Question Period Note: Systemic Racism in Canada

Systemic Racism in Canada

The Government condemns racism in all its forms and is investing in efforts to address systemic racism and discrimination in Canada.

On June 8, we launched the new Anti-Racism Strategy for 2024 to 2028. It’s a $110.4 million investment aimed at driving action in employment, justice and law enforcement, housing, healthcare, and immigration systems.

This Strategy is part of the Government of Canada’s plan to build a better, more fair and more inclusive country for every generation of Canadians, by ensuring that everyone can reach their full potential.

Systemic or institutional racism is defined in the glossary of Changing Systems, Transforming Lives: Canada’s Anti-Racism Strategy 2024-28 as “patterns of behaviour, policies or practices that are part of the social or administrative structures of an organization, and which create or perpetuate a position of relative disadvantage for racialized persons. These appear neutral on the surface, such as racialized and colourblind norms and standard ways of operating, but nevertheless, have an exclusionary impact on racialized persons, which lead to racially biased outcomes and experiences.” This definition was taken from the Ontario Human Rights Commission’s Policy and guidelines on racism and discrimination.

Census 2021 showed that racialized people made up 26.5% of the total population, while people with Indigenous identity represented 5% of the total population. Systemic racism consists of organizational culture, policies, directives, practices or procedures that exclude, displace or marginalize racialized groups, create unfair barriers for them to access valuable benefits and opportunities, and which have the effect of privileging non-racialized groups and disadvantaging others.

Although racialized people are generally more likely than their non-racialized, non-Indigenous counterparts to earn a bachelor's degree or higher, a Statistics Canada study highlighted that they are less likely to find jobs that offer the same pay and benefits in the years following graduation. In particular, two years after graduating, racialized graduates reported lower employment earnings and lower rates of unionization and pension plan coverage than their non-racialized, non-Indigenous counterparts. (Source: Early career job quality of racialized Canadian graduates with a bachelor’s degree, 2014 to 2017 cohorts, Statistics Canada)

Overqualification is one of the crucial factors to consider when interpreting higher education attainment in relation to the labour market, as it reflects potential mismatches between individuals' educational backgrounds and their current employment situations, often highlighting underlying systemic issues and discriminatory practices. On average, visible minorities are more likely to be overqualified for their jobs (21.0%) compared to non-visible minorities (7.5%). This significant difference can be indicative of systemic barriers and discriminatory hiring practices that make it more challenging for individuals from visible minority groups to obtain jobs that match their qualifications. (Source: Overqualification (based on skill level C and D) by visible minority, selected sociodemographic characteristics and the census year: Canada, geographical regions of Canada, provinces and territories and census metropolitan areas with part, Statistics Canada)

Higher poverty rates among specific demographic groups are widely recognized as a sign of systemic discrimination, as they reflect entrenched inequalities in access to education, employment, housing, and healthcare. Individuals who are part of visible minority groups in Canada experience a higher poverty rate (12.1%) compared to those who are not considered visible minorities (6.6%). (Source: Individual Market Basket Measure poverty status by visible minority groups and demographic characteristics: Canada, provinces and territories, census metropolitan areas and census agglomerations with parts, Statistics Canada)

The pandemic further exacerbated pre-existing issues of systemic racism and discrimination. Racialized groups were among the hardest hit from the pandemic in 2020. Several groups had rates of joblessness significantly above the national rate of 11.1%, including Arab (17.9%), Black (17.6%), Southeast Asian (16.6%), and South Asian (14.9%) Canadians, compared to 9.4% for those not designated as racialized or Indigenous (Source: Labour Force Survey, Statistics Canada, August 2020).

2021 saw the Government of Canada taking steps to mark key commemorative dates for the first time in our history including: On August 1, 2021, Canada celebrated Emancipation Day for the first time, marking the end of slavery in British colonies, including in Canada; and September 30, 2021, marked the first-ever National Day of Truth and Reconciliation in Canada, dedicated to the public commemoration of the missing children and survivors of residential schools, while acknowledging this system's painful and intergenerational impact and legacy.

Police-reported crime data in Canada for 2023 reveals that the Crime Severity Index (CSI) went up by nearly 2%, increasing for the third year in a row. In fact, police-reported hate crime incidents increased to 4,777 in 2023, up by 32% from the previous year. Police-reported hate crimes targeting a religion, race, ethnicity, and sexual orientation accounted for this increase (Source: Police-reported crime statistics in Canada, 2023, Statistics Canada, July 2024).

On June 25, 2019, the Government of Canada launched its first-ever anti-racism strategy, Building a Foundation for Change: Canada’s Anti-Racism Strategy 2019-2022, following months of in-person engagement sessions and online consultations with Canadians, especially those with lived experiences of racism and discrimination. This work resulted in an extensive set of recommendations, including the need for legislation as well as clear metrics for accountability, performance, and impact measurement. Communities also spoke about the dire need to remove systemic barriers across the federal government in grants and contributions programs by making them more accessible to all. Emphasis was also placed on adopting harm reduction approaches to policymaking and delivery in areas such as housing, immigration, justice, and employment.

On June 8, 2024, the Government of Canada launched Changing Systems, Transforming Lives: Canada’s Anti-Racism Strategy 2024-2028. Building on the work of the Government’s first anti-racism strategy, this Strategy is a $110.4 million investment aimed at driving action in employment, justice and law enforcement, housing, healthcare, and immigration systems:

$85 million over four years starting in 2022-23 from Budget 2022 for the development of the new Anti-Racism Strategy, which includes $70 million over three years, starting in 2023-24, to extend the grants and contributions of the Multiculturalism and Anti-Racism Program; and

$25.4 million over five years starting in 2023-24 from Budget 2023, and $0.6 million ongoing, to support the renewed Anti-Racism Strategy.

As part of a new action plan to combat hate, Budget 2023 provided $49.5 million over five years, starting in 2023-24, to Public Safety Canada to enhance and expand the Communities at Risk: Security Infrastructure Program and allow it to be more responsive to the evolving security needs of communities.

Budget 2024 provides $273.6 million over six years, starting in 2024-25, with $29.3 million ongoing, for Canada’s Action Plan on Combatting Hate to support community outreach and law enforcement reform, tackle the rise in hate crimes, enhance community security, counter radicalization, and increase support for victims. These investments include:

$10 million over three years, starting in 2024-25, to the Department of Canadian Heritage to support the Changing Narratives Fund. This builds on previous funding of $5 million provided in Budget 2022; ­

$25 million over five years, starting in 2024-25, to the Department of Canadian Heritage to support Anti-Hate programming and promoting intercultural ties and community-based activities;

$5 million over two years, starting 2024-25, to support the construction of the new Montreal Holocaust Museum, which will greatly increase the number of people, including schoolchildren, who can learn from its important collections; and

$7.3 million over six years, starting in 2024-25, with $1.1 million ongoing, to the Department of Canadian Heritage to support the Special Representative on Combatting Islamophobia and $7.3 million over six years, starting in 2024-25, with $1.1 million ongoing, to the Department of Canadian Heritage to support the Special Envoy on Preserving Holocaust Remembrance and Combatting Antisemitism.

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