Black Canadians see progress to improve workplace, but problems remain: KPMG report

Black Canadians see growth

Photo: The Canadian Press

People walk in Toronto's financial district in Toronto, on Oct. 29, 2012. T 

A new report says a vast majority of Black Canadians feel their employer has made progress in creating a more equitable workplace, but more than three-quarters say they still encounter microaggressions, discrimination and racism at work.

The survey by KPMG says 86 per cent of those surveyed say their employer has fulfilled its promises to create a more equitable and inclusive workplace for Black employees in the past five years.

However, the report finds 77 per cent said they experienced microaggressions, discrimination, or acts of racism at work over the past year.

Rob Davis, chief inclusion, diversity and equity officer at KPMG in Canada, says while organizations have done much to ensure all employees are treated fairly, the survey shows that many Black Canadians continue to experience racism in the workplace and within society.

Seventy-eight per cent of those questioned said online hate from social media platforms is spilling over into the workforce.

The report was based on an online survey between Dec. 17, 2024, and Jan. 6, 2025, of 1,000 Canadians who self-identified as Black.

The polling industry's professional body, the Canadian Research Insights Council, says online surveys cannot be assigned a margin of error because they do not randomly sample the population.