Canada Must Close Gaps Between Anti-Racism Promises and Daily Reality, UN Expert Says

Canada has established substantial legal protections for equality and non-discrimination, supported by initiatives such as Canada’s Anti-Racism Strategy 2024–2028.

Canada's anti-racism commitments must deliver changes that people can feel in their daily lives, UN expert Ashwini K.P. said after an official visit to the country. In a statement issued following the visit, the Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism recognised Canada's legal protections and policy efforts, but warned that racial inequalities continue to expose gaps between government commitments and the experiences of racialised communities.

Her assessment calls for stronger action against systemic racism and overlapping forms of discrimination, much of which she described as rooted in complex colonial histories. The central question is whether existing protections are making housing, work, healthcare, education and public life more equal for the people who face exclusion.

Strong Legal Protections Need Effective Implementation

Canada has established substantial legal protections for equality and non-discrimination, supported by initiatives such as Canada's Anti-Racism Strategy 2024–2028. The expert also recognised efforts to improve the collection of data broken down by race and ethnicity, which can help make inequalities more visible.

The existence of these policies does not settle the question of their effectiveness. Ashwini K.P. reported persistent concerns about implementation and whether anti-racism measures are producing meaningful improvements for communities across the country.

She stressed that progress must be assessed through people's experiences, placing the everyday realities of racialised communities at the centre of any evaluation of Canada's response.

Communities Describe Persistent Racism and Exclusion

During her visit, the Special Rapporteur heard accounts of hatred, discrimination and systemic racism from diverse communities. These experiences pointed to a continuing distance between the protections set out in policy and the treatment people encounter in practice.

Her concerns covered racism affecting Africans and people of African descent, Indigenous Peoples, caste-affected communities, Jews, Muslims, people of Arab descent, Palestinians, Asians and people of Asian descent. She also drew attention to new manifestations of racial discrimination and their effects on these groups.

The expert stressed that people can experience several forms of discrimination at once, creating overlapping barriers that deepen exclusion within institutions and society. Addressing racism therefore requires attention to the different ways communities experience it, including the combined effects of those barriers.

Discrimination Reaches Essential Services and Everyday Life

The concerns identified during the visit included hate speech, hate crimes, racial profiling and the criminalisation of racialised communities. The Special Rapporteur also highlighted systemic discrimination in housing, decent work, healthcare and education.

These are areas that shape people's security, opportunities and access to support throughout their lives, making effective protection from discrimination essential to equality in practice.

Her assessment places these experiences within Canada's complex colonial histories, calling for a response that addresses institutional and structural exclusion alongside individual acts of racism. Stronger implementation matters because legal rights offer limited reassurance when people continue to encounter discriminatory treatment in the services and systems they depend on.

Economic Uncertainty Makes Stronger Action Urgent

Canada faces significant economic uncertainty, growing political and social polarisation, and strains on its social fabric, the expert said. She described this as a critical moment for the country to reaffirm its democratic and human rights values.

Her call was for stronger efforts to close gaps in the implementation of key anti-racism standards and ensure full compliance with international human rights frameworks.

The measure of success, in her assessment, is whether people facing racism experience meaningful change. Canada's existing commitments provide a basis for action, but their value depends on how consistently they protect communities from discrimination and exclusion.