Racism, discrimination, and Ontario schools: Where is the equity?

Our culture is profoundly affected by the racism that is entrenched in established and systemic practices, and is all too real for many young people and their families (Canadian Human Rights Commission, 2018, 2023; Gajaria et al., 2021); Canadian Human Rights Commission, 2018). In Canada in 2024, nearly half (45%) of racialized Canadians, some as young as 15 years old, shared that they had faced racism and discrimination in the previous 5 years. At the same time, 8 in 10 (81%) of racialized Canadians reported experiencing discrimination more than once in the past five years. Equally chilling is the fact that racialized Canadians under the age of 45 were the most likely to experience discrimination, as compared to those older than 45 years. 

In her recent study unpacking 2024 statistics from Statistics Canada on discrimination (in Canada), Maire Sinha (Sinha, 2025) discusses the impacts of discrimination on racialized Canadians from the perspective of age, type of inequity, frequency, and socio-economic status (SES). She concludes that discrimination in Canada poses significant barriers to the well-being of racialized Canadians. Discrimination limits and curtails educational opportunity, which affects access to employment and stable income. 

One of the most challenging aspects of understanding racism means understanding how racism “operates” in a culture that affords unacknowledged privilege (power), to those with white skin. As long as privilege is invisible, it is not possible to see or engage with the dimensions of what privilege is, to understand its consequences (McIntosh, 2020). Remaining privileged depends on remaining unaware.

Those who benefit the most from white privilege are those who depend on it to attribute value and authority to people who look like themselves; and to claim value and authority for themselves, their ideas and realities. Nowhere in Canadian society is this more consequential than in educational settings, where access to programs and resources is (severely) limited for too many students. 

Here is what privilege looks like. Black students in Southern Ontario are twice as likely as white students to be suspended and four times as likely to be expelled. Black students are underrepresented in gifted programs and overrepresented in some special education categories in the TDSB, e.g., autism, mild intellectual disability, developmental disability, and behaviour (Toronto District School Board, 2012; Ontario Human Rights Commission, 2003). Indigenous students in Ontario elementary schools face suspension rates nearly five times the provincial average (Chiefs of Ontario, 2023).

When we ignore the conditions that continue the charade of equity in schools, and act (at times, with wilful blindness) as if privilege didn’t exist, we perpetuate a status quo that undermines potential and limits futures. So, to "fix" declining EQAO test scores, we need to "fix" equity. Sources cited below. 

References

Canadian Human Rights Commission. (2018). Annual report 2017-2018. https://www.chrc-ccdp.gc.ca/resources/publications/anti-racism-action-plan-progress-report

Canadian Human Rights Commission. (2023). Discussion paper on systemic racism and discrimination. https://www.chrc-ccdp.gc.ca/resources/publications/discussion-paper-systemic-racism

​Gajaria, A., et al. (2021). What's race got to do with it? A proposed framework to understand the current state of systemic racism in Canada. Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, 66(5), 411–414. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8056965/

McIntosh, P. (2020). Reflecting on white privilege and its continuing relevance. Overland Literary Journal. https://overland.org.au/2020/06/on-white-privilege-white-priority-and-white-supremacy/

Ontario Human Rights Commission. (2003). The Ontario Safe Schools Act: School discipline and discrimination. https://www3.ohrc.on.ca/en/ontario-safe-schools-act-school-discipline-and-discrimination/vii-disproportionate-impact-ontario

Sinha, M. (2025). Softening the blow of discrimination: The role of social connections in mitigating the harms associated with racism and discrimination. Insights on Canadian Society. Statistics Canada. https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/75-006-x/2025001/article/00009-eng.htm

Statistics Canada. (2024, May 16). Half of racialized people have experienced discrimination or unfair treatment in the past five years. The Daily. https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/daily-quotidien/240516/dq240516b-eng.htm

Toronto District School Board. (2012). Suspension rates by students’ demographic and family background characteristics. https://www.tdsb.on.ca/Portals/0/AboutUs/Research/CaringSafeSchoolsCensus201112.pdf

Toronto District School Board. (n.d.). Special education fact sheet #2: An intersectional view of TDSB students with special education needs. https://www.tdsb.on.ca/Learning-Equity-and-Well-Being/Special-Education-and-Inclusion/Special-Education-and-Inclusion-in-the-TDSB