Almost two-thirds fear rising discrimination among the pandemic: Survey
Many new Canadian immigrants are unwilling to share that they have possible symptoms of COVID-19 for fear of discrimination, according to a survey.
One in three (33 per cent) are worried about sharing this information with their coworkers compared to 20 per cent of the general public. That number rises to 41 per cent for new Canadians of colour.
That could be because 64 per cent of newcomers fear rising discrimination amid the pandemic, found the survey by the Institute for Canadian Citizenship.
Canadians of colour are much more likely to be concerned that discrimination and prejudice will increase in Canada because of COVID-19, compared to white Canadians (69 per cent versus 47 per cent).
In addition, 63 per cent of new Canadians are worried about taking public transit (and 70 per cent of new Canadians of colour) compared to 47 per cent of the general public, while more than half (53 per cent) are worried about going out in public (and 60 per cent of new citizens of colour) compared to 35 per cent of the general public.
More than one-quarter (27 per cent) of new Canadians are worried about wearing a mask in public (versus 21 per cent of the general public) and nearly half (49 per cent) are worried about going out to run errands (versus 34 per cent of the general public), found the survey of 2,471 respondents — including 956 new Canadians — between April 27 and 30, 2020.
"We need to #StandTogether with Canadians who are feeling left out and who have been bearing a disproportionate impact of the pandemic," says Yasir Naqvi, CEO of the institute. "All Canadians need to do the hard work to counter racism."
Workers and unions must respond to racism and oppression by engaging members, and educating and tackling workplace discrimination head-on, said a 2019 report by the Canadian Labour Congress.
A business owner of Chinese descent got in trouble in 2019 when a B.C. tribunal found that the Caucasian employees were subjected to racial discrimination.
