Racism in Canada#Maplewashing

{{Short description|Race or ethnic-based discrimination in Canada}}

Racism in Canada traces both historical and contemporary racist community attitudes, as well as governmental negligence and political non-compliance with United Nations human rights standards and incidents in Canada.{{cite web |title=International Convention on the Elimination of A ll Forms of Racial and Sexual Discrimination |url=http://docstore.ohchr.org/SelfServices/FilesHandler.ashx?enc=6QkG1d%2fPPRiCAqhKb7yhsoFZxvnsZjtq1Xnb4bcEJClA0kmqJQeV0zdR93%2ffv7%2fBSAkon8Nc2CMTKCBgv25nw5etVi%2bkUMR9abtAFqi1lgW095I%2btkhuhVTozo2kfkhQV78slhAW5U9xPBqn413aeA%3d%3d |website=Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights |access-date=22 October 2020|date=13 September 2010}} Contemporary Canada is the product of indigenous First Nations combined with multiple waves of immigration, predominantly from Europe and in modern times, from Asia.

Statistics

File:Police-reported hate crime in Canada, 2023.png

In 2021, the Social Progress Index ranked Canada 6th in the world for overall tolerance and inclusion.{{cite web |date=2014-04-03 |title=Canada ranks 7th on Social Progress Index – CBC News |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/canada-ranks-7th-on-social-progress-index-1.2597225 |access-date=2022-03-05 |website=CBC}}{{cite web |last1=Greene |first1=Michael |title=2021 Social Progress Index rankings |url=https://www.socialprogress.org/index/global/results |access-date=14 April 2022 |website=Global Index:Results |publisher=Social Progress Imperative}}

In 2016, a quarter of the discrimination grievances submitted to the Canadian Human Rights Commission were related to race, color, national or ethnic background, and/or religion. By 2017, 43% of hate crimes were found to be driven by racial or ethnic animosity, with 16% specifically aimed at Black individuals. Hate crimes targeting Muslims constituted 17%, while those directed at the Jewish community represented 18% of all hate-related offenses in Canada for that year.{{cite web | last=Canada | first=Social Development | title=Facts and figures | website=Canada.ca | date=October 16, 2020 | url=https://www.canada.ca/en/employment-social-development/programs/federal-anti-racism-secretariat/facts-figures.html | access-date=April 1, 2025}} The number of police-reported hate crimes in Canada increased by 32% in 2023, marking the third significant rise in four years. Since 2019, these crimes have more than doubled, rising by 145%.{{cite web | title=The Daily — Police-reported hate crime in Canada, 2023 | website=Statistics Canada | date=2025-03-25 | url=https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/daily-quotidien/250325/dq250325a-eng.htm | access-date=2025-04-01}}

Crimes motivated by race or ethnicity grew by 6% for the fifth consecutive year, totaling 2,128 cases. Specific groups showed varying trends, with incidents against South Asians increasing by 35%, Arabs and West Asians by 52%, and Indigenous peoples by 6%. However, incidents against Black and East/Southeast Asian communities saw decreases of 7% and 10%, respectively. Hate crimes motivated by religion rose by 67% in 2023, primarily affecting Jewish and Muslim communities. The Jewish population experienced a 71% increase in reported incidents, while crimes against Muslims surged by 94%. Other religious groups saw smaller changes, with Catholic incidents decreasing by 6%. Overall, hate crimes based on religion totaled 1,284 in 2023.

File:Police-reported Crime Severity Indexes, 1998 to 2023.png

Hate crimes tied to sexual orientation soared by 69% in 2023, reaching 860 reported cases. Incidents based on sex or gender increased by 37%, while other motivations rose by 9%.

Every province and Nunavut recorded increases in hate crimes in 2023. For example, Ontario reported 2,426 incidents, up by 476 from the previous year. Quebec and British Columbia also saw significant rises, with 739 and 669 hate crimes reported, respectively. Most police-reported hate crimes were non-violent, making up 55% of total incidents in 2023. Non-violent hate crimes grew by 36%, while violent hate crimes increased by 28%.

In a 2013 survey of 80 countries by the World Values Survey, Canada was ranked among the most racially tolerant societies in the world.{{cite news |date=May 15, 2013 |title=Map shows world's 'most racist' countries |newspaper=Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2013/05/15/a-fascinating-map-of-the-worlds-most-and-least-racially-tolerant-countries/ |url-status=bot: unknown |accessdate=April 30, 2017 |archiveurl=https://archive.today/20170430071325/https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2013/05/15/a-fascinating-map-of-the-worlds-most-and-least-racially-tolerant-countries/ |archivedate=April 30, 2017}}

Racialized individuals in Canada receive 81 cents for every dollar earned by their non-racialized counterparts. In Toronto, Black men are three times more likely to be requested to provide identification by law enforcement. Employers display a 40% higher likelihood of interviewing candidates with names that appear English, despite having identical qualifications. In 2017, Indigenous peoples comprised 27% of the federal correctional population, although they represented merely 4. 1% of the total Canadian demographic. In Quebec, candidates with names that sound Francophone are 60% more prone to being interviewed compared to those with comparable profiles.

Overview

Canadian author and journalist Terry Glavin claims that white Canadians consider themselves to be mostly free of racial prejudice,{{failed verification|date=May 2021}} perceiving the country to be a "more inclusive society" than its direct neighbor the United States,{{cite web | last=Glavin | first=Terry | title=Are white Canadians becoming conscious of their whiteness? | website=Macleans.ca | date=2017-08-28 | url=https://www.macleans.ca/society/are-white-canadians-getting-conscious-of-their-whiteness/ | access-date=2022-03-05}} a notion that has come under criticism.{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/jul/12/canada-black-lives-matter-indigenous-people-muslims|title=Canada is hailed for its tolerance but is it ready to confront its racism?|last=Kassam|first=Ashifa|date=2016-07-12|newspaper=The Guardian|language=en-GB|issn=0261-3077|access-date=2016-12-06|archive-date=June 12, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190612154417/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/jul/12/canada-black-lives-matter-indigenous-people-muslims|url-status=live}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.thestar.com/news/crime/2015/07/21/no-charges-against-peel-police-in-death-of-jermaine-carby.html|title=No charges against Peel police in death of Jermaine Carby | The Star|website=thestar.com|access-date=October 7, 2020|archive-date=September 3, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200903105624/https://www.thestar.com/news/crime/2015/07/21/no-charges-against-peel-police-in-death-of-jermaine-carby.html|url-status=live}} For instance, Galvin cites the treatment of the Aboriginal population in Canada as evidence of Canada's own racist tendencies.Terry Glavin, [https://ottawacitizen.com/opinion/columnists/glavin-canadians-have-no-reason-to-be-smug-about-race "Canadians have no reason to be smug about race"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180704092855/http://ottawacitizen.com/opinion/columnists/glavin-canadians-have-no-reason-to-be-smug-about-race |date=July 4, 2018 }} (November 2014), The Ottawa Citizen These perceptions of inclusion and "colour-blindness" have also been challenged in recent years by scholars such as Constance Backhouse stating that white supremacy is still prevalent in the country's legal system, with blatant racism created and enforced through the law.{{Cite book|title=Colour-coded: A Legal History of Racism in Canada, 1900–1950|last=Backhouse|first=Constance|publisher=The Osgoode Society for Canadian Legal History|year=1999|location=Toronto}} According to one commentator, Canadian "racism contributes to a self-perpetuating cycle of criminalization and imprisonment".{{Cite web|url=https://torontolife.com/city/life/skin-im-ive-interrogated-police-50-times-im-black/|title=The Skin I'm In: I've been interrogated by police more than 50 times—all because I'm black|date=April 21, 2015|access-date=October 7, 2020|archive-date=October 24, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181024073606/https://torontolife.com/city/life/skin-im-ive-interrogated-police-50-times-im-black/|url-status=live}} In addition, throughout Canada's history there have been laws and regulations that have negatively affected a wide variety of races, religions, and groups of persons.{{Cite web |title=McGill's 1926 Jewish ban {{!}} The McGill Daily |url=https://www.mcgilldaily.com/2018/09/mcgills-1926-jewish-ban/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200812153422/https://www.mcgilldaily.com/2018/09/mcgills-1926-jewish-ban/ |archive-date=August 12, 2020 |access-date=2019-12-05 |language=en-US}}Statutes of Canada. An Act of Respecting and Regulating Chinese Immigration into Canada, 1885. Ottawa: SC 48–49 Victoria, Chapter 71{{cite hansard

| url=http://www2.parl.gc.ca/HousePublications/Publication.aspx?DocId=1659497&Language=E&Mode=1&Parl=38&Ses=1

| title=Chinese Canadian Recognition and Restitution Act

| house=House of Commons, Canada | date=2005-04-18 | page=1100 }}

Canadian law uses the term "visible minority" to refer to people of colour (but not aboriginal Canadians), introduced by the Employment Equity Act of 1995.{{cite web|title=Employment Equity Act (1995, c. 44) |url=http://laws.justice.gc.ca/en/E-5.401/50293.html/?noCookie |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070212153447/http://laws.justice.gc.ca/en/E-5.401/50293.html/?noCookie |archive-date=February 12, 2007 }} However, the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination stated this term may be considered objectionable by certain minorities and recommended an evaluation of this term.{{cite web|title=Report of the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination|url=http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/cerd/docs/A.67.18%20English.pdf|website=United Nations|publisher=United Nations: Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination|access-date=4 March 2017|archive-date=April 11, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190411143230/https://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/cerd/docs/A.67.18%20English.pdf|url-status=live}}

In 2019, the English and Art departments at Kwantlen Polytechnic University collaborated to put on an exhibition called Maple-Washing: A Disruption, which featured various works examining Canadian history from diverse perspectives. With "Maple-Washing" (portmanteau of maple and "whitewash") referring to the alleged tendency of Canadian institutions to sanitize Canadian history.{{Cite web|url=https://www.cbc.ca/radio/the180/porn-is-for-all-of-us-the-tricky-relationship-between-trees-and-crime-and-maple-washing-has-to-end-1.3750507/maple-washing-don-t-be-smug-about-canada-during-the-u-s-election-1.3750514|title=Maple washing: don't be smug about Canada during the U.S election|website=cbc.ca|access-date=October 7, 2020|archive-date=December 2, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181202192030/https://www.cbc.ca/radio/the180/porn-is-for-all-of-us-the-tricky-relationship-between-trees-and-crime-and-maple-washing-has-to-end-1.3750507/maple-washing-don-t-be-smug-about-canada-during-the-u-s-election-1.3750514|url-status=live}} Historical topics and events covered in the exhibition included Canadian participation in the trans-Atlantic slave trade, the Komagata Maru incident, the internment of Japanese Canadians during World War Two, and the Chinese head tax, frequently "maple-washed" incidents.{{cite web |last1=Kaur |first1=Dilpreet |title=English and Ceramics Students at KPU Collaborate to Create Maple-Washing: A Disruption |url=https://runnermag.ca/2020/02/english-and-ceramics-students-at-kpu-collaborate-to-create-maple-washing-a-disruption/ |website=runnermag.ca |publisher=Runner Magazine |access-date=October 9, 2020}}

= Indigenous peoples =

{{Excerpt|Canadian genocide of Indigenous peoples|only=paragraph|paragraph=1,2,3,4|hat=no}}

= Slavery of Aboriginals and Black Canadians =

File:Ku Klux Klan at a gathering near Kingston, Ontario in 1927.jpg

There are records of slavery in some areas of British North America, which later became Canada, dating from the 17th century. The majority of these slaves were Aboriginal,{{cite book |last=Winks |first=Robin W. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Eeh4L1CulqYC |title=The Blacks in Canada: A History |publisher=McGill-Queen's Press – MQUP |year=1997 |isbn=978-0-7735-1632-8 |page=9}} and United Empire Loyalists brought slaves with them after leaving the United States.

==Segregation and Ku Klux Klan==

Canada had also practiced segregation, and a Canadian Ku Klux Klan exists.{{Cite web |title=Black History Canada |url=http://blackhistorycanada.ca/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190322203853/http://www.blackhistorycanada.ca/ |archive-date=March 22, 2019 |access-date=2016-12-06 |website=blackhistorycanada.ca}}{{Cite news |title=African Americans Have Been Fleeing to Canada for Centuries |language=en-US |newspaper=CityLab |url=http://www.citylab.com/commute/2016/03/the-long-history-of-african-americans-escaping-to-canada/472362/ |url-status=live |access-date=2016-12-06 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170120175740/http://www.citylab.com/commute/2016/03/the-long-history-of-african-americans-escaping-to-canada/472362/ |archive-date=January 20, 2017}} Racial profiling occurs in cities such as Halifax, Toronto and Montreal.{{Cite web |title=Judge says racial profiling likely, tosses charges against man after Toronto road stop {{!}} Toronto Star |url=https://www.thestar.com/news/crime/2016/04/23/judge-drops-charges-against-man-after-finding-racial-profiling-likely-behind-toronto-road-stop.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190302152502/https://www.thestar.com/news/crime/2016/04/23/judge-drops-charges-against-man-after-finding-racial-profiling-likely-behind-toronto-road-stop.html |archive-date=March 2, 2019 |access-date=2016-12-06 |website=thestar.com}}{{Cite web |title=Canadian Students Reveal What It Means To Be #BlackOnCampus |url=http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2015/11/20/black-on-campus-canada_n_8612482.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190303082510/https://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2015/11/20/black-on-campus-canada_n_8612482.html |archive-date=March 3, 2019 |access-date=2016-12-06 |website=The Huffington Post}} Black people made up 3% of the Canadian population in 2016, and 9% of the population of Toronto (which has the largest communities of Caribbean and African immigrants).{{Cite web |last=Government of Canada |first=Statistics Canada |date=February 8, 2017 |title=Census Profile, 2016 Census – Toronto, City [Census subdivision], Ontario and Ontario [Province] |url=https://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2016/dp-pd/prof/details/page.cfm?B1=All&Code1=3520005&Code2=35&Data=Count&Geo1=CSD&Geo2=PR&Lang=E&SearchPR=01&SearchText=Toronto&SearchType=Begins&TABID=1 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181019110756/https://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2016/dp-pd/prof/details/page.cfm?Lang=E&Geo1=CSD&Code1=3520005&Geo2=PR&Code2=35&Data=Count&SearchText=Toronto&SearchType=Begins&SearchPR=01&B1=All&TABID=1 |archive-date=October 19, 2018 |access-date=October 7, 2020 |website=www12.statcan.gc.ca}} They lived disproportionately in poverty, were three times as likely to be carded in Toronto than Whites, and incarceration rates for Blacks were climbing faster than for any other demographic. A Black Lives Matter protest was staged at Toronto Police Headquarters in March 2016.{{Cite news |title=Black Lives Matter Toronto: Is Canada too polite to talk about racism? {{!}} Metro Toronto |newspaper=metronews.ca |url=http://www.metronews.ca/news/toronto/2016/04/19/black-lives-matter-is-canada-too-polite-to-talk-about-racism.html |url-status=live |access-date=2016-12-06 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180313100604/http://www.metronews.ca/news/toronto/2016/04/19/black-lives-matter-is-canada-too-polite-to-talk-about-racism.html |archive-date=March 13, 2018}}{{Cite web |title=Racism Is Definitely A Thing in Canada. This New Campaign Proves It. |url=http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2016/11/02/black-in-toronto-campaign_n_12773910.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190303082456/https://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2016/11/02/black-in-toronto-campaign_n_12773910.html |archive-date=March 3, 2019 |access-date=2016-12-06 |website=The Huffington Post}}

== Order-in-Council P.C. 1911-1324 ==

On August 12, 1911, the Governor General in Council approved a one-year prohibition of black immigration to Canada because, according to the Order-in-Council, "the Negro race" was "unsuitable to the climate and requirements of Canada."{{Cite web |last=Canada |first=Library and Archives |date=2013-06-20 |title=Item |url=https://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/discover/politics-government/orders-council/Pages/item.aspx?IdNumber=301313 |access-date=2021-09-25 |website=www.bac-lac.gc.ca}} It was tabled on June 2, 1911, by the Minister of the Interior, Frank Oliver, following mounting pressure from white prairie farmers who were discontented with an influx in the immigration of black farmers from the United States.{{Cite book |last1=Alexander |first1=Ken |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/35761157 |title=Towards freedom: the African-Canadian experience |last2=Glaze |first2=Avis |date=1996 |publisher=Umbrella Press |isbn=978-1-895642-20-9 |location=Toronto |language=English |oclc=35761157}} It was never officially enforced or added to the Immigration Act, likely because the government—led by Prime Minister Wilfrid Laurier—was hesitant to alienate black voters ahead of the 1911 federal election.{{Cite web |title=Order-in-Council P.C. 1911-1324 — the Proposed Ban on Black Immigration to Canada {{!}} The Canadian Encyclopedia |url=https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/order-in-council-pc-1911-1324-the-proposed-ban-on-black-immigration-to-canada |access-date=2021-09-25 |website=www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca}} It was repealed later that year.{{Cite web |last=Canada |first=Library and Archives |date=2013-06-20 |title=Item |url=https://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/discover/politics-government/orders-council/Pages/item.aspx?IdNumber=302367 |access-date=2021-09-25 |website=www.bac-lac.gc.ca}}

==Africville==

In Nova Scotia, a community which mainly consisted of Black Canadians were forcibly removed and eventually razed between 1964 and 1967 after years of intentional neglect by the government in Halifax.{{Cite web |date=18 November 2017 |title=TURNING POINTS: The Razing of Africville an epic failure in urban community renewal |url=http://thechronicleherald.ca/thenovascotian/1521817-turning-points-the-razing-of-africville-an-epic-failure-in-urban-community-re |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180215024507/http://thechronicleherald.ca/thenovascotian/1521817-turning-points-the-razing-of-africville-an-epic-failure-in-urban-community-re |archive-date=15 February 2018 |access-date=14 February 2018 |website=The Chronicle Herald}}

=Greek-Canadians=

The 1918 Toronto anti-Greek riot was a three-day race riot in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, targeting Greek immigrants during August 2–4, 1918. It was the largest riot in the city's history and one of the largest anti-Greek riots in the world.

= Jews =

{{Excerpt|Antisemitism in Canada|only=paragraph|paragraph=1,2,3,4|hat=no}}

= Black people =

Black Canadians are discriminated against in Canada.{{cite web|url=https://www.statcan.gc.ca/o1/en/plus/1986-discrimination-against-black-people-canada|title=Discrimination against Black people in Canada}}

= Romani people =

=Asian Canadians=

== Indo-Canadians ==

In 1914, Indians arriving in Canada were not allowed to enter despite being British subjects, leading to the deaths of dozens of immigrants in the Komagata Maru incident.

==South Asian Canadians==

In recent years, South Asian Canadians--particularly those of Indian descent--have faced increasing levels of racial discrimination both online and in public spaces.Liddar, R., & Pallapothu, S. (2024, November 1). The familiar rise of anti-Indian racism in Canada. Policy Options. https://policyoptions.irpp.org/magazines/november-2024/anti-indian-racism-canada/ Verbal attacks often invoke stereotypes about hygiene, language, food or accusations of "overpopulating" Canada. Kukreja, R. (2024, November 7). Anti-immigrant politics is fueling hate toward South Asian people in Canada | Queen’s University Faculty of Arts and Science. Queen’s University. https://www.queensu.ca/artsci/news/anti-immigrant-politics-is-fueling-hate-toward-south-asian-people-in-canada These forms of racism have intensified amid growing anti-immigrant sentiment, particularly in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, and are often linked to public debates about international students, labour competition, and housing.Liddar, R., & Pallapothu, S. (2024, November 1). The familiar rise of anti-Indian racism in Canada. Policy Options. https://policyoptions.irpp.org/magazines/november-2024/anti-indian-racism-canada/

South Asians have reported being told to "go back to your country," and have experienced cultural shaming of their food, clothing and accents. These forms of exclusion echo earlier instances of anti-South Asian racism in Canadian history, such as the rejection of Sikh passengers abroad the Komagata Maru in 1914, which reflected a broader effort to prevent Indian immigration to Canada.

In addition to external discrimination, some scholars have identified the persistence of colourism--a preference for lighter skin tones--as a form of internalized colonialism within South Asian communities.Jha, M. (2016;2015;). The global beauty industry: Colorism, racism, and the national body (1st ed.). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315733432

These beauty standards, shaped by global media and colonial histories, continue to affect how class, caste, and gender operate within diasporic experiences. These patterns are not only local, but part of broader global systems of racial capitalism, postcolonial migration, and transnational identity politics, which structure the lives of racialized communities across borders.

== Chinese Canadians ==

File:Chinatown riot VPL 940 (10463603965).jpg after the September 1907 riots]]

Starting in 1858, Chinese "coolies" were brought to Canada to work in British Columbia in the mines and on the Canadian Pacific Railway.{{cite book |last=Wilford |first=Timothy |date=2011 |title=Canada's Road to the Pacific War: Intelligence, Strategy, and the Far East Crisis |location=Vancouver |publisher=USB Press |isbn=978-0-7748-2124-7 |page=28}} After anti-Chinese riots broke out in 1886, a "Chinese head tax" was implemented to curtail immigration from China. In 1907, the Anti-Oriental Riots in Vancouver targeted Chinese and Japanese-owned businesses, and the Asiatic Exclusion League was formed to drive Asians out of the province. League members attacked Asians, resulting in numerous riots.{{sfn|Wilford|2011|p=28}} In 1923, the federal government passed the Chinese Immigration Act, commonly known as the Exclusion Act, prohibiting most Chinese immigration.{{sfn|Wilford|2011|p=29}} The Act was repealed in 1947,{{cite book |editor1-last=Melnyk |editor1-first=George |editor2-last=Seiler |editor2-first=Tamara Palmer |title=The Wild Rose Anthology of Alberta Prose |date=2003 |publisher=University of Calgary Press |isbn=9781552380796 |url={{GBurl|g3TpVzpupaUC}} |page=279}} but discrimination limiting non-European immigrants continued until 1967 when a points-based system was introduced to assess immigrants regardless of origin.

== Japanese Canadians ==

File:JapaneseCanadian-Confiscating-Boat.jpg officer questions Canadian fishermen of Japanese descent as their boats were confiscated.]]

{{See also|Japantown, Vancouver|Internment of Japanese Canadians}}

Although a British–Japanese treaty guaranteed Japanese citizens freedom of travel, they were nevertheless subject to anti-Asian racism in Canada, though a slightly lesser degree at the time than the Chinese before World War II, as an informal agreement between the Japanese and Canadian governments limited Japanese immigration in the wake of the Vancouver anti-Asian riots.{{sfn|Melnyk|Seiler|2003|p=279}}

In 1942, during World War II, many Canadians of Japanese heritage—even those born in Canada— were forcibly moved to internment camps under the authority of the War Measures Act.{{Cite news |title=Japanese Canadians |newspaper=The Canadian Encyclopedia |url=http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/m/article/japanese-canadians/ |url-status=live |access-date=2016-12-06 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180119120305/http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/m/article/japanese-canadians/ |archive-date=January 19, 2018}} At first, many men were separated from their families and sent to road camps in Ontario and on the British Columbia–Alberta border. Small towns in the BC interior such as Greenwood, Sandon, New Denver and Slocan became internment camps for women, children and the aged. To stay together, Japanese–Canadian families chose to work in farms in Alberta and Manitoba. Those who resisted and challenged the orders of the Canadian government were rounded up by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and incarcerated in a barbed-wire prisoner-of-war camp in Angler, Ontario.{{Cite web |title=JapaneseCanadianHistory.net Historical Overview |url=http://www.japanesecanadianhistory.net/the_war_years.htm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171108140759/http://www.japanesecanadianhistory.net/the_war_years.htm |archive-date=November 8, 2017 |access-date=2016-12-06 |website=www.japanesecanadianhistory.net}} Japanese–Canadians fishing boats were also seized, with plans to drastically reduce fishing licenses from them and forcibly redistribute them for white Canadians.[http://journals.sfu.ca/archivar/index.php/archivaria/article/view/12837/14056 Establishing Recognition of Past Injustices: Uses of Archival Records in Documenting the Experience of Japanese Canadians During the Second World War]. Roberts-Moore, Judith. Archivaria: The Journal of the Association of Canadian Archivists, 53 (2002). With government promises to return the land and properties seized during that time period, Japanese Canadians left their homes. This turned out to be untrue, as the seized possessions were resold and never returned to the Japanese Canadians. Unlike prisoners of war, who were protected by the Geneva Convention, Japanese–Canadians were forced to pay for their own internment.{{cite news |title=Japanese Internment |publisher=Canadian Broadcasting Corporation |url=http://history.cbc.ca/histoire/?MIval=EpisContent.html&series_id=1&episode_id=14&chapter_id=3&page_id=3&lang=E |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071221071212/http://history.cbc.ca/histoire/?MIval=EpisContent.html&series_id=1&episode_id=14&chapter_id=3&page_id=3&lang=E |archive-date=December 21, 2007}}

==COVID-19 pandemic==

In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, Asian Canadians reported increased incidents of violent assaults, especially against women of Asian descent.{{Cite web |date=13 May 2020 |title=Asian Canadian women abused, punched, spat on. Is it racist maskaphobia? |url=https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3084090/coronavirus-asian-women-canada-are-abused-punched |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200515002800/https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3084090/coronavirus-asian-women-canada-are-abused-punched |archive-date=15 May 2020 |access-date=17 May 2020 |website=South China Morning Post |language=en}} According to an Angus Reid survey from 22 June 2020, up to 50% of Chinese-Canadians had experienced verbal abuse, and 29% had been made to feel feared, as if they posed a threat to public safety.{{Cite web |date=2020-06-22 |title=Blame, bullying and disrespect: Chinese Canadians reveal their experiences with racism during COVID-19 |url=http://angusreid.org/racism-chinese-canadians-covid19/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200626185429/https://angusreid.org/racism-chinese-canadians-covid19/ |archive-date=2020-06-26 |access-date=2020-06-26 |website=Angus Reid Institute |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |title=Almost One Third Of Chinese Canadians Report Being Physically Attacked During COVID-19 |url=https://www.antihate.ca/_almost_one_third_of_chinese_canadians |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200625003955/https://www.antihate.ca/_almost_one_third_of_chinese_canadians |archive-date=2020-06-25 |access-date=2020-06-26 |website=Canadian Anti-Hate Network |language=en}} Another survey of 1,600 adults conducted by ResearchCo and obtained by the Agence France-Presse revealed one in four Canadians of Asian descent (70% of whom were of Chinese descent) who lived in British Columbia knew someone within their household who had faced discrimination.{{Cite news |title=Chinese in Canada a target of increased hate during pandemic |url=https://au.news.yahoo.com/chinese-canada-target-increased-hate-during-pandemic-015810198--spt.html |url-status=live |access-date=28 May 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200605184721/https://au.news.yahoo.com/chinese-canada-target-increased-hate-during-pandemic-015810198--spt.html |archive-date=5 June 2020}} The survey also revealed 24 percent of Canadians of South Asian descent reported racist insults. Canadians of Indigenous origin had also reported discrimination.

= Sikhs =

Anti-Sikh sentiment in Canada has a historical and contemporary presence marked by several key events and ongoing issues. Early instances include the 1907 Bellingham Race Riot, where South East Asian and South Asian immigrants, mostly Sikhs, were violently targeted by white mobs in Washington (state), spilling over into Canadian anti-immigrant sentiments and the Pacific Northwest.{{Cite news |last=Dutt |first=Nirupama |date=1 September 2017 |title=110 years after racial riots against early Sikh immigrants, an Arch of Healing in US city |url=https://www.hindustantimes.com/punjab/110-years-after-racial-riots-against-early-sikh-immigrants-an-arch-of-healing-in-us-city/story-SjlbkYZ4r4cb0bJs65XL5L.html |work=Hindustan Times |quote=This has been reported by the Bellingham Herald newspaper which incidentally had also reported the 1907 riots. At that time the early Sikh immigrants were termed Hindus and the banner headline of the daily on September 5, 1907, cried out, Hindus hounded from city, with the subhead saying, Mob drives foreigners from lodging houses and mills.}}{{Cite web |last=Englesberg |first=Paul |date=1 January 2015 |title=The 1907 Bellingham Riot and Anti-Asian Hostilities in the Pacific Northwest |url=https://scholarworks.waldenu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1188&context=facpubs |website=Walden University |quote=if something were not done soon the agitation started in Bellingham would spread all over the Sound country and massacres of the Eastern aliens was likely to result. Fowler was one of the speakers in Vancouver and some blamed him and League organizers from the U.S. for setting off the riot in Canada.}}{{Cite news |last=Ledger-Lomas |first=Michael |title=If These Streets Could Talk: White Riot: The 1907 Anti-Asian Riots in Vancouver |url=https://reviewcanada.ca/magazine/2023/09/if-these-streets-could-talk/ |work=Library Review of Canada |quote=This hate speech reflected a broader phenomenon, as the retired professor Paul Englesberg shows in his contribution to the book. The mob had listened that Saturday night to A. E. Fowler, an activist from Seattle who gave an “impassioned speech,” in which he invoked a riot against Sikh workers in Bellingham, Washington, just days earlier. Beyond the West Coast, white supremacism existed throughout the British Empire — personified by the presence of a New Zealand clergyman at the league’s meeting}}

The 1914 Komagata Maru incident incident further highlighted institutional racism when 376 Indian passengers, mostly Sikhs, were denied entry into Canada and forced to return to India, where many faced persecution.{{Cite web |title=Komagata Maru incident (1914) |url=http://biographi.ca/en/topics/topic-match-list.php?id=1615 |access-date=2024-07-27 |website=Dictionary of Canadian Biography}}

Post September 11 attacks, Sikhs in Canada experienced increased xenophobia and hate crimes, often being mistaken for Muslims due to their turbans and beards.{{Cite book |last=Sian |first=Katy |title=Surveillance, Islamophobia, and Sikh Bodies in the War on Terror |date=2017 |publisher=Center for Race and Gender, University of California, Berkeley |volume=4 |publication-date=2017 |pages=4 |quote=Both the US and Canada have seen a sharp increase of hate crimes waged against the Sikh population who have been ‘mistakenly’ targeted in racist attacks directed at Muslims – for example the first person to be killed in a ‘revenge attack’ following 9/11 was Balbir Singh Sodhi, a Sikh turbaned man in Arizona}}

Missing and murdered Indigenous women

The representation of murdered Indigenous women in crime statistics is not proportionate to the general population.Michalke, C. (2015). Violence against Aboriginal women, a social phenomenon. Vancouver Island University Library. Retrieved: http://hdl.handle.net/10613/2585 In 2006, Amnesty International researched racism specific to Indigenous women in Canada.{{Cite web|url = http://www.amnesty.ca/research/reports/stolen-sisters-a-human-rights-response-to-discrimination-and-violence-against-indig|title = Stolen Sister|date = 2006|access-date = November 18, 2014|website = Amnesty.ca|archive-date = November 29, 2014|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20141129032522/http://www.amnesty.ca/research/reports/stolen-sisters-a-human-rights-response-to-discrimination-and-violence-against-indig|url-status = live}} They reported on the lack of basic human rights, discrimination, and violence against Indigenous women. The Amnesty report found that First Nations women (age 25–44) with status under the Indian Act were five times more likely than other women of the same age to die as a result of violence.{{Cite web|url = http://www.amnesty.ca/research/reports/stolen-sisters-a-human-rights-response-to-discrimination-and-violence-against-indig|title = Amnesty Stolen Sisters|date = 2006|website = Amnesty.ca|archive-date = July 19, 2018|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20180719080557/https://www.amnesty.ca/research/reports/stolen-sisters-a-human-rights-response-to-discrimination-and-violence-against-indig|url-status = live}} In 2006, the documentary film Finding Dawn looked into the many missing and murdered Aboriginal women in Canada over the past three decades.{{cite web|url=http://csws.uoregon.edu/?p=1097 |title=Acclaimed Feminist Filmmaker To Screen "Finding Dawn" |publisher=University of Oregon |work=Center for the Study of Women in Society |access-date=26 November 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090508140428/http://csws.uoregon.edu/?p=1097 |archive-date=8 May 2009 }}

In September 2016, in response to repeated calls from Indigenous groups, activists, and non-governmental organizations, the Government of Canada under Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, jointly with all provincial and territorial governments, established a national public inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls.[https://www.mmiwg-ffada.ca/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Final_Report_Vol_1a-1.pdf Reclaiming Power and Place: The Final Report of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls, Vol. 1a, pp. 59–60.]

Indigenous people still have to deal with racism within Canada and the challenges that the communities face are often ignored.{{Cite web|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2016/05/17/wab-kinew-systemic-racism-aboriginal-education_n_9829964.html|title=Wab Kinew Schools Us On Systemic Racism|website=The Huffington Post|access-date=2016-12-06|archive-date=December 10, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181210121902/https://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2016/05/17/wab-kinew-systemic-racism-aboriginal-education_n_9829964.html|url-status=live}} There are still negative stereotypes associated with Indigenous people such as being freeloaders, drug addicts or dumb.{{Cite web|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2016/09/30/aboriginal-stereotypes-portaits-lethbridge-kc-adams_n_12253100.html|title=Alberta Portrait Project Challenges Aboriginal Stereotypes|website=The Huffington Post|access-date=2016-12-06|archive-date=December 10, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181210120832/https://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2016/09/30/aboriginal-stereotypes-portaits-lethbridge-kc-adams_n_12253100.html|url-status=live}} Indigenous people are more likely to feel depression due to several factors such as poverty, loss of cultural identity, inadequate health care and more.

In 2020, the staff at a hospital in the Quebec city of Joliette were shown on video mocking and making racist remarks at an Atikamekw woman who eventually died. Indigenous leaders say the video exposes the grim realities of systemic racism that have long gone ignored or suppressed throughout Canada.{{Cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/sep/30/joyce-echaquan-canada-indigenous-woman-hospital|title=Canada: outcry after video shows hospital staff taunting dying Indigenous woman|website=The Guardian|access-date=2021-05-13}}

References

Sources

{{cite journal |last=Dhamoon |first=Rita Kaur |date=2016 |title=Re-presenting Genocide: The Canadian Museum of Human Rights and Settler Colonial Power |journal=The Journal of Race, Ethnicity, and Politics |volume=1 |number=1 |pages=5–30 |doi=10.1017/rep.2015.4}}
{{cite news |last=Green |first=Sarah |date=August 23, 2023 |title=The 'silent genocide' haunting Canada's liberal dream |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/global-health/women-and-girls/violence-against-indigenous-women-canada-justin-trudeau/ |work=The Daily Telegraph |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240713043234/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/global-health/women-and-girls/violence-against-indigenous-women-canada-justin-trudeau/ |archive-date=July 13, 2024}}
{{cite book |last1=Lightfoot |first1=Kent G. |last2=Nelson |first2=Peter A. |last3=Grone |first3=Michael A. |last4=Apodaca |first4=Alec |date=2021 |chapter=Pathways to Persistence: Divergent Native engagements with sustained colonial permutations in North America |title=The Routledge Handbook of the Archaeology of Indigenous-Colonial Interaction in the Americas |editor1-first=Lee M. |editor1-last=Panich |editor2-first=Sara L. |editor2-last=Gonzalez |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-0-429-27425-1 |pages=129–146}}
{{cite journal |last1=MacDonald |first1=David B. |author-link=David Bruce MacDonald |title=Canada's history wars: indigenous genocide and public memory in the United States, Australia and Canada |journal=Journal of Genocide Research |date=October 2, 2015 |volume=17 |issue=4 |pages=411–431 |doi=10.1080/14623528.2015.1096583}}
{{cite journal |last1=MacDonald |first1=David B. |author1-link=David Bruce MacDonald |last2=Hudson |first2=Graham |date=2012 |title=The Genocide Question and Indian Residential Schools in Canada |journal=Canadian Journal of Political Science |volume=45 |number=2 |pages=427–449 |doi=10.1017/s000842391200039x}}
{{cite journal |last1=Woolford |first1=Andrew |title=Ontological Destruction: Genocide and Canadian Aboriginal Peoples |journal=Genocide Studies and Prevention |date=2009 |volume=4 |issue=1 |pages=81–97 |doi=10.3138/gsp.4.1.81}}

{{Portal|Indigenous peoples of the Americas|Canada|Politics|Society}}{{Discrimination against Indigenous peoples in Canada}}{{Indigenous rights footer}}

Category:Human rights in Canada

Category:Human rights abuses in Canada

Category:Violence against Indigenous people in Canada

Canada