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Release date: February 16, 2022
Experiences of discrimination among the Black and Indigenous populations in Canada, 2019: Highlights
* According to the 2019 General Social Survey (GSS) on Canadians' Safety, nearly half (46%) of Black people aged 15 years and older reported experiencing at least one form of discrimination in the past 5 years, compared to 16% of the non-Indigenous, non-visible minority population.
* Of all Black people, four in ten (41%) experienced discrimination based on their race or skin colour, about 15 times higher than the proportion among the non-Indigenous, non-visible minority population (3%).
* Experiences of discrimination were much more common among Canadian-born Black people (65%E) than among Black immigrants (36%).
* Data from the GSS show that a considerably higher proportion of Black people experienced discrimination in 2019 than in 2014 (46% versus 28%).
* Discrimination was more common among the Indigenous population than among populations who are both non-Indigenous and non-visible minority (33% versus 16%). More specifically, 44% of First Nations people had experienced discrimination in the 5 years preceding the survey, as had 24% of Métis and 29% of Inuit.
* Among those who were discriminated against, 21% of Indigenous people and 16%E of Black people said it was when dealing with police, compared with 4% of non-Indigenous, non-visible minority people who experienced discrimination.
* Experiences of discrimination were more common among Indigenous people in 2019 (33%) than they were in 2014 (23%).
Both socially and legally, Canada is a multicultural country (Canadian Multiculturalism Act; Berry 2013; Hyman et al. 2011). As a policy, multiculturalism has many goals, including recognizing and promoting the cultural and racial diversity of Canadian society, while emphasizing that this is a fundamental characteristic of Canadian identity and heritage; promoting the full and equal participation of individuals and communities in the development of Canadian society and assisting in the elimination of barriers to participation; and ensuring that individuals receive equal treatment and equal protection under the law, while respecting and valuing their diversity, among several others (Canadian Multiculturalism Act).
Despite the emphasis on multiculturalism, differential treatment and differential opportunity can still pose problems in a diverse society, and experiences of discrimination can have negative consequences for individuals (Berry 2013; Dion 2002). In Canada, discrimination on the...