By the numbers: Race, gender and the Canadian labour market

Canada’s population is increasingly racialized. The 2016 census counted 7.7 million racialized individuals in Canada. That number represented 22% of the population, up from 16% just a decade earlier.

Unfortunately, the rapid growth in the racialized population is not being matched by a corresponding increase in economic equality. Using 2016 census data (the most recent available), our report, Colour Coded Income Inequality, authored by Sheila Block, Grace-Edward Galabuzi and Ricardo Tranjan, paints a portrait of entrenched income inequality between racialized and non-racialized Canadians as well as labour market discrimination faced by racialized workers. The trends show that little-to-no progress has been made to close these gaps between 2006 and 2016.

Here are seven things we learned about the way racism is manifested in the labour market.