Immigrants and visible minorities also have biases, poll finds

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A new survey found that immigrants and visible ethnic minorities’ perceptions of other groups in Canada are negative, sometimes even higher than the Canadian population.

Leger’s poll of the Canadian Research Association (Leger) challenged the traditional view that Canadian bias follows a simple “majority vs. minority” model, indicating that negative sentiment is more broad and complex. The survey was conducted ahead of the International Day on March 21, which showed that bias is bias across multiple groups of people and varies by factors such as age, language and immigration status.

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Jack Jedwab, president and CEO of the Canadian Research Association, said the results challenge how policymakers and the public discuss discrimination.

“We often assume that those experiencing bias don’t express it on their own, but the data shows a more complex reality,” he said. “If we really want to address discrimination, we need to go beyond the notion that bias is always the dominant majority rather than the marginalized minority.”

Overall, Arab Canadians face the highest levels of negative sentiment, with 26% of respondents reporting negative perceptions against them, the survey found. Black Canadians are considered the least, at 11%, while 14% of Canadians express negative views on Jewish and Indigenous Canadians and 15% of Chinese Canadians.

The results also highlight that while racial and religious minorities continue to be the primary targets of bias, negative sentiment is not limited to one group that expresses bias against another. It is expressed in multiple ethnic and ethnic groups.

22% of the visible minorities and 20% of immigrants have negative views on Jewish Canadians, while 11% of the “invisible minorities” and 12% of non-immigrants.

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17% of visible minorities and 15% of immigrants expressed negative views on indigenous peoples, while 14% for invisible minorities and non-immigrants.

For blacks, 19% of visible minorities and 16% of immigrants expressed negative views, rather than 9% of visible minorities and 10% of non-immigrants.

Chinese are viewed negatively by 19%, and every visible minority and immigrant is seen as, while 11% and 14% of non-immigrants are not seen.

The Arabs are the only group to observe by four categories. For immigrants rather than visible minorities, 27% have negative views, while no immigrants and visible minorities have decreased by one percent.

In addition, 26% of South Asians have negative views on Arabs, while the same proportion of Arabs express negative views on South Asians.

Jedwab said these findings suggest that bias is not limited to one targeting another, but rather intersecting in a complex, way that meets Canadian society.

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“Social tensions are often constituted ‘they’ with us’, assuming people instinctively know who ‘they’ and ‘we’ refer to,” he said. “But the reality is much more complex.”

The study also looked at perceptions of religion and found that Islam is more negative than Christianity and Judaism. Nearly half of respondents (49%) reported negative views on Islam, compared with 27% in Christianity and 25% in Judaism.

The study found a close link between religious bias and racial bias.

Most Canadians who have a very negative view of Islam also have negative views on Arab Canadians (62%). The same is true for the Jews. Of those who have negative views on religion, 65% have negative views on Jews.

Jedwab warned that efforts to promote equity and inclusion could be ineffective if policy makers and institutions continue to rely on outdated assumptions about bias.

“As we grow more and more, our inclusive approach must develop too,” he said. “Otherwise, the terms such as ‘diversity’ and ‘equity’ become empty slogans rather than meaningful commitments to social progress.

An online Leger poll conducted on 1,539 Canadians from March 1 to 2. Online polls cannot calculate the error rate, but a probability sample of this size will produce a margin of error plus or subtract 2.5%, which is 20 times, accounting for 20 times.

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