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December 04, 2020LABOUR FORCE SURVEY: VISIBLE MINORITIES, NOVEMBER 2020 Starting with July 2020, Statistics Canada has added a question to the Labour Force Survey asking respondents about whether they identify with visible minority populations. The population group categories of response are the same as those found in the 2016 Census: White, South Asian (e.g., East Indian, Pakistani, Sri Lankan), Chinese, Black, Filipino, Arab, Latin American, Southeast Asian (e.g., Vietnamese, Cambodian, Laotian, Thai), West Asian (e.g., Iranian, Afghan), Korean, Other.
Labour force characteristics for Aboriginal populations are reported separately in the Labour Force Survey.
This analysis will focus on conditions reported by respondents for November 2020. Results are not seasonally adjusted. Unless otherwise indicated, data refer to populations aged 15-69.
The results for November 2020 continue to show that respondents who identify with a visible minority population have higher unemployment rates (10.2%) than those who do not identify as Aboriginal or a visible minority (6.9%).
Most regions report substantially higher unemployment rates for those who identify with a visible minority group. The gap in unemployment rates is reversed Atlantic Canada: populations that identify with a visible minority have lower unemployment rates than those that do not identify as Aboriginal or a visible minority (though this data is of limited quality).
With the exception of Saskatchewan and Quebec, participation rates in the labour force are higher for visible minority populations than for those who do not identify as Aboriginal or visible minority.
The gap between employment rates of visible minorities (68.0%) and those who do not identify as aboriginal or a visible minority (69.2%) is largely explained by higher unemployment rates instead of lower participation rates. The largest gaps are observed in Saskatchewan and Alberta. The gaps are reversed with higher employment rates for those that identify with visible minority populations in Atlantic Canada, Manitoba and British Columbia.
Unemployment rates were higher across all visible minority categories than for those who did not identify as Aboriginal or in a visible minority population. (Some of these results have limited data quality and should be used with caution).
Labour force participation rates are higher among men than women across all population groups. The difference somewhat wider among some visible minority populations.
With gaps in both participation and unemployment rates, women in many visible minority populations have notably lower employment rates than men. Women who are not in Aboriginal or visible minority populations also have lower employment rates than males.
Unemployment rates are higher for all age cohorts of visible minority populations.
Participation rates of visible minority populations are higher for older workers, compared to the same age cohort that does not identify as Aboriginal or visible minority populations. Among youth and core aged workers, participation rates among visible minority populations are lower than among similarly-aged populations that do not identify as aboriginal or a visible minority.
With lower participation and higher unemployment rates, employment rates are lower for visible minority youth and core aged populations. With stronger participation rates (and despite higher unemployment rates), the employment rate of older visible minority populations is higher than among older Canadians who do not identify as Aboriginal or a visible minority.
Source: Statistics Canada, Labour Force Survey, November 2020
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