Visible minority of person

Status: This standard was approved as a departmental standard on August 25, 2021.

Definition

Visible minority refers to whether a person is a visible minority or not, as defined by the Employment Equity Act. The Employment Equity Act defines visible minorities as "persons, other than Aboriginal peoples, who are non-Caucasian in race or non-white in colour". The visible minority population consists mainly of the following groups: South Asian, Chinese, Black, Filipino, Arab, Latin American, Southeast Asian, West Asian, Korean and Japanese.

Person refers to an individual and is the unit of analysis for most social statistics programs.

Derivation

Visible minority is defined for federal employment equity purposes. Statistics on this population can either be collected through a direct question asking respondents to indicate whether they are a visible minority or not a visible minority, or derived based on responses to the population group and Indigenous group questions.

The population group question includes 11 mark-in circles and 1 write-in space. Respondents are asked 'Is this person:' and are instructed to mark one or more of the following response categories, and/or to specify another group in the 'Other - specify' write-in space, if applicable: White, South Asian, Chinese, Black, Filipino, Arab, Latin American, Southeast Asian, West Asian, Korean, Japanese, Other - specify.

The Indigenous group question asks respondents if they are First Nations, Métis and/or Inuk (Inuit), or not First Nations, Métis or Inuk (Inuit). Respondents reporting one or more of the three Indigenous categories are not asked the population group question.

When deriving the visible minority variable based on responses to the population group and Indigenous group questions, persons who have identified as Indigenous (First Nations, Métis and/or Inuit) on the Indigenous group question are included in the category 'Not a visible minority'. All others are classified according to their mark-in and/or write-in responses to the population group question, as follows.

The 'South Asian' category includes persons who provided the following responses to the population group question:

1) A mark-in response of 'South Asian' only.
2) A write-in response associated with 'South Asian' only, such as 'Bangladeshi', 'Indian (India)', 'Pakistani', 'Punjabi' or 'Sri Lankan'.
3) A combination of mark-in and write-in responses associated with 'South Asian' only. For example, a mark-in response of 'South Asian' and a write-in response of 'Pakistani'.
4) Mark-in responses of both 'South Asian' and 'White' only.
5) A combination of mark-in and write-in responses associated with both 'South Asian' and 'White' only. For example, a mark-in response of 'South Asian' and a write-in response of 'Swedish'.

The 'Chinese' category includes persons who provided the following responses to the population group question:

1) A mark-in response of 'Chinese' only.
2) A write-in response associated with 'Chinese' only, such as 'Chinese' or 'Han'.
3) A combination of mark-in and write-in responses associated with 'Chinese' only. For example, a mark-in response of 'Chinese' and a write-in response of 'Han'.
4) Mark-in responses of both 'Chinese' and 'White' only.
5) A combination of mark-in and write-in responses associated with both 'Chinese' and 'White' only. For example, a mark-in response of 'White' and a write-in response of 'Chinese'.

The 'Black' category includes persons who provided the following responses to the population group question:

1) A mark-in response of 'Black' only.
2) A write-in response associated with 'Black' only, such as 'African American', 'Congolese', 'Haitian' or 'Nigerian'.
3) A combination of mark-in and write-in responses associated with 'Black' only. For example, a mark-in response of 'Black' and a write-in response of 'Nigerian'.
4) Mark-in responses of both 'Black' and 'White' only.
5) A combination of mark-in and write-in responses associated with both 'Black' and 'White' only. For example, a mark-in response of 'Black' and a write-in response of 'Swedish'.

The 'Filipino' category includes persons who provided the following responses to the population group question:

1) A mark-in response of 'Filipino' only.
2) A write-in response associated with 'Filipino' only, such as 'Filipino', 'Igorot' or 'Ilocano'.
3) A combination of mark-in and write-in responses associated with 'Filipino' only. For example, a mark-in response of 'Filipino' and a write-in response of 'Igorot'.
4) Mark-in responses of both 'Filipino' and 'White' only.
5) A combination of mark-in and write-in responses associated with both 'Filipino' and 'White' only. For example, a mark-in response of 'White' and a write-in response of 'Filipino'.

The 'Arab' category includes persons who provided the following responses to the population group question:

1) A mark-in response of 'Arab' only.
2) A write-in response associated with 'Arab' only, such as 'Egyptian', 'Jordanian', 'Palestinian' or 'Saudi Arabian'.
3) A combination of mark-in and write-in responses associated with 'Arab' only. For example, a mark-in response of 'Arab' and a write-in response of 'Egyptian'.

The 'Latin American' category includes persons who provided the following responses to the population group question:

1) A mark-in response of 'Latin American' only.
2) A write-in response associated with 'Latin American' only, such as 'Costa Rican', 'Colombian' or 'Chilean'.
3) A combination of mark-in and write-in responses associated with 'Latin American' only. For example, a mark-in response of 'Latin American' and a write-in response of 'Costa Rican'.

The 'Southeast Asian' category includes persons who provided the following responses to the population group question:

1) A mark-in response of 'Southeast Asian' only.
2) A write-in response associated with 'Southeast Asian' only, such as 'Cambodian', 'Laotian', 'Thai' or 'Vietnamese'.
3) A combination of mark-in and write-in responses associated with 'Southeast Asian' only. For example, a mark-in response of 'Southeast Asian' and a write-in response of 'Cambodian'.
4) Mark-in responses of both 'Southeast Asian' and 'White' only.
5) A combination of mark-in and write-in responses associated with both 'Southeast Asian' and 'White' only. For example, a mark-in response of 'Southeast Asian' and a write-in response of 'Swedish'.

The 'West Asian' category includes persons who provided the following responses to the population group question:

1) A mark-in response of 'West Asian' only.
2) A write-in response associated with 'West Asian' only, such as 'Afghan', 'Azerbaijani', 'Iranian' or 'Uzbek'.
3) A combination of mark-in and write-in responses associated with 'West Asian' only. For example, a mark-in response of 'West Asian' and a write-in response of 'Iranian'.

The 'Korean' category includes persons who provided the following responses to the population group question:

1) A mark-in response of 'Korean' only.
2) A write-in response associated with 'Korean' only, such as 'Korean' or 'South Korean'.
3) A combination of mark-in and write-in responses associated with 'Korean' only. For example, a mark-in response of 'Korean' and a write-in response of 'South Korean'.
4) Mark-in responses of both 'Korean' and 'White' only.
5) A combination of mark-in and write-in responses associated with both 'Korean' and 'White' only. For example, a mark-in response of 'White' and a write-in response of 'Korean'.

The 'Japanese' category includes persons who provided the following responses to the population group question:

1) A mark-in response of 'Japanese' only.
2) A write-in response associated with 'Japanese' only, such as 'Japanese' or 'Ainu'.
3) A combination of mark-in and write-in responses associated with 'Japanese' only. For example, a mark-in response of 'Japanese' and a write-in response of 'Ainu'.
4) Mark-in responses of both 'Japanese' and 'White' only.
5) A combination of mark-in and write-in responses associated with both 'Japanese' and 'White' only. For example, a mark-in response of 'Japanese' and a write-in response of 'Swedish'.

The 'Visible minority, n.i.e.' category includes persons who provided the following responses to the population group question:

1) A write-in response that is classified as visible minority, but that cannot be classified with a specific visible minority group, such as 'Guyanese', 'Pacific Islander', 'Polynesian', 'Tibetan', or 'West Indian'.
2) A combination of such write-in responses with a mark-in response of 'White' only.

The 'Multiple visible minorities' category includes persons who provided the following responses to the population group question:

1) Mark-in responses associated with two or more groups designated as visible minorities. For example, mark-in responses of both 'South Asian' and 'Black'.
2) A combination of mark-in and/or write-in responses associated with two or more groups designated as visible minorities. For example, a mark-in of 'South Asian' and a write-in of 'Nigerian'.

The 'Not a visible minority' category includes persons who provided the following responses to the population group question:

1) A mark-in response of 'White' only.
2) A write-in response only that is not associated with a group designated as a visible minority. For example, write-in responses of 'Israeli', 'Italian', 'Polish', 'Scottish' or 'Swedish'.
3) A combination of a mark-in of 'White' only and a write-in response that is not associated with a group designated as a visible minority. For example, a mark-in response of 'White' and a write-in response of 'Swedish'.
4) Mark-in responses of 'White' and 'Arab', 'White' and 'Latin American', or 'White' and 'West Asian' only.
5) A combination of mark-in and write-in responses associated with both 'White' and 'Arab' only. For example, a mark-in of 'White' and a write-in of 'Egyptian'.
6) A combination of mark-in and write-in responses associated with both 'White' and 'Latin American' only. For example, a mark-in of 'Latin American' and a write-in of 'Swedish'.
7) A combination of mark-in and write-in responses associated with both 'White' and 'West Asian' only. For example, a mark-in of 'White' and a write-in of 'Iranian'.

As indicated previously, the 'Not a visible minority' category also includes persons who identified as First Nations, Métis and/or Inuit on the Indigenous group question.

Conformity to relevant internationally recognized standards

There are no comparable internationally recognized standards, since this variable measures a concept that is defined in Canadian legislation, specifically, the Employment Equity Act.

Classifications

Additional information

See:

Relation to previous version

  • Visible minority of person August 25, 2021 to current

    The derivation of the categories in the variable has been revised slightly, placing more emphasis on the write-in responses of respondents. This is not expected to noticeably impact the historical comparability of the variable.

  • Visible minority of person October 19, 2015 to August 24, 2021

    This standard has been updated by moving the category derivations from the classification to the main derivation note.

  • Visible minority of person June 15, 2009 to October 18, 2015

    This standard is compatible with the previous standard except that Arab and West Asian are now separate categories whereas previously they were combined.

  • Visible minority July 15, 1998 to June 14, 2009

    This was the departmental standard from July 15, 1998 to June 14, 2009.

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