Black History Month 2024... by the numbers

Sociodemographic diversity

In 2021, Canada's Black population reached 1.5 million, accounting for 4.3% of the total population and 16.1% of the racialized population. ^{Footnote 1}^{Footnote 2}
The Black population continues to grow and is expected to reach more than 3.0 million by 2041, according to population projections from Statistics Canada. ^{Footnote 3}
In 2021, over 40.9% of the Black population was Canadian-born—this includes individuals with multi-generational Canadian roots as well as children of immigrants. ^{Footnote 4}
Among the Black population in Canada that was born outside of the country, 55.3% was born in Africa—Nigeria (12 %), Ethiopia (4.7%), and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (4.1%) were the leading places of birth.
Additionally, 35.6% of the Black population born outside Canada was born in the Caribbean and Bermuda, primarily in Jamaica (14.9%) and Haiti (12.1%). ^{Footnote 5}
The Black population in Canada identified with more than 300 ethnic or cultural origins in the 2021 Census. ^{Footnote 6}
Diverse religious affiliations were reported by the Black population in 2021—25.9% reported being Christian without further indication of a specific denomination, 18.1% Catholicism, 11.9% Islam, 8.0% Pentecostalism, and 18.0% indicated they had no religious affiliation. ^{Footnote 7}
Over the 2015-to-2018 period, 2.1% of the Black population aged 15 years and older reported being lesbian, gay, or bisexual (LGB), with 0.6% identifying as gay or lesbian. ^{Footnote 8}
Among Canadians aged 15 years and older with a disability, 2.2% are members of the Black population.^{Footnote 9} In 2017, this represented about 136,600 Black individuals with disabilities, accounting for 15.8% of the Black population in this age group. ^{Footnote 10}

Infosheet

Educational attainment

In 2021, about one-third (32.4%) of the Black population aged 25 to 64 held a bachelor's degree or higher, which is comparable to the total 25 to 64 working-age population (32.9%). ^{Footnote 11}
Nearly one-third of Black men (31.9%) and Black women (32.8%) held a bachelor's degree or higher, a significant increase from 2016 when 27.3% of Black men and 26.6% of Black women had achieved this level of education. ^{Footnote 12}
Black women are increasingly obtaining a higher education. For example, within the Black graduate population, women represented 64% of 2014 to 2017 graduates with a bachelor's degree or higher. ^{Footnote 13}
Educational attainment among the Canadian-born Black population aged 25 to 54 varies significantly by the place of birth of their parents. Close to half (46.4%) of the Canadian-born children of African immigrants and over one-fourth (27.4%) of the Canadian-born children of Caribbean immigrants obtained a bachelor's degree or higher. In contrast, a smaller proportion (15.9%) of the third generation or more Black population achieved the same level of education. ^{Footnote 14}

Labour market participation and business ownership

Over the three months leading to the end of December 2023, the employment rate^{Footnote 15} of the Black population aged 25 to 54 was 78.9%, a slight decrease from December 2022 (80.6%). ^{Footnote 16}
Among those aged 25 to 54, Black men (81.4%) and Black women (76.4%) had lower employment rates than the averages for all men and all women (87.7% and 81.8%, respectively) in December 2023 (three-month moving averages, not seasonally adjusted). ^{Footnote 17}
The unemployment rate^{Footnote 18} of core-aged Black workers (25 to 54) rose to 8.5% in December 2023 from 6.9% in December 2022.
Core-aged Black men had a higher unemployment rate (9.2%) than core-aged Black women 7.8%. These rates were significantly higher compared to the core-aged total population (4.8% and 4.2%, respectively).^{Footnote 19}
The Canadian-born Black population worked in lower-level occupations relative to their education and were less likely to have full-time, full-year work, compared to the non-racialized third-generation or more population.^{Footnote 20}
In 2021, 16% of Black workers holding a bachelor's degree or higher from a Canadian institution worked in occupations that require a high school diploma or less. This rate is notably higher than the average for the Canadian-educated population (11.1%). ^{Footnote 21}
The top occupational groups of the Black population in 2021 were sales and service occupations (28.6%), business, finance, and administration occupations (15.5%), trades, transport, and equipment operators, and related occupations (14.9%) and health occupations (12.9%). ^{Footnote 22}
In 2018, there were approximately 66,880 Black business owners in Canada, constituting 2.1% of all business owners. ^{Footnote 23}
From 2005 to 2018, the share of Black people among both incorporated and unincorporated business owners (i.e., those commonly referred to as self-employed workers) has increased for both women and men, signalling a growing trend in Black business ownership in Canada. ^{Footnote 24}
A majority of Black business owners were men (70.4%) and immigrants (61.4%). ^{Footnote 25}

Income and inequality

In 2020, the median income of Black individuals with a bachelor's degree or higher was $50,000, compared to $70,000 for the non-racialized population.^{Footnote 26}
Black men, across different age groups and parents' region of birth, earned less than their non-racialized counterparts—the largest earnings gap was among non-racialized men and third-generation plus Black men (-$16,300) and the smallest was among Black men born to African immigrants and non-racialized men (-$8,500).^{Footnote 27}
Among women, Black Canadians third generations or more (-$9,500) and children of Caribbean immigrants (-$1,300) earn less than non-racialized third-generation or more women, while children of African immigrants earn more (+$3,100).^{Footnote 28}
Within the Black population, 15.0% (or 232,010 individuals) were living in low-income conditions^{Footnote 29} (LIM-AT)^{Footnote 30}. This is a higher percentage compared to the non-racialized population (10.3%). ^{Footnote 31}
Immigrants who were part of the Black population were slightly more likely to live in low-income conditions (16.3%), followed by the third generation or more (15.8%), and the second-generation (12.4%). ^{Footnote 32}
While poverty rates among racialized groups generally decrease from one generation to the next, the Black population consistently experiences higher poverty rates than the non-racialized population across all generations. Among the Black population who belongs to the third generation or more, the poverty rate (12.1%) is more than double of that of their counterparts who were part of the non-racialized population (6%). ^{Footnote 33}

Future outlook

Despite the persistent challenges the Black population encounters (e.g., in the labour market, with income inequality, education disparities, etc.), the Black population in Canada demonstrates resilience and a continuous upward trend in education and employment. ^{Footnote 34}
In 2021-22, nearly three-quarters (72.5%) of the Black population reported having a hopeful view of the future compared to 64.1% of the total population. ^{Footnote 35}
In 2023, Black business owners^{Footnote 36} (22.3%) were the most likely to report a very optimistic future outlook over the next 12 month in comparison to all business owners (18.9%) operating in the private sector. ^{Footnote 37}

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Black History Month 2024... by the numbers

Sociodemographic diversity

Infosheet

Educational attainment

Labour market participation and business ownership

Income and inequality

Future outlook

Sources