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Home | How Do Minorities Fare in Corporate Canada?
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How Do Minorities Fare in Corporate Canada?
Rogers OMNI Television and Canadian Business magazine reveal
first-ever look at 50 great workplaces for visible minorities
Toronto, March 29, 2004 – Canadian Business magazine, in partnership with Rogers OMNI Television, today released the first list of top workplaces for visible minorities. There are approximately four million visible minorities in Canada, and they are important players in the workforce. While it may be expected that many companies are embracing diversity, the reasons for doing so surprise.
Diversity in the workplace remains a touchy issue. When Canadian Business began to contact several dozen of this country's top corporations to see if they would provide data to do a ranking, many claimed not to track it, or were unwilling to share what they had. Despite a compelling—and mounting—business case for workplace diversity, there are still those who equate it with quotas, affirmative action, intrusive legislation, red tape and hiring people based on race rather than merit.
But according to the experts Canadian Business spoke to, developing a diverse workforce simply makes bottom-line sense. "Smart Canadian companies are embracing diversity for the sake of survival," says Scott Steele, Executive Editor. "Diversity gives you a competitive edge by reflecting the needs of your customer base. If you understand the needs of who you're selling to, you're better suited to offering them—and matching them up with—the right product."
"Businesses are realizing that if they don't diversify, their competition will."
As part of the on-going coverage for this report, OMNI Television will broadcast an eleven-week series of special reports on diversity in the workplace beginning March 29th. Each of OMNI's five daily newscasts (Portuguese, Italian, Mandarin, Cantonese and South Asian editions) will examine and rank the best companies for minorities in Canada. This special series will take a closer look at the recent ranking of Canadian businesses, including interviews with experts from both the private and public sector and reaction from Toronto's various ethnocultural communities.
"Each year more people from around the world settle in Canada, stressing the importance that the issue of diversity in the business environment be addressed at all levels," comments Renato Zane, Vice President of News for Rogers Media Television. "This combined series promises to be an impactful and informative look at a uniquely Canadian market advantage."
Thirteen of the greatest:
Thousands of bits of data were crunched to deliver a revealing, first-of-its-kind report card on the state of visible minorities in corporate Canada. Here are the 13 top-scoring companies:
- Call-Net Enterprises Inc. (Sprint Canada)
- Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce
- TD Bank Financial Group
- Bank of Nova Scotia
- Bank of Montreal
- HSBC Bank of Canada
- Tele-Mobile Co. and TM Mobile Inc. (Telus Mobility)
- Canadian Western Bank
- Citizens Bank of Canada
- Westcoast Energy Inc. (now Duke Energy Gas Transmission Canada)
- Intesa Bank Canada
- EGL Eagle Global Logistics
- ING Bank of Canada
The big picture:
- Typically better educated than other Canadians, according to the Toronto-based Canadian Race Relations Foundation, visible minorities make up almost 13% of labour-market availability.
- In addition to the four million visible minorities in Canada, 1.3 million claim aboriginal ancestry. Together, the population of these two groups exceeds that of British Columbia and Manitoba combined.
- Another 220,000 or so newcomers arrive to Canada each year. Of those, 70% to 80% are visible minorities.
The methodology:
Because data were not available—or were not made available—for a ranking, Canadian Business took a different tack: the magazine turned to companies that, because they are federally regulated, are obliged to report workplace data under the Employment Equity Act. Using a panel of four experts, numbers were crunched and points assigned in such categories as percentage of employees that were visible minorities, percentage of senior managers that were visible minorities, percentage of employees earning over $100K that were visible minorities and percentage hired that were visible minorities. Each company was then assigned a final score.
For a detailed explanation of the methodology, go to www.canadianbusiness.com.
The first-ever "Why diversity pays" issue of Canadian Business magazine hits newsstands today. It also features profiles of employees who are making a difference, a list of some of Canada's most inclusive workplaces for aboriginals, a feature on employer marketing to visual minorities and a feature on why many Muslim Canadians say prejudice is affecting their role in the workplace.
About Rogers OMNI Television
Rogers OMNI Television, consisting of diversity television stations OMNI.1 (CFMT) and OMNI.2, is a free over-the-air system owned by Rogers Communications under its Rogers Media: Television division. Combined, the OMNI stations have significantly expanded the variety of languages, number of hours and choice of programming being offered for ethnocultural communities throughout the province of Ontario, providing programming in more than 40 languages to ethnocultural groups encompassing close to 50 communities. With the launch of OMNI.2 in September 2002, ethnic programming on OMNI.1 (CFMT) now principally serves the local European, Latino and Caribbean communities, while OMNI.2's programming reflects the local Pan Asian and African population.
About Canadian Business
Founded in 1928, Canadian Business is the longest-serving, best-selling and most trusted business publication in Canada. Canadian Business stands alone as the business magazine in Canada with 100% paid circulation. With a readership of more that 1.1 million, the magazine is published every second Monday except in January, July and August when monthly issues are published. Special annual issues of Canadian Business include the Investor 500, the MBA Guide, the Rich 100 and the Best and Worst Boards. Visit www.canadianbusiness.com.
Rogers Media Inc., a division of Rogers Communications Inc., (TSX: RCI.A and RCI.B; NYSE: RG) operates Rogers Broadcasting and Rogers Publishing. Rogers Broadcasting has 43 AM and FM radio stations across Canada. Television properties include Toronto multicultural television broadcasters OMNI.1 (CFMT) and OMNI.2; televised and electronic shopping service, The Shopping Channel; regional sports channel, Rogers Sportsnet, and the management of three digital television services. Rogers Publishing produces many well-known consumer magazines such as Maclean's, Chatelaine, Flare, L'actualité and Canadian Business, and is the leading publisher of a number of trade publications. All media properties are integrated with their own popular web sites.
For more information, pick up the March 29th issue of Canadian Business or visit the Minority Report section on OMNITV.ca.
