Racism, Prejudice and Discrimination in Canada: Impact on Health and Wellbeing

This study explores the impact of racism, prejudice and discrimination on the health and wellbeing of individuals in Canada. It discusses the association between racism and chronic health conditions, racial discrimination of Canadian Aboriginals, hate crimes against Muslims, and the worsening of racism in Canada.

Running head: SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY
Social Psychology
-Racism, Prejudice and Discrimination
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Contents
Introduction:...............................................................................................................................2
-General Findings...................................................................................................................2
-Relevance of the concept being investigated........................................................................2
-Thesis statement....................................................................................................................3
Main Body:.................................................................................................................................3
Association between racism and discrimination with chronic health conditions..................3
Racial Discrimination of Canadian Aboriginals causes health disparities.............................4
Racial Discrimination causes stress.......................................................................................5
Hate Crimes against Muslims in Canada increased by 253%................................................6
Racism in Canada is getting worse........................................................................................7
Edmonton Hotel aaccused of racial discrimination against 4 young men.............................8
Conclusion:................................................................................................................................9
References:...............................................................................................................................10

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Introduction:
-General Findings
Racism, prejudice and discrimination are a form of social psychology that is
developed around the notion of racial or social superiority that causes antagonistic behavior
towards individuals from other communities or races. In Canada, racist, prejudiced and
discriminatory behavior is still prevalent and studies show that such behaviors are directed
towards individuals belonging to the Canadian Aboriginal (First Nations) Tribes as well as
foreign immigrants. Such behavior has also caused an increase in the number of hate crimes
across the country with 1,409 criminal incidents being reported in 2016 showing a 3%
increase since the previous year. About 666 or 48% of this crime was caused due to hatred
towards a race or ethnicity. Reports shows that hate crimes against Muslims in Canada have
increased by 253% (159 cases) between 2012 and 2015 (Gaudet, 2018; Minsky, 2017). A poll
conducted on behalf of Global News on 1000 Canadians found that 25% of the respondents
have experienced racism, while 59% of respondents thought that Muslims and Arabs are most
likely victims of such behavior and 28% thought the Indigenous Canadians were also
subjected to such behavior (Abedi, 2017). Reports also show that race and ethnicity were the
biggest motivators of hate crimes in Canada followed by religion as of 2015 (Minsky, 2017).
This shows how racism is still a significant issue in the contemporary Canadian society.
-Relevance of the concept being investigated
Racism, prejudice and discrimination are still a significant social problem in Canada
that adversely impacts a large number of individuals in the country, fostering an increase in
hate crimes and violence against people based on the ideas of racial and cultural supremacy.
Studies have shown that racism, prejudice and discrimination against certain groups can
cause an adverse impact on their physical and mental health, lead to their social isolation and

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lower their socioeconomic status. Other studies show that such behavior can also increase the
risks of crimes as well as mental health problem such as addiction.
-Thesis statement
The aim of this study is to show that the problem of racism, prejudice and
discrimination are still relevant to the modern Canadian society.
Main Body:
Analysis of academic articles and media articles clearly shows that in Canada, several
individuals belonging to ethnic minorities, immigrant and indigenous communities face
racism, prejudice and discrimination on a regular basis and how it leads to adverse health
impacts. Discussed below are some of the key findings from the study:
Association between racism and discrimination with chronic health conditions
Siddiqi et al. (2017) studied the association between racism and discrimination with
the diagnosis of chronic diseases among the Canadian population to understand how racial
differences causes experiences of discrimination and how discrimination can be associated
with prevalence of chronic conditions among individuals and communities experiencing
racism and discrimination. Data from 2013 Canadian Community Health Survey was used
and the respondents were categorized by their racial profiles as Black, Asian, Aboriginal and
White and Williams Everyday Discrimination Scale was used to measure discrimination. The
chronic conditions identified in the study included hypertension, obesity, alcoholism,
smoking, sedentary behavior and poor health. The study showed that experiences of racism
and discriminatory behaviors were a significant determinant for the onset of chronic health
conditions and their risk factors. The authors also concluded from the findings that most of
the racial and discriminatory behaviors were experienced by individuals from Black and

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Aboriginal communities in Canada. This study clearly shows how the problem of racism and
discrimination is still relevant to the Canadian society which is affecting the health and
wellbeing of the people. Cockerham et al. (2017) suggested that ‘perceived discrimination’ is
a significant Social Determinant of health (SDoH) that influences the health and wellbeing of
people. The author pointed out that discrimination can increase stress among the people
experiencing it which adversely affects the resistance of the body to diseases causing
dysregulations of different biological systems in the body. It was also pointed out that
discrimination within healthcare organizations can reduce the health seeking behavior, reduce
the utilization of healthcare services, leads to poor communication between patient and
healthcare provider and reduces the quality of care as well as satisfaction levels of the
healthcare users. All these factors ultimately results in a higher prevalence of health problems
among individuals and communities experiencing racist, prejudiced or discriminatory
behavior against them.
Racial Discrimination of Canadian Aboriginals causes health disparities
Currie et al. (2015) studied the association between racial discrimination and
prejudice with health disparities that is seen between the Indigenous and Non Indigenous
Canadian communities. The authors used surveys on 372 Aboriginal adults in Canada and
their study showed that more than 80% of the Aboriginal adults have faced racial
discrimination on the previous year. The authors also found that the discrimination was risk
factors for mental health conditions such as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and prescription
drug problems. The study implied that the Non-Aboriginal (or Non Indigenous) Canadians
plays a significant role in the higher incidence of health conditions among the Aboriginal
community because of their discriminatory and racist behavior which adversely impacts the
health and wellbeing of the Indigenous people. It was therefore concluded by the authors that
by reducing the discriminatory behavior against the indigenous Canadians, it is possible to

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reduce the risks of PTSD and drug problems among them. This has been supported by
Dovidio et al. (2017) who also suggested that stigmatization, prejudice and discrimination are
social disadvantages that can cause health disparities. Studies on the health of Australian
Aboriginals also show supports the same idea due to a higher prevalence of health conditions
among the Australian Aboriginal communities. Shepherd et al. (2017) showed that racial
discrimination had detrimental impacts on the mental and physical health of indigenous
children in Australia and increased the risks of conditions such as behavioral problems,
emotional deregulation, sleeping problems, obesity and asthma. However, Reading (2015)
also pointed out that unhealthy lifestyle is also another major risk factor for several health
conditions prevalent among the Indigenous Canadian communities showing that the health
disparities are not only caused by racism and discrimination but also due to the unhealthy
lifestyles of the people of the communities.
Racial Discrimination causes stress
Spence et al. (2016) studied the impact of racial discrimination experienced by the
First Nations People (Aboriginal Canadians) on the perceptions of stress among them. The
authors collected data from 340 adult members of the Kettle and Stony Point First Nation
Community in Ontario, Canada. The results show that discrimination caused an increase in
stress while emotional resilience helped to compensate the adverse impact of the stress on the
people. The authors suggested that cultural and emotional resilience of the Indigenous people
can help them to overcome the adverse effects of racism and discrimination and by
developing strategies that can foster emotional and cultural resilience among the indigenous
Canadians can help to improve the health and wellbeing of the people. Many other studies
have also supported that factors such as racism, discrimination or prejudice can increase
stress among people who experience such behaviors (Lucas et al., 2016). According to case
and Hunter (2014) cultural racism faced by the Black Caribbean immigrants and Black

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American people in USA was a significant contributor of emotional stress and trauma
experienced by them. Similarly, Franklin (2016) also suggested that racism and
discrimination is also faced by college and university students that lead to racial micro
aggressions, racial battle fatigue, racial trauma and racism-related stress. Such stressors have
increased a sense of fear, frustration, anger and resentment and have also been associated
with low academic performance and persistence. However, the studies by Spence et al.
(2016) had certain limitations such as generalizability of the study (since only one Aboriginal
community was used) and the cross sectional study design which could not distinguish the
temporariness of the relations. Overall, the study till raises a significant concern regarding the
impacts of racism on the wellbeing of people.
Hate Crimes against Muslims in Canada increased by 253%
Minsky (2017) reported that the incidence of police reported violent hate crimes
against Muslim immigrants in Canada have increased by 253% between 2012 and 2015. This
shows a drastic increase in the incidence of racist and discriminatory behavior against
immigrants in Canada. The author pointed out that even though the overall number of racial
hate crimes has reduced, the number of crimes/incidents that were specifically targeted
against Muslim immigrants has more than tripled in four years, from 45 incidents in 2012 to
159 incidents in 2015. The author pointed out that approximately 1,362 hate crimes were
committed in 2015 of which 641 was motivated by race or ethnicity with the black
communities being the biggest targets (35%) of such crimes while religion motivated about
469 of those crimes. The authors suggested that differences in skin color, culture and religion
are the primary factors that influence the racist and discriminatory behavior, causing a
fractionalization of the society or community on such basis. However, Doebler (2016)
suggested that racism and discrimination is mainly caused due to a lack of proper education,
socio-economic deprivation and insecurity and not due to religion. According to the author,

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religious differences are not the cause of racist behavior since in many countries people from
diverse religious backgrounds can peacefully and harmoniously co exist without any
incidence of racism and discrimination, which points out that religion might not be the factor
causing the problem. The report by Minsky however contradicts such an opinion which
shows that the Jewish and Muslim communities are most commonly targeted for religious
hate crimes and black communities for racial hate crimes, thereby showing how cultural as
well as racial differences being the main causes of prejudice and discrimination. Hence, the
increase in the hate crimes against Muslims and black communities in Canada shows hoe
racism and discrimination have escalated to a serious level that is impacting the security and
safety of the people.
Racism in Canada is getting worse
Kong (2018) plainly pointed out that the problem of racism in Canada is only getting
worse, citing examples of several hate crimes against ethnic minority and immigrant groups
in Canada. The author suggested that the number of such crimes is on the rise causing
assaults on several individuals from such communities. It has been pointed that some
Canadian people, under the context of ‘citizen’s arrest’ have tried to inflict harassment and
even injuries on the immigrants, assuming the responsibility of confirming the legality of the
immigrants and threatening them to be handed over to the police. The general population has
also started to voice their hatred towards immigrants more openly with several stories
showing that the while people calling the police on black people. Moreover the scale of
violence against the immigrants has also escalated over the years as previously the incidents
mostly involved racist comments, jokes or insults which now have escalated to violent crimes
ending up with severe injuries and fatalities. The fact that racism in Canada has become
worse over the years has also been supported by other reports that show how racism has
permeated into the healthcare as well as education. Gunn and Hall (2018) suggested that

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structural racism is evident throughout the healthcare system of Canada, as well as in the
policies and practices within the public health system which is the cause of health disparities
between the indigenous and non indigenous Canadians. According to the authors, the racism
and discrimination leads to stress, denial of access to resources, internalization of stigma and
tense social interactions. This shows how the problem of racism and discrimination is
prevalent in the Canadian society. It has also been pointed out that healthcare providers often
have discriminatory or prejudiced opinions especially against the Indigenous Canadians.
Their views have largely been justified by studies that show higher prevalence of mental
health issues such as addiction as a result of which they are quick to assume that any physical
or mental health problem reported by an Indigenous Canadian is because of addiction.
Moreover, many individuals from the indigenous Canadian communities have reported of
mistreatments and unusual delays in healthcare delivery for them, which they strongly
believe was because of their ethnicities.
Edmonton Hotel accused of racial discrimination against 4 young men
A recent report by CBC news shows that Edmonton Hotel denied access to a
swimming pool to four young people on racial grounds. Even though the individuals were
‘world health’ members, they were denied access to the pool stating that the members were
no longer allowed to access the pool. However the hotel did allow few other ‘white’ members
of world health to the pool a few hours earlier, showing that the explanation given by the
hotel management was a complete faux pas. This report shows how the problem of racism
have also permeated even to the hospitality industry whose sole purpose is to be ‘hospitable’
to people. Allowing a white individual from Caucasian background to access the pool, while
barring a ‘non white’ individual of Caribbean background clearly showed the discrimination
based on skin color that exists in Canada. According to the Federation of Black Canadians,
anti black racism is a significant problem in the judicial, healthcare, educational, labor and

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cultural institutions in Canada as well as in media (fbcfcn.ca, 2018). Reports by Abedi (2017)
and Minsky (2017) on Global news also supports such a point that shows a high number of
hate crimes committed against Black Canadians. This shows that racial profiling on skin
color is a common practice in Canada and it impacts all ‘non-white’ individuals, especially
the Black Canadians. According to Murphy (2018), this racist behavior can be associated
with a sense of ‘white privilege’ that is exhibited by several individuals from the white
Canadian communities.
Conclusion:
From the discussion above it can be concluded that the problem of racism,
discrimination and prejudice is still a significant social problem in Canada which is impacting
the health and wellbeing of individuals belonging to ethnic minority, immigrant and
indigenous backgrounds. Such behaviors have seemingly permeated within the various facets
of the Canadian society, such as healthcare, education and even hospitality as a result of
which people from these communities are often rebuked, discriminated or prejudiced due to
the cultural, ethnic or even religious differences. Such behaviors have resulted in significant
stress and have increased the incidence of various health concerns, especially for chronic
health conditions leading to health discrepancies. Moreover, there has been an increase in the
incidence of hate crimes motivated by racial differences that show the problem of racism and
discrimination have only gotten worse over the years. Reports of hotels denying access to
their facilities to guests of different skin color shows how much the problem has seeped into
the Canadian culture. These aspects make it quite clear that the problems of racism,
discrimination and prejudice should be taken into account if the health and wellbeing of the
people are to be improved.

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References:
Abedi, M. (2017). Canada is 150 and still needs to face its racism problem: advocates.
Retrieved from https://globalnews.ca/news/3556823/racism-in-canada/
Case, A. D., & Hunter, C. D. (2014). Cultural racism–related stress in Black Caribbean
immigrants: Examining the predictive roles of length of residence and racial identity.
Journal of Black Psychology, 40(5), 410-423.
Cockerham, W. C., Hamby, B. W., & Oates, G. R. (2017). The social determinants of chronic
disease.
Currie, C., Wild, T. C., Schopflocher, D., & Laing, L. (2015). Racial discrimination, post-
traumatic stress and prescription drug problems among Aboriginal Canadians.
Canadian Journal of Public Health/Revue Canadienne de Santé Publique, 106(6),
e382-e387.
Doebler, S. (2016). The relationship between religion and racism: the evidence. British
Politics and Policy at LSE.
Dovidio, J. F., Penner, L. A., Calabrese, S. K., & Pearl, R. L. (2017). 2 Physical Health
Disparities and Stigma: Race, Sexual Orientation, and Body Weight. The Oxford
Handbook of Stigma, Discrimination, and Health, 29.
fbcfcn.ca. (2018). Reduce Racism. Retrieved from http://fbcfcn.ca/opportunities/reduce-
racism/
Franklin, J. (2016). Racial microaggressions, racial battle fatigue, and racism-related stress in
higher education. Journal of Student Affairs at New York University, 12, 44.

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Gaudet, M. (2018). Police-reported hate crime in Canada, 2016. Retrieved from
https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/85-002-x/2018001/article/54915-eng.htm
Gunn, B., & Hall, R. (2018). Ignored to Death: Systemic Racism in the Canadian Healthcare
System. Retrieved from
https://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Issues/IPeoples/EMRIP/Health/UniversityManitob
a.pdf
Kong, S. (2018). "If It Feels Like Racism In Canada Is Getting Worse, That's Because It Is."
Retrieved from https://www.flare.com/news/racism-in-canada/
Lucas, T., Lumley, M. A., Flack, J. M., Wegner, R., Pierce, J., & Goetz, S. (2016). A
preliminary experimental examination of worldview verification, perceived racism,
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Minsky, A. (2017). Hate crimes against Muslims in Canada increase 253% over four years.
Retrieved from https://globalnews.ca/news/3523535/hate-crimes-canada-muslim/
Murphy, R. (2018). The contemptible concept of ‘white privilege’ is just ugly, angry racism.
Retrieved from https://nationalpost.com/opinion/rex-murphy-the-contemptible-
concept-of-white-privilege-is-simply-racism-ugly-and-angry
Reading, J. (2015). Confronting the growing crisis of cardiovascular disease and heart health
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Shepherd, C. C., Li, J., Cooper, M. N., Hopkins, K. D., & Farrant, B. M. (2017). The impact
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16(1), 116.

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Siddiqi, A., Shahidi, F. V., Ramraj, C., & Williams, D. R. (2017). Associations between race,
discrimination and risk for chronic disease in a population-based sample from
Canada. Social Science & Medicine, 194, 135-141.
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