabled respondents (35%) most impacted, alongside 2SLGBTQ+ respondents (29%) and those belonging to racial minorities (27%).

These concerns are also reflected in the number of respondents considering departure from either their current employers, or from the industry as a whole. Disabled respondents were more likely to consider a wholesale exit from the sector (21%) than those belonging to an ethnic minority (20%) and 2SLGBTQ+ respondents (18%), while they were equally likely as those of an ethnic minority (19%) to leave their current company, with 2SLGBTQ+ respondents a close second at 18%.

The results of the census show “that Canada is leading in the attempts to improve the lived experiences of key groups in our industry,” but “by no means are we near where we should be,” says Davina Wong, director of membership for the ACA.

The findings are based on responses from nearly 500 employees in the Canadian ad sector, the majority from brands or creative agencies. The full summary report for Canada can be freely accessed on the organization’s website.