COVID-19: A case for the collection of race data in Canada and abroad

• Main Authors: Emily Thompson, Rojiemiahd Edjoc, Nicole Atchessi, Megan Striha, Imran Gabrani-Juma, Thomas Dawson
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Public Health Agency of Canada 2021-07-01
• Series: Canada Communicable Disease Report
• Subjects: covid-19; coronavirus; race; racialized population; visible minority; infectious disease
• Online Access: https://www.canada.ca/content/dam/phac-aspc/documents/services/reports-publications/canada-communicable-disease-report-ccdr/monthly-issue/2021-47/issue-7-8-july-august-2021/ccdrv47i78a02-eng.pdf

Racialized populations have consistently been shown to have poorer health outcomes worldwide. This pattern has become even more prominent in the wake of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. In countries where race disaggregated data are routinely collected, such as the United States and the United Kingdom, preliminary reports have identified that racialized populations are at a heightened risk of COVID-19 infection and mortality. Similar patterns are emerging in Canada but rely on proxy measures such as neighbourhood diversity to account for race, in the absence of person-level data. It follows that the collection of race disaggregated data in Canada is a crucial element in identifying individuals at risk of poorer COVID-19 outcomes and developing targeted public health interventions to mitigate risk among Canada’s racialized populations. Given this continuing gap, advocating for timely access to this data is of great importance owing to the challenges that the COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted amongst racialized populations in Canada and worldwide.