Discrimination in Edmonton

7/31/2019 Discrimination in Edmonton

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EXPERIENCESANDPERCEPTIONS

OFDISCRIMINATIONINEDMONTON:

ASURVEYOFEDMON

TONRESIDE

NTS


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Edmonton is morE divErsE and

inclusivE than it has EvEr bEEn.

but wE havE a grEat dEal o

work to do. this rEport is an

invitation rom Edmontonians:

to act on what wE havE bEEn

told, to continuE our stratEgic

work to idEntiy and prEvEntdiscrimination. this work

calls or couragE and, abovE

all, partnErshipand wE know

that wE havE strong support

or it. racism rEE Edmonton

is guiding our bold vision o

bEcoming a municipality whErE all

rEsidEnts havE Equal accEss to

participation in EvEry aspEct

o liE in our grEat city.

Amarjeet Sohi, Councillor and Multiculturalism Initiative Liaison

ndings rom a 2011 Population Research Laboratory

niversity o Alberta) Public Opinion Survey

arvey Krahn (Dept. o Sociology, University o Alberta)

andolph Haluza-DeLay(Dept. o Sociology, The Kings University College)

ril 30, 2012

Experiences and Perceptions o Discrimination in Edmonton: A Surveyo Edmonton Residents 3


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TABLE OF CONTENTS

6 Executive Summary

7 Research Methods

8 Edmonton as a Welcoming City

9 Belies about Discrimination Occurring in Edmonton

10 Reports o Discrimination Against Dierent Groups

12 Reports o Discrimination in Dierent Settings

14 Personal Experiences o Discrimination

16 Conclusions

18 Key Findings

Racism Free Edmonton

PARTNERS

RFE is a collaborative group o 16 Edmonton Organizations that have come together

to build a racism ree, inclusive community. RFE partners include:

Aboriginal Commission on

Human Rights and Justice

www.racismreeedmonton.ca/about-

aboriginal-commission-on.asp

Alberta Human Rights Commission

www.albertahumanrights.ab.ca

Alliance jeunesse-famille dAlberta Society

www.ajas.ca/rancais

Centre for Race and Culture

www.crac.com

Citizenship and Immigration Canada

www.cic.gc.ca

City of Edmonton

www.edmonton.ca

Edmonton Catholic School Board

www. ecsd.net

Edmonton Chamber of Commerce

www.edmontonchamber.com

Edmonton Homeless Commission

www.endedmontonhomelessness.com

Edmonton Police Service

www.edmontonpolice.ca

Edmonton Public School Board

www.epsb.ca

Grant MacEwan University

www.macewan.ca

John Humphrey Centre for Peace

and Human Rights

www.jhcentre.org

Norquest College

www.norquest.ca

The Kings University College

www.kingsu.ca

University of Alberta

www.ualberta.ca

4 Experiences and Perceptions o Discrimination in Edmonton:A Surveyo Edmonton Residents Experiences and Perceptions o Discrimination in Edmonton: ASurvey o Edmonton Residents 5


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Executive Summary

The City o Edmonton is a member o the Canadian Coalition of

Municipalities Against Racism and Discrimination(CMARD). In

2008, Racism Free Edmonton was established to help identiy

and address institutional barriers to Aboriginal People and other

racialized groups. Racism Free Edmonton is a collaborative group

o 16 Edmonton organizations that have come together to build a

racism-ree, inclusive community that respects cultural diversity.

One o the guiding documents o Racism Free Edmonton is the

Racism Free Edmonton Action Plan. This Action Plan assists

the Racism Free Edmonton partners to identiy the barriers

that negatively aect the opportunity or equal participation in

economic, social, cultural, recreational and political lie.

An item outlined in the action plan is the development o

monitoring mechanisms that: 1) measure the incidence o racial

discrimination in the region; and 2) track these trends overtime.

As a result o this action plan requirement, the City o Edmonton

approached the Population Research Laboratory (PRL) at the

University o Alberta to conduct a survey in 2011 to assist in the

development o the monitoring mechanisms.

Research Methods

City o Edmonton Community Services contracted with the Population

Research Laboratory (PRL) at the University o Alberta to include questions

about experiences and perceptions o discrimination and related topics on the

Edmonton portion o the PRLs annual Alberta Survey. Between May 25 and

June 22, 2011, 400 adult (age 18 and older) residents o the City o Edmonton

were surveyed by telephone, using random digit dialing (RDD) techniques. All

respondents were asked to sel-identiy as having: (a) visible minority status;

(b) Aboriginal status; and (c) immigrant status. Responses to these three

questions were used to create a new race/immigrant status variable with

the ollowing distribution: Visible minority immigrant (11%); Visible minority

Canadian-born (8%); Aboriginal (5%); White immigrant (14%); White Canadian-

born (62%). This variable was then used to break down total-sample responses.

The survey response rate o 28% is several times higher than the industry

standard. Even so, it is likely that the survey (slightly) under-represents less-

educated Edmonton residents.

Five general patterns were observed in the survey data:

Most study participants consider Edmonton to be a very welcoming city.

Visible minority (both oreign-born and Canadian-born) and Aboriginal

respondents are more likely to report perceptions o discrimination in

Edmonton.

Discrimination on the basis o race, ethnicity, immigrant status and related

variables is perceived to be more prevalent than discrimination on other

grounds.

Compared to other settings, Aboriginal and non-White Edmonton residents

are more oten perceived to be treated unairly by the police, when looking

or jobs or housing, and when shopping.

Most study participants agreed or strongly agreed that Aboriginal residents

o Edmonton requently ace discrimination.

6 Experiences and Perceptions o Discrimination in Edmonton:A Surveyo Edmonton Residents Experiences and Perceptions o Discrimination in Edmonton:A Surveyo Edmonton Residents 7


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Edmonton asa Welcoming City

Overall, survey participants consider Edmonton to be a very welcoming city.

Seven out o ten (71%) agree or strongly agree that people in Edmonton are

very friendly and welcoming and that Edmonton is very open to newcomers.

Even more respondents (76%) agree or agree strongly that having people from

many racial backgrounds makes Edmonton a better place to live, and 85% agree

or agree strongly that [they] have good friends from other racial backgrounds.

For each o these our questions, dierences across race/immigrant groups

are not statistically signifcant.

Less than one-third o sample members (29%) agree or strongly agree that

people who come to Edmonton should change their ways to be more like other

community members ( Figure 1). Interestingly, both visible minority (41%) and

White (42%) immigrants are signifcantly more likely to agree with the above

statement.

- igurE 1

People in Edmonton are very

riendly and welcoming

Percent Agreeing

Percent Agreeing that [group] frequently

experiences discrimination

People who come to Edmonton

should change their ways to

be more like other community

members

VisibleMinority Immigrant

VisibleMinority Canadian-born

Aboriginal

WhiteImmigrant

WhiteCanadian-born

Total

7276

57

70 72 717477 7 6 7 6

41

1519

42

27 29

70

86

Belies about DiscriminationOccurring in Edmonton

Despite these very positive opinions about Edmonton as a welcoming city,

survey respondents nevertheless still believe that discrimination takes place.

When asked how much they agreed or disagreed that (a) Aboriginal residents

o Edmonton, (b) non-White residents o Edmonton, and (c) White residents

o Edmonton experience discrimination, 59% agreed or strongly agreed that

Aboriginal residents o Edmonton requently ace discrimination, compared to

36% who answered similarly regarding non-White (visible minority) residents

(Figure 2) . Only 12% agreed that White Edmonton residents requently ace

discrimination. (For these set o questions, dierences across race/immigrant

groups are not signifcant).

- igurE 2



Aboriginal

WhiteImmigrant

WhiteCanadian-born

Total

Aboriginal residents o

Edmonton

Non-white residents o

Edmonton

White residents o Edmonton

5458

68

5863

59

3429

43

36

1412 11 11

1612

41

50

Having people rom many racial

backgrounds makes Edmonton

a better place to live



6/11

Reports o DiscriminationAgainst Diferent Groups

When asked more specifcally whether they had personally seen or heard about

dierent groups o Edmonton residents being treated unairly in the previous year,

sample members were most likely to report discrimination on the basis o race,

language and poverty (between 16% and 20%), compared to people being treated

unairly because o disability, weight, sexual orientation or age (Figure 3). Only

3% reported seeing or hearing about discrimination against White Edmonton

residents in the previous year.

- igurE 3

...they were white

...they were young

...they were people with disabilities

...they were old

...gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgendered

...because o their weight

...they were non-white

...they were poor / looked poor

...english was not their frst language

...they were aboriginal

9

3

20

18

18

16

13

12

12

10

Visible minority and Aboriginal respondents were signifcantly more likely to state

that they had seen or heard about Aboriginals, non-English speakers, and non-

Whites being treated unairly quite oten or very oten (Figure 4).Interestingly,

visible minority sample members born in Canada were signifcantly more likely

than visible minority immigrants to state that they had seen or heard about

discrimination against various groups. Perhaps members o visible minority

groups who have been in the country or a generation or longer are more likely to

recognize discrimination in subtle ways that recent immigrants might overlook.

- igurE 4

they were Aboriginal English was not their frst

language

they were non-White



Aboriginal

WhiteImmigrant

WhiteCanadian-born

Total

21

3635

15

1820 2121

14

18 19

30

24

19

12

16

33

24

Percent seeing/hearing quite often or very often

in past year that someone was treated unfairly because...

Percent seeing/hearing quite often or very oft en

in past year that someone was treated unfairly because...



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In another set o questions, respondents were asked i they had

seen or heard about visible minorities and Aboriginals being

treated unairly in the past year in diferent settings. Sample

members were more likely to recall incidents involving the

police, job search, shopping and housing (18 to 25%), compared

to discrimination within educational institutions and by those

providing municipal or provincial government services (Figure 5).

Visible minority group members and Aboriginal residents o

Edmonton were more likely to recall seeing or hearing about such

instances o discrimination in each o these settings:

For these questions, all o the dierences across race/immigrant

groups are statistically signifcant. In general, visible minority

group members (both immigrant and Canadian-born) and

Aboriginal residents o Edmonton are more l ikely to answer yes

than White respondents (immigrant or Canadian-born).

- igurE 5

Reports o Discriminationin Dierent Settings

attending colleges / universities

services rom the City o Edmonton

services rom province

attending schools K12

looking or housing

shopping in stores

looking or jobs

desling with police

9

25

21

21

18

15

14

12

Figure 6 highlights dierences across the fve race/immigration groups or the

our settings (police, jobs, shopping, housing) where Edmonton residents are

most likely to report seeing or hearing about Non-White or Aboriginal Edmontonresidents being treated unairly.

It is important to mention that some institutions (e.g., the police) are much

more likely to be in the public eye. As a result, more people may hear

about incidents involving them (compared to other municipal employees,

or example). However, perceptions o being treated unairly can have

consequences, so it is important to recognize these perceptions as an

important basis o peoples behavior when interacting in each setting.

- igurE 6

shopping Edmonton stores looking or jobs dealing with Edmonton police



Aboriginal

WhiteImmigrant

WhiteCanadian-born

Total

32

24

29

18

14

18

22

34

16

21

37

31

39 40

33 33

24

30

15

2021

25

34

29

looking or housing

Percent seeing/hearing in past year that Non-White or

Aboriginal residents of Edmonton where treated unfairly when....

Percent seeing/hearing in past year that Non-White

or Aboriginal residents of Edmonton where treated

unfairly when....



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Personal Experiences oDiscrimination

When asked about their personal experiences o discrimination,

a small number o respondents (16%) reported that they or an

immediate amily member had been treated unairly (i.e., been

discriminated against) because o who they were, or whatever

reason, in the past 12 months(Figure 7).

Visible minority and Aboriginal respondents were signifcantly more

likely to answer yes to this question. As observed earlier about

responses to a dierent question, Canadian-born visible minorities

are more likely than their immigrant counterparts to report

experiences o discrimination, perhaps because they are more likely

to recognize more subtle orms o discrimination.

The most common reasons or being treated unairly (36 out o 81

reasons provided by the 16% o respondents who reported that they

or a amily member had been treated unairly in the past year) had to

do with race, ethnicity, religion, and country o origin.

More than one in fve (21%) o visible minority/Aboriginal sample

members provided one o these race/ethnicity/religion/country of

origin reasons or being treated unairly, compared to only 5% o

White respondents.

- igurE 7 Percent of sample reporting that they r a family member had beentreated unfairly, because of who they are, for whatever reason,

in the past year

21

36

19

9

13

16



Aboriginal

WhiteImmigrant

WhiteCanadian-born

Total



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Conclusions

Five general patterns can be observed rom the survey data:

Most study participants consider Edmonton to be a very welcoming city.

Visible minority (both oreign-born and Canadian-born) and Aboriginal

respondents are more likely to report perceptions o discrimination in

Edmonton.

Discrimination on the basis o race, ethnicity, immigrant status and related

variables is perceived to be more prevalent than discrimination on other

grounds.

Compared to other settings, Aboriginal and non-White Edmonton residents

are more oten perceived to be treated unairly by the police, when looking

or jobs or housing, and when shopping.

Most study participants agreed or strongly agreed that Aboriginal residents

o Edmonton requently ace discrimination.



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Racism Free Edmonton

University o Alberta Population Research

Laboratory Survey 2011 Key Findings

w E e?

76% o the respondents agreed or strongly agreed that having people rom many racial

backgrounds makes Edmonton a better place to l ive.

71% o the respondents agreed or agreed strongly that people in Edmonton are very riendly

and welcoming and that Edmonton is very open to newcomers.

d E e e ?

59% o the respondents agreed or strongly agreed that Aboriginal residents o Edmonton

requently ace discrimination.

36% o the respondents agreed or strongly agreed that non White residents o Edmonton

requently ace discrimination.

w e e e efe E?

25% o the respondents indicated they had personally seen or heard about someone being

treated unairly when dealing with the Edmonton Police Service*.


treated unairly when they were looking or a job*.


treated unairly when they were looking or housing*.


treated unairly when they were receiving services rom the province o Alberta.


treated unairly when they were receiving services rom the City o Edmonton.

*(Note: Policing/Justice, Employment, and Housing are identifed in the CMARD commitments and the Racism Free

Edmonton Action Plan as key areas requiring urther attention).



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[email protected] | 780-495-1957

@RacismFreeEdmwww.racismreeedmonton.ca |

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Discrimination in Edmonton