Study: Perceptions of personal safety among population groups designated as visible minorities in Canada during the COVID-19 pandemic
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Released: 2020-07-08
From May 12 to May 25, 2020, Statistics Canada collected data on the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on perceptions of safety from 43,000 Canadians using the crowdsourcing data collection initiative. A study released today, "Perceptions of personal safety among population groups designated as visible minorities in Canada during the COVID-19 pandemic," provides insight on these perceptions among visible minority groups compared with the rest of the population.
One in five (21%) visible minority respondents perceived that harassment or attacks based on race, ethnicity or skin colour occurred sometimes or often in their neighborhood. This was more than double the proportion among the rest of the population (10%). The proportion of visible minority respondents who perceived an increase in the frequency of these discriminatory incidents since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic was three times higher than the rest of the population (18% versus 6%).
In the context of the pandemic, a higher proportion of visible minority respondents (14%) perceived an increase in neighborhood crime compared with the rest of the population (11%). More than one in four (27%) visible minority respondents felt very or somewhat unsafe walking alone at night, compared with 15% of the rest of the population.
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The article "Perceptions of personal safety among population groups designated as visible minorities in Canada during the COVID-19 pandemic," released today as part of the series StatCan COVID-19: Data to Insights for a Better Canada (45280001), is now available. The infographic "COVID-19 and visible minority groups' perceptions of safety," part of the series Statistics Canada – Infographics (11-627-M), is also available.
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For more information, or to enquire about the concepts, methods or data quality of this release, contact us (toll-free 1-800-263-1136; 514-283-8300; STATCAN.infostats-infostats.STATCAN@canada.ca) or Media Relations (613-951-4636; STATCAN.mediahotline-ligneinfomedias.STATCAN@canada.ca).
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