Canada prides itself on racial diversity, but that isn’t clear from the way visible minorities are paid. A new study from Statistics Canada (Stat Can) shows income earned by race and employer size. They found the average pay for visible minorities can be as much as 30% lower in similar sized workplaces.
Men Earn A Lot Less As Visible Minorities In Canada
Stat Can found men who were members of a visible minority group had the biggest earnings gap. The non- and small commercial sectors showed no gap between pay for White, South Asian, and Chinese men. However, black men consistently earned less than other races in non-commercial (-12.5%) and small commercial (-16.7%) firms. The racial gap widens considerably at large and medium commercial firms.
Both large and medium commercial firms showed visible minorities earn much less. As you can see, the average earnings fell as much as 31.8% — a huge gap. The authors of the study note, “… the largest differences were observed among Black and Latin American men.”
Women Earn Less Than Men, But See Smaller Gaps Between Races
According to Stat Can, women already earn less in each of the four categories. However, visible minorities didn’t necessarily earn less than white women at some firms. South Asian and Chinese women earned at least as much on average. The two racial cohorts earned more than their white peers in 3 out of 4 of the categories.
The findings for black women were even less encouraging. The agency found they earned up to 18.2% less than other races in at least two of the four groups.
“In contrast, women in most designated visible minority categories had earnings that were either higher than or not statistically different from the earnings of their White counterparts,” wrote the agency.
The findings might help to explain why recent immigrants are more dissatisfied with housing. In a country where shelter costs are steep by global standards, every dollar makes a difference. Earning a fifth or less than your peers can make a really big difference.
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