A "colour code" is keeping visible minorities out of good jobs in the Canadian labour market, a new study says.
Based on 2006 long-form Census data, researchers found visible minority Canadian workers earned 81.4 cents for every dollar paid to their Caucasian counterparts. That’s according to a report by two major think tanks, the Wellesley Institute and Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives.
Researchers compared earnings of first-generation immigrants of visible minority and Caucasian backgrounds and found that earnings by male newcomers from visible minorities were just 68.7% of those who were white males.
The colour code persisted for second-generation Canadians with similar education and age, though the gap narrowed slightly -- with visible minority women making 56.5 cents, up from 48.7 cents in 2000, for every dollar white men earned, while minority men in the same cohort improved by almost seven cents, to 75.6 cents.
Among the study’s key findings:
• In 2006, during the boom years, visible minorities had an unemployment rate of 8.6%, compared with 6.2% for white Canadians.
• Caucasians’ earnings grew on average 2.7% between 2000 and 2005 -- "tepid" income gains considering the 13.1% economic growth; the average income of visible minorities declined 0.2%.
• Visible minorities are overrepresented in the hard-hit light-manufacturing sector, with many precarious low-paid jobs, but under-represented in public administration.
• The colour code contributes to higher poverty levels: In 2005, 19.8% of visible minority families lived in poverty, compared with 6.4% of their white counterparts.
• In 2005, the average full-time, full-year employment income for visible minorities was $43,979, compared with $52,345 for white workers.
What is most troublesome, Block said, is that visible minorities were so under-represented in public administration, where 92% of workers were white. In 2006, 16.2% of Canadians were part of a visible minority group, and that rate is expected to double by 2031.
Report co-author Grace-Edward Galabuzi said the federal employment equity program has been effective in boosting access and mobility among women and people with disabilities within the government. The lagging representation of visible-minority staff speaks to a need for targeted hiring.
The study also says provincial employment standards must also be reformed to evolve with the 21st-century workplace, where jobs are becoming more volatile and disposable.
