Wage opportunities for visible minorities in Canada

The wage opportunities afforded different racial groups vary considerably. We present a new analysis of wage differentials for different visible minor ity groups in Canada which also accounts for immigration background, using the first wave of the Survey of Labour and Income Dynamics. With the exception of Black men, we find no statistically significant wage disadvantage for visible minorities who are native born. It is primarily am ong immigrants that wage differentials for visible minority membership exis t. Our results suggest that policies to achieve a colour-blind Canadian lab our market may have to focus more on immigrant assistance and less on tradi tional employment equity legislation.