Career Advancement in Corporate Canada: A Focus on Visible Minorities – Survey Findings (Report)

This report is the second of five in the Career Advancement in Corporate Canada: A Focus on Visible Minorities series, which explores how visible minority women and men perceive their career advancement and development in corporate Canada. The series is based on research conducted by Catalyst and the Diversity Institute in Management & Technology at Ryerson Institute in Toronto. The report includes action steps for organizations that want to be an “employer of choice” and proactively tap into the competitive advantage offered by Canada’s changing labour force.

Findings include:

• A majority of respondents from all self-identified groups expressed commitment to their organization.
• Visible minority respondents were less satisfied than white/Caucasian respondents with their careers.
• Individuals with foreign educational credentials were more likely than respondents without foreign educational credentials to feel their education and training were underutilized in their current job.
• Visible minorities tended to report similar experiences and perceptions of their workplace, regardless of gender or visible minority group.
• Fewer visible minority respondents than white/Caucasian respondents reported that they received one or more developmental opportunities in the last three years.
• Visible minority respondents were more likely to perceive workplace barriers than their white/Caucasian colleagues. These barriers included perceived lack of fairness in career advancement processes, an absence of role models, inequality in performance standards, and fewer high-visibility assignments.

Lead Sponsor: RBC Financial Group

Participating Sponsors: Deloitte & Touche, IBM Canada
Supporting Sponsors: Ontario Ministry of Citizenship and Immigration