Cultural Diversity in Canada: The Social Construction of Racial Difference

6.  Racial Inequality and the Politics of Difference

Table 5: Gross and Net Labour Market Earnings of Racial and Ethnic Groups, Canada, 1996

Racial and Ethnic Groups Number Labour Market Earnings As Deviations Above (+) or Below (-) National Mean
Gross Net
Not Visible Minorities
British, British Isles, British and Canadian 94,288 2,929 914
French, French and Canadian 48,542 497 78
Dutch 5,148 1,694 912
German 11,708 681 -533
Other West European 1,352 2,525 -61
Hungarian 1,442 1,767 -1,115
Polish 3,811 464 -850
Ukrainian 5,034 2,278 -246
Balkan 2,433 -159 -669
Greek 2,373 -4 258 -2,298
Italian 11,361 1,943 1,031
Portuguese 3,735 -2,464 1,359
Spanish 392 793 -720
Jewish 2,827 12,700 6,632
Other European 5,945 2,696 -87
Other British multiple origins 38,763 -121 731
Other French multiple origins 7,123 -93 394
British and French, British and French and other 23,370 -1,041 234
Other single and multiple origins 23,969 960 689
Canadian 72,234 -2,037 -177
Visible Minorities
Arab 1,438 -4,162 -4,042
West Asian 798 -6,933 -5,937
South Asian 8,685 -3,129 -2,203
Chinese 11,150 -2,684 -3,188
Filipino 3,290 -5,070 -3,630
Vietnamese 1,249 -4,968 -4 240
Other East/South East Asian 1,940 -1,755 -1,528
Latin/Central/South American 1,137 -8,452 -3,862
Black 6,987 -5,310 -2,867
Other single and multiple origins 4,296 -5,063 -2,712
Aboriginal People 8,273 -8,899 -3,474
Total 415,093    
Average Labour Market Earnings (all groups)   25,663 25,663

Note :
Gross earnings in deviations are actual differences from the mean when varaitions in other variables have not been taken into account. Net earnings in deviations are residual differences after variations in years of schooling, full-time/part-time employment, industry of work, occupation, number of weeks worked, age, gender, nativity and official language ability have been statistically controlled.

Source :
Calculated from Statistics Canada, 1996 Census of Canada, Public Use Microdata File on Individuals, 1999.