Question Period Note: Anti-Black Racism

Anti-Black Racism

The Government acknowledges that anti-Black racism continues to be an unacceptable reality in Canadian society.

Since 2018, our government has committed over half a billion dollars to supporting Black communities in addressing impacts of anti-Black racism within key sectors, such as employment, social participation, and justice.

On June 8, we launched the Government’s renewed Anti-Racism Strategy for 2024 to 2028. The Strategy pays particular attention to anti-Black racism and the ways in which the unequal treatment of Black people is entrenched within our society. The Strategy invests $110.4 million across over 70 federal initiatives designed to ensure federal policies, programs and services reflect the Canada it serves.

Black Canadians remain one of the groups most affected by systemic racism and unconscious bias. 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%).

Half (49%) of Black women had experienced discrimination or unfair treatment in the past 5 years, as did more than four in ten (42%) Black men. In contrast, 20% of women and 13% of men who were neither Indigenous nor visible minorities were discriminated against.

In 2022, police-reported hate crimes motivated by hatred of a race or ethnicity increased by 12%, whereas the percentage of hate crimes specifically targeting the Black community increased by 28% (more than twice as much). These crimes accounted for 43% of all police-reported crimes motivated by hatred of a race or ethnicity. (Statistics Canada, 2022)

In 2020/2021, despite representing about 4% of adults in Canada, Black people accounted for 9% of the total offender population in federal corrections. (Justice Canada, 2022)

Black people have overall lower rates of reoffending and lower returns to custody. The majority of Black offenders (85.8%) are not re-admitted to federal custody within 5 years following the expiration of their sentence. (Correctional Service Canada, 2022)

Despite the lower rates of reoffending and returning to custody, Black people are more likely to be assessed as higher risk, low motivation, and low reintegration potential. (Office of the Correctional Investigator, 2022)

Statistics Canada produced a series of four analytical products based on new and existing social, economic, and justice data to provide concrete evidence of the challenges experienced by racialized communities, including one on Black and Indigenous populations in Canada: “Perceptions of and experiences with police and the justice system among the Black and Indigenous populations in Canada.”

In 2020, approximately 63% of Canada’s Black population reported experiencing discrimination 5 years prior to the beginning of the pandemic or during the pandemic, nearly double the proportion of the non-racialized population (32%).

The proportion of homicide victims identified as Black increased by 27% between 2020 and 2022. Black people are overrepresented as victims of homicide, accounting for 13% of all homicide victims in 2022, which is three times higher than their representation of 4% of the Canadian population. Black male homicide victims accounted for 15% of all male victims, and Black female homicide victims accounted for 5% of all female victims. On January 30, 2018, the Government of Canada officially recognized the International Decade for People of African Descent (2015-2024) to highlight and celebrate the important contributions people of African descent have made to Canadian society. It also acknowledged the continuing need to understand and eliminate barriers to Black Canadians experiencing full and equal participation across society.

Budget 2018 provided $9 million over three years to enhance local and community support for Black Canadian youth. Canadian Heritage funded 56 proposals for a total of $7.75 million, with an additional $1.57 million allocated for outreach, engagement, research projects, and performance measurement.

Since 2018, our government has committed over a half a billion dollars specifically to support Black communities in the struggle against systemic anti-Black racism, whether in the financial sector, the justice system, in the health system, or in the not-for-profit sector.

Budget 2019 committed $25 million for the Supporting Black Canadian Communities Initiative, to build capacity within Black communities.

The 2020 Fall Economic Statement committed $93 million for the Black Entrepreneurship Program, a public-private investment of up to $221 million over four years to support Black Canadian business owners and entrepreneurs grow their businesses and ensure sustainable success.

In Budget 2021, the federal government committed $200 million to establish the Black-led philanthropic endowment fund, and a $100 million top-up to the Supporting Black Communities Initiative.

Budget 2022 allocated further funding of $50 million over two years to the Supporting Black Communities Initiative.

Budget 2023 provided:

$25 million, in 2024-25, to Employment and Social Development Canada for the Supporting Black Canadian Communities Initiative, to continue empowering Black-led and Black-serving community organizations and the work they do to promote inclusiveness;

$45.9 million over three years, starting in 2023-24, to the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat for the creation of a Mental Health Fund for Black Public Servants and establishment of dedicated career development programs;

an additional $25.4 million over five years, starting in 2023-24, and $0.6 million ongoing, to the Department of Canadian Heritage to continue to further support Canada’s Anti-Racism Strategy and fight all forms of racism, including but not limited to anti-Indigenous racism, anti-Black racism, anti-Asian racism, antisemitism, Islamophobia;

$1.5 million over two years, starting in 2023-24, to the Privy Council Office to create a new Anti-Racism, Equity and Inclusion Secretariat to ensure that considerations of anti-racism, equity and inclusion are applied in the development of federal government policies; and

As part of the new Action Plan to Combat Hate, $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 proposes to provide:

$4 million over two years for the Public Health Agency of Canada to continue supporting initiatives through the Mental Health of Black Canadians Fund that aims to increase health equity and address mental health and its determinants for Black Canadians;

$62.9 million over three years, starting in 2024-25 to renew and expand the Local Food Infrastructure Fund to support community organizations across Canada to invest in local food infrastructure, with priority to be given to Indigenous and Black communities along with other equity-deserving groups; and,

As a key ongoing action up to $265 million for the Black Entrepreneurship Program to help Black business owners and entrepreneurs succeed and grow their businesses, which was first launched in September 2020.

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