Canadian-born visible minorities face more hurdles than any other group when trying to get well-paid jobs, according to a study published yesterday**.
The gap is not due to differences in skills and education, but to racial discrimination, said the study published by the Canadian Labour Congress.
Lower incomes, higher unemployment and precarious work status are prevalent among workers from visible minorities, and particularly for the second-generation of immigrants born in Canada.
Although they are more highly educated than average, this second generation has the most difficulty finding steady employment at decent wages, said Leslie Cheung, a graduate student in public policy at Simon Fraser University and author of the study.
Among other things, the study found Canadian-born visible minorities were over-represented in part-time and temporary jobs.
Visible minorities make up about 13 per cent of the workforce.
Annual earnings of Canadian-born visible minorities averaged $21,983 in 2000, while immigrant workers earned $25,205 and white Canadians earned $30,141.

 

**Racial Status and Employment Outcomes
February 22, 2006
Summary from Canadian Labour Congress Report

This report looks at data from the 2001 Census and the Survey of Labour and Income Dynamics (SLID) to provide evidence that there remains large and consistent gaps in economic security for workers of colour compared to other workers. These differences are not based on real differences of skills and education, but rather on perceived differences based on race.
Racial discrimination is a large contributing factor to the poor labour market outcomes of Canada’s racialized workers. Lower incomes, higher unemployment, and precarious work status are prevalent for workers of colour as a whole, and not just recent immigrants. In fact, it is the non-immigrant, racialized population, who are more highly educated than average, which has the most difficulty finding steady employment at decent wages. The fact that Canadian-born workers of colour are doing badly cannot be explained away by reference to lack of Canadian credentials and experience."
 

Canada's economic growth slowed in Q4
Tue, 28 Feb 2006
CBC News

Canada's economic growth cooled slightly in the fourth quarter as rising imports crimped the expansion.Statistics Canada said the economy grew at an annualized rate of 2.5 per cent in the fourth quarter, decelerating from the 3.5 per cent pace set during the third quarter.

"Domestic spending remained very strong, rising 1.1 per cent in the fourth quarter," said the federal government agency.

"However, an increasing share of this demand was satisfied through imports, which rose 2.7 per cent, keeping [gross domestic product] growth in check."

The results for the last three months of 2005 were weaker than expected. Economists had been looking for fourth-quarter annualized growth of 2.7 per cent.
In December, monthly output was up 0.4 per cent, after increasing by 0.2 per cent in November and 0.3 per cent in October.

For 2005, GDP increased 2.9 per cent, matching 2004's growth rate."It appears that 'all systems are go' for domestic demand, and we look for another year of GDP growth of nearly 3 per cent in 2006," said Douglas Porter, deputy chief economist at BMO Nesbitt Burns.

"With the economy already effectively operating at capacity, this will be strong enough to keep the Bank of Canada in tightening mode, despite the loonie?s relentless strength," he said.
Royal Bank economists expect the Bank of Canada will raise the overnight rate to 4.5 per cent by the third quarter of 2006 from the current 3.5 per cent.
 

 TORONTO, Feb. 28 /CNW/ - As Canada's population ages rapidly, fast-growing ethnic groups made up primarily of families and young adults will drive growth opportunities for Canada's financial institutions, according to a new study by Solutions Research Group, a Toronto-based market research firm.

"Immigration now accounts for 70% of all population growth and new Canadians are significantly younger than the rest of the population. They will become drivers of growth in the next 10 years as they buy homes, cars, save for their children's education or for retirement," said Kaan Yigit, Study Director for Diversity in Canada.

The study, the first of its kind in Canada, delivers a well-rounded perspective of six key population groups in Toronto, Vancouver and Montréal, including Canadians of Chinese, South Asian, West Asian, Hispanic and Italian backgrounds, as well as Black Canadians. Among the key findings:

- Canada's big six banks account for 84% of all primary financial institution relationships among the major ethnic groups surveyed in Toronto, Vancouver and Montréal. Other domestic banks, credit unions, caisses populaires and foreign-owned bank subsidiaries account for the rest.

- TD Canada Trust is the leading financial institution by share of primary relationships across all six of the major ethnic population groups surveyed.

- Among Canadians of South Asian backgrounds, TD Canada Trust has a dominant 43% share, higher than the total of the next three financial institutions combined.

- Chinese Canadian segment is more competitive and fragmented. TD is in the lead with 29% saying it is their primary financial institution. HSBC is a strong competitor with significant share
among Chinese Canadians.

- Among Hispanic Canadians, TD is followed by RBC and CIBC and Caisses Desjardins. Among Black Canadians, TD is followed by RBC, CIBC and Scotiabank.

- TD does particularly well among new immigrants who have lived in Canada for less than 10 years, accounting for 35% share of this segment.

- While there is general overall satisfaction with banks among Canada's fast-growing ethnic groups, there is room for improvement - two-in-ten (18%) say they would be "not at all likely" to recommend their primary financial institution to a friend.