The survey by CBA In-House Association and Mondaq considered responses by nearly 500 lawyers
The number of Canadian legal departments that no longer consider equality, diversity, and inclusion a priority has risen sharply in the last year, according to a new survey of hundreds of in-house counsel across Canada.
Conducted in the last quarter of 2025 by the Canadian Bar Association In-House Lawyers and Mondaq, the 2026 Canadian In-House Counsel Report reflects responses by nearly 500 lawyers across varying levels of seniority working at private and public companies, government organizations, and not-for-profits.
The survey found that 52 percent of legal departments in Canada no longer consider EDI a priority – an increase from 39 percent the previous year. Meanwhile, the proportion of chief legal officers and general counsel who reported that EDI was not a priority rose from 44 percent to 55 percent over the same period.
British Columbia organizations are leading the charge in the deprioritization of EDI, with 58 percent of those surveyed no longer rating it as a priority – a 20 percent increase compared to last year. That figure rose from 38 percent to 50 percent in Ontario, and from 42 percent to 51 percent in Alberta.
“The fact that there is a decrease in the importance of equality, diversity, and inclusion programs was not a surprise. But the amount of that decrease in prioritization was a surprise to me and to us as an association,” Christine Staley, CBA In-House’s director of professional development, told Canadian Lawyer on Thursday.
“We didn't dig into all of the ‘whys’ of what is actually happening in the survey,” Staley adds. “But looking at just what is happening within the legal landscape and within the economy, and the sentiment and climate in Canada in general, it shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone that we’re starting to see the same sort of shifts that we are seeing in the US happening in Canada.”
Two-thirds of survey respondents volunteered to share their age, gender, and race/ethnicity. Of those respondents, 78 percent identified as Caucasian, while the remaining respondents largely identified as Chinese (six percent), Indigenous North American (three percent) and Black (two percent). Sixty percent identified as female, while 40 percent identified as male.
In addition to looking at the important respondents attributed to EDI, the fifth annual Canadian In-House Counsel Report surveyed respondents on investment priorities, the types of legal work they are seeing greater demand for, and their biggest challenges.
Staley says CBA In-House was surprised by the significant increase in the stress levels reported by government lawyers. However, she notes that likely contributors to stress levels were the changes that came with a new federal government. While more than half the respondents reported an uptick in work-related stress and anxiety compared to last year, government organizations showed the biggest increase, with 47 percent reporting increased strain compared to 40 percent the previous year.
Across all sectors, volume of work represented the biggest challenge facing in-house counsel, with more than a third of respondents citing their high workload as a source of stress. Respondents identified AI compliance and implementation as their second greatest challenge.
Staley says the CBA In-House Association has resources for government lawyers amid recent reports of sector-wide job cuts, including an upcoming webinar series on career development.
But she adds that the survey shows how in-house counsel across the board are “being asked to do more with less.
“This year, just with the data we’re seeing, there is an ever-broadening increase of the roles and responsibilities that in-house counsel are being asked to take on with a sustained decrease in investment in staffing,” she says. “As an association, we’re looking at that connection in terms of those increases in stress levels right across the board.
“If that is not addressed, when are we going to see a bit of a breaking point in the current structure of the in-house department?” Staley asks.
