Post Image

Black Canadians see workplace as ‘epicentres’ of racism, survey finds

July 15, 2023

By CTV News |

A new national study looking at the experiences of Black Canadians and other racialized groups found many people from these communities see workplaces as the “epicentres” of racial discrimination and unfairness.

The study, titled Black Canadian National Survey research project (BCNS), was conducted by York University’s Institute for Social Research (ISR) in partnership with the Canadian Race Relations Foundation to explore social, political, and economic ties between races and ethnicities.

Lorne Foster, a York professor and lead researcher of the final report, said this project puts lived experiences of Black people at the forefront.

“I believe, in a lot of researches, the Black community has been silenced or it has been jettisoned from a lot of conversations,” Foster told CTVNews.ca on Thursday, adding when statistical researchers uses the term “visible minority,” they cover a lot of different groups in Canada, without distinguishing the nuances of each.

“This data, and the situations that were revealed, show a lack of morale is much more prevalent in the Black community,” he said. “Race magnifies the feelings of discrimination and disadvantage that these racialized groups have.”

According to the final report, 47 per cent of Black people surveyed believe they have been treated unfairly by an employer in hiring, pay or promotion in the last year. That’s three times higher than white Canadians at 15 per cent.

Read more