Diversity, Inclusion + Anti-racism

Our Commitment to diversity, inclusion and anti-racism

Recent events around the world and in Canada have highlighted the ongoing impact of anti-Black and anti-Indigenous racism, discrimination and systemic bias in our society. These events have been felt deeply at all levels of our organization.

Our goal at the Ontario Science Centre has always been to create a space–physical and psychological–that is welcoming to our visitors, staff and partners. We recognize that it is not enough to have this only as a goal–we must take concrete actions to create positive and sustainable change for our entire community, both inside and outside of the Science Centre.

We know there is much work to be done. We are committed to examining and addressing systemic racism and bias within our organization, and also to playing a role in our community to raise awareness, to fight racism and work to bring about real social change.

In June, we publicly committed to take and share actions. Our immediate next steps are:

Develop an anti-racism framework

  • Create with input from our staff, our community and the Ontario Public Service—a framework that will identify specific actions with measurable goals.

Listen with intent, humility and openness to change

  • Learn from one another within the Science Centre and from existing relationships in our community as well as create new partnerships to ensure we reflect diversity of thought and cultures.
  • Create space for conversations within our organization and with our community about people’s experiences with the Centre and eliminate any barriers that exist to making our organization a welcoming place to visit.

Develop leaders

  • Actively apply a diversity, equity and inclusion lens to our recruitment and hiring practices, succession planning, mentorship, onboarding and learning and development programs.

Leverage our platform

  • Use our strong and trusted voice to fight systemic racism and discrimination to bring about real societal change.
  • Amplify voices, share our platform and prioritize contributions from Black, Indigenous and People of Colour as well as people from the LGBTQ2S+ community in programs, events and exhibits.

We will make our framework available publicly, measure what we do, and be accountable–and ensure that the Science Centre is a leader for change.

Paul Kortenaar, PhD
CEO, Ontario Science Centre