Report Finds that Greater Toronto Area is More Divided Than Ever

By Neil Armstrong

Photo contributed     Debbie Douglas, executive director of the Ontario Council of Agencies Serving Immigrants (OCASI)




A new report by United Way Greater Toronto finds that a growing income gap hits young people, immigrants and racialized groups the hardest.

Released on May 6, Rebalancing the Opportunity Equation looks at income trends over the past 35 years, as well as the income gap between young people, immigrants, racialized groups and the rest of the population in Peel, Toronto and York regions.

The findings paint a stark picture of who has access to opportunities to succeed, and who does not.

Key findings indicate that young adults in the GTA are more disadvantaged today than ever before.

Young adults have become poorer over time. In real terms, a young person (25-34 years old) in the GTA is 
earning less today than a young person in 1980.

Among permanent full-time workers in the GTA, a young person earns on average 71 cents for every dollar 
a mid-aged person earns. That gap is an average of 13 cents greater than it was in 1980: the income gap is growing and young people are starting further behind. 


“In the GTA, it doesn’t matter how long you’ve been in Canada -- the fact that you weren’t born here means that you are earning less,” the report said.

Immigrants, regardless of their years of residency in Canada, have become poorer over time. On average, immigrants in the GTA today are making less than immigrants did in 1980.

The income gap between employed immigrants and the Canadian-born population has grown. While in 1980 they had similar incomes, a longstanding immigrant (over 20 years in Canada) in the GTA today is making a similar – or lower -- income than a Canadian-born person was in 1980. 
The racial divide in the GTA has reached a historic high, the report said.

“Rebalancing the Opportunity Equation reveals that the promise of diversity and opportunity that we tell ourselves -- and sell to the world – doesn’t reflect today’s GTA. Increasingly, it’s the things you can’t change that determine if you’re going to fall into poverty. We can’t present a 35-year-old story of opportunity and fairness and pretend it is the same today—it is not. We must make the findings of this report #UNIGNORABLE. The time is now to rebalance the opportunity equation, harness all the talent our region has to offer, and make the GTA work for everyone,” says Daniele Zanotti, president and CEO of United Way Greater Toronto.

Racialized groups have become poorer over time. Incomes for racialized groups have not increased in 35 
years.

The income gap between racialized and white groups has increased over time. For every dollar a white 
person in the GTA earns, a racialized person takes home on average 69 cents. 
The report outlines recommendations that all sectors can act on to ensure that everyone can participate in society, that more people can get ahead, and that everyday costs like childcare and housing are more affordable.

Debbie Douglas, executive director of the Ontario Council of Agencies Serving Immigrants (OCASI), is recommending a robust employment equity plan as a measure to address this situation.

 “While the findings are not surprising, it is disheartening to know that
after decades of policy advocacy on immigrant inclusion, anti-racism
training in the workplace and practices like 'blind' hiring, racialized and
immigrant workers continue to fall behind white and Canadian-born workers,” says Douglas.

“We need a more robust employment equity regime at the federal level and the
development of a made-in-Ontario employment equity plan. Regions like the
GTA must also implement their own plans and tie hiring practices that
target Black, racialized and immigrant workers, especially young people to
vendor contracts."

The federal 2018 budget allocated $31M over 3 years targeted at racialized immigrant women’s employment. The funds were part of the Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) Settlement and Integration budget.

Meanwhile, Michelynn Laflèche, vice president, strategy, research and policy of United Way said rising income inequality leads to a deeply divided region where different groups of people do not have enough meaningful encounters with people unlike themselves.

“By strengthening the connections in our region, we will move towards an inclusive prosperity that makes our region a better place to live for everyone. Evidence-based research is the first step towards meaningful action—and this data is the most robust source we have to date,” she said.

United Way Greater Toronto is the largest non-government funder of community services in the GTA and reinforces a crucial community safety net. 

Photo contributed    Marie Clarke-Walker, secretary-treasurer of the Canadian Labour Congress

In the meantime, Marie Clarke Walker, secretary-treasurer of the Canadian Labour Congress says unfortunately it is sad but true.

“The fact that we have heads of countries who are saying and doing things that are blatantly racist and discriminatory has made it the ”norm” for people to use their outside voices to articulate the hate that they have long held and kept to themselves. Nowhere in Canada is safe from these attacks.”

She referenced the recent poll done by Frank Graves, president and founder of EKOS Research Associates, which showed that for the first time opposition to visible minority immigration higher than to immigration in general.

Forty-two per cent of those polled felt that there were too many non-white immigrants in the country. Conservative Party of Canada supporters registered an all time high of 71%. The vast majority of them think there are too many non-white immigrants. 

“Sixty-plus per cent identify as Conservatives and seeing that there is no way to tell if a racialized person came yesterday, 10 years ago, 20 years ago or has been here for generations it leads me to believe that the problem they have is not immigration but race, especially since everyone except for Indigenous peoples are immigrants,” says Walker.

She said the labour movement is working hard to do education around what is acceptable and not.

  

“We have just released our Islamaphobia report which provides recommendations for employers, trade unions and governments tools to address the rise of anti-Muslim and discriminatory attitudes and behaviours, “ said Walker.

Photo contributed    Nigel Barriffe, president of the Urban Alliance on Race Relations

 

Nigel Barriffe, president of the Urban Alliance on Race Relations, says the report is not surprising and the data reflects the reality on the ground that communities have been voicing.

“There seems to be this war on the poor that has been going on for decades -- this is not new. I think what our fear is, especially the alliance, is that we see this as continuing to polarize our society. We’re seeing that immigrants and people of colour and Aboriginal communities, we’re somehow being blamed for this wide growing gap between the rich and the poor in this society.”

[This story has been published in the North American Weekly Gleaner, May 16-22, 2019.]