The COVID-19 pandemic has had a harder impact on British Columbians of colour, data released Wednesday by Statistics Canada reveals.
The Year In Review report laid bare pre-existing inequities within Canadian society and outlined the ways they have intensified between January 2020 and January 2021.
Deaths due to COVID-19 have been twice as high in neighbourhoods made up of at least 25 per cent visible minorities than to those with just one per cent.
In British Columbia, the mortality rate was 10 times higher in those areas. It amounted to nearly six deaths out of every 100,000 people, compared to less than one in mostly white areas.
Women died of COVID-19 at rates three-times higher in communities where 90 per cent or more of the population were racially diverse, the report stated.
As it stands, racialized Canadians – especially women in British Columbia – remain far more likely to succumb to the respiratory virus than others.
Visible minorities also continue to face higher levels of unemployment, financial difficulties and representation in low-wage jobs.
RELATED: Race-based data needed to make sound COVID vaccine, policy decisions, says B.C. prof
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