Discrimination in Canada Black Canadian Perspectives

Release: July 8, 2020 STRICTLY PRIVILEGED AND CONFIDENTIAL Foreword Through a partnership between the African-Canadian Civic Engagement Council (ACCEC) and Innovative Research Group (INNOVATIVE), this research study was designed to explore perceptions of Black Canadians and the broader Canadian population regarding systemic racism, the Black Lives Matter movement, policing, and Canada’s court systems. We believe research contributes to society as an instrument for social change, through building knowledge, and facilitating learning opportunities. For Black Canadians, research offers us the ability to tell our stories using race-based data. Research enables us to hold government accountable by drawing conclusions from the data to influence Canadian policies in making informed decisions. Civic engagement and informed decision making are the ACCEC’s mandate. The purpose of this research is to: 1. help improve the quality of life for Black Canadians; and 2. increase awareness and understanding of the unique challenges the Black community faces daily. ACCEC believes that data-driven decision-making should be at the heart of all policy that impacts quality of life for Black Canadians and the human rights of all people. ACCEC is a national public affairs organization that promotes and strengthens opportunities for African, Caribbean, and Black communities. We achieve this by informing public policymaking, inspiring cultural change within and outside of our community, and promoting human rights and inclusion through research, education, awareness, and legal advocacy.

Dunia Nur President African-Canadian Civic Engagement Council

Note: Throughout this study, we use the term “Black Canadians”. This refers to all people residing in Canada of African descent, encompassing those who identify their cultural or ethnic origins as African, Caribbean, and/or Black. 3 Key Findings

Compared to the Canadian average, Black Canadians are nearly three times more likely to experience 01 discrimination in their daily lives. • A majority (53%) of Black Canadian say they experience discrimination in their daily lives, compared to 19% for the general Canadian population.

Black Canadians (55%) are much less likely than the national average (75%) to feel confident in the local police. 02 • Roughly 6-in-10 (59%) Black Canadians have confidence in Canada’s courts, slightly below the national average (65%).

Black Canadians more likely to support defunding the police (39%) compared to the general population (21%). • 3-in-4 Black Canadians believe systemic racism is widespread in Canadian police forces, compared to only half (50%) of the broader Canadian population. 03 • Similarly, 73% of Black Canadians believe too much police funding is used to enforce minor offenses in marginalized communities; 51% among the general population.

A majority of Canadians support the Black Lives Matter movement. 04 • More than 4-in-5 (85%) Black Canadians support BLM compared to 57% of the general population.

Lived experience explains a lot when it comes to confidence and attitudes towards the police and the courts. • Black Canadians who experience discrimination in their daily lives are less likely to have confidence in the police and courts. 05 • At the same time, those who face daily discrimination are more likely to believe systemic racism is widespread in the police and are much more likely to support police defunding. 4 Research Overview

Through a partnership between the African-Canadian Civic Engagement Council (ACCEC) and Innovative Research Group (INNOVATIVE), this research study was developed to explore perceptions of Black Canadians and the broader Canadian population on systemic racism, the Black Lives Matter movement, policing and Canada’s court systems.

Report findings come from an INNOVATIVE online poll conducted from June 17-30, 2020. This online survey was conducted among a sample of n=2,322 adult Canadians using INNOVATIVE’s Canada 20/20 national research panel with additional respondents from Lucid, a leading provider of online sample. Each survey is administered to a series of randomly selected samples from the panel. Additional respondents were recruited from online advertisements on Facebook and Instagram.

The sample has been weighted by age, gender, region, ethnic/cultural background, and whether they were born in Canada using Statistics Canada’s 2016 Census data to reflect the actual demographic composition of the overall and Black Canadian populations, resulting in an overall representative national sample size of 1,500 Canadians and representative national Black Canadians sample size of 400.

This is a representative sample. Targets were set to ensure a proper reflection of key regional and demographic distribution and then weights were used to ensure an accurate reflection of the target provinces. However, since the online survey was not a random probability based sample, a margin of error cannot be calculated. It is not statistically valid to apply margins of error to most online samples.

The survey methodology is discussed in further detail starting on page 29 of this report. Note: Graphs and tables may not always total 100% due to rounding values rather than any error in data. Sums are added before rounding numbers. 5 Demographics

Gender Region Occupation 47% 53% Working on an employer's business 42% Man Ontario 49% 38% full-time 33% Working on an employer's business 13% 53% 10% Woman Alberta part-time 8% 12% 51% Working on your own business within 5% 1% 26% your home 6% Non-Binary Quebec <1% 23% Working on your own business 6% outside of your home 4% Rest of 10% Age Canada 27% Temporarily laid off due to the COVID- 8% 19 outbreak 7% 18-34 40% 27% Currently unemployed 8% Household Size 6% 39% 35-54 1 14% Student 9% 34% 22% 4% 21% 24% 55+ 2 Retired 9% 39% 38% 27% 3 22% 16% Homemaker <1% 4% Black Canadians 4 20% Legend 15% National 5+ 19% Note: ‘Don’t know’ and ‘Prefer not to say’ not shown. 7% Ethnic and Cultural Origins: Nearly 2-in-3 of the Black Canadian 6 respondents have roots in the Caribbean regions and a third in Africa

Q What were your ancestor’s ethnic or cultural origins? Please Q And what were your ancestor’s Caribbean ethnic or cultural origins? select all that apply. An ancestor is usually more distant than [asked of those whose ethnic or cultural origins is Caribbean, multiple mention; n=254] a grandparent. Caribbean [n=254] If your origins are not included on the list, please enter them Jamaican in the text box below. 23% [asked of Black Canadians, multiple mention, n=400] Haitian 13% Barbadian 12% Caribbean 63% Trinidadian/Tobagonian 8% African 33% Cuban <1% British Isles 14% Other 14% European 20% Canadian Q And what were your ancestor’s African ethnic or cultural origins? 23% [asked of those whose ethnic or cultural origins is African, multiple mention; n=131] Other 12% Other responses include: African [n=131] - American - South American Nigerian 12% - South Asian Ghanaian 4% - Chinese Congolese 3% Q Were you born in Canada? South African 2% [all respondents, Black Canadians n=400; national n=1,500] Ethiopian <1% Somali <1% Black Canadian 30% Berber <1% National 80% Other African origins 13% Lived Experience of Discrimination Black Canadians are almost three times more likely to say they have experienced discrimination in their daily lives than the general population. Discrimination: Black Canadians are nearly three times more likely to 8 experience discrimination in their daily lives than the general population Do you agree or disagree with the following statement: Q I experience discrimination in my daily life. [asked of all respondents; Black Canadian n=400, national n=1,500]

- Agreement - Black Canadian: 53% National: 19% 42% 35%

25% 18% 19% 18% 14% 14%

5% 7% 2% 2%

Strongly agree Somewhat agree Neither agree nor Somewhat disagree Strongly disagree Don’t know disagree Black-Canadian National Discrimination: Black women, especially those 45+, are most likely to 9 agree they experience discrimination daily Do you agree or disagree with the following statement: Total Q I experience discrimination in my daily life. [asked of Black respondents; Black Canadian n=400] Agree

Black Canadian Average 18% 35% 25% 14% 7% 53% Man 15% 33% 24% 15% 10% 3% 48% Gender Woman 21% 36% 25% 13% 4% 58%

M 18-44 11% 41% 20% 10% 14% 4% 52% Age & Gender M 45+ 20% 22% 29% 23% 5% 42%

W 18-44 19% 36% 30% 13% 2% 54%

W 45+ 25% 37% 19% 13% 6% 62%

Ontario 17% 37% 21% 16% 7% 53%

Region Alberta 21% 34% 29% 3% 13% 54%

Quebec 17% 33% 33% 13% 4% 49%

Rest of Canada 26% 30% 20% 18% 5% 56%

Strongly agree Somewhat agree Neither agree nor disagree Somewhat disagree Strongly disagree Don’t know Confidence in Police and Courts Black Canadians are less confident in police and more likely than the general population to say, ‘decrease funding to local police.’ 3-in-4 Black Canadians believe systemic racism is widespread in Canadian police forces. Confidence in Police: Black Canadians are much less confident in 11 local police than Canadians as a whole

In general, how much confidence do you have in your local police? Q 'Local police' refers to the police responsible for your municipality. In some places that may be an RCMP detachment. [asked of all respondents; Black Canadian n=400, national n=1,500] “Confidence”

Black Canadians 12% 43% 31% 11% 3% 55%

National 27% 49% 17% 5% 3% 75%

A great deal of confidence Some confidence Not very much confidence No confidence at all Don't know Confidence in Police: Black women, especially those 45+, have the 12 lowest confidence in their local police In general, how much confidence do you have in your local police? Confidence Q 'Local police' refers to the police responsible for your municipality. In some places that may be an RCMP detachment. [asked of Black respondents; Black Canadian n=400]

Black Canadian Average 12% 43% 31% 11% 3% 55% Man 19% 49% 23% 9% 68% Gender Woman 7% 38% 37% 13% 5% 45%

M 18-44 18% 56% 17% 9% 74% Age & Gender M 45+ 20% 40% 31% 10% 59%

F 18-44 10% 37% 34% 12% 6% 48%

F 45+ 2% 40% 41% 13% 4% 42%

Ontario 11% 48% 28% 10% 4% 58%

Region Alberta 26% 35% 31% 2% 6% 61%

Quebec 11% 39% 34% 15% 50%

Rest of Canada 8% 38% 37% 15% 47%

A great deal of confidence Some confidence Not very much confidence No confidence at all Don't know Confidence in Courts: Black Canadians are a bit less confident in the 13 civil and criminal courts compared to Canadians as a whole

In general, how much confidence do you have in the civil and criminal courts in Canada? Q [asked of all respondents; Black Canadian n=400, national n=1,500]

“Confidence”

Black Canadians 11% 48% 28% 9% 5% 59%

National 14% 50% 23% 7% 4% 65%

A great deal of confidence Some confidence Not very much confidence No confidence at all Don't know Confidence in Courts: Black men aged 45+ and Black Albertans are 14 least confident in Canada’s courts

In general, how much confidence do you have in the civil and criminal courts in Canada? Confidence Q [asked of Black respondents; Black Canadian n=400]

Black Canadian Average 11% 48% 28% 9% 5% 59% Man 20% 40% 28% 6% 5% 60% Gender Woman 3% 56% 26% 11% 5% 59%

M 18-44 24% 44% 21% 6% 5% 68% Age & Gender M 45+ 14% 36% 39% 7% 5% 50%

F 18-44 4% 58% 22% 12% 4% 62%

F 45+ 1% 53% 30% 9% 6% 54%

Ontario 14% 44% 29% 8% 5% 58%

Region Alberta 3% 45% 19% 15% 18% 48%

Quebec 7% 61% 24% 6% 68%

Rest of Canada 12% 38% 37% 11% 50%

A great deal of confidence Some confidence Not very much confidence No confidence at all Don't know Funding for Local Police: Black Canadians are 18 points more likely to 15 say local police should receive less funding Do you think funding to your local police should increase or decrease? Q [asked of all respondents; Black Canadian n=400, national n=1,500] Decrease Funding: Black-Canadian: 39% National: 21% 45%

31% 26% 18% 14% 14% 13% 11% 10% 6% 6% 7%

Increase significantly Increase moderately Stay the same Decrease Decrease Don’t know moderately significantly

Black Canadians National Attitudes Towards Police: Wide gap on perceptions of systemic racism 16 in the police between Black Canadians and the general population Do you agree or disagree with the following statements? Q [asked of all respondents; Black Canadian n=400, national n=1,500] Agree

Too often we send police to deal with Black Canadians 55% 31% 8% 2%2% social issues and end up arresting 86% people who really just need better help from social services. National 37% 35% 15% 5%2%5% 72%

Black Canadians 46% 33% 11% 2%5% 4% 78% Systemic racism is widespread in Canadian police forces. National 19% 31% 20% 13% 10% 7% 50%

Too much current police funding is Black Canadians 45% 28% 11% 3%5% 8% 73% used to enforce minor offenses in marginalized communities. National 23% 28% 22% 9% 7% 11% 51%

While there have been incidents Black Canadians 24% 35% 18% 11% 10%2% 59% where some individual police have used excessive force, most police do National their best to act responsibly. 29% 41% 16% 8% 3%3% 70% Strongly agree Somewhat agree Neither agree nor disagree Somewhat disagree Strongly disagree Don't know Black Lives Matter While a majority of Canadians support the BLM movement, Black Canadians are three times more likely than the general population to have attended a protest. Familiarity with Movement: Black Canadians are much more likely to 18 have a detailed understanding of the Black Lives Matter movement How familiar are you with the social movement called Black Lives Matter? Q [asked of all respondents; Black Canadian n=400, national n=1,500]

Detailed Understanding

57% 50% 38% 33%

12% 5% 5% 0%

You have a detailed You have a general You have heard of the You haven’t heard of the understanding of the social understanding of the movement but don’t know movement before this survey movement of Black Lives movement but don’t know the much about it Matter details

Black Canadians National George Floyd News: Two-thirds (67%) of Black Canadians have 19 followed the news about the death of George Floyd ‘Very closely’ As you may recall, George Floyd, a 46-year-old American black man, was killed while under police restraint in Minneapolis, Minnesota on May Q 25th during an arrest for allegedly using a counterfeit bill. How closely have you been following news about the death of George Floyd? [asked of all respondents; Black Canadian n=400, national n=1,500]

Very Closely

67%

46%

32% 28% 18%

5% 0% 3% 0% 1%

Very closely Somewhat closely Not very closely Not at all Don't know

Black Canadians National Protest Support: A majority support protests. Black Canadians are 28- 20 points more likely to say support than the general population And do you support or oppose these protests? Q [asked of all respondents; Black Canadian n=400, national n=1,500]

Support: Black Canadians: 85% National: 57%

68%

29% 28% 18% 22% 8% 9% 10% 2% 4% 1% 2%

Strongly support Somewhat support Neither support nor Somewhat opose Strongly oppose Don’t know oppose

Black Canadians National Protest Attendance: Black Canadians are three times more likely 21 than the general population to have attended BLM protests The death of George Floyd triggered a series of protests for Black Lives Matter in US, in Canada, and around the world. These protests raised concerns Q about police brutality, racial inequalities in policing, and lack of police accountability. Did you take part in any of these protests? [asked of all respondents; Black Canadian n=400, national n=1,500]

Attended BLM Protests 91% 79%

20% 7% 1% 2%

Yes No Don't know Black Canadians National Impact of Lived Experience Lived experience explains a lot. Black Canadians who face discrimination in their daily lives are less likely to have confidence in their local police force and Canada’s court systems and are more likely to support the defunding of police. Confidence in Police: Black Canadians who experience discrimination 23 in their daily life are less likely to be confident in the police In general, how much confidence do you have in your local police? Q 'Local police' refers to the police responsible for your municipality. In some places that may be an RCMP detachment BY Discrimination [asked of Black respondents; Black Canadian n=500] Black Canadians’ Confidence in Local Police Experience discrimination in daily life

Strongly Agree 35% 64% 2% For example, of the people that strongly agree they Somewhat Agree 55% 44% 1% experience discrimination in their daily lives, only Neutral/Don't 35% are confident in know 61% 34% 5% the local police.

Disagree 65% 30% 5%

Confident Not Confident Don't know Confidence in Civil/Criminal Courts: Black Canadians who strongly 24 agree they experience discrimination are least likely to be confident

In general, how much confidence do you have in the civil and criminal courts in Canada? Q BY Discrimination [asked of Black respondents; Black Canadian n=500] Black Canadians’ Confidence in Civil/Criminal Courts Experience discrimination in daily life

Strongly agree 42% 56% 2%

Somewhat agree 58% 37% 6%

Neutral/Don't know 65% 29% 6%

Disagree 68% 27% 5%

Confident Not Confident Don't know Police Funding: Black Canadians who experience discrimination in their 25 day-to-day lives are more likely to say funding should decrease

Do you think funding to your local police should increase or decrease? Q BY Discrimination [asked of Black respondents; Black Canadian n=500] Black Canadians’ Attitudes on Local Police Funding

Experience discrimination in daily life

Strongly agree 13% 23% 64%

Somewhat agree 15% 49% 36%

Neutral/Don't know 28% 40% 32%

Disagree 20% 49% 30%

Increase Stay the same/Don't know Decrease Attitudes Towards Police: More than 9-in-10 who strongly agree they 26 experience discrimination say systemic racism is widespread in police Attitudes Towards Police Q BY Discrimination [asked of Black respondents; Black Canadian n=500] Too often we send police to deal with social issues and end up arresting people who really just need better help from Systemic racism is widespread in Canadian police forces. Experience discrimination social services. in daily life

Strongly agree 97% 2% 97% 1%

Somewhat agree 91% 9% 89% 11%

Neutral/Don't know 76% 4% 21% 65% 8% 27%

Disagree 80% 12% 7% 63% 21% 16%

Agree Disagree Neutral/Don't know Agree Disagree Neutral/Don't know Attitudes Towards Police: Those who experience discrimination are 27 more likely to feel that police funding is used to target communities Attitudes Towards Police Q BY Discrimination [asked of Black respondents; Black Canadian n=500]

Too much current police funding is used to enforce While there have been incidents where some individual Experience discrimination minor offenses in marginalized communities. police have used excessive force, most police do their in daily life best to act responsibly.

Strongly agree 83% 4% 13% 44% 36% 19%

Somewhat agree 82% 4% 14% 53% 24% 24%

Neutral/Don't know 65% 10% 25% 67% 18% 15%

Disagree 62% 16% 22% 74% 7% 19%

Agree Disagree Neutral/Don't know Agree Disagree Neutral/Don't know Protest Attendance and Support: Those who experience 28 discrimination are more likely to have attended or support the protests

BLM protest attendance and support Q BY Discrimination [asked of Black respondents; Black Canadian n=500]

Black Canadians Attendance of Protests Black Canadians Support of Protests Experience discrimination in daily life

Strongly agree 29% 68% 3% 95% 5%

Somewhat agree 25% 75% 93% 7%

Neutral/Don't know 18% 81% 76% 6% 18%

Disagree 5% 95% 77% 20% 3%

Yes No Don't know Support Oppose Neutral/Don’t know Methodology 30 General Population Survey Methodology

These are the results of an online survey conducted between June 17th and Unweighted Unweighted Weighted Weighted th JuneQ 30 , 2020. (n) (%) (n) (%) Method: This online survey was conducted using INNOVATIVE's Canada 20/20 national Males 18-34 282 12.1% 206 13.7% research panel with additional respondents from Lucid, a leading provider of online sample. Each survey is administered to a series of randomly selected samples from the panel and Males 35-54 312 13.4% 250 16.7% weighted to ensure that the overall sample's composition reflects that of the actual Canadian population according to Census data to provide results that are intended to Males 55+ 600 25.8% 272 18.1% approximate a probability sample. Sample Size: n=2,322 Canadian citizens, 18 years or older. The results are nationally Females 18-34 313 13.5% 204 13.6% weighted to n=1,500 based on Census data from Statistics Canada. Field Dates: June 17th to June 30th, 2020. Females 35-54 349 15.0% 261 17.4%

Weighting: Results for Canada are weighted by age, gender, and region to ensure that the Females 55+ 466 20.1% 306 20.4% overall sample’s composition reflects that of the actual population according to Census data; in order to provide results that are intended to approximate a probability sample. Weighted and unweighted frequencies are reported in the table. BC 397 17.1% 202 13.5% Margin of Error: This is a representative sample. However, since the online survey was not a random probability based sample, a margin of error cannot be calculated. Statements about Alberta 352 15.2% 175 11.6% margins of sampling error or population estimates do not apply to most online panels. Prairies 97 4.2% 102 6.8% Note: Graphs may not always total 100% due to rounding values rather than any error in data. Sums are added before rounding numbers. Ontario 958 41.3% 575 38.4%

This survey looked in-depth at a number of topics, and we will be releasing more Quebec 368 15.8% 346 23.1% results in the coming weeks. This release focuses on a few key topics, but the full questionnaire is provided as an appendix. Atlantic 150 6.5% 100 6.6% 31 Black Canadians Survey Methodology

TheQ Black Canadians results are drawn from a subsample of the general population survey, with additional respondents recruited from online advertisements on Facebook and Instagram. Method: This online survey was conducted using INNOVATIVE’s Canada 20/20 national research panel with additional respondents from Lucid, a leading provider of online sample. Each survey is administered to a series of randomly selected samples from the panel. Additional respondents were recruited from online advertisements on Facebook and Instagram. Respondents were weighted by age, gender, region, ethnic/cultural background and whether or not they were born in Canada to provide results that are intended to approximate a probability sample of Black Canadians according to Statistics Canada census data. Sample Size: n=408 Black Canadians, 18 years or older. The results are weighted to n=400 based on data from Statistics Canada. Field Dates: June 17th to June 30th, 2020. Weighting: Results for Canada are weighted by region and ethnic/cultural background within age and gender, as well as whether or not respondents were born in Canada by region. These weights ensure that the overall sample’s composition reflects that of the actual population of Black Canadians according to 2016 Census data from Statistics Canada; in order to provide results that are intended to approximate a probability sample. Weighted and unweighted frequencies are reported in the tables on the next page. Margin of Error: This is a representative sample. However, since the online survey was not a random probability based sample, a margin of error cannot be calculated. Statements about margins of sampling error or population estimates do not apply to most online panels. 32 Black Canadians Survey Methodology

Q Unweighted Unweighted Weighted Weighted (n) (%) (n) (%) Unweighted Unweighted Weighted Weighted (n) (%) (n) (%) Men 18-44 102 24.9% 108 27.1% African 266 65.0% 131 32.8% Men 45+ 64 15.6% 78 19.5% Jamaican 115 28.1% 91 22.7% Women 18-44 144 35.2% 115 28.7% Haitian 41 10.0% 50 12.5% Women 45+ 98 24.0% 95 23.8% (percentages will will not equal(percentages 100) Selected Ethnic/Cultural Backgrounds Ethnic/Cultural Selected Ontario 231 56.5% 213 53.4% First Generation 184 45.0% 122 30.4%

Alberta 45 11.0% 41 10.2% 2nd Gen or Later 225 55.0% 278 69.6% Quebec 79 19.3% 105 26.2%

Rest of Canada 54 13.2% 41 10.2% For more information, please contact:

Jason Lockhart Dunia Nur Vice President President Innovative Research Group African-Canadian Civic Engagement Council (416) 642-7177 (780) 265-1429 [email protected] [email protected]