Social inclusion indicators for Canada's ethnocultural groups: Basic needs and housing

Additional information

The Data visualization tool — Social Inclusion indicators for Canada's ethnocultural groups: Basic needs and housing is part of a conceptual framework on social inclusion and covers a total of 11 themes. Each theme has a similar interactive visualization tool that is accessible on the page Data visualization tools — Social Inclusion indicators for Canada's ethnocultural groups.

These themes are participation in the labour market, representation in decision-making positions, civic engagement and political participation, basic needs and housing, health and well-being, education and skills development, income and wealth, social connections and personal networks, local community, public services and institutions, and discrimination and victimization.

The framework, the indicators and the visualization tools are products released by the Centre for Gender, Diversity and Inclusion Statistics that aim to support Canada's Anti-Racism Strategy by providing evidence. Over 120 indicators can be used to examine various socioeconomic facets of visible minorities which are being referred to as "racialized population" in analytical and communication products at Statistics Canada.

Definitions, concepts and geography

In 2021 Census analytical and communications products, the term "visible minority" has been replaced by the terms "racialized population" or "racialized groups," reflecting the increased use of these terms in the public sphere. For technical reasons the term "visible minority" is used in this data visualization tool. The data displayed in this visualization tool are measured from the standard census variable of visible minority.

Visible minority refers to whether a person is a visible minority or not, as defined by the Employment Equity Act. The Employment Equity Act defines visible minorities as "persons, other than Aboriginal peoples, who are non-Caucasian in race or non-white in colour." The visible minority population consists mainly of the following groups: South Asian, Chinese, Black, Filipino, Arab, Latin American, Southeast Asian, West Asian, Korean and Japanese.

For data quality reasons or to meet the confidentiality requirements of the Statistics Act, the category of "West Asian," "Korean," "Japanese," "Visible minority not included elsewhere," and "Not specified" are included in "Total — Visible minority" and "Total visible minority population," but not available as an option of selection in the drop-down menu for data from the Canadian Community Health Survey.

Gender and sex

The results by gender for the series of five indicators on household food security and insecurity (5), included individuals in the category "Non-binary person" in the "Total, 15 years and over," but not displayed as a separate category for data quality reasons or to meet the confidentiality requirements of the Statistics Act.

For the indicators on housing conditions and household demographic and economic characteristics the sex variable in census years prior to 2021 and the two-category gender variable in the 2021 Census are included together in this data visualization tool. Although sex and gender refer to two different concepts, the introduction of gender is not expected to have a significant impact on data analysis and historical comparability, given the small size of the transgender and non-binary populations. Given that the non-binary population is small and to protect the confidentiality of responses provided, individuals in the category "non-binary persons" are distributed into the other two gender categories and are denoted by the "+" symbol. For more information on the "Gender" variable and information on changes of concepts over time, please consult the Age, Sex at Birth and Gender Reference Guide, Census of Population, 2021.

Geography

In this data visualization tool, the social inclusion indicators can be disaggregated at the Canada level. Data for geographical region of Canada, province or territory and the census metropolitan area (CMA) are available in the tables used to create this interactive Web application. To access it, please consult the "Data" text box. 

Definitions

Household food security and insecurity (5)

This series of five indicators is based on a set of 18 questions and indicates whether households both with and without children were able to afford the food they needed in the previous 12 months of the survey. The levels of food security are defined as: 1- Food secure: No indication of difficulty with income-related food access; 2- Marginally food insecure: Exactly one indication of difficulty with income-related food access; 3- Moderately or severely food secure; 4- Moderately food insecure: Indication of compromise in quality and/or quantity of food consumed; 5- Severely food insecure: Indication of reduced food intake and disrupted eating patterns. The percentages of the indicators are calculated excluding non-response categories ("Refusal," "Don't know," and "Not stated") in the denominator.

Population living in a dwelling owned by one or some members of the household

Refers to a person who lives in a dwelling owned by one or some members of the household.

Population living in core housing need

Refers to whether a private household's housing falls below at least one of the indicator thresholds for housing adequacy, affordability or suitability, and would have to spend 30% or more of its total before-tax income to pay the median rent of alternative local housing that is acceptable (attains all three housing indicator thresholds). For more information on the measure of each indicator, please consult the definition of "Core housing need" from the Dictionary, Census of Population, 2021.

Population living in suitable housing

"Housing suitability" refers to whether a private household is living in suitable accommodations according to the National Occupancy Standard (NOS); that is, whether the dwelling has enough bedrooms for the size and composition of the household. A household is deemed to be living in suitable accommodations if its dwelling has enough bedrooms, as calculated using the NOS. For more information on the measure of each indicator, please consult the definition of "Core housing need" from the Dictionary, Census of Population, 2021.

Population living in affordable housing

Refers to the proportion of the population living in a household that dedicates less than 30% of its budget to housing costs.

Related products

Reference guide on social inclusion indicators for Canada's ethnocultural groups

The Daily - Housing conditions among racialized groups: a brief overview

The Daily - Portraits of the social, political and economic participation of racialized groups