This Act Doesn't Represent Us:
A five-year (2018 - 2022) study on Canadian race-based hate incidents collected through English media-reported incidents
What does racism in Canada really look like?
A first-of-its-kind research project by the Canadian Cultural Mosaic Foundation (CCMF), in partnership with Data For Good — seeks to answer this question by tracking and collecting data on incidents of racism and racialization reported in mainstream, Canadian English-language media. Over a five-year period (2018-2022), CCMF is quantifying racist incidents, creating a unique data set that begins to paint a fuller picture of interpersonal, systemic and other forms of racism in Canada. The research illustrates trends such as frequency and locations of reported incidents, ethnicities targeted, intersectionalities (religion, gender identity, sexuality, etc.) and more.
This unprecedented project clearly shows that experiences among racialized and Indigenous peoples are far from homogenous. As such, the plural term “racisms” is employed to recognize this diversity. CCMF is sharing the data with researchers, governments, institutions and everyday folks in hopes of moving towards a more equitable future for all Canadians. A dashboard has been put together in order to highlight the diversity and complexity of racism incidents experienced by different groups in Canada and reported by the media. It links to the original articles used in this work, which allows all users to see the original sources and provides users the opportunity to download the raw data for further analysis.
While its visibility in the mainstream has morphed and twisted with the times, racism has always existed in Canadian society; it is at the very foundation on which our country was built. Incidents of racisms are vastly underreported and, still, evidence shows the frequency of such incidents are rising rapidly. Yet our governments continue to neglect the glaring need for national data on more than solely prosecuted hate crimes.
A first-of-its-kind research project by the Canadian Cultural Mosaic Foundation (CCMF), in partnership with Data For Good — seeks to answer this question by tracking and collecting data on incidents of racism and racialization reported in mainstream, Canadian English-language media. Over a five-year period (2018-2022), CCMF is quantifying racist incidents, creating a unique data set that begins to paint a fuller picture of interpersonal, systemic and other forms of racism in Canada. The research illustrates trends such as frequency and locations of reported incidents, ethnicities targeted, intersectionalities (religion, gender identity, sexuality, etc.) and more.
This unprecedented project clearly shows that experiences among racialized and Indigenous peoples are far from homogenous. As such, the plural term “racisms” is employed to recognize this diversity. CCMF is sharing the data with researchers, governments, institutions and everyday folks in hopes of moving towards a more equitable future for all Canadians. A dashboard has been put together in order to highlight the diversity and complexity of racism incidents experienced by different groups in Canada and reported by the media. It links to the original articles used in this work, which allows all users to see the original sources and provides users the opportunity to download the raw data for further analysis.
While its visibility in the mainstream has morphed and twisted with the times, racism has always existed in Canadian society; it is at the very foundation on which our country was built. Incidents of racisms are vastly underreported and, still, evidence shows the frequency of such incidents are rising rapidly. Yet our governments continue to neglect the glaring need for national data on more than solely prosecuted hate crimes.
WHY ARE INCIDENTS OF RACISM UNDERREPORTED?
It is a well-established fact that incidents are vastly underreported. As such, this project includes credible accusations of racisms made by individuals and groups against another individual, group or institution. Incidents often go unreported because of:
The lack of data as a result of underreporting provides an excuse for governments and systems to continue ignoring a problem that deeply and directly impacts nearly the quarter of Canadians who are racialized. Human rights aside, racism is also a social determinant of health — meaning that it is a strain on taxpayer-funded systems (Source). Reducing inequity by addressing racism is actually good for the economy.
- Fear of retaliation and/or repercussions
- Distrust of systems
- Lack of awareness of rights and protections
- Normalization of racism
The lack of data as a result of underreporting provides an excuse for governments and systems to continue ignoring a problem that deeply and directly impacts nearly the quarter of Canadians who are racialized. Human rights aside, racism is also a social determinant of health — meaning that it is a strain on taxpayer-funded systems (Source). Reducing inequity by addressing racism is actually good for the economy.
LIMITATIONS OF THE RESEARCH PROJECT
CCMF is an entirely volunteer-run organization. Thus, we are limited in terms of time, funding and other resources. As such, we have included only mainstream, Canadian English-language media sources in the project.
The project relies on Google Alerts to provide a list of potentially relevant news articles. Thus, the research is limited by that system of monitoring. Incidents must have occurred between 2018-2022, regardless of when the report was published, and only English-language mainstream Canadian media sources were included.
Google Alert keywords include:
The project relies on Google Alerts to provide a list of potentially relevant news articles. Thus, the research is limited by that system of monitoring. Incidents must have occurred between 2018-2022, regardless of when the report was published, and only English-language mainstream Canadian media sources were included.
Google Alert keywords include:
- Racial profiling
- Racially profiled
- Racialization
- Racialized
- Racism
- Racial tension
- Racist
- Cultural appropriation
- Discrimination
- White supremacist
- White supremacy
- Hate crime
- Hate crimes
- Race relations
- Neo-nazi
- Islamophobia
- Islamophobic
- Xenophobic
- Xenophobia
DATA SET CRITERIA
- Incident must have occurred between 2018-2022, regardless of when article was published
- Opinion pieces are not included as incidents, although they can be used as the reference article if referring to a particular incident
- MAJOR ENGLISH-LANGUAGE CANADIAN NEWS SOURCES: Due to limited people-power and data, we aim to use news sources that are both familiar and reliable wherever possible to increase accuracy. Occasionally, we have included lesser-known but reputable sources when necessary. Student newspapers are used as sources when the incident pertained to that particular school and wasn’t reported by any other major outlets. Sources referenced include, but are not limited to, the following news outlets/conglomerates:
- Alta Newspaper Group
- APTN
- Bell Media
- Black Press Media
- Blackburn News
- BlogTO
- Canadaland
- Castanet
- CBC
- CHEK Media
- Continental Newspapers
- Corus Entertainment
- Dougall Media
- Durham Radio News
- Glacier Media Group
- Globe and Mail
- Great West Media
- Halifax Examiner
- HuffPost Canada
- Kamloops This Week
- Maclean’s Magazine
- Media Central Corporation
- National Observer
- Nortext Publishing Corp.
- Passage
- Pattison Media
- Postmedia
- Prince Albert Herald
- QuickBiteNews.com
- Ricochet
- Rogers Media
- Saltwire Network
- Sudbury.com
- The Brunswickan (University of New Brunswick student newspaper)
- The Conversation
- The Eyeopener (Ryerson University student newspaper)
- The Gazette (Western University student newspaper)
- The Hill Times
- The Link (Concordia University student newspaper)
- The Narwhal
- The Tyee
- The Varsity (University of Toronto student newspaper)
- Times colonist
- Toronto.com
- Torstar
- Ubyssey (University of British Columbia student newspaper)
- Village Media
- Winnipeg free press
- If media reports a lawsuit, protest, HR complaint, hearing, reports, (including media reports of multiple incidents within one article), etc. that involves multiple incidents, including at least one that occurred (or LIKELY occurred/is likely an ongoing issue) within the 2018-2022 timeframe, it will count as ONE incident. If there are multiple SPECIFIED incidents between 2018-2022, then we will include them as separate incidents.
- If the date of the most recent incident isn’t specificied “e.g. “complaints date back to the 1990s”, but the statement of claim was filed within the 2018-2022 timeframe, the article is included.
- Reported to police is checked when the article mentions that the incident was reported to police or mentions any police investigation or criminal trial. Due to limited data and nuances in legal definitions, we are unable to quantify all incidents that result as a hate crime. For information on hate crimes reported to police that meet the criteria in the Criminal Code of Canada, visit Statistics Canada.
- Organized white supremacy is checked when the perpetrator of the incident has affiliations with an identifiable organization(s) with a stated or implied mandate to uphold current structures of white power.
- Racial profiling is checked when when a non-police perpetrator assumes, solely based on the person’s race, that the victim is committing an illegal or otherwise nefarious act. Carding is checked when police racially profiling someone in a legal capacity. Examples of (non-police) racial profiling:
- Assuming an East Asian person has COVID-19
- Not allowing a Black youth to wear a do-rag at school
- Warning others about allowing First Nations people into their store because a particular First Nation has a COVID-19 outbreak
- Hate speech: other is checked when the perpetrator imparts racist language in a verbal or written manner. Harassment: other is also checked when this racist language is interpersonal (directed at a person(s)).
- Vandalism + hate speech: imagery is checked when vandalism contains racist symbols. Vandalism + hate speech: other is checked when vandalism contains racial slurs or other racist language.
- Hate speech: letter/flyer includes emails as letters, while hate speech: imagery includes posters if the document is more image-based. Racist job ads fall under hate speech: other.
- Workplace is checked when (1) an employer is perpetuating racism against an employee(s), (2) the victim’s coworkers are perpetuating racism, (3) an employee experiences racism while on the job.
- If a racist incident took place prior to 2018 but a jury finds the perpetrator not guilty between 2018-2022, the incident will be considered racism perpetrated by the jury.
If you are aware of a media report that you believe meets the benchmarks for this project but is missing in the data set, please contact us.
Acknowledgements
This research was made possible by generous volunteers from both:
Canadian Cultural Mosaic Foundation:
Author: Iman Bukhari
Editor: Megan Eichhorn
Researchers: Avery McNarland, Gabriela Urrego, Gilary Guzman, Huong Hoang, Iman Bukhari, Mansharn Toor, Megan Eichhorn
Graphic Designer: Jasmine Tan
Communications and Marketing: Astrid Tam
Data For Good:
Dashboard: Jennifer Walker, Jeremy Fan, Melissa Valgardson
Database: Fekrat El Wehedi
Project Management: David Chan
Canadian Cultural Mosaic Foundation consists of Millennial and Gen. Z volunteers working to improve race relations across Canada through research, advocacy, services, projects, programs and events, with a passion for a truly inclusive and equitable Canada. Data For Good is a collective of data scientists helping non-profit and social service organizations harness the power of their data through analytics and visualizations to leverage their impact in the community.
Canadian Cultural Mosaic Foundation:
Author: Iman Bukhari
Editor: Megan Eichhorn
Researchers: Avery McNarland, Gabriela Urrego, Gilary Guzman, Huong Hoang, Iman Bukhari, Mansharn Toor, Megan Eichhorn
Graphic Designer: Jasmine Tan
Communications and Marketing: Astrid Tam
Data For Good:
Dashboard: Jennifer Walker, Jeremy Fan, Melissa Valgardson
Database: Fekrat El Wehedi
Project Management: David Chan
Canadian Cultural Mosaic Foundation consists of Millennial and Gen. Z volunteers working to improve race relations across Canada through research, advocacy, services, projects, programs and events, with a passion for a truly inclusive and equitable Canada. Data For Good is a collective of data scientists helping non-profit and social service organizations harness the power of their data through analytics and visualizations to leverage their impact in the community.
This report, published by Canadian Cultural Mosaic Foundation, in partnership with Data For Good, contains nation-wide research and was produced on the traditional Treaty 7 territory of the Blackfoot confederacy in Calgary — traditionally known as Moh’Kinstsis by the Blackfoot, Otos-kwunee by the Métis, Wicispa Oyade by the Stoney Nakoda Nation, and Guts-ists-I3 by the Tsuut’ina Nation. We would like to honour and acknowledge all who reside on this land, including the Siksika, Kainai, Piikani, Stoney Nakoda and Tsuut’ina nations. We further acknowledge that Treaty 7 is home to many Métis communities and Region 3 of the Métis Nation.
