Attracting and retaining diverse students in the STEM disciplines (science, technology, engineering and mathematics), especially those from Black, Indigenous and Latinx backgrounds, has been a long-standing issue in North America. With recent equity-oriented research shifting to examining and transforming institutions, Canadian higher education is positioned to leverage what we already know about why Black and Indigenous people are underrepresented in the sciences. Examining these issues in the Canadian context can help us transform STEM teaching, learning and practice spaces to be more welcoming of diverse students and perspectives. This is important to research and development in Canada because, as the National Sciences and Research Council of Canada proclaimed: