The terms in this glossary aren’t prescribed terminology. Perspectives and lived experiences will determine the most common or appropriate terms in particular contexts. Terminology and language in equity, diversity and inclusion spaces are often contested and evolve over time. 

2SLGBTQIA+ 

This acronym stands for: Two-Spirit, lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, queer (or questioning), intersex, asexual. The plus sign (+) represents all the different, new and growing ways with which people might identify. The plus sign also leaves room for the ways we continually expand our understanding of sexual and gender diversity. 

Accessibility or accessible 

Article 9 (Accessibility) of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities noted that accessibility enables people with disabilities to participate fully in all aspects of life, on an equal basis. The Convention also enables them to access services, employment, information and communications, physical environments and transportation. 

Adaptation 

Adaptation involves a change in the environment or in the way things are customarily done to enable an individual with a disability to have equal opportunity, access and participation. 

Ally 

An ally is a person who isn’t a member of a marginalized or disadvantaged group but who expresses or gives support to that group. 

Belonging 

People experience belonging when they feel all of the following: secure, supported, accepted and included. 

Disability 

Disability is a complex phenomenon, reflecting an interaction between features of a person’s body and mind and features of the society in which they live. Because of its complexity, there’s no single, harmonized “operational” definition of disability. A disability can happen at any time in a person’s life. Some people are born with a disability, while others develop a disability later in life. It can be permanent, temporary or episodic. Disability can contribute to be a sense of identity, community and pride. 

Disabled people or persons with disabilities

A disabled person, or a person with a disability or disabilities, is a person who experiences barriers, functional restrictors or limitations to their full and self-determined participation in activities due to a difference in mobility, sensory, learning or other physical or mental health experience. 

Diversity 

Diversity reflects differences in the social identities and lived experiences and perspectives of people. These differences may include race, ethnicity, colour, ancestry, place of origin, political belief, religion, marital status, family status, physical disability, mental disability, sex, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, age, class or socio-economic situations. These personal characteristics are protected grounds under the Canadian Human Rights legislation. 

EDI 

Acronym for equity, diversity and inclusion. 

Equality 

Equality exists when all people within a specific society or isolated group have rights and equal access to opportunities, resources, and other aspects of daily life. For example, these include civil rights, freedom of speech, property rights, safety, and essential social goods and services. 

Equity 

Equity considers and recognizes the fact that social identifiers (race, gender, socioeconomic status...) do affect equality. In an equitable environment, an individual or a group would be given what they each need to give them equal basis to thrive and succeed. This wouldn’t necessarily be equal to what others were receiving. It could be more or different. Equity is an ideal and a goal, not a process. It ensures that everyone has the resources they need to succeed. 

Equity-denied or equity-seeking or equity-deserving 

These 3 terms are used to refer to communities and groups experiencing significant collective barriers to participating in society. This could include attitudinal, historical, social, and environmental barriers based on age, ethnicity, disability, economic status, Indigeneity, gender identity and gender expression, nationality, race, sexual orientation, and more. Equity-denied groups are those who identify barriers to equal access, opportunities and resources due to disadvantage and discrimination. These groups actively seek social justice and reparation. 

Inclusion 

Inclusion is an active, intentional and continuous process to address inequities in power and privilege. Inclusion is also a process to build a respectful and diverse community that ensures welcoming spaces and opportunities for all to flourish. 

Indigenous 

The term ‘Indigenous’ encompasses First Nations, Métis and Inuit people, either collectively or separately. It’s a preferred term in international usage, for example, the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. ‘Indigenous’ has emerged as the preferred term, because it’s associated more with activism than government policy, having been drawn from international movements. 

Intersectionality 

Intersectionality reflects the interconnected nature of social categorizations such as race, class, disability, sexual orientation and gender identity as they apply to a given individual or group. Intersectional identities create overlapping and interdependent systems of discrimination or disadvantage. Intercultural competency Developing intercultural competency involves learning in depth about and becoming allies with people from other cultures. Doing so broadens our own understanding and ability to participate in a multicultural process. The keyway to become more culturally competent is to respect the ways that others live in and organize the world, and to be open to learn from them. Land acknowledgement Land acknowledgements are also known as territorial acknowledgements. These acknowledgements are short statements to recognize both the land and the Indigenous peoples who lived on, and in many situations continue to live on the land. These acknowledgements offer a short story from the standpoint of the Indigenous peoples who grew and evolved from the land, before Canada’s colonial history and to this day. Since the 2015 release of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s final report, land acknowledgements have become ubiquitous. In Canada, they’re now offered before events, are commonplace on institutional websites, and are often found in people’s public profiles, social media biographies, and email signatures. 

Indigenous or traditional territory 

An Indigenous territory (also called a traditional territory) describes the ancestral and contemporary connections of Indigenous peoples to a geographical area. Territories may be defined by kinship ties, occupation, seasonal travel routes, trade networks, management of resources, and cultural and linguistic connections to place. Indigenous territories are constantly evolving in both a Canadian legal context and on the basis of kinship ties and relationships between Indigenous nations. 

Unceded territory 

An unceded territory is land in North America that was never ceded or legally signed away by the Indigenous peoples who held the original title to the land. It’s the geographic area that an Indigenous group identifies as the land that they and their ancestors traditionally occupied and used. 

Unconscious bias (implicit bias) 

Unconscious or implicit bias is formed by individuals (outside their own conscious awareness) and refers to social stereotypes about certain groups of people. Everyone holds unconscious beliefs about various social and identity groups, and these biases stem from one’s tendency to organize social worlds by categorizing.