A visible minority (French: minorité visible) is defined by the Government of Canada as "persons, other than aboriginal peoples, who are non-Caucasian in race or non-white in colour".^[1] The term is used primarily as a demographic category by Statistics Canada, in connection with that country's Employment Equity policies. The qualifier "visible" was chosen by the Canadian authorities as a way to single out newer immigrant minorities from both Aboriginal Canadians and other "older" minorities distinguishable by language (French vs. English) and religion (Catholics vs. Protestants), which are "invisible" traits.

The term visible minority is sometimes used as a euphemism for "non-white". This is incorrect, in that the government definitions differ: Aboriginal people are not considered to be visible minorities, but are not necessarily white either. In some cases, members of "visible minorities" may be visually indistinguishable from the majority population and/or may form a majority-minority population locally (as is the case in Vancouver and Toronto).

Since the reform of Canada's immigration laws in the 1960s, immigration has been primarily of peoples from areas other than Europe, many of whom are visible minorities within Canada. Legally, members of visible minorities are defined by the Canadian Employment Equity Act as "persons, other than Aboriginal people, who are non-Caucasian in race or non-white in colour".^[2]

Background

9,639,200 Canadians identified as a member of a visible minority group in the 2021 Canadian Census, for 26.53% of the total population.^[3][4] This was an increase from the 2016 Census, when visible minorities accounted for 22.2% of the total population; from the 2011 Census, when visible minorities accounted for 19.1% of the total population; from the 2006 Census, when the proportion was 16.2%; from 2001, when the proportion was 13.4%; over 1996 (11.2%); over 1991 (9.4%) and 1981 (4.7%). In 1961, the visible minority population was less than 1%.

The increase represents a significant shift in Canada's demographics related to record high immigration since the advent of its multiculturalism policies.

Statistics Canada projects that by 2041, visible minorities will make up 38.2–43.0% of the total Canadian population, compared with 26.5% in 2021.^[5][6][3][4] Statistics Canada further projects that among the working-age population (15 to 64 years), meanwhile, visible minorities are projected to make up 42.1–47.3% of Canada's total population, compared to 28.5% in 2021.^[5][6][3][4]

As per the 2021 census, of the provinces, British Columbia had the highest proportion of visible minorities, representing 34.4% of its population, followed by Ontario at 34.3%, Alberta at 27.8% and Manitoba at 22.2%.^[3][4] Additionally, as of 2021, the largest visible minority group was South Asian Canadians with a population of approximately 2.6 million, representing roughly 7.1% of the country's population, followed by Chinese Canadians (4.7%) and Black Canadians (4.3%).^[3][4]

2021 census

National average: 26.5%
Source: Canada 2021 Census^[7]

• Note: Subdivisions shown below have visible minority populations above the national average.

Alberta

British Columbia

Manitoba

Ontario

Quebec

2016 census

National average: 22.3%
Source: Canada 2016 Census^[8]

• Note: Subdivisions shown below have visible minority populations above the national average.

Alberta

British Columbia

Manitoba

Ontario

Quebec

2011 census

National average: 19.1%
Source: Canada 2011 Census^[9]

• Note: Subdivisions shown below have visible minority populations above the national average.

Alberta

British Columbia

Manitoba

Ontario

Quebec

2006 census

National average: 16.2%
Source: Canada 2006 Census^[10]

• Note: Subdivisions shown below have visible minority populations above the national average.

Alberta

British Columbia

Manitoba

Ontario

Quebec

2001 census

National average: 13.4%
Source: Canada 2001 Census^[11]

• Note: Subdivisions shown below have visible minority populations above the national average.

Alberta

British Columbia

Manitoba

Ontario

Quebec

Visible minority groups

Legislative versus operational definitions

According to the Employment Equity Act of 1995, the definition of visible minority is: "persons, other than aboriginal peoples, who are non-Caucasian in race or non-white in colour".^[17]

This definition can be traced back to the 1984 Report of the Abella Commission on Equality in Employment. The Commission described the term visible minority as an "ambiguous categorization", but for practical purposes interpreted it to mean "visibly non-white".^[18] The Canadian government uses an operational definition by which it identifies the following groups as visible minorities: "Chinese, South Asian, Black, Filipino, Latin American, Southeast Asian, Arab, West Asian, Korean, Japanese, Visible minority, n.i.e. (n.i.e. means "not included elsewhere"), and Multiple visible minority".^[19]

If census respondents write-in multiple entries, like "Black and Malaysian", "Black and French" or "South Asian and European", they would be included in the Black^[20] or South Asian counts respectively.^[21] However, the 2006 Census states that respondents that add a European ethnic response in combination with certain visible minority groups are not counted as visible minorities. They must add another non-European ethnic response to be counted as such:

In contrast, in accordance with employment equity definitions, persons who reported 'Latin American' and 'White,' 'Arab' and 'White,' or 'West Asian' and 'White' have been excluded from the visible minority population. Likewise, persons who reported 'Latin American,' 'Arab' or 'West Asian' and who provided a European write-in response such as 'French' have been excluded from the visible minority population as well. These persons are included in the 'Not a visible minority' category. However, persons who reported 'Latin American,' 'Arab' or 'West Asian' and a non-European write-in response are included in the visible minority population.^[22]

The term "non-white" is used in the wording of the Employment Equity Act and in employment equity questionnaires distributed to applicants and employees. This is intended as a shorthand phrase for those who are in the Aboriginal and/or visible minority groups.^[23]

Controversy

The classification "visible minorities" has attracted controversy, both nationally and from abroad. The UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination has stated that they have doubts regarding the use of this term since this term may be considered objectionable by certain minorities and recommended an evaluation of this term. In response, the Canadian government made efforts to evaluate how this term is used in Canadian society through commissioning of scholars and open workshops.^[24]

Since 2008, census data and media reports have suggested that the "visible minorities" label no longer makes sense in some large Canadian cities, due to immigration trends in recent decades. For example, "visible minorities" comprise the majority of the population in many municipalities across the country, primarily in British Columbia, Ontario, and Alberta.^[25]

Yet another criticism of the label concerns the composition of "visible minorities". Critics have noted that the groups comprising "visible minorities" have little in common with each other, as they include both disadvantaged groups and groups who are not economically disadvantaged.^[26][27] The concept of visible minority has been cited in demography research as an example of a statistext, meaning a census category that has been contrived for a particular public policy purpose.^[28][29] As the term "visible minorities" is seen as creating a racialized group, some advocate for "global majority" as a more appropriate alternative.^[30]

Furthermore it is not clear why minority definition should center on the "visual", and the concept of "audible minority" (e.g. those who speak with what appears to the majority to be "accented" English or French) has also been proposed, as speech often forms the basis for prejudice, along with appearance.^{[citation needed]}