Three-fifths of indigenous Canadians have encountered discrimination in their current workplaces, according to a poll conducted by ComIT.org. “In many ways, the stats around bias and discrimination are the most concerning,” said ComIT.org Executive Director Pablo Listingart in a Monday press release. “If indigenous Canadians are being cast aside or locked out of even applying for jobs, we clearly have a long way to go to ensure an even playing field.”ComIT.org said 56.2% of indigenous Canadians have played down their indigenous backgrounds to fit in better in their workplaces. When it comes to promotions, it found 61.6% of indigenous Canadians think they are less likely to have one because of their race. Almost all of them said there is a lack of indigenous representation in C-Suite positions in the technology industry. With this lack of representation, 37.4% said it was to a large extent, 36.6% to a moderate extent, 16.2% to a small extent and 7% found it to be a serious problem. When applying for jobs, it said 62.4% of them have experienced bias because of their race. It added 52.6% have played down their indigenous background to get a job. One-third chose to not list being indigenous on their social media profiles. ComIT.org asked what the Canadian government could do to encourage more indigenous people to join the information technology sector. Many responses suggested it create a department to encourage them to pursue IT careers. One indigenous person said he thinks the Canadian government “should really explore the possibility that there are a lot of indigenous Canadians that do not have the proper education to get well-paid jobs.” “They need to get an education first, like any white person would, and go from there,” said this indigenous person. However, another indigenous person argued no action should be taken, as it should be up to indigenous people to decide what they want to do without coercion. “I prefer to earn my way without handouts and incentives, as I am a proud person,” said this indigenous person. This poll comes after Canadian Human Rights Commission (CHRC) Chief Commissioner Charlotte-Anne Malischewski said sorry in May for the unfair treatment of black staff members. READ MORE: Human Rights commissioner ‘sorry’ for discriminating against black workersThe Senate Human Rights Committee said the apology was not enough, as the absence of black executives within the CHRC undermined it. “The Canadian Human Rights Commission sincerely apologizes for any instances in which we fell short of our obligation, whether as an employer or service provider,” said Malischewski. The poll was conducted online with 500 indigenous Canadian adults during unknown dates. No margin of error was assigned to it.
