Communities Concerned about Continuing Trend of Income Disparities in Canada
May 01, 2008
May 1, 2008 – Toronto: Members of the Colour of Poverty Campaign (COPC) are reacting with deep concern to the analysis released today by Statistics Canada of data from the 2006 Census on earnings and income.
Of the primary concern is the fact that earnings of full-time full-year earners rose for those at the top of the earnings distribution, stagnated for those in the middle and declined for those at the bottom. According to the report, in 1980, 3.4% of full-time full-year earners received $100,000 or more. By 2005, this proportion had almost doubled to 6.5%.
“It is sad to see that the census release confirms the perception of many Canadians that the rich in this country are indeed getting richer and the poor poorer,” said Avvy Go, Clinic Director Metro Toronto Chinese & Southeast Asian Legal Clinic, a member of COPC. “There is something definitely wrong when more than half of a million in Canada are earning over the $100,000 mark, while many more are living in poverty,” added Go.
Equally disturbing, is the fact that during this 25-year period, recent immigrants lost ground relative to their Canadian-born counterparts. The employment income of immigrant men dropped from 85 cents for each dollar received by Canadian-born men in 1980 to 63 cents in 2005 and the corresponding numbers for recent immigrant women were 85 cents and 56 cents, respectively. Earnings disparities between recent immigrants and Canadian-born workers increased not only during the two previous decades, but also between 2000 and 2005.
“When income disparities grow in the midst of an economic boom, we must ask the hard question of why that is the case,” commented Grace Edward Galabuzi, Associate Professor in Sociology at Ryerson University. “The answer lies in the underlying inequities in our socio-economic structures and the absence of proper mechanisms to correct those inequities,” concluded Galabuzi.
Out of a two-day provincial forum which took place on April 28-29, the Colour of Poverty Campaign will be putting together a Framework for Action to address the growing income gaps in Canada which leave racialized communities, immigrants and refugees among those bearing the blunt of disparities. The Campaign will continue to work with affected communities to find targeted solutions while pushing those in powers to take a leadership role to work towards the elimination of poverty.
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For more information, contact:
Amy Casipullai (Ontario Council of Agencies Serving Immigrants) at (416) 322-4950 ext. 239
Avvy Go (Metro Toronto Chinese & Southeast Asian Legal Clinic) at (416) 971-9674