New government report shows 'hard evidence' of racial wage disparities in B.C.
A new government report has found "hard evidence" of salary disparities between racialized and white workers in B.C.
Released by the B.C. Anti-Racism Data Committee, the recent report found that in many occupations, "significant gaps" exist between the two groups' earnings.
"We found robust evidence of earning gaps or differences between racialized and white workers in 11 of 26 occupational groups," it reads. "In nine of 11 groups, racialized workers had lower earnings."
The findings are not surprising to many.
"What the report is showing is that the pay gap, which we know exists, continues to exist," says Humera Jabir, a staff lawyer and pay equity advocate with West Coast LEAF who wasn't involved in the report.
The study looked at data from Statistics Canada's 2021 census, and focused on B.C.'s full-time workers age 15 to 65 in 2020. It looked at the annual earnings of racialized workers — without specifying their ethnicity — and white ones.
After adjusting for factors like age, gender, education and generation in Canada, the occupation groups where racialized workers made less than white workers were: retail and service supervisors; processing and manufacturing; transport helpers and labourers; technical trades and transport officers; middle management; business and finance; general trades; technical science; and natural and applied sciences.
The gap ranged from seven per cent a year in the natural and applied sciences group, to 33 per cent in retail, favouring white workers.
Only in two groups, health support roles and health professionals, did racialized workers make more.
Authors say many factors could be behind the gaps — like data from a particular occupation including a higher proportion of younger workers — however their analysis found that statistical differences persisted even after accounting for variations in things like age and gender.
The study found older age did not translate to higher wages for racialized workers as it did for white workers in some sectors. In business and finance, for example, workers' wages were similar until their mid-30s. But from age 50 to 54, racialized workers made about $50,000 less than white workers.
Education level also made a difference: in the transport helpers group, which has "no formal education requirements," white workers with a university degree made twice as much as racialized workers with the same education. For those in technical science, racialized workers with post-secondary education earned about the same as white workers with a high school diploma or less.
Authors also looked at whether being born in or outside of Canada made a difference to earnings.
They found that in some occupations, racialized workers who were first-generation — born outside of Canada — earned less than those who were second-generation or born in Canada.
Among first-generation workers in the middle-management group, those who were racialized made nearly $30,000 less than those who were white.
Across occupations, disparities were widest between racialized women and white men.
Things were reversed in health care: the study found racialized health support workers earned 22 per cent more than white workers. For health professionals, earnings were similar across age groups until age 50 to 54, where racialized workers earned nearly $31,000 more than white workers.
Authors say more research is needed to understand why health care is an outlier.
"These differences are likely not due to systemic discrimination and are not considered earning gaps," the study reads, adding that further analysis is needed to factor in pandemic-related bonus or overtime pay in 2020.
Authors also suggest looking at data like immigration status and more recent information, as 2020 was an "abnormal" year for workers due to COVID-19.
Nonetheless, they say, the study lays the foundations for B.C.'s work toward economic inclusion.
"It's definitely not the ultimate research," says Zareen Naqvi, executive director of institutional research and planning at Simon Fraser University and a member of the Anti-Racism Data Committee.
"You can think about it as a 'first cut' into looking at this issue and providing some hard evidence of what those differences in salaries may be for racialized and non-racialized workers."
Hermender Singh Kailley, secretary treasurer of the B.C. Federation of Labour, says the report validates what he's heard anecdotally.
He's a member of the Provincial Committee on Anti-Racism, formed earlier this year to help dismantle systemic racism in the province.
"Data has to be followed by action, and our province needs to act promptly to break those barriers down," he said. "That's the work we're doing."
B.C. passed the Pay Transparency Act in 2023, which mandates government agencies, the province's largest Crown corporations, and companies with 1,000 employees or more to publish annual pay transparency reports. That will extend to companies with 300 employees or more this year, and to those with 50 employees or more by 2026.
Human Rights Commissioner Kasari Govender says the legislation is not as robust as she'd like it to be because there are no penalties for non-compliance.
"We can collect the data, but if we're not requiring ... employers to actually do something about it, then we're not actually completing our work around pay equity," she said.
Jabir with West Coast LEAF echoes that, saying stronger pay equity laws would have the "teeth and mechanisms" to mandate employers to close the wage gaps.
B.C.'s Ministry of Labour declined a request for comment.
Citizens' Services Minister George Chow said in a statement that the research provides "useful" information for employers and employee groups, and that the report has been shared across government.
The Provincial Committee on Anti-Racism is engaging with communities throughout the year and is set to make recommendations based on the report's findings, with their action plan due to be published by June 2026.
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