Lunenburg Part 2 - Section 5 - Social Vulnerability - August 30.pdf

marginalization, limiting their access to important social and economic resources. 99 All of these
factors increase the social vulnerability of recent immigrants to Canada.
Visible Minorities
Census Canada Statistic: Total visible minority population.
Statistics Canada Definition: “Visible minority refers to whether a person belongs to a visible
minority group as defined by the Employment Equity Act and, if so, the visible minority
group to which the person belongs. 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:
Chinese, South Asian, Black, Arab, West Asian, Filipino, Southeast Asian, Latin
American, Japanese and Korean.” 100
Indices of social vulnerability generally include indicators relating to visible minorities. 101 Some
studies use indicators of particular racial or ethnic groups relevant in a specific study area. 102
Visible minority populations may be socially vulnerable due to lack of access to resources, and
social, economic and political marginalization and discrimination. 103
In Canada, visible minorities in all provinces experience lower income, and higher
unemployment and underemployment than Canadians of European decent. Alarmingly, this
trend has increased rather than decreased in recent decades. 104 Additional experiences of
marginalization and discrimination include devaluation of language and culture, and lack of
access to culturally appropriate health care and services. 105
Aboriginal Persons
Census Canada Statistic: Total Aboriginal Identity Population.
Statistics Canada Definition: “Refers to those persons who reported identifying with at least
one Aboriginal group, that is, North American Indian, Métis or Inuit, and/or those who
reported being a Treaty Indian or a Registered Indian, as defined by the Indian Act of
Canada, and/or those who reported they were members of an Indian band or First
Nation.” 106
Aboriginal persons face a unique set of challenges rooted in their history of colonialization, and
are included in some indices of social vulnerability for this reason. 107 While these long-standing
conditions are rooted in historical events, they continue to be perpetuated: in 2007, the United
Nations General Assembly approved a Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples,
identifying measures national governments can take to improve the situation of Aboriginal
99 Mikkonen and Raphael, 2010. p. 32–33.
100 Statistics Canada, 2011c.
101 Cutter et al., 2009. p. 20–21; Cutter et al., 2003. p. 245.
102 Cutter et al., 2003. p. 254–255; Andrey and Jones, 2008. p.151.
103 Cutter et al., 2003. p. 253–254; Cutter et al., 2009. p. 20–21; Lindsay, 2010. p. 295; Enarson and
Walsh, 2007. p. 25–26, 31.
104 Mikkonen and Raphael, 2010. p. 47.
105 Public Health Agency of Canada, 2003.
106 Statistics Canada, 2007a.
107 Cutter et al., 2003. p. 253–254.
19