The Diversity Institute at Toronto Metropolitan University, in partnership with the Future Skills Centre, published the Gender, Diversity and Discrimination in the Workplace Report. The study explores Canadians’ experiences with discrimination in the workplace based on data from the Survey of Employment and Skills conducted by the Environics Institute for Survey Research. The survey was administered in six waves between 2020 and 2023 to 34,740 participants. The survey asked about seven grounds for discrimination: age, gender, race or ethnicity, Indigenous identity (asked only to Indigenous respondents), disability, sexual orientation and religion.
The findings are consistent with similar research confirming that many women, racialized people, Indigenous peoples, those who identify as 2SLGBTQQIA+, those with disabilities that always or often limit their daily activities and those who are 18 to 34 years of age, report experiencing discrimination in the workplace. The study conveys intersectionality is important as many groups face multiple layers of discrimination. According to the report, Black women and younger women (18 to 34 years) are more likely than women overall to report experiences of workplace discrimination. Indigenous men, and younger Indigenous men specifically, are more likely than average to report experiencing workplace discrimination, according to the study.
Furthermore, many groups experiencing workplace discrimination tend to report poorer mental health compared to their counterparts who do not report experiencing discrimination. The results also suggest that reports of workplace discrimination are more prevalent in the public sector than in the private sector. The report delves into additional key findings and provides recommendations for addressing discrimination in the workplace, click here.