This paper examines visible minority representation among federal, provincial and municipal politicians in Ontario, with particular focus on the Greater Toronto Area (GTA). It explores whether visible minorities stood as candidates, and were elected to office, in proportion to their share of overall population. The timing of three elections for Ontario voters –municipal, federal and provincial within less than a year from October 2010 to October 2011 –affords an opportunity to assess our progress towards diversity and inclusion in the political arena.
The focus of this paper is on the electoral participation of visible minorities as both candidates for public office and winners of such positions. As the title of this paper suggests, visible minorities continue to be under-represented in elected office and at this rate, it will take many more elections until visible minorities occupy seats in municipal councils, the provincial legislature and federal parliament equal to their share of population.
Findings:
Visible minorities are under-represented in the GTA –Visible minorities are under-represented as political candidates and elected officials at all three levels of government relative to their share of the population. Visible minorities comprise 40% of the population across the GTA, but only 11% of elected officials. The region would need to elect almost four times as many visible minorities, across all levels of government, for visible minorities to hold elected office in proportion to their share of population.
The highest visible minority representation rate can be found in provincial government – Visible minorities account for 26% of the GTA’s 47 members of the provincial legislature and just 17% of GTA’s 47 members of the federal House of Commons. The better rate of visible minority representation provincially than federally reflects the far greater number of visible minorities who were candidates provincially. It also is the result of three newly elected visible minority MPPs inheriting the candidacy of retired incumbents in safe seats for their party.
There is not a fixed ethnic vote favouring a single political party – At both the provincial and federal level, visible minorities were elected in constituencies with high concentrations of visible minorities. However, these constituencies elected politicians of differing political parties provincially and federally. This suggests that there is not a fixed ‘ethnic vote’ loyal to a single political party in the GTA.
Visible minorities are woefully under-represented in municipal government – Only 7% of all 253 municipal council members in the GTA are visible minorities.
All sub-groups of visible minorities are under-represented, but some have no representation at any level of government – While all are under-represented among the GTA’s 347 combined elected officials relative to their population share, some fare relatively better than others. Four visible minority sub-groups, despite large populations, have no member of their community elected at any of these three levels of government in the GTA. These are Arabs, Filipinos, non-white Latin Americans and Southeast Asians.
South Asians and Chinese are the most elected sub-groups - At the other end of the continuum are South Asians and Chinese, each holding 15 of the 38 (39%) total visible minority-held elected positions across the GTA. Interestingly South Asian elected officials predominate federally and provincially, while their Chinese counterparts predominate municipally. But even these ‘best case’ sub-groups have considerable ground to make up before achieving elected representation on par with population share. For this to occur, South Asians would need to elect three times their current number of politicians, and the Chinese community two times its current share.
Electoral success varies by region withinthe GTA - Geographically, the paper also reveals disparities in visible minority electoral representation. Their numbers as both candidates and elected members are better in the 905 suburbs than in the 416 City of Toronto. And within Toronto, they fare far better in the three older suburbs of Etobicoke, North York and Scarborough than in the central city.
Additionally, the paper questions whether there is a pattern of ‘colour coded’ constituencies in place. The large majority of provincial constituencie sacross Ontario have no visible minority candidates, while several in the GTA with exceptionally high proportions of visible minority residents, feature visible minority candidates for all three major parties.
Electoral is success improving only modestly - By drawing on earlier research on the subject, the paper demonstrates that visible minority under-representation in electoral politics is not a new phenomenon. While the recent round of elections yielded somewhat better numbers than previously, progress has been modest at best.
Recommendations:
The recommendations include:
DiverseCity Counts has measured the number of visible minorities in positions of leadership in the largest and most influential employment sectors in the GTA. The focus has been on six sectors: elected office, the public sector, the corporate sector, the voluntary sector, the education sector, and agencies, boards and commissions (ABCs).
In 2009, the study found that 13.4% of the 3,256 leaders analysed were visible minorities, compared to 49.5% of the population in the area under study. In 2010, the study revealed some subtle but positive changes: in total, 14% of 3,347 leaders examined were members of visible minority groups. In 2011, an analysis of the same institutions revealed that 483 of a total of 3,330 leadership positions, or 14.5%, are held by members of visible minority groups. This represents a gradual, but significant, increase (8%) in the diversity of GTA leaders over the last three years.
Rates of diversity vary between sectors
Here are a few of the findings:
Rates of diversity vary within sectors
This research shows that some sub-sectors have more visible minority leadership than others. For example:
Within sectors, some organizations have significant numbers of visible minorities in leadership, while others have absolutely none. This gap reinforces the need for organizations that distinguish themselves as diversity leaders to share their policies and practices with less proactive organizations.
Legal leaders do not reflect the population they serve
This year, the project introduced an additional sector to the study: the legal sector. The legal system is one of the core institutions in a democracy. To analyse this sector in the GTA, the number of visible minority leaders among judges, legal governing bodies, law school deans and associate/assistant deans, partners in the largest law firms, and Crown and deputy Crown attorneys were counted.
Within leadership roles, visible minorities are under-represented in the legal sector. Visible minorities comprise 14.4% of all lawyers in the GTA, yet of 2,410 legal leaders identified, only 6.8% (163) are visible
minorities. Law schools and governing bodies have the highest percentage (10.5%) of visible minorities in leadership positions. Among judges, 8.3% are visible minorities, while 6.6% of partners in the largest law firms are visible minorities. There are no visible minorities among Crown and deputy Crown attorneys in the GTA.
DiverseCity Counts measures on an annual basis the number of visible minorities in leadership positions in elected office, the public sector, the corporate sector, agencies, boards, and commissions, the voluntary sector, and the education sector. Last year the research found that 13.5% of the 3,256 leaders examined were visible minorities, compared with 49.5% of the general population in the area under study.
In 2010 the same institutions were examined and it was found that of a total of 3,348 leaders, just 469 (14%) are visible minorities. This represents a subtle if modest improvement.
Here are a few notable differences:
Media leadership mirrors corporate sector leadership
This year, the study also took a special look at the news media that are most consumed by GTA residents. Media organizations are important institutions because they play a role in defining who
is a leader in society and can shape the ambitions of those who wish to be leaders.
The study examined two aspects of the media: who makes decisions at major print and broadcast media organizations serving the GTA, and who gets represented in the news coverage.
As in the corporate sector generally, visible minorities are under-represented on boards and among senior executives of large media corporations. Of the 289 leaders examined, there are 14 or 4.8% visible minorities. In general, broadcast companies in this study had slightly higher levels of representation, likely because they are subject to the federal Employment Equity Act and because tracking diversity is a condition of their CRTC licenses.
However, it is not all bad news. Online media and ethnic media, in particular, are providing new opportunities to broaden representation. The research also found that there are a number of simple and cost-effective ways that media can diversify their news content. These include for example updating stock photography, identifying experts from diverse backgrounds by using databases such as DiverseCity Voices, and recognizing how diversity can strengthen journalism.
The findings from this study reinforce the fact that organizations across sectors have an opportunity to increase diversity in leadership. It also provides insight into simple strategies to advance this goal.
The first annual research report measuring diversity among leaders in the GTA analyzed a total of 3,257 leaders in Toronto, Mississauga, Brampton, Markham and Richmond Hill including elected officials, public sector executives, members of agencies, boards and commissions, as well as a sample of the largest voluntary and business organizations as determined by revenue.
The Greater Toronto Area (GTA) is one of the most diverse regions in the world. In 2009, about 40% of its population is comprised of visible minorities. Ensuring that the leadership of the region reflects the population’s diversity has important social and economic implications.
The authors looked at a sample of elected officials (federal, provincial, municipal, and School Board Trustees), the public service (City of Toronto and Province of Ontario), the corporate sector (large companies by revenue located in the GTA), agencies, boards and commissions (municipal and provincial), the voluntary sector (large charities and foundations), and the educational sector (schools, colleges and universities).
The results indicated that, as of March 2009, visible minorities are under-represented in the senior-most leadership positions in the GTA. Just 13% of leaders we analyzed are visible minorities.
Among elected officials, visible minorities are best represented at the provincial level. Overall, eight of 35 MPPs (23%) in the targeted municipalities are visible minorities, compared to 21% of School Board Trustees, 14% of federal MPs, and 10% of Municipal Councillors.
Among public servants in provincial ministries and municipal government departments, visible minorities represent only 4% of senior employees in regional and municipal governments but 8% of police executives and 10% of provincial Deputy Ministers and Assistant Deputy Ministers.
In the corporate sector companies we examined, visible minorities account for only 5% of senior executives and 3% of board members. Among the largest charitable organizations and foundations we examined, visible minorities represent 8% of executives and 14% of board members. There were no school boards with visible minority directors (although this changed in June 2009 as a result of a recent appointment) but 19% of principals and vice-principals in the City of Toronto District School Board are visible minorities. Visible minorities make up 20% of college executives and 11% of university executives, and represent 27% of college boards and 24% of university boards in the GTA.
In addition to these sectors, the report also examined the number of visible minorities sitting on City of Toronto and Province of Ontario agencies, boards, and commissions. Thirty-one percent of the City of Toronto’s municipal agency appointments are visible minorities, but visible minorities comprise only 11% of the appointments to the Ontario agencies we examined. It is also interesting to note that, in all sectors except the corporate sector, boards of directors are more diverse than senior executives.
What is this research about?
This survey-based report explores diversity, inclusion and belonging (DIBs) in Toronto’s tech sector.
What do you need to know?
MaRS Discovery District (MaRS) launched the Tech for All Agreement (page 47 of the PDF), calling upon tech-sector employers to form an Inclusion Council, working together to foster DIBs strategies within their companies and across the industry. 47 Toronto-area tech companies signed on to undertake a learning journey together with the goal of beginning to understand the state of diversity, inclusion and belonging in the tech sector.
Diversity, inclusion and belonging are essential elements for all companies in Toronto’s tech sector. As the sector continues to grow and attract the attention of the world, DIBs activities are critical to its success and more important than ever. While tech companies have diversity policies and programs in place that are making a difference, especially when it comes to hiring staff, they need to do more to ensure that their employees’ diverse perspectives are recognized and valued in the workplace, that they have impactful work to do and that they feel they are making a valuable contribution. This report lays out a path to do exactly that. I am confident that the solutions proposed will ensure that our increasingly diverse workforce is fully engaged and helping Toronto’s tech sector grow even stronger.
What did the researchers do?
Researchers conducted focus groups with 110 Toronto tech-sector employers and 28 tech-sector employees, as well as interviews with 16 DIBs experts, and a survey with 456 Toronto tech-sector employees.
What did the researchers find?
Researchers found that employers generally understand the importance of DIBs but struggle to create shared organizational understanding. However, many employers are taking important steps to reduce bias in the workplace:
Additional findings:
How can you use this research?
According to the researchers "The good news is that employers want to change this reality: they want to engage in DIBs initiatives and many are already engaged in this work. However, many others reported that they didn’t know how or where to start. A lack of knowledge, fear of doing the 'wrong' thing, the speed of growth in the tech sector and employee backlash all prove to be barriers for employers. This is a problem. Organizations in the tech sector need to come together to support each other; we need to work together to take on the innovation challenges that will propel our region forward.
The organizations who have started this journey with MaRS have signed on to the Tech for All Agreement, indicating their desire to form a Toronto region tech-sector Inclusion Council. We encourage and welcome other members of the tech community to sign on to this Agreement and join us to truly make Tech for All."
What is this research about?
This report examines the Canada–U.S. differences in the occupational skill utilization and earnings of STEM-educated immigrant workers. Using data from the 2016 Census for Canada and the combined 2015 to 2017 American Community Survey, this analysis focuses on immigrants with a university degree in a STEM field who were aged 25 to 64 and arrived as adults.
What do you need to know?
Skills in the science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields are increasingly regarded as essential to innovation, productivity growth and competitiveness. In both Canada and the United States, immigrants provide a very large share of the STEM-educated labour and hold a large share of STEM jobs. Furthermore, the selection system for economic immigrants, including the STEM educated, varies significantly between Canada and the United States and likely affects the economic outcomes of immigrants. For these reasons, a Canada–U.S. comparison of the outcomes of STEM-educated immigrants is important. In both Canada and the United States, adult immigrants with at least a bachelor’s degree were twice as likely as their native-born counterparts to have studied in a STEM field and three times as likely to have studied engineering or computer science and mathematics.
What did the researchers do?
The data are from Canada’s 2016 Census of Population 25% sample microdata file (Statistics Canada 2017) and the pooled 2015, 2016 and 2017 American Community Survey (ACS) data from the Integrated Public Use Microdata Series (IPUMS) (Ruggles et al. 2017). Three years of ACS data were pooled to increase the sample size of immigrants in the U.S. data. The study samples were restricted to adults aged 25 to 64 with at least a bachelor’s degree in a STEM field. The analyses focused on adult immigrants who immigrated at age 18 or older, although the native-born population and childhood immigrants (those who immigrated at an age younger than 18) were included in the descriptive tables, and the native-born population was used for earnings comparisons. The study excluded new immigrants who arrived in the census or survey year because of the different data collection procedures in the ACS and Canadian census. In the earnings analysis, those who arrived in the year prior to the census or survey year were also excluded because they may not have stayed for a whole year.
What did the researchers find?
There was a large earnings gap between STEM-educated immigrants and native-born workers in Canada, even after adjusting for sociodemographic differences, while no corresponding earnings gap existed in the United States. The earnings gap in Canada was particularly large for STEM-educated immigrants holding non-STEM jobs.
In both countries, close to one-half of STEM-educated immigrant workers held jobs in STEM occupations, according to the 2016 Census of Canada and the American Community Survey from 2015 to 2017. With similar demographic characteristics, STEM-educated immigrants with STEM jobs in Canada earned 17% less than their Canadian-born counterparts, while such immigrants in the United States earned slightly more than their US-born counterparts.
Among STEM-educated immigrant workers not working in a STEM occupation, labour market outcomes were better in the United States than in Canada. In Canada, 20% of these immigrants held jobs requiring a university degree, compared with 48% in the United States. With similar characteristics, these immigrants in Canada earned 34% less than their Canadian-born counterparts, compared with 7% less in the United States.
In Canada, the skill utilization and earnings of STEM-educated immigrants differed considerably by admission program. Among STEM-educated immigrants in the Canadian Experience Class (CEC), two-thirds found a STEM job, and they earned on average 9% less than STEM-educated Canadian-born workers.
By comparison, among STEM-educated immigrants admitted via the Provincial Nominee Program, 45% found a STEM job, and they earned 20% less than STEM-educated Canadian-born workers. A higher share of STEM-educated immigrants in the Federal Skilled Worker Program worked in STEM occupations, but they had slightly lower average earnings than provincial nominees.
How can you use this research?
Add it to the pile of illuminating research that continues to provide ample evidence about the significant labour market discrimination and disadvantages of newcomer talent to Canada...
The authors offer come discussion points:
Why are the economic outcomes of STEM-educated immigrants better in the United States than in Canada? The authors suggest that little direct research has been conducted on this question, although a number of possible explanations exist, including the following:
What is this research about?
The purpose of this report is to provide an overview of this process and to examine common trends within five data sets: the Western Canada Settlement Survey (Esses et al., 2013), the Pan Canadian Settlement Survey (Citizenship and Immigration Canada (2012), the Alberta Settlement Survey (Esses et al., 2012), the Landed Immigrant Data Base (Citizenship and Immigration Canada, 2013) and the Longitudinal Survey of Immigrants to Canada (Statistics Canada, 2009). This report provides preliminary analysis of three surveys - the Western Canada Settlement Survey, the Alberta Settlement Survey, and the Pan Canadian Settlement Survey.
What do you need to know?
While research on integration and immigration in Canada is rich, we know surprisingly little about the settlement experiences of immigrants, such as their use and satisfaction with settlement services and how these services may influence integration into educational institutions, the labour market and the wider society have not been explored. There are good reasons for confronting the results of these five surveys. If trends in one survey can be verified in one or more of the other surveys, then policy makers can be more certain about where they spend their funds and settlement agencies can respond better to the needs of the newly arrived population.
What did the researchers do?
For the Western Canada Settlement Survey, potential survey respondents were contacted through information obtained from a Citizenship and Immigration Canada data file of all newcomer landings between January 1, 2008 and December 31, 2012. Participants were 18 years of age or older and indicated plans to reside in one of the four western provinces or territories at the time of landing. From that data file random samples were contacted from each province and territory.
The survey was conducted over the telephone between April and May 2013. A total of 3,006 immigrants were surveyed and 29 cases had to be excluded because of missing data or having been in Canada longer than then years. The total sample includes 2,977 immigrants, 18 years of age and over, who had been living in one of the four western provinces and territories for between 3 and 60 months, had become permanent residents of Canada within the past five years, and had lived in Canada for a maximum of ten years.
The sample included 744 respondents in British Columbia, 729 respondents in Alberta, 713 respondents in Saskatchewan, 750 respondents in Manitoba, and 40 respondents from the Territories. The individual sample sizes for each province provided a margin of error of +/-4 percent and a confidence level of 95 percent. Response rates for the five surveys were between 24.6 percent and 38.0 percent. All respondents were given a choice of language in which to conduct the survey.
What did the researchers find?
In both the Western Canada Settlement Survey and the Alberta Settlement Survey, the entrance class reported most was family class, followed by skilled workers. The Western Canada Settlement Survey included more provincial nominee immigrants (22.9%), most likely due to the inclusion of Manitoba where the PN program has been most successful, than did the Alberta Settlement Survey (7.2% were provincial nominees) while the latter included more Canadian Experience Class immigrants (3.0%).
Among a variety of other service use information researchers found that the majority of immigrants do not access services from an organization in their Province. Only one-third of respondents report using settlement services in the Western Canada Settlement Survey, while nearly half (47.1%) of immigrants in the Alberta Settlement Survey utilized services. While initially alarming, such results have been found in other studies (Lo, et al., 2010) and may, in fact, reflect actual settlement service usage.
There is some variation in service usage when considering where immigrants reside. Manitoba has the highest percentage of immigrants using services (41.9%). The Territories have the lowest percentage of service use, with only 20% of immigrants accessing services. There are also differences between those immigrants residing in rural and urban areas. Immigrants living in Census Metropolitan Areas (CMA) are most likely to use services (35.5%) and those living in rural areas are least likely to use services (23.4%).
Comparing across entrance classes, more variation is evident. Refugees (59.3%) are the most likely group to access services, followed by dependent business class immigrants (50%). Principal applicants in the Canadian Experience Class (CEC) are the least likely to access services, with only 12.5% having used services. Similar distributions across entrance class were found in the Alberta Settlement Survey, with some variation since more immigrants report using services in the study. Refugees (73.6%) are most likely to access services and dependent Provincial Nominees (34.4%) are least likely.
Immigrants in the Western Canada Settlement Survey who used services began to do so, on average, 4.2 months after arriving to the Province. On average, immigrants responding to the Alberta Settlement Survey began accessing services at least 6 months after arriving to Alberta. Researchers found this to be a surprisingly long period of time between arrival and access to settlement services.
Over half of immigrants (52.8%) feel that the services or programs they have accessed have been very to extremely helpful in getting settled. So, if immigrants are not using settlement services from an organization in large numbers, then where are they getting their information on settling? Do they know how to get services? Fortunately, immigrants seem to know how to get the services they require to settle. In the Pan Canadian Settlement Survey, 64.8% of newcomers agree or strongly agree that they know how to get services while 14.3% do not know how to obtain services. They are also seeking information, but seem to be going to less institutionalized sources or finding information through their own searches. Many immigrants in the Western Canada Settlement Survey (57.3%) get their information from their family and friends or through online sources such as government websites (52.5%) or other websites, blogs, or discussions (29%). Immigrant-serving agencies are the fourth most commonly reported source of information on settling (27.9%). See Table 6 for the top five most reported sources of settlement information.
How can you use this research?
There has always been a rich discussion about how much newcomers access services, find them useful, and where they get their information from. Research like this provides useful context to build on and ask communities ongoing questions about their service and information needs.
What is this research about?
The researchers examined the nature of information in foreign-trained health professionals’ lives as they attempt to integrate into the North American labor market and the role that online discussion forums play in channeling the discussions.
What do you need to know?
Foreign-trained health professionals arrive in the United States and Canada to find a professional environment that is often unwelcoming and complex. They are faced with a combination of
unfamiliar healthcare system, terminology, information sources and information-seeking practices.
What did the researchers do?
Researchers designed a mixed methods study combining content analysis of online forum postings along with semi-structured interviews with foreign-trained health professionals. They focused on an analysis of the messages posted to online discussion forums directed at foreign-trained professionals (with a focus on health professions) to explore the information practices observable on these platforms. Content analysis was carried out on a sample of postings directed at foreign-trained health professionals in five online forums: AllNurses and Trackitt in the United States; and Canadian Desi, LoonLounge and CanadaVisa in Canada.
Among the questions that guided the research are:
What did the researchers find?
Online communities supported by online discussion forums help these health professionals integrate into the local healthcare system. The interactions in online forums include requesting guidance and clarification about the North American system, sharing experiences and stories, expressing visceral or affective reactions, offering opinions, and negotiating the norms and etiquette of the forum. The content of the postings mostly revolve around issues relating to the immigration process, certification and employability. Other issues identified can be grouped into three categories: information preparedness, information as support and informational practices.
It is not only important to create information services but also successful communities in which foreign-trained health professionals cannot be simply informed but also involved in the sharing of information and experiences. Online forums and other social media seem to contribute to the formation of these nascent social networks, and provide an often elusive link for the foreign-trained professional to her peer community of health professionals.
How can you use this research?
Not enough time and research has been spent looking at the informal spaces where newcomers support each other online. These sites, apps, groups, and social networks have grown over time and become increasingly private spaces. There is value in researchers as well as practitioners spending more time understanding these network spaces, how they work, where they fit in the immigration and settlement process, and where they can play a role.
What is this research about?
This report examines how and why immigrants to Canada make use of Information and Communications Technologies (ICTs) as they move through the stages of immigration.
What do you need to know?
Information and communication technologies (ICTs) are central to the shifts taking place within immigration by providing greater transnational communication opportunities for immigrants, and by providing different and accessible cultural mediums such as online local newspapers in languages other than English and French, newsgroups, chat rooms, and home country internet sites. It is therefore important to conduct critical research that explores the relationship between ICTs and social and economic inclusion for immigrants to Canada.
In 2007, vVery little research existed that identifies the ways in which immigrants make use of ICTs in their everyday lives. This report created an initial body of knowledge and information that helps contribute to our understanding of the use of ICTs in settlement and inclusion.
The focus of the report is the public library sector, since public libraries offer a free and accessible venue for the use of ICTs for information gathering. However, the report points to the need to incorporate ICTs in federally funded Language Instruction for Newcomers to Canada (LINC) training to help immigrants to become more adept at using technologies in the settlement process generally and for employment and integration. In that context the report points to the importance of providing online/blended learning opportunities in settlement language programs as a means to enhance language and ICT skills.
What did the researchers do?
A challenge of current discussions about immigrant social inclusion is the tendency to generalize both immigrants and inclusion. The researchers' response to this challenge is to operationalize the concept of social inclusion into concrete implications for immigrants including employment seeking, social networks, civic engagement, and various types of literacy (including technological and cultural literacy).
The authors conducted an in-depth literature review to assess the state of knowledge in the area of immigrant ICT use and social inclusion. They also conducted interviews with practitioners at organizations across Canada that provide ICT services to immigrants. They targeted diverse cities where immigrants tend to settle including Vancouver, Montreal, Toronto, Halifax, and Calgary. They chose a variety of organizations including settlement organizations, public libraries, and community networks. Different cities and types of organizations were chosen to provide a variety of perspectives regarding what is a complex and site specific issue. We looked for regional differences as well as the way that these organizations enable or limit a spectrum of ICT uses by their clients.
What did the researchers find?
How can you use this research?
This report is useful for both the content as well as methodology, which could be replicated to continue researching the role ICTs play in newcomer inclusion. Newcomer serving agencies can use the researchers' interview guide to guide their own internal research about their organization and what they know about ICT use among newcomers and communities that access services (and those who do not).
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