Research Reports

Published: February 2007

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This report contains preliminary findings from a much larger study conducted by Catalyst Canada and the Diversity Institute in Management and Technology at Ryerson Institute in Toronto, Ontario. The goal of this research is to capture the experiences and perceptions of visible minority managers, professionals, and executives employed by large Canadian companies and firms. The early findings presented here focus on the recognition of workers’ foreign educational credentials and career satisfaction among visible minority workers.

Impetus: By 2017, visible minorities are expected to represent one in five people in Canada’s available workforce.  In major cities across the country, the visible minority representation in the labour force will be closer to one in two. Because of demographic shifts, visible minorities will comprise all net growth in the labour force by 2011 and all net growth in population by 2031.

While the labour market experiences of unemployed and under-employed immigrants have been well documented, much less is known about the experiences of visible minority professionals, managers, and executives. This is especially true when it comes to those employed in large Canadian businesses where skills and opportunity come together most directly.   The purpose of our current study is to fill this gap. Understanding the career development and advancement of visible minority managers, professionals, and executives in Canada is vital in the face of an increasingly diverse labour market and an aging workforce.

Methodology: These findings are based on a survey fielded in Fall 2006 and based on the responses of more than 6,000 visible minority and white/Caucasian professionals, managers, and executives in Canadian corporations and professional service firms.  Our full report, to be released in Summer 2007, will include the responses of almost 20,000 managers, professionals, and executives.

Findings: Our early findings provide new information on an important and timely topic in Canada:  the recognition of foreign educational credentials. We already know, through the research of others, that a lack of recognition of foreign educational credentials is related to lower employment rates and lower incomes for immigrants.

Catalyst-Ryerson research suggests that a lack of recognition of foreign educational credentials also has implications for employees’ career satisfaction and their interest in exploring opportunities outside Canada.  We also noted clear differences between the perceptions of visible minority and white/Caucasian respondents.

• Visible minority managers, professionals, and executives experienced lower rates of career satisfaction than white/Caucasian respondents.
• A sizeable percentage of visible minority respondents with foreign educational credentials working for large employers felt their organizations did not recognize these educational credentials as being “on par” with equivalent Canadian degrees, diplomas, and certificates.
• Visible minority respondents with foreign education credentials that were not recognized as “on par” were the least satisfied with their careers and were more likely to plan to explore career opportunities outside Canada than were visible minority respondents without foreign educational credentials, as well as white/Caucasian respondents regardless of where the received their educational credentials.

If our full analysis confirms that a key segment of the leadership cadre of Canada’s business community feels its skills and training are not being fully utilized, the implications for Canada’s competitiveness, growth, and productivity could be significant. 

• Our preliminary findings serve as a signal to the business community that real opportunities exist to further leverage the talents of the workforce.

Catalyst-Ryerson will release a full report in Summer 2007 in order to provide a more complete picture of the perceptions and experiences of visible minority managers, professionals, and executives in the Canadian workforce.  The full report will explore workplace perceptions and experiences, and career development and advancement strategies of visible minority and white/Caucasian individuals, as well as organizational practices.

Lead Sponsors: RBC Financial Group

Participating Sponsors: Deloitte & Touche, IBM Canada

Supporting Sponsors: Ontario Ministry of Citizenship and Immigration