StatsCan looks to modernize decades-old term 'visible minority' when measuring diversity

Statistics Canada is changing how it measures diversity and trying to modernize the term "visible minority."

The national statistical agency usually collects census data with questions about skin colour, place of birth and ethnic origin, among others, to measure the country's diversity.

Visible minority, a term that gained traction more than 30 years ago with the implementation of the federal Employment Equity Act, is used to classify people who are considered non-white.

"We've received criticism from the United Nations and from different groups, from different communities [for that term]," said Jean-Pierre Corbeil, who works with StatsCan to measure ethnocultural diversity.

"Some people find it offensive and some people say that it tends to leave this impression that …  visible minority is a homogeneous group."

Remaining relevant

StatsCan is presenting its latest data on diversity in Vancouver on Wednesday and getting public feedback on the methods it uses to measure and collect that information. That will help with the alternative questions for the 2019 census and future data collection.  

"One of the key objectives is really to make sure that StatsCan remains relevant when it comes to collecting information on the diversity of the population," Corbeil told CBC's The Early Edition.

He pointed to the fact that in places across the country, "visible minorities" aren't really minorities anymore so the terminology can be confusing.

"Just have a look at Richmond, for instance, where 60 per cent of the population are immigrants," Corbeil said.

"By 2036, our projections say that it's very likely that three in four people in Vancouver will either be immigrants or second-generation Canadians."

That's one of the driving forces behind the move to modernize how diversity is described.

"It's time to revisit the concept, because it's been 30 years now [since visible minority was brought in]," he said.

"How can we, you know, do better analysis, provide more accurate data?"