Bias-Free Hiring Certificate Program

The Bias-Free Hiring Certificate Program is a five-session, in-person learning series designed to help you integrate equity into your hiring policies and practices. This program goes beyond traditional learning, challenging you to apply your skills in real time to assess your organization’s recruitment systems as you learn.

This program includes:

• 28 Hours of learning
• 5 hands-on assignments
• 1 capstone project

The Bias-Free Hiring Certificate Program spans five months, with each full-day session occurring every four weeks. You will benefit from a full day of immersive learning, meaningful dialogue, and connection with colleagues across non-profit and public sector organizations. Lunch and refreshments will be provided on-site.

Session Dates:

• Tuesday, February 24 (9:00am-4:00pm)
• Tuesday, March 24 (9:00am-4:00pm)
• Tuesday, April 28 (9:00am-4:00pm)
• Tuesday, May 26 (9:00am-4:00pm)
• Tuesday, June 23 (9:00am-4:00pm)

Between sessions, you will continue your learning through readings and take-home assignments designed to support the application of learning to your organization’s policies and practices. Each assignment builds toward the capstone project.

The capstone project combines your assignments into a practical, customized plan for your organization. This project bridges learning with real-world application, allowing you to implement bias-free hiring practices and policies immediately and effectively while demonstrating your mastery of the knowledge and skills learned in the program.

Graded by Tana Turner, Principal Consultant of Turner Consulting Group, the capstone project provides your organization with a review of hiring policies and processes and recommendations that can be immediately implemented. Successful completion of the capstone project earns you your Bias-Free Hiring Certificate.

Your Learning Journey

Session 1: Hiring in a New Age

Discover how Canada’s workforce is evolving and what it means for hiring in today’s world. This session explores the shifting demographics of today’s workforce and how emerging technologies are changing the way organizations recruit. You will gain insights to navigate these changes and hire diverse talent effectively.

Session 2: Understanding and Minimizing Unconscious Bias in the Hiring Process

Uncover the hidden influences that shape hiring decisions. You will examine the sources of unconscious bias, understand how it impacts who is selected, and learn practical strategies to reduce bias in recruitment and selection.

Session 3: Ontario Human Rights Code and AODA: Implications for Hiring

Learn how to confidently navigate legally compliant and equitable hiring. This session explores the implications of the Ontario Human Rights Code and the Accessibilities for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA) on the hiring process. You will walk away with clear do’s and don’ts to ensure your hiring process is inclusive and legally compliant.

Session 4: Bias-Free Hiring

Building on previous sessions, this session explores how to design a hiring process to minimize the impact of bias. We will cover all stages of recruitment, from job ads to interviews to candidate scoring, and provide strategies to reduce bias at every stage, ensuring equitable selection.

Session 5: Hiring for Diversity

Conclude the program by learning how to be intentional when making hiring decisions. In this session, we explore how to apply a diversity lens to the hiring process to build a workforce that is equitable, inclusive, and diverse by design, not by accident.