Ethno-Racial Inequality in the City of Toronto: An Analysis of the ...

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Chapter 1Defining Ethno-Racial Groups and their DemographicCharacteristicsThis Chapter begins with a description of how the Census data were used to identify ethno-racial groupsin Toronto. The task was complicated by the number of different questions dealing with Aboriginalidentity, ethnicity and race in the Census, because the answers are recorded in very fine detail, andbecause many people see themselves as sharing two or more ethno-racial origins. As a result, ethno-racialgroups could be defined in a number of different ways. Indeed, the number of details required in anyprocedure for making the Census answers into a useable classification of ethno-racial categories is suchthat every reader may have some argument with what was done. The presentation is therefore designed toshow that a sensible classification was developed, though it was not the only one possible.The Chapter then provides a description of the demographic characteristics of the ethno-racialgroups in Toronto, beginning with their size and age distributions, and then examining the proportion ofimmigrants and when they came to Canada, knowledge of English and French, and the language spokenat home. The idea is to set the stage for the analysis of socio-economic conditions in the next threechapters.Defining Ethno-Racial Groups from the 1996 CensusSocial researchers have taken two different approaches to ethnicity, either relying on a person’sdemographic attributes, such as her or his birthplace, or asking individuals to indicate the group withwhich they identify. The two alternatives are probably better understood as different aspects of identitythan as sharply different “objective” and “subjective” definitions. The question used to measure ethnicityin the 1996 Census asks:To which ethnic or cultural group(s) did thisperson’s ancestors belong?For example, French, English, German, Scottish,Canadian, Italian, Irish, Chinese, Cree, Micmac,Métis, Inuit (Eskimo), Ukrainian, Dutch, East Indian,Polish, Portuguese, Jewish, Haitian, Jamaican,Vietnamese, Lebanese, Chilean, Somali, etc.Ethno-Racial Inequality in Toronto: Analysis of the 1996 Census 5
Four blank boxes are provided for the answers, along with the instruction to “Specify as many groups asapplicable.” Since it refers to the respondents’ ancestors and suggests that belongingness is concrete, thisappears to be “objective,” though the respondent is left to give her or his own meaning to the terms“ethnic,” “culture,” “group,” and “ancestor”. In the Census data, for each respondent up to six answers tothe question were classified into 170 different categories, with very minimal use of grouped categories.In Europe, for example, only about one percent of all the answers were for nations or ethno-racial groupsthat were not classified separately (they are grouped into “other Europe”).Subjectivity enters into anyone’s identification of her or his own ethnicity. People of colour whohave immigrated to Toronto from Jamaica, for example, could reasonably describe themselves as Black orAfrican or Jamaican or West Indian, or some combination of these. This Census question rightly allowsrespondents to describe themselves in their own terms, rather than forcing them to pick among prespecifiedcategories of race and ethnicity.The question of how to deal with the unusually complex answers to the Census question is left to theanalyst. Most importantly, the variety of responses must be reduced. With 170 individual categories foreach answer, the number of potential combinations of two, three or more ethnic identifications isunmanageable. One could have separate categories for Hungarians, for people who are Hungarian andalso Latvian, or Russian, or English, or Canadian; there could be a category for people who answer only“Black,” and for Cubans who are also Black, or South Asian, or Hispanic, or Black and Hispanic; and soon. Some of these categories mix racial and national dimensions.New to the 1996 Census is a question about racial identification, which could be used to resolvesome of the ambiguity in the answers to the question about ancestry. Because it appears on the next pageof the Census form, it is not visible when the question about ancestry is answered, and will generally becompleted afterward. The racial identification question just asks “Is this Person,” and then gives therespondent a choice among: White, Chinese, South Asian (e.g., East Indian, Pakistani, Punjabi, SriLankan); Black (e.g., African, Haitian, Jamaican, Somali); Arab/West Asian (e.g., Armenian, Egyptian,Iranian, Lebanese, Moroccan); Filipino, South East Asian (e.g., Cambodian, Indonesian, Laotian,Vietnamese), Latin American, Japanese and Korean. Following the pre-specified answers, there is ablank box labelled “Other - Specify.” Respondents were instructed to “Mark or specify more than one, ifapplicable.”The classification of Torontonians into ethno-racial groups for this Report is based primarily onresponses to the question about ancestry. Approximately 15 percent of the population who indicated theywere only “Canadian” and not “White” were classified into general categories based on the “race”Ethno-Racial Inequality in Toronto: Analysis of the 1996 Census 6
Page 6 and 7: origin, South Asians, Arab and West
Page 8 and 9: Table of ContentsExecutive Summary.
Page 10 and 11: IntroductionThis Report provides de
Page 12 and 13: Methodological NotesThis Report pro
Page 16 and 17: question, described above. The “C
Page 18 and 19: “Barbadians.” Likewise, people
Page 20 and 21: acial identification question, redu
Page 22 and 23: Table 1, continuedEthno-Racial Grou
Page 24 and 25: percentage of a group has the need.
Page 26 and 27: ARAB AND WEST ASIAN ORIGINSApproxim
Page 28 and 29: EUROPEAN ORIGIN GROUPS TEND TO BE O
Page 30 and 31: The key question involves the numbe
Page 32 and 33: Table 2, continuedPercentage and Nu
Page 34 and 35: A second policy concern involves th
Page 36 and 37: NON-NATIONAL, “RACIAL” AND MULT
Page 38 and 39: Table 3, continuedKnowledge of Engl
Page 40 and 41: majority of people speak English. T
Page 42 and 43: Fully 96.1 percent of Torontonians
Page 44 and 45: Chapter 2EducationIf educational cr
Page 46 and 47: Table 4, continuedHighest Level of
Page 48 and 49: Ethno-Racial Inequality in Toronto:
Page 50 and 51: Educational Attainment of AdultsAbo
Page 52 and 53: EUROPEAN ORIGINAmong Europeans, edu
Page 54 and 55: GROUPS WITH HIGHER PROPORTIONS OF N
Page 56 and 57: Table 5, continuedSchool Attendance
Page 58 and 59: Ethno-Racial Inequality in Toronto:
Page 60 and 61: Of most concern are the small numbe
Page 62 and 63: Not counted as unemployed are “di
Page 64 and 65:
Table 6, continuedLabour Force Char
Page 66 and 67:
Ethno-Racial Inequality in Toronto:
Page 68 and 69:
percent for the African, Black and
Page 70 and 71:
LATIN AMERICAN ORIGINSThe two Latin
Page 72 and 73:
Table 7, continuedIncome from Emplo
Page 74 and 75:
efore coming to Canada likely refle
Page 76 and 77:
Table 8a, continuedOccupations of W
Page 78 and 79:
Table 8bOccupations of Men by Ethno
Page 80 and 81:
Table 8b, continuedOccupations of M
Page 82 and 83:
Page 84 and 85:
eing an employee; just 3.2 percent
Page 86 and 87:
Table 9, continuedIncidence of Self
Page 88 and 89:
AFRICAN, BLACK AND CARIBBEAN ORIGIN
Page 90 and 91:
esult in similar levels of income.
Page 92 and 93:
Among the individual ethno-racial g
Page 94 and 95:
Chapter 4Poverty and Individual and
Page 96 and 97:
Introduction to the TablesThe first
Page 98 and 99:
Table 10, continuedIncidence of Pov
Page 100 and 101:
Page 102 and 103:
Table 11, continuedIncidence of Chi
Page 104 and 105:
Page 106 and 107:
types of families are not an intuit
Page 108 and 109:
children and 12.8 percent of Arab/W
Page 110 and 111:
Table 12, continuedIncidence of Pov
Page 112 and 113:
Southeast Asians and Pacific Island
Page 114 and 115:
Table 13, continuedMedian Family In
Page 116 and 117:
Page 118 and 119:
Table 14, continuedMedian Individua
Page 120 and 121:
Page 122 and 123:
SOUTH ASIAN ORIGINSWhile just over
Page 124 and 125:
LATIN AMERICAN ORIGINSDue to statis
Page 126 and 127:
There are remarkable ethno-racial d
Page 128 and 129:
Table 15, continuedHome Ownership o
Page 130 and 131:
percent of Italian families own the
Page 132 and 133:
The most severe disadvantage affect
Page 134 and 135:
Men in Lower SkillJobs(Table 8b/Cha
Page 136 and 137:
which included all other African na
Page 138 and 139:
In Lower Skill Non-Manual Occupatio
Page 140 and 141:
skilled non-manual occupations in 1
Page 142:
segregation, the effects of unequal
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