Section 45(4) of the legislation grants the C-NLOPB authority to require an Operator to include provisions in a Benefits Plan to:

…ensure that disadvantaged individuals or groups have access to training and employment opportunities and to enable those individuals or groups or corporations owned or cooperatives operated by them to participate in the supply of goods and services used in any proposed work or activity referred to in the benefits plan.

Accordingly, Operators’ Benefits Plans for major developments are expected to include a Diversity Plan. This may be filed with the C-NLOPB as an intrinsic part of the Benefits Plan, or as a stand alone document. In the context of a Diversity Plan, designated individuals or groups are considered to include: women, aboriginal groups, persons with disabilities and members of visible minorities.

The Operator is expected to review, assess and apply models such as the federal Employment Equity Act, the Federal Contractors Program, and other models as appropriate in preparing its Diversity Plan. Such plans will normally encompass employment equity measures with an explicit objective to facilitate the participation of designated groups.