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Learning Objectives
- To identify groups in Canada that are vulnerable to socio-economic disadvantages.
- To explain the ways in which these populations are vulnerable.
- To identify the ways in which these populations suffer from multiple interlocking disadvantages.
- To recognize that they should not be viewed as merely victims.
- To explain the ways that inequality is not unavoidable and normal.
Summary
Introduction
Vulnerable groups are those whose life chances – the chances they will gain wealth, power, or prestige – are lower than average. They experience disadvantages that build on one another. This inequality is harmful for everyone, not only the vulnerable populations. Many vulnerable people also experience multiple, interlocking disadvantages.
Agency refers to an individual’s ability to make choices. However, we can’t use the idea of agency to blame people for their own disadvantaged lives. Some people have better opportunities or more alternatives to choose from, while others start from deprived conditions.
The Peopling of Canadian Society: A Thumbnail History
Indigenous Peoples were the first to inhabit what is now Canada, with evidence of their presence dating to at least 14,000 years ago. The first European immigrants to settle in Canada came from France. In 1763, English troops defeated French troops on the Plains of Abraham, allowing them to take control of most of North America. In the nineteenth century, immigrants came mainly from Britain, Ireland, and Scotland.
Canada’s history reflects the goals of capitalists in Britain and later the United States whose aim was to maximize profits from Canadian resources, resulting in vast differences in regional development. The treatment of Indigenous Peoples also reflected the goals of both the Canadian government and British and American capitalists.
Colonial History and Current Issues
Indigenous Peoples, over the centuries, were treated in ways that result in their being impoverished, marginalized, and victimized today. When European colonizers arrived in the Americas, Indigenous communities were ravaged by disease, war, starvation, and despair. In principle, colonization was to bring prosperity for all, but in practice it favoured the colonizers, not the colonized, and Indigenous Peoples have entered the twenty-first century at a disadvantage. At the same time, the colonial mentality has “othered” Indigenous Peoples and made them seem worthless to many white Canadians.
Today, Indigenous Peoples face poor mental health, addiction, poor physical health, family violence and fragmentation, poor housing and infrastructure, underrepresentation in graduation rates, and higher rates of unemployment, and many propose that these problems are the result of colonialism. One explanation is that colonization itself leads to powerlessness, low self-esteem, and mental distress. Another focuses on how Indigenous family structures were undermined by residential schooling and the Sixties Scoop.
Intergenerational trauma refers to an emotional (or social) response by the children and grandchildren of a trauma survivor that impacts health and longevity. This has been widely studied in regard to residential schooling. The prevailing theory is that this trauma is passed down via socialization or childhood learning, through cultural, social, and psychological channels. Indigenous historical trauma is unique in terms of the “Four Cs”: colonial in origin, collectively experienced, with cumulative effects, and cross-generational impacts.
Low-Income People in Canada
Poverty, or low income, is the condition of not having enough of the things we need for life, whether in absolute or relative terms. The preferred method of measuring low income in Canada today is the market-basket measure, which calculates how much income a household requires to meet its needs. The MBM reveals a poverty rate of 12.9 per cent in 2016. Other measurement methods used include the LIM and LICO.
Poverty in Canada is concentrated in large cities, especially Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver. Poverty rates follow shifts in the overall economy, and economic recessions hit the poorest the hardest. Finally, many people move in and out of poverty during their lifetimes.
Racialized People in Canada
The term race has little meaning biologically. Instead, racial categories are socially constructed to explain and justify social inequality. In Canada, 22.3 per cent of the total population (7.6 million people) identified as belonging to a “visible minority group” in 2016. Moreover, Canada’s racialized population is increasing much more quickly than the non-racialized population. Most of this population lives in the large cities of Ontario, British Columbia, Quebec, and Alberta. In 2016, people who identified as South Asian, Chinese, or Black made up 61.2 per cent of all racialized people in Canada; however, there is great diversity within these groups. Data shows that racialized people are more likely than non-racialized people to live in poverty.
Young People in Canada
The 2016 Census revealed that 8,884,235 respondents (about a quarter of the population) were between the ages of 15 and 34. There is variation in the way young people are dispersed throughout Canada, reflecting higher fertility rates in the West and North and the migration of young adults between provinces and from other countries. Indigenous Peoples, immigrants, and racialized people account for an especially large proportion of young people.
Today, many young people experience a “delayed transition to adulthood.” They face a high rate of underemployment, as well as a general increase in unemployment and short-term employment. As a result, they are spending more years in school, which comes at the price of increased student debt and financial insecurity. They are also increasingly delaying marriage.
Women in Canada
The feminization of poverty refers to the fact that women are overrepresented among the poor. Women are in the paid working force more now than ever before. However, many women work in low-wage occupations that don’t provide enough income to survive. The CBC reported that in 2015, Canadian women earned 87 cents an hour for every dollar made by men. Lone-parent-mother families are far more likely to live in poverty than other family types. Racialized women, senior women, migrant women, Indigenous women, queer women, trans women, and women with disabilities also face particular economic disadvantages.
Gender discrimination carries other costs for women, including derogation by men, awareness of their subordinate status in society, and pressure to achieve the “ideal” female body. These can lead to decreased self-esteem, depression, and other psychological problems. It is also mainly women who feel the results of unwanted or teenage pregnancy.
Seniors in Canada
The 2016 Census reported nearly 6 million seniors over 65 in Canada. An aging, longer-living adult population leads to increased demands for informal care. One result of the population’s aging is the sandwich generation, who are middle-aged adults caring for both elderly parents and for their own young children. Other societal changes include a shift from institutional to community-based (in-home) care, a growing ideological commitment to eldercare by the state, and funding cuts by the federal government for such services.
Aging is invariably associated with some disability. However, there is great inequality in the effect that socio-economic status (SES) has on the extent of the disability. Another serious social problem is elder abuse. Statistics Canada finds that somewhere between 4 and 10 per cent of elders suffer abuse, and many incidents go unreported.
Immigrants in Canada
Canada is a society of immigrants and their descendants. Immigration is important because a low-fertility society like Canada tends to age rapidly. This means that it needs large numbers of new young families to immigrate, both to enter the workforce and to reproduce the population. The main categories under which foreign-born people can apply to immigrate permanently are as economic immigrants, family class immigrants, and refugees. Temporary immigrants may work in Canada under the Temporary Foreign Worker Program or International Mobility Program.
The 2016 Census shows that there were 7.5 million immigrants living in Canada, representing just over 20 per cent of the total population. The largest group of immigrants came as adults and hail from Asian countries. However, large numbers of others came from Africa, Central and South America, and the Caribbean. Canada’s recent immigrants also tend to be young – in 2016, 64 per cent of immigrants were between 15 and 44 years old.
Indigenous Peoples in Canada
In Canada, the term Indigenous comprises three different subpopulations: First Nations, Métis, and Inuit. The Indigenous population in Canada is young and growing. Children aged 14 and under make up 26.8 per cent of the Indigenous population, and between the years 2006 and 2016, the Indigenous population grew by 42.5 per cent. Some Indigenous Peoples in Canada are “Registered Indians” while others are not.
A consideration of history is crucial to understanding the present-day realities for Indigenous Peoples. In Canada, Indigenous Peoples remain the most vulnerable population on every dimension of social inequality. Of the bottom 100 communities on the Canadian Community Wellbeing Index, 96 are Indigenous communities. In the top 100 communities in Canada, only one is Indigenous. A social issue that has finally caught the attention of the public has been the continued disappearance and murder of Indigenous women and girls in Canada. However, Idle No More and various Indigenous-led environmental movements are drawing focus to the injustices, strengths, and opportunities in Indigenous communities.
LGBTQ+ People in Canada
LGBTQ+ includes people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or queer; the “+” stands for all the other identities that the acronym encompasses (e.g., asexual, pansexual, intersex, nonbinary, Two-Spirit, etc.). More Canadians self-identify as LGBTQ+ today than they did in the past. Same-sex couples accounted for 0.9 per cent of all couples in Canada in 2016, with half living in Montreal, Toronto, Vancouver, and Ottawa-Gatineau. Same-sex couples are also younger on average than heterosexual couples.
LGBTQ+ Canadians may worry about experiencing homophobia, discrimination, and even violent victimization. A significant problem facing young LGBTQ+ Canadians in particular is the threat of homophobic bullying. However, the legalization of same-sex marriage in 2005 and the enactment of Bill C-16 in 2017, which added gender identity and gender expression to the list of banned grounds of discrimination, indicate growing acceptance. Issues around healthcare continue to be a problem for LGBTQ+ people, due to health insurance policies and fear of discrimination. LGBTQ+ youth are also at higher-than-average risk of homelessness.
People with Disabilities in Canada
According to the Canadian Survey on Disability, a person is considered to have a disability if their full participation in society is limited by a long-term condition or health problem. One in five Canadians over the age of 15 reports one or more disabilities. Disabilities can range from mild to severe and may or may not be visible. The CSD identifies 10 types of disabilities: pain, mobility, agility, hearing, seeing, learning, psychological, memory, speech, and developmental.
Historically, many people with disabilities have experienced discrimination and abuse. In the 1960s, the disability rights movement began in Canada, which advocated for respect, full citizenship, and inclusion in society. People with disabilities have since made great progress toward equality but continue to face disadvantage. For example, they earn much less, on average, than people without disabilities. They are less likely to be employed and more likely to live in poverty (especially those with more severe disabilities).