Earnings Gaps for Canadian-Born Visible Minorities in the Public and Private Sectors

Abstract

This study examines earnings gaps between Canadian-born visible minorities and Whites in the public and private sectors. Based on the 2006 census data, this study shows that visible minorities and Whites receive similar pay for similar jobs in the public sector. By contrast, in the private sector visible minority men earn significantly less than observationally comparable Whites. Among large visible minority groups, Black men face a large earnings gap in the private sector while Black women face a large gap in both the public and private sectors. For Chinese and South Asians, small gaps in adjusted earnings exist only among men in the private sector.