Canadian dream elusive for some racialized 2nd-generation Canadians, study finds
CBC
New research has found that the Canadian dream is proving elusive for some racialized second-generation Canadians born since the 1960s, despite having higher educational levels than their white counterparts.
A new study, entitled "Is the Canadian dream broken? Recent trends in equality of opportunity for the racialized second generation," found that educational attainment and employment earnings are not uniform across groups of racialized second-generation Canadians, with some groups experiencing further disparities below the mainstream average.
And while educational levels for some racialized groups have surged, employment earnings were lower for most groups compared to the mainstream population, the study found. It also discovered intergroup differences.
The study, by researchers at four universities and released on Wednesday, defines the Canadian dream for immigrants as equality of opportunity and the chance to achieve financial security. Even if the first generation lives in poverty, the next generation will be able to pull itself out of poverty and achieve economic success, according to this definition.
"I don't think the Canadian dream is accessible to everyone equally," said Rupa Banerjee, one of the authors of the study and associate professor at Toronto Metropolitan University.
"For some, the Canadian dream is holding pretty well, but for others, it's failing. And that failure has really, really serious and significant repercussions, not just for them and their family, but for the entire society," added Banerjee, also the Canada Research Chair in the economic inclusion of immigrants.
"We've always kind of been smug that Canada is not like Europe or Canada is not like the U.S., that we're much more multicultural. We believe in pluralism. But I think that's a bit of a myth that we've kind of felt good about but doesn't really exist, and in that sense, the Canadian dream is failing."
The study defines second-generation as Canadian-born individuals with at least one immigrant parent.
It looked at educational attainment and employment earnings in three of "successive 10-year birth-cohorts" of second-generation Canadians from the mid-1960s to the mid-1990s, specifically 1966-1975, 1976-1985, and 1986-1995.
It focused on people 26 to 35, using data from the 1981, 1991, 2001, 2021 Canadian Census of Population and the 2011 National Household Survey. Examining the progress of five racialized groups, South Asian, Chinese, Black, Filipino, and Latin American, it compared them to third-and-higher generation white Canadians.
The study sample would have completed their education and begun their work careers.
According to Banerjee, the study's main findings include:
Banerjee said the study shows that anti-Black racism is real and Canada is not a post-racial society.
The study notes that second-generation Canadians face fewer barriers than their parents because they are born and raised in Canada, benefit from the local educational system, and are typically fluent in English or French.
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