ISQ: higher employment rate for visible minorities in Quebec
Posted February 13, 2025 1:17 pm.
Last Updated February 13, 2025 3:11 pm.
In Quebec, the employment rate for people from visible minorities is higher than the employment rate of people who are not from these groups – the Institut de la statistique du Québec (ISQ) indicated on Thursday.
The phenomenon is explained by the fact that people from visible minorities in Quebec are more likely to be in the age groups where they are likely to be in the job market, i.e. from 20 to 64 years old, said Marie-Andrée Gravel, expert advisor and coordinator of the social indicators program at the ISQ.
“Since the age structure of visible minorities is more concentrated in the 20, 25 to 64 age group, I’d say there are really fewer seniors than in the rest of the population. That’s what inflates the employment rate: they’re more at the working age,” explained Gravel.
More specifically, in 2023, the employment rate for women from visible minorities was 64 per cent, while the employment rate for women who are not from these minorities was 58 per cent.
The same observation is made for men: those who are from visible minorities had an employment rate of 72 per cent, compared to an employment rate of 64 per cent for men who are not from these groups.
Unemployment
What may seem paradoxical is that the unemployment rate for visible minorities is nevertheless higher than that of non-minorities.
For example, the unemployment rate for visible minority women is 7.6 per cent, compared to 3.1 per cent for non-minority women. The situation is similar for men.
Gravel added that “the difference with the unemployment rate is that it really concerns active people, i.e. those who are unemployed and employed. So, we have less of an effect of age structure, much less. This is why we find what we expected: that women and men from visible minorities have a higher unemployment rate than the rest of the population.”
Compensation
In terms of salary, the average hourly wage for visible minority women in 2023 was $27, compared with $31.70 for non-minority women.
–This report by La Presse Canadienne was translated by CityNews
