Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC; ; )''Employment and Social Development Canada'' is the applied title under the

Federal Identity Program The Federal Identity Program (FIP, , PCIM) is the Government of Canada's corporate identity program. The purpose of the FIP is to provide to the public a consistent and unified image for federal government projects and activities. Other objecti ...

; the legal title is Department of Employment and Social Development (). is a department of the

Government of Canada The Government of Canada (), formally His Majesty's Government (), is the body responsible for the federation, federal administration of Canada. The term ''Government of Canada'' refers specifically to the executive, which includes Minister of t ...

responsible for social programs and the labour market at the federal level. The department delivers a number of federal government programs and services including

Employment Insurance Employment is a relationship between two parties regulating the provision of paid labour services. Usually based on a contract, one party, the employer, which might be a corporation, a not-for-profit organization, a co-operative, or any other ...

(EI),

Service Canada Service Canada is the program operated by Employment and Social Development Canada to serve as a single-point of access for the Government of Canada's largest and most heavily used programs, such as the social insurance number, the Employment I ...

centres, Canada Student Loan Program (CSLP),

Canada Pension Plan The Canada Pension Plan (CPP; ) is a contributory, earnings-related social insurance program. It is one of the two major components of Canada's public retirement income system, the other being Old Age Security (OAS). Other parts of Canada's retir ...

(CPP), issuing

social insurance number A social insurance number (SIN) ( (NAS)) is a number issued in Canada to administer various government programs. The SIN was created in 1964 to serve as a client account number in the administration of the Canada Pension Plan and Canada's varie ...

s (SIN) and the federal Labour Program among other things. Employment and Social Development Canada is part of the membership of the Inter-American Conference on Social Security, a technical and specialized international organization, which has the objective of promoting the development of social protection and security in America.

History

Background

The Department of Human Resources and Skills Development was created in December 2003, when

Human Resources Development Canada Human Resources Development Canada (, HRDC) was a department of the Government of Canada with the responsibility over a wide portfolio of social services. HRDC was based at a government office facility at Place du Portage IV in Gatineau (forme ...

(HRDC) was split into two separate departments: Human Resources and Skills Development Canada (HRSDC) and

Social Development Canada The Department of Social Development, also referred to as Social Development Canada, was from Dec. 2003 to Feb. 2006 the department of the government of Canada with responsibility for developing and implementing social policies involving families ...

(SDC). Though they continued to share many common services and operations, Human Resources and Skills Development Canada was to focus on workforce-related aspects of the former HRDC portfolio, while SDC was to focus on social support programs for children, families and seniors. The split was given formal legal effect when the ''Department of Human Resources and Skills Development Act'' and the ''Department of Social Development Act'' were enacted in July 2005.

Recombined

Upon taking office in February 2006, the

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

government of

Stephen Harper Stephen Joseph Harper (born April 30, 1959) is a Canadian politician who served as the 22nd prime minister of Canada from 2006 to 2015. He is to date the only prime minister to have come from the modern-day Conservative Party of Canada, ser ...

announced it would recombine the two departments, and through a series of

orders in council An Order in Council is a type of legislation in many countries, especially the Commonwealth realms. In the United Kingdom, this legislation is formally made in the name of the monarch by and with the advice and consent of the Privy Council ('' ...

, Social Development Canada was folded into HRSDC. From 2006 to 2008, Social Development's preceding role was reflected by styling the Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development as the "Minister of Human Resources and Social Development", and by changing the department's applied title to "Human Resources and Social Development Canada". This practice ended in late 2008 when the title was changed to "Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development." The post was later referred to as "Minister of Employment and Social Development" when the department was renamed. On November 4, 2015, the department underwent

machinery of government The machinery of government (sometimes abbreviated as MoG) is the interconnected structures and processes of government, such as the functions and accountability of departments in the executive branch of government. The term is used particul ...

changes which saw the employment responsibilities transfer to the Labour Minister resulting in the newly re-titled Minister of Employment, Workforce and Labour. The Social Development aspects were then shaped into the

Minister of Families, Children and Social Development The minister of families, children and social development () is a minister of the Crown in the Cabinet of Canada. The associated department is Employment and Social Development Canada. On March 14, 2025 the position was abolished, its responsib ...

. On March 14, 2025, responsibility for the department was consolidated into a single ministerial post, the Minister of Jobs and Families.

Sub-agencies, programs and activities

Sub-agencies of ESDC include: *

Service Canada Centres for Youth Previously the Human Resources & Career Centre for Students and the Hire-a-Student program, the Service Canada Centres for Youth (SCCY) were centres, set up by the Government of Canada as part of its Youth Employment Strategy, by which it helped stu ...

* Canada Student Loans Program * Canada Employment Insurance Commission *

*National Seniors Council *

Seasonal Agricultural Workers Program The Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program (, SAWP) is a Government of Canada program that was introduced by the Pearson government in 1966 between Canada and Jamaica but has since expanded to include Mexico and numerous other Caribbean countries. It ...

* Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service *

Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC; , SCHL) is Canada's federal crown corporation responsible for administering the ''National Housing Act'', with the mandate to improve housing and living conditions in the country.McAfee, Ann. 2013 ...

Canada Industrial Relations Board The Canada Industrial Relations Board (CIRB) is an independent tribunal responsible for interpreting and administering the Industrial Relations and Occupational Health and Safety sections of the Canada Labour Code. , the chairperson of the board i ...

ESDC delivers $87 billion in programs and services and has approximately 24,000 employees. Approximately 19,000 of those employees work under the

banner.

Officials and structure

Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Labour The minister of Labour () was a minister of the Crown in the Canadian Cabinet who was responsible for the labour portfolio of Employment and Social Development Canada. The position has been discontinued since 2024; responsibility for the labour ...

–

Steven MacKinnon Steven Garrett MacKinnon (born September 28, 1966) is a Canadian politician who has been the Member of Parliament (Canada), member of Parliament (MP) for Gatineau (federal electoral district), Gatineau since 2015. A member of the Liberal Party ...

** Deputy Minister of Employment and Social Development – Paul Thompson ** Senior Associate Deputy Minister of Employment and Social Development – Kristina Namiesniowski ** Business Lead, Benefits Delivery Modernization - John Ostrander * Minister of Citizens' Services -

Terry Beech Terry James Beech (born April 2, 1981) is a Canadian politician and former businessman. A member of the Liberal Party, he has represented Burnaby North—Seymour in the House of Commons since the 2015 federal election. From 2023 to 2025 Beec ...

** Associate Deputy Minister of Employment and Social Development and Chief Operating Officer for Service Canada – Cliff Groen * Minister of Seniors - Joanne Thompson ** Deputy Minister of Labour and Associate Deputy Minister of Employment and Social Development – Sandra Hassan *

– Jenna Sudds * Minister of Diversity, Inclusion and Persons with Disabilities -

Kamal Khera Kamal Khera is a Canadian nurse and politician who served as a Cabinet Minister under both Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Prime Minister Mark Carney. A member of the Liberal Party, Khera represented the riding of Brampton West in the Hous ...

* Minister for Women and Gender Equality and Youth - Marci Ien

Controversies

2012/2013 privacy breach

On January 11, 2013, Minister Diane Finley announced that a hard drive containing information of 583,000 student loan borrowers had been lost from a Canada Student Loans Program (CSLP)/HRSDC office in Gatineau, Quebec. Borrowers who registered a loan between 2000 and 2006 were potentially affected. The information on the hard drive contained full names,

s, contact information, and loan balances. The hard drive also contained information on 250 HRSDC employees. Concerns of privacy breaches and identity theft led to the filing of three class-action suits against the federal government on behalf of the affected students. On January 18, 2013, the Office of the

Privacy Commissioner of Canada The privacy commissioner of Canada () is a non-partisan ombudsman and officer of the Parliament of Canada. The commissioner investigates complaints regarding violations of the federal ''Privacy Act'', which deals with personal information hel ...

stated that a formal investigation had been launched. The stated outcome of this investigation was to provide information to organizations and individuals to improve privacy protection. The RCMP was notified but is waiting for the outcome of the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada's investigation to do their own investigation. This incident has become known as "1 in 60", representing the ratio of affected individuals to the Canadian population as a whole.

Canada Summer Jobs program

In 2018, the government of

Justin Trudeau Justin Pierre James Trudeau (born December 25, 1971) is a Canadian politician who served as the 23rd prime minister of Canada from 2015 to 2025. He led the Liberal Party from 2013 until his resignation in 2025 and was the member of Parliament ...

introduced a new mandatory criteria for eligible employers and projects of the Canada Summer Jobs program, for which "the core mandate of the organization must respect individual human rights in Canada, including the values underlying the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms (Charter) as well as other rights" like the "

reproductive rights Reproductive rights are legal rights and freedoms relating to human reproduction, reproduction and reproductive health that vary amongst countries around the world. The World Health Organization defines reproductive rights: Reproductive rights ...

and the right to be free from discrimination". After facing nine ongoing Federal Court challenges and the complaints of the

Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops The Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB; ) is the national assembly of the bishop (Catholic Church), bishops of the Catholic Church in Canada. It was founded in 1943, and was officially recognized by the Holy See in 1948. Since the Sec ...

in union with the Canadian Council of Christian Charities, the requirement was rewritten and became a mandatory point for eligible projects and job activities, which must not "actively work to undermine or restrict a woman's access to sexual and reproductive health services".

References

Notes

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Employment and Social Development Canada Federal departments and agencies of Canada

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

Children, young people and families ministries of Canada Ministries established in 2003 2003 establishments in Canada Employment in Canada