Racism in Canada

Racism in Canada traces both historical and contemporary racist community attitudes, as well as governmental negligence and political non-compliance with United Nations human rights standards and incidents in Canada.^[1]^[2] Contemporary Canada is the product of indigenous First Nations combined with multiple waves of immigration, predominantly from Europe and in modern times, from Asia.

Statistics

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Perspective

In 2021, the Social Progress Index ranked Canada 6th in the world for overall tolerance and inclusion.^[3]^[4]

In 2016, a quarter of the discrimination grievances submitted to the Canadian Human Rights Commission were related to race, color, national or ethnic background, and/or religion. By 2017, 43% of hate crimes were found to be driven by racial or ethnic animosity, with 16% specifically aimed at Black individuals. Hate crimes targeting Muslims constituted 17%, while those directed at the Jewish community represented 18% of all hate-related offenses in Canada for that year.^[5] The number of police-reported hate crimes in Canada increased by 32% in 2023, marking the third significant rise in four years. Since 2019, these crimes have more than doubled, rising by 145%.^[6]

Crimes motivated by race or ethnicity grew by 6% for the fifth consecutive year, totaling 2,128 cases. Specific groups showed varying trends, with incidents against South Asians increasing by 35%, Arabs and West Asians by 52%, and Indigenous peoples by 6%. However, incidents against Black and East/Southeast Asian communities saw decreases of 7% and 10%, respectively.^[6] Hate crimes motivated by religion rose by 67% in 2023, primarily affecting Jewish and Muslim communities. The Jewish population experienced a 71% increase in reported incidents, while crimes against Muslims surged by 94%. Other religious groups saw smaller changes, with Catholic incidents decreasing by 6%. Overall, hate crimes based on religion totaled 1,284 in 2023.^[6]

Hate crimes tied to sexual orientation soared by 69% in 2023, reaching 860 reported cases. Incidents based on sex or gender increased by 37%, while other motivations rose by 9%.^[6]

Every province and Nunavut recorded increases in hate crimes in 2023. For example, Ontario reported 2,426 incidents, up by 476 from the previous year. Quebec and British Columbia also saw significant rises, with 739 and 669 hate crimes reported, respectively.^[6] Most police-reported hate crimes were non-violent, making up 55% of total incidents in 2023. Non-violent hate crimes grew by 36%, while violent hate crimes increased by 28%.^[6] In a 2013 survey of 80 countries by the World Values Survey, Canada was ranked among the most racially tolerant societies in the world.^[7]

Racialized individuals in Canada receive 81 cents for every dollar earned by their non-racialized counterparts. In Toronto, Black men are three times more likely to be requested to provide identification by law enforcement. Employers display a 40% higher likelihood of interviewing candidates with names that appear English, despite having identical qualifications. In 2017, Indigenous peoples comprised 27% of the federal correctional population, although they represented merely 4. 1% of the total Canadian demographic. In Quebec, candidates with names that sound Francophone are 60% more prone to being interviewed compared to those with comparable profiles.^[5]

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Overview

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Perspective

Canadian author and journalist Terry Glavin claims that white Canadians consider themselves to be mostly free of racial prejudice,^{[failed verification]} perceiving the country to be a "more inclusive society" than its direct neighbor, the United States.^[8] This notion has come under criticism.^[9]^[10] For instance, Glavin cites the treatment of Aboriginal populations as evidence of Canada's own racist tendencies.^[11] These perceptions of inclusion and "colour-blindness" have also been challenged in recent years by scholars such as Constance Backhouse, who argue that white supremacy remains prevalent in Canadian institutions. According to some commentators, racism in Canada contributes to a self-perpetuating cycle of criminalization and imprisonment.^[12] In 2019, the English and Art departments at Kwantlen Polytechnic University held an exhibition titled Maple-Washing: A Disruption, which used art and historical interpretation to challenge sanitized narratives of Canadian history.^[13]

Indigenous peoples

Throughout the history of Canada, the Canadian government, its colonial predecessors, and European settlers perpetrated systematic violence against Indigenous peoples that increasingly has been recognized as genocide. These actions included forced displacement, land dispossession, deliberate starvation policies, physical violence, and compulsory assimilation programs.^[14]^[15] These atrocities have also been described as ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity.^[16]^[17]^[18]

Canada is a settler-colonial nation whose initial economy relied on farming and exporting natural resources like fur, fish, and lumber.^[19] The Canadian government implemented policies such as the Indian Act, health-care segregation, residential schools and displacement that attempted forced assimilation of Indigenous peoples into Euro-Canadian culture while asserting control over the land and its resources.^[15] Despite current views that might define these actions as racist or genocidal, they were seen as progressive at the time.^[20] In response, Indigenous communities mobilized to resist colonial policies and assert their rights to self-determination and sovereignty.^[21]

Although Canadian historians contend that the treatment of Indigenous peoples constitutes genocide, Indigenous genocide denialism is still a component of Canadian society. A period of redress began with the formation of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada by the Government of Canada in 2008.^[22] This included recognition of cultural genocide,^[23] settlement agreements,^[22] and betterment of racial discrimination issues, such as addressing the plight of missing and murdered Indigenous women.^[24]

Slavery of Aboriginals and Black Canadians

There are records of slavery in some areas of British North America, which later became Canada, dating from the 17th century. The majority of these slaves were Aboriginal,^[25] and United Empire Loyalists brought slaves with them after leaving the United States.

Segregation and Ku Klux Klan

Canada had also practiced segregation, and a Canadian Ku Klux Klan exists.^[26]^[27] Racial profiling occurs in cities such as Halifax, Toronto and Montreal.^[28]^[29] Black people made up 3% of the Canadian population in 2016, and 9% of the population of Toronto (which has the largest communities of Caribbean and African immigrants).^[30] They lived disproportionately in poverty, were three times as likely to be carded in Toronto than Whites, and incarceration rates for Blacks were climbing faster than for any other demographic. A Black Lives Matter protest was staged at Toronto Police Headquarters in March 2016.^[31]^[32]

Order-in-Council P.C. 1911-1324

On August 12, 1911, the Governor General in Council approved a one-year prohibition of black immigration to Canada because, according to the Order-in-Council, "the Negro race" was "unsuitable to the climate and requirements of Canada."^[33] It was tabled on June 2, 1911, by the Minister of the Interior, Frank Oliver, following mounting pressure from white prairie farmers who were discontented with an influx in the immigration of black farmers from the United States.^[34] It was never officially enforced or added to the Immigration Act, likely because the government—led by Prime Minister Wilfrid Laurier—was hesitant to alienate black voters ahead of the 1911 federal election.^[35] It was repealed later that year.^[36]

Africville

In Nova Scotia, a community which mainly consisted of Black Canadians were forcibly removed and eventually razed between 1964 and 1967 after years of intentional neglect by the government in Halifax.^[37]

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Legal, social, and institutional dimensions

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Laws and the legal system

White supremacy has been criticized as being historically embedded in Canada's legal system. Legal scholar Constance Backhouse documented how explicit forms of racism were created and enforced through Canadian law in the 20th century.^[38] Canadian law formally uses the term "visible minority" to refer to people of colour (excluding Aboriginal peoples), a definition introduced in the Employment Equity Act of 1995.^[39] However, the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination has criticized this term, suggesting it may be considered offensive or inadequate by certain minority groups, and recommended its reassessment.^[40] Historically, Canadian laws and regulations have targeted various racial and ethnic groups, including the Chinese Immigration Act of 1885, the Jewish admissions quota at McGill University, and legal actions against Chinese Canadians, as seen in the Hansard record of the Chinese Canadian Recognition and Restitution Act.^[41]^[42]^[43]

Social fracture

Racism in Canada continues to undermine the foundations of belonging, with 45% of racialized Canadians in 2023/2024 reporting that they experienced discrimination within the past five years. These experiences are not only linked to increased rates of poor mental health and reduced life satisfaction, but also to a deeper damage to social cohesion. Racism limits trust in others, erodes confidence in the fairness of society, and leaves individuals feeling disconnected, alienated, and fundamentally excluded from full participation in Canadian life. Among those affected, only 38% of racialized Canadians in 2023 said they felt warmly toward fellow Canadians, and nearly one in five reported having no faith in how Canadian democracy works. These figures are more than twice as high as those reported by non-victims, indicating a serious erosion of civic trust and a growing fracture in collective belonging.^[2]

Furthermore, racism continues to shape how racialized Canadians view their position in society. Around half of those who experienced racism believed that their race had negatively influenced their life chances, such as access to opportunities or fair treatment. This demonstrates that the consequences of systemic racialisation are not limited to individual distress but extend into long-term disillusionment with fairness, equal opportunity, and one’s rightful place in society. In 2025, it was reported that 45 to 50 percent of racialized Canadians had experienced racism in the previous five years, and 8 out of 10 of these individuals reported facing repeated incidents. Together, these patterns may contribute to a diminished sense of belonging among racialized individuals, whose daily lives are affected by the ongoing and cumulative effects of widespread racism.^[2]

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Community-specific racism

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Greek-Canadians

The 1918 Toronto anti-Greek riot was a three-day race riot in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, targeting Greek immigrants during August 2–4, 1918. It was the largest riot in the city's history and one of the largest anti-Greek riots in the world.

Jewish Canadians

Antisemitism in Canada is the manifestation of hatred, hostility, harm, prejudice or discrimination against the Canadian Jewish people or Judaism as a religious, ethnic or racial group. Some of the first Jewish settlers in Canada arrived in Montreal in the 1760s, among them was Aaron Hart who is considered the father of Canadian Jewry.^[44] His son Ezekiel Hart experience one of the first well documented cases of antisemitism in Canada.^[45] Hart was repeatedly stopped from taking his seat in the Quebec legislature due to his Jewish faith, as members claimed he could not take the oath of office, which included the phrase "on the true faith of a Christian".^[46]

Influential figures of the age, such as Goldwin Smith, promoted antisemitic ideas in the 19th century, describing Jews in derogatory terms.^[47] Political leaders such as Henri Bourassa, publicly argued in the early 20th century against Jewish immigration.^[48] Quebec saw a strong anti-Jewish movement, particularly from the Catholic Church, which associated Jews with modernism and liberalism from the late 19th century to the mid-20th century.^[49] Various Catholic publications and activists played a significant role in spreading anti-Jewish sentiment.^[49] One of the most severe incidents occurred in 1910 in Quebec City, where a violent attack against Jewish storekeepers was incited by an antisemite speaker.^[50]

During the interwar period, figures like Abbé Lionel Groulx further fueled antisemitic views,^[51] influencing Quebec’s intellectual elite and leading to movements that boycotted Jewish businesses and employment, most notably the Days of Shame.^[52] Across Canada, antisemitism thrived in English-speaking regions as well, with various organizations promoting these negative attitudes. Significant events included the Christie Pits riot in Toronto in 1933 a violent confrontation arising from swastika displays.^[53] In the 1920s and 1930s, Jewish people still faced numerous restrictions across many areas of life, including employment and housing.^[54] Many were excluded from hospitals, universities, and professional sectors.^[55] During the Nazi Holocaust, Canada's federal government adopted restrictive policies against Jewish immigration.^[56] Despite desperate requests from Jewish refugees, many were turned away, most infamously exemplified by the MS St. Louis incident.^[57] Discriminatory practices and legislation were common, reflecting societal attitudes in Canada and internationally.^[49]^[58]

Since the end of World War II, antisemitism in Canada has been in decline as a result of the passage of human rights legislation as well as a result of the increasing acceptance of multicultural ideology in Canada.^[59] Beginning in the 1960s legal barriers were removed, and Jews began to hold high-powered and high-profile positions in Canadian society.^[60] Despite Canada's progressive attitudes towards diversity in the 21st century, antisemitism persists as a small component of Canadian society, evident in random hate crimes and extremist groups.^[61]^[62] Notably, anti-Jewish incidents surged in response to the outbreak of the Gaza war.^[63]^[64]

Black people

Black Canadians are discriminated against in Canada.^[65]

Romani people

Asian Canadians

Chinese Canadians

Starting in 1858, Chinese "coolies" were brought to Canada to work in British Columbia in the mines and on the Canadian Pacific Railway.^[66] After anti-Chinese riots broke out in 1886, a "Chinese head tax" was implemented to curtail immigration from China. In 1907, the Anti-Oriental Riots in Vancouver targeted Chinese and Japanese-owned businesses, and the Asiatic Exclusion League was formed to drive Asians out of the province. League members attacked Asians, resulting in numerous riots.^[67] In 1923, the federal government passed the Chinese Immigration Act, commonly known as the Exclusion Act, prohibiting most Chinese immigration.^[68] The Act was repealed in 1947,^[69] but discrimination limiting non-European immigrants continued until 1967 when a points-based system was introduced to assess immigrants regardless of origin.

Japanese Canadians

Although a British–Japanese treaty guaranteed Japanese citizens freedom of travel, they were nevertheless subject to anti-Asian racism in Canada, though a slightly lesser degree at the time than the Chinese before World War II, as an informal agreement between the Japanese and Canadian governments limited Japanese immigration in the wake of the Vancouver anti-Asian riots.^[70]

In 1942, during World War II, many Canadians of Japanese heritage—even those born in Canada— were forcibly moved to internment camps under the authority of the War Measures Act.^[71] At first, many men were separated from their families and sent to road camps in Ontario and on the British Columbia–Alberta border. Small towns in the BC interior such as Greenwood, Sandon, New Denver and Slocan became internment camps for women, children and the aged. To stay together, Japanese–Canadian families chose to work in farms in Alberta and Manitoba. Those who resisted and challenged the orders of the Canadian government were rounded up by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and incarcerated in a barbed-wire prisoner-of-war camp in Angler, Ontario.^[72] Japanese–Canadians fishing boats were also seized, with plans to drastically reduce fishing licenses from them and forcibly redistribute them for white Canadians.^[73] With government promises to return the land and properties seized during that time period, Japanese Canadians left their homes. This turned out to be untrue, as the seized possessions were resold and never returned to the Japanese Canadians. Unlike prisoners of war, who were protected by the Geneva Convention, Japanese–Canadians were forced to pay for their own internment.^[74]

South Asian Canadians

In recent years, South Asian Canadians--particularly those of Indian descent--have faced increasing levels of racial discrimination both online and in public spaces.^[75] Verbal attacks often invoke stereotypes about hygiene, language, food or accusations of "overpopulating" Canada. ^[76] These forms of racism have intensified amid growing anti-immigrant sentiment, particularly in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, and are often linked to public debates about international students, labour competition, and housing.^[77] South Asians have reported being told to "go back to your country," and have experienced cultural shaming of their food, clothing and accents. These forms of exclusion echo earlier instances of anti-South Asian racism in Canadian history, such as the rejection of Sikh passengers abroad the Komagata Maru in 1914, which reflected a broader effort to prevent Indian immigration to Canada.

In addition to external discrimination, some scholars have identified the persistence of colourism--a preference for lighter skin tones--as a form of internalized colonialism within South Asian communities.^[78] These beauty standards, shaped by global media and colonial histories, continue to affect how class, caste, and gender operate within diasporic experiences. These patterns are not only local, but part of broader global systems of racial capitalism, postcolonial migration, and transnational identity politics, which structure the lives of racialized communities across borders.

Sikhs

Anti-Sikh sentiment in Canada has a historical and contemporary presence marked by several key events and ongoing issues. Early instances include the 1907 Bellingham Race Riot, where South East Asian and South Asian immigrants, mostly Sikhs, were violently targeted by white mobs in Washington (state), spilling over into Canadian anti-immigrant sentiments and the Pacific Northwest.^[79]^[80]^[81]

The 1914 Komagata Maru incident further highlighted institutional racism when 376 Indian passengers, mostly Sikhs, were denied entry into Canada and forced to return to India, where many faced persecution.^[82]

Following the Air India Flight 182 attack, and more significantly after the September 11 attacks, Sikhs in Canada experienced increased xenophobia and hate crimes, often being perceived as security threats and mistaken for Muslims due to their turbans and beards.^[83]

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Contemporary issues

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Missing and murdered Indigenous women

The representation of murdered Indigenous women in crime statistics is not proportionate to the general population.^[84] In 2006, Amnesty International researched racism specific to Indigenous women in Canada.^[85] They reported on the lack of basic human rights, discrimination, and violence against Indigenous women. The Amnesty report found that First Nations women (age 25–44) with status under the Indian Act were five times more likely than other women of the same age to die as a result of violence.^[86] In 2006, the documentary film Finding Dawn looked into the many missing and murdered Aboriginal women in Canada over the past three decades.^[87] In September 2016, in response to repeated calls from Indigenous groups, activists, and non-governmental organizations, the Government of Canada under Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, jointly with all provincial and territorial governments, established a national public inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls.^[88]

Indigenous people still have to deal with racism within Canada and the challenges that the communities face are often ignored.^[89] There are still negative stereotypes associated with Indigenous people such as being freeloaders, drug addicts or dumb.^[90] Indigenous people are more likely to feel depression due to several factors such as poverty, loss of cultural identity, inadequate health care and more.

In 2020, the staff at a hospital in the Quebec city of Joliette were shown on video mocking and making racist remarks at an Atikamekw woman who eventually died. Indigenous leaders say the video exposes the grim realities of systemic racism that have long gone ignored or suppressed throughout Canada.^[91]

COVID-19 pandemic

In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, Asian Canadians reported increased incidents of violent assaults, especially against women of Asian descent.^[92] According to an Angus Reid survey from 22 June 2020, up to 50% of Chinese-Canadians had experienced verbal abuse, and 29% had been made to feel feared, as if they posed a threat to public safety.^[93]^[94] Another survey of 1,600 adults conducted by ResearchCo and obtained by the Agence France-Presse revealed one in four Canadians of Asian descent (70% of whom were of Chinese descent) who lived in British Columbia knew someone within their household who had faced discrimination.^[95] The survey also revealed 24 percent of Canadians of South Asian descent reported racist insults.^[95] Canadians of Indigenous origin had also reported discrimination.^[95]

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Statistics

Overview

Indigenous peoples

Slavery of Aboriginals and Black Canadians

Segregation and Ku Klux Klan

Order-in-Council P.C. 1911-1324

Africville

Legal, social, and institutional dimensions

Laws and the legal system

Social fracture

Community-specific racism

Greek-Canadians

Jewish Canadians

Black people

Romani people

Asian Canadians

Chinese Canadians

Japanese Canadians

South Asian Canadians

Sikhs

Contemporary issues

Missing and murdered Indigenous women

COVID-19 pandemic

See also

Further reading

References

Sources

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