Employment in Canada
Employment in Canada reflects a complex landscape shaped by immigration, demographics, and systemic challenges faced by visible minorities. Since the rescission of race-based immigration barriers in the 1960s, Canada's workforce has diversified significantly, with a notable increase in immigrants from Asia, Africa, the Middle East, and Latin America. As of 2021, 26% of Canada's population identified as a visible minority, and immigrant populations constituted a substantial portion of the workforce in major urban centers. Despite higher educational attainment among visible minorities compared to the general population, they often experience barriers to employment and are underrepresented in management and professional roles.
Systematic discrimination has diminished, yet many visible minority workers encounter challenges such as unfair hiring practices, stereotyping, and lower wages. Reports indicate that visible minority women face dual discrimination based on race and gender, earning considerably less than their White counterparts. The Canadian government has enacted legislation, like the Employment Equity Act, aimed at promoting fairness in hiring and training for designated groups, including racial minorities. However, the effectiveness of these measures continues to be scrutinized, as racism and employment disparities persist. This ongoing dialogue highlights the importance of fostering an inclusive workplace that recognizes and values diversity in Canadian society.
Subject Terms
Employment in Canada
SIGNIFICANCE: In 1991, nearly two million visible minority adults (Black, Chinese, Filipino, Japanese, Korean, Latin American, other Pacific Islander, South Asian, Southeast Asian, West Asian, and Arab, as defined by the Canadian government) lived in Canada, 78 percent of them immigrants. This population expanded significantly in the subsequent decades.
Statistics Canada found in 1986 that visible minority men made up 3.4 percent of the available Canadian labor force and visible minority women constituted 2 percent. According to the 1991 census, 70 percent of visible minority adults considered themselves part of the labor force. Although systematic discrimination has largely been eliminated, anecdotal evidence demonstrates that racial minorities encounter a variety of employment problems ranging from unfair hiring practices (such as provisions that previous work experience must have taken place in Canada); stereotyping of entire ethnic groups and their disparagement by coworkers; racial harassment if they are too dedicated and hardworking in their jobs, causing anxiety and jealousy among colleagues; isolation from employee socializing; marginalization in the decision-making process; artificial hindrances to promotions and higher classifications; confinement to low-paying basic jobs; racial slurs and epithets, name-calling, and, at times, hostile confrontation.
Background
As Nan Weiner points out in her book Employment Equity: Making It Work (1993), “Canada has been a nation of immigrants since the 1700s.” Until the 1960s, because of the existence of numerous race-based immigration barriers, the overwhelming majority of immigrants to Canada were from Europe. In 1961, 90 percent of incoming immigrants were White. With the rescinding of racist policies in the 1960s, increasing numbers of Asian, African, Middle Eastern, and Latin American immigrants came to Canada. The racially neutral immigration points system enabled applicants to be judged on their qualifications rather than by their race. By 1988, 43 percent of Canada's immigrants were from Asia.
Between 2006 and 2011, Asians accounted for 57 percent of immigrants to Canada, and between 2016 and 2021, 62 percent of Canada's immigrant population was born in Asia. Between 1976 and 2024, Canada’s employment rate averaged 60.45 percent. In 2008, the rate reached an all-time high at 63.60 percent, and later, in 2020, an all-time low of 51.90 percent. In 2016, 25.7 percent of the Canadian workforce was made up of immigrants, and by 2021, 27.7 percent of all workers between twenty-five and fifty-four were born abroad. In 2021, 26 percent of Canada's population identified as a visible minority, and in major cities, immigrant populations made up around half of the workforce.
The Visible Minority Labor Force
Visible minority members were inclined to settle in Canada’s large urban centers such as Toronto and Vancouver. In 1991, 93 percent of visible minority adults over the age of fifteen lived in a metropolitan area, with 40 percent in Toronto, 15 percent in Vancouver, and 14 percent in Montreal. The visible minority population is younger than the general Canadian average. In 1991, 75 percent of the adult visible minority population was under forty-five years old, compared with 66 percent of the general Canadian population.
Canadian statistics establish that visible minority members, both immigrant and Canadian-born, are usually more educated than the general Canadian population yet less likely to be employed in professions or management positions. According to Statistics Canada, in 1991, 11 percent of the adult Canadian population held university degrees compared with 18 percent of visible minority adults. A study of clerical workers in Ontario found that 20 percent of minority men and 14 percent of minority women clerks had university degrees. The comparable educational figure for the general population of Ontario was 4 percent for women and 7 percent for men.
Educational attainments do not necessarily translate into higher-paying positions. Statistics Canada figures for 1986 demonstrated that only 4 percent of upper management positions were held by racial minority employees. The comparable figure for White men in senior management was 77 percent, although they constituted only 48 percent of the labor force. At the middle levels of management, racial minorities held 4.7 percent of the positions, while White men occupied 61 percent. Visible minority women fared worse than visible minority men: In senior management, the female figure was 0.8 percent versus 3.3 percent for men. At the middle-management level, visible minority women held only 1.5 percent of the positions and men 3.2 percent. Interestingly, White women were well ahead of visible minority women, holding 16 percent of senior management and more than 30 percent of middle-management positions.
The 1991 census demonstrated some improvement: 8 percent of visible minority adults were managers compared with 10 percent of other adults. In the professions, there was definite improvement: 14 percent of visible minority men held such positions compared with 11 percent of men in the general population. However, 13 percent of visible minority women held professional positions compared with 16 percent of other women.
These figures varied significantly depending on the ethnic group. Seventeen percent of Korean Canadian adults were in management positions compared with less than 5 percent of Filipino Canadians. Although 19 percent of Japanese Canadian adults had professional positions, only 8 percent of Latin American Canadians enjoyed this status.
The aforementioned figures notwithstanding, Statistics Canada also found in 1991 that university-educated visible minorities did not enjoy the same access to higher-paying professional or management positions. A comparative study of university-educated visible minority members aged twenty-five to forty-four found that more than 50 percent were in the professions and management, 39 percent in professional work, and 13 percent in managerial positions. The comparable figures for the general adult population were 70 percent overall with 52 percent professionals and 18 percent managers.
Karen Kelly, an analyst with Statistics Canada, stated that “Manual labor jobs were relatively common among highly educated Southeast Asians and Latin Americans.” On the basis of 1991 statistics, she found that only 2 percent of the general adult population with university degrees were manual laborers, with a comparable figure of 4 percent for visible minorities. Eight percent of other adults with postsecondary education were manual laborers, although 12 percent of similarly educated visible minorities worked as laborers.
The situation regarding employment income had not improved significantly during the 1990s. Statistics Canada found in 1995 that visible minority Canadians earned approximately $22,498 (Canadian) per year, 15 percent below the national average. Significantly, the lower earnings affected both immigrants and Canadian-born visible minority members. This continued to hold true as time passed. In 2022, the median wage for immigrants in Canada was $42,900, while the median wage for Canadian citizens was $45,380.
Confinement to low-paying positions is another problem affecting visible minority workers, both men and women alike. In 1986, only 3 percent of racial minority women and 4 percent of men were in professional positions. Censues data showed 30 percent of visible minority men were in semiskilled and other manual labor jobs, and 27 percent of visible minority women were in clerical positions. According to the 1991 census, the proportion of manual laborers in the visible minority population compared with the general population was 16 percent to 13 percent. The figures for service workers were visible minority members 13 percent, general adult population 10 percent. There are significant variations among different ethnic groups. Thirty-two percent of South East Asian Canadians and 29 percent of Latin American Canadians were engaged in manual labor, but only 8 percent of Koreans and Japanese and 10 percent of West Asians and Arabs were so employed.
Visible minority members continue to earn less than their White counterparts in equivalent positions. In one of Weiner’s studies, visible minority women were found to earn only 69 percent of what men earned. Visible minority men fared better, earning 97 percent. Hence, visible minority women were subjected to two forms of discrimination, racial and gender-based. Racial minority women earned 2 percent less than White women.
Unemployment and underemployment continue to affect visible minorities more than the Canadian general population. According to Statistics Canada, in 1991, racial minority unemployment was higher, at 13 percent, than in the general adult population, at 10 percent. Certain visible minority groups suffered more severely. Latin American Canadians and South East Asian Canadians experienced the highest unemployment rates at 19 percent and 17 percent respectively. The unemployment rate for South Asian Canadians and Arab Canadians was only slightly lower at 16 percent.
Employment Equity
Canada is officially a multicultural nation, recognizing the significance and contribution of all ethnic groups to the mosaic of Canadian life and society. One vital area of personal contribution is in the realm of employment. The Canadian government has passed legislation regarding employment equity in order to ensure equal treatment of all citizens regardless of race, color, gender, national origin, and religion. Employment equity legally provides for equal treatment in hiring, compensation, and training of employees to enable all workers to be as productive as possible in the workplace. The equity system in Canada has designated four groups that fall under employment equity legislation: women, Native people, persons with disabilities, and visible (racial) minorities. The aim is to redress past discrimination by providing fairness in employment to these designated groups.
The Employment Equity Act of 1986 (which applied to the 5 percent of the labor force working for institutions employing one hundred persons or more and that are federally regulated) addressed many of these concerns. The federal Interdepartmental Working Group on Employment Equity Data was formed to assemble data to define the various ethnic groups. With employer awareness programs, enumeration of visible minorities, and education about diversity, it was hoped that the employment situation for racial minorities would improve. One aim was to recruit more qualified individuals to diversify the Canadian workforce in various employment sectors because visible minority members entering nontraditional work arenas have encountered discrimination.
The Employment Equity Act was extended in 1996 to incorporate the military, and in line with this, the Canadian Forces sought to recruit more visible minority members. In 1998, only 1,100 visible minority members were in a regular force of 63,000 military personnel. Federal regulations stipulated that a fully integrated workplace would consist of 9 percent (about 5,700) visible minority membership.
Racism in employment continues to affect thousands of visible minority Canadians despite the plethora of laws, statutes, and commissions formulated to prevent discrimination. Although the statistics provide ample evidence of discrimination, they cannot elucidate the human toll on victims of racial prejudice in emotional and psychological distress, hurt, anger, and frustration. Whether Canadian racial minorities someday achieve equal status and treatment in the workplace will depend on the degree of tolerance, acceptance, awareness, and sensitivity demonstrated by the White majority. Maxwell Yalden, Canadian human rights commissioner said, “Diversity is a fact of life in Canadian society at large. It only stands to reason that it should be a fact of life in the workplace as well.”
Bibliography
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Kelly, Karen. “Visible Minorities: A Diverse Group.” Canadian Social Trends, 1995.
"The Overall Median Entry Wage of New Immigrants Continues to Grow in 2022." Statistics Canada, 9 Dec. 2024, www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/daily-quotidien/241209/dq241209a-eng.htm. Accessed 27 Dec. 2024.
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