Alberta wants to stop municipalities, universities, school boards and other public bodies from using diversity, equity and inclusion policies to decide who gets hired or promoted.
Premier Danielle Smith’s government introduced Bill 33 on Tuesday, Oct. 27, the first bill of the legislature’s fall sitting. It would also ban mandatory DEI training across much of the public sector.
The government says jobs should go to the best-qualified candidates. Critics question why new rules are needed when Alberta’s own public service already hires on merit.
The bill comes as governments across North America rethink DEI, most visibly in the U.S.
It hasn’t passed yet.
Who would it cover?
The restrictions would apply to:
Provincial public agencies
Crown corporations
Municipalities, including Edmonton and Calgary
Public universities and colleges
School boards
Officials told reporters the rules could also reach nonprofits that get provincial grants. That would be decided later, in regulations.
What would change?
Bill 33, introduced by Justice Minister Mickey Amery, amends the Alberta Human Rights Act.
Public bodies couldn’t base hiring or promotion decisions on DEI policies or on protected personal characteristics, unless a characteristic is genuinely required for the job. Decisions would have to come down to qualifications, experience, skills and the job itself.
Mandatory DEI training would be banned too, except where it’s necessary for the work.
Existing human rights protections stay in place.
Why Smith says it’s needed
“Hiring decisions should be about who is best qualified for the job, and these changes will help ensure that fairness is at the heart of hiring,” Smith said.
Justice Minister Mickey Amery made the same argument. He said hiring should be about competence, experience and what the job needs, and training should be about the work.
Officials acknowledged that provincial government employees are already hired on merit. The bill is aimed at the other public bodies that run their own hiring and equity policies.
The government hasn’t said how many of those bodies use demographic preferences in hiring today, or how often.
What critics are saying
The plan drew pushback before the bill was even tabled.
In a Global News report on Oct. 23, NDP Leader Naheed Nenshi accused the government of playing culture-war politics with its focus on “merit” hiring.
Sandra Azocar, president of the Alberta Union of Provincial Employees, said government hiring already picks qualified candidates. She questioned what problem the government was trying to fix.
Both spoke about the government’s plans before Bill 33’s final wording was released.
Where DEI came from
DEI is a broad label for workplace policies meant to reduce discrimination and remove barriers for groups that have historically been shut out of certain jobs.
In Canada, the idea goes back decades. In 1984, a federal royal commission led by Judge Rosalie Abella looked at the barriers facing women, Indigenous people, people with disabilities and visible minorities at work. That work led to Canada’s first Employment Equity Act in 1986.
Since then, employers have used a range of approaches:
Advertising jobs more widely so more people apply
Accommodating workers with disabilities
Finding and removing barriers in the hiring process
Setting representation targets
Considering membership in an underrepresented group as part of a decision
Not all of these involve hiring preferences, and a target isn’t the same as a quota. Supporters say these programs help qualified people get a fair look. Critics say any weight on demographics is unfair to other qualified applicants.
The U.S. moved first
On Jan. 20, 2025, his first day back in office, U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order telling federal agencies to shut down DEI offices and programs. The next day, a second order ended long-standing affirmative action requirements for federal contractors.
Alberta’s bill shares the focus on merit. But it’s provincial legislation covering specific public bodies, not an executive order. The government hasn’t said the U.S. changes shaped its bill.
Alberta had already moved on DEI training
Bill 33 isn’t the Smith government’s first step.
In 2025, Alberta passed legislation limiting professional regulatory bodies, like the groups that license doctors, engineers and teachers, from requiring members to take DEI training.
That law covered professional regulators. Bill 33 would go further, into public-sector hiring, promotions and workplace training at cities, school boards and universities.
How provincial hiring works now
Alberta’s public service already has published hiring rules. Applicants are measured against the education, experience, knowledge and skills each job needs.
The usual steps:
A public job posting
A review of who meets the qualifications
Interviews, tests or presentations for a shortlist
Reference checks before an offer
The province’s recruitment directive says hiring must be impartial and able to stand up to public scrutiny.
What it could mean in Edmonton and Calgary
The City of Edmonton says on its jobs site that it wants a workforce that reflects the people it serves. Its inclusive recruitment programs reach out to Indigenous peoples, newcomers and racialized residents.
Outreach isn’t the same as a quota. It brings in more applicants without promising anyone a job. Whether programs like Edmonton’s would have to change depends on how the final law treats outreach versus decisions based on personal characteristics.
Calgary and other Alberta municipalities with similar policies would face the same question.
The University of Alberta already changed its policy
The University of Alberta changed its recruitment policy months before Bill 33 was introduced.
Its board approved a revised policy on March 27, 2026, removing specific equity, diversity and inclusion language. The university said it would keep hiring on merit, keep removing barriers to employment, and keep meeting the equity requirements set by research funders.
That leaves universities with a question: how will Alberta’s rules work alongside federal research-funding requirements?
Does this mean DEI disappears?
Not entirely.
The bill is about hiring, promotions and mandatory training at specific public bodies. It doesn’t automatically apply to private employers. Programs that just encourage more people to apply may be treated differently from ones that give preference based on personal characteristics.
If you’re applying for a public-sector job right now, nothing has changed. Current hiring rules stay in place while the bill moves through the legislature.
Bill 33 also targets AI deepfakes
The same bill includes a separate change on intimate images shared without consent.
It would expand protections to intimate images, video and audio, including content made or altered with AI. Victims could sue in more situations, including when someone threatens to share intimate content. A new provincial offence would carry fines of up to $10,000, up to two years in jail, or both.
What happens next
Bill 33 still has to pass the legislature. Regulations would then spell out which organizations are covered, how exceptions work and what employers have to do.
The question for cities, school boards and universities is where Alberta draws the line between widening access to jobs and factoring in who someone is.
Sources
Government of Alberta, Bill 33 announcement, Oct. 27, 2026: https://www.alberta.ca/release.cfm?xID=98021F6651386-B162-68FB-0F3314F80DCA0DEB
Alberta Public Service, Recruitment principles: https://www.alberta.ca/recruitment-principles
Alberta Public Service, Recruitment directive: https://www.alberta.ca/alberta-public-service-recruitment-overview-directive
City of Edmonton, Inclusive recruitment: https://www.edmonton.ca/city_government/jobs/recruitment-initiatives-diversity
University of Alberta, Statement on revised recruitment policy, March 2026: https://www.ualberta.ca/en/news/news-releases-and-statements/statements/2026/statement-on-revised-recruitment-policy.html
Government of Canada, Employment equity background: https://www.canada.ca/en/employment-social-development/corporate/portfolio/labour/programs/employment-equity/reports/act-review-overview-backgrounder-policy-issues.html
The White House, “Ending Radical and Wasteful Government DEI Programs and Preferencing,” Jan. 20, 2025: https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/01/ending-radical-and-wasteful-government-dei-programs-and-preferencing/
The White House, “Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity,” Jan. 21, 2025: https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/01/ending-illegal-discrimination-and-restoring-merit-based-opportunity/
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