Despite the contributions of previous generations, there are still significant differences in the employment and earnings of Black people relative to the rest of the Canadian adult population.
First, some background on current-day Black Canadians as a population group:
In the last 20 years, the Black population in Canada has nearly doubled in size to 1,198,540 (2016).
The Black population now accounts for 3.5% of Canada's total population and 15.6% of the population defined as a visible minority.
The Black population in Canada is a young demographic: it is younger than the total population of the country, with the median age for the Black population being 29.6 years, versus 40.7 years for the total population.
Black youth experience racial gaps in labour market outcomes: they have a higher unemployment rate, a lower employment rate and lower earnings compared to other Canadian youth.
Here’s what the 2016 Census tells us:
The employment rate of Black people of all ages is lower than in the rest of the population.
For those of working age (25-64 years old), the overall unemployment rate was 10.1% for the Black population compared to the Canadian average of 6.4% for the same cohort.
Black youth (15-24 years old) had a higher unemployment rate (24.3%) compared to the Canadian youth average (15.5%).
In 2016, the employment rate was 78.1% for Black men and 71.0% for Black women, compared with 82.6% and 75.5%, respectively, for their counterparts in the rest of the population.
The employment rate gap grew significantly during the COVID-19 pandemic. In July of 2021, the unemployment rate for Black Canadians was 16.8%, while the national average was 11.2%.
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