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RUEHNY/AMEMBASSY OSLO 0019

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 TORONTO 000040 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV SOCI SMIG SCUL CVIS CA
SUBJECT: TORONTO: IS JUST BEING DIVERSE GOOD ENOUGH? 
 
¶1. (U) Summary: Toronto proudly proclaims its status as one of the 
most diverse cities in the world, with some 47% of the population in 
the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) having been born abroad and over 150 
languages spoken daily.  Comparatively few minorities are seen in 
visible leadership roles, however, creating what can be called a 
"diversity deficit."  In response, public agencies and private 
groups are creating educational and mentorship programs which aim to 
significantly increase the number of visible minorities among the 
city's leadership.  A number of socio-economic challenges must be 
addressed first, however, if civic engagement among minorities is to 
be increased and potential alienation reduced.  End Summary. 
 
------------------------- 
A WIDE SPECTRUM OF COLORS 
------------------------- 
 
¶2. (U) According to the Ontario government, each year the Province 
receives some 125,000 new immigrants, more than half of Canada's 
total.  Toronto itself is home to a large number of the world's 
cultural and ethnic groups, with more than 150 languages and 
dialects spoken in the city.  The trend toward diversity has existed 
since the late 1980s and in fact, was strong enough to spawn an 
urban myth that the United Nations had declared Toronto to be the 
world's most diverse city. 
 
¶3. (U) According to Statistics Canada, more than two-thirds (68.5%) 
of new immigrants to the GTA were born in Asia and the Middle East, 
with top source countries including China, the Philippines, India, 
Sri Lanka, and Pakistan, in that order.  Four of those five 
countries (all but Sri Lanka) also are among the top five 
nationalities we see in our nonimmigrant visa operation.  At the 
same time there is significant immigration from Europe, Central and 
South America, and the Caribbean.  Because of the GTA's rapid 
economic expansion and changing demographics in the labor force 
(about 10% of Canadian-born workers are in the pre-retirement age 
bracket, ages 55 to 64) the province has aggressively sought to 
attract new immigrants for many years. 
 
---------------- 
PALE AT THE TOP 
---------------- 
 
¶4. (U) Despite Toronto's status as the most diverse city in Canada, 
there is a clear dearth of visible minorities in leadership 
positions.  (As defined by the Canadian Employment Equity Act, the 
term 'visible minority' applies to anyone who is non-Caucasian in 
race or non-white in color.  Under the Act, Canada's aboriginals are 
not considered to be members of visible minority groups.).  Research 
conducted by the Toronto City Summit Alliance, a network of 
businesses and city leaders, showed that at present 56% of corporate 
boards in Toronto have no members belonging to a visible minority, 
and only four of the 44 Toronto city councillors and fewer than 2% 
of public-sector management positions (such as municipal managers) 
are held by visible minorities.  There are similarly low ratios for 
judges and high-school teachers, 4% and 5% respectively.  Moreover, 
out of the 106 elected federal Members of Parliament representing 
Ontario, only seven appear to be members of visible minority groups, 
further highlighting the continuing disproportionately low 
representation of minorities.  In fact, this represents a drop from 
the 2006 election total when nine visible minority MPs were elected 
from Ontario. 
 
¶5. We have noticed the same pattern in corporate or law firm 
sponsored meetings and "power lunches" made up of the local economic 
elite.  In one such meeting we attended, of 37 attendees, 35 were 
white males.  The other two were a male Asian, and the assistant to 
a presenter who was a female Hispanic.  Occasional questions we have 
asked local counterparts about the perceived difference between the 
diverse population and the "undiverse" elite receive responses that 
some would consider predictable.  Minorities feel validated that a 
third party has noticed the disparity and strongly agree that it 
exists, while non-minority elites either have not thought much about 
the issue or for the most part seem comfortable with the status 
quo. 
 
¶6. (U) In response to the diversity disconnect, DiverseCity on Board 
- a joint public-private initiative launched three years ago - aims 
to match 1,000 candidates from local ethnic enclaves with governance 
positions in agencies, boards, commissions, and non-profit 
organizations across the GTA by the end of 2010.  The initiative 
promotes broader civic engagement and participation in political 
life.  The group's goal, prompted by Toronto regional leaders during 
the 2007 Toronto City Summit, is to have at least 500 visible 
minority individuals join public-sector boards, more than double the 
current 220. 
 
¶7. (U) Public agencies are also creating their own initiatives to 
diversify their governing bodies.  At the start of 2009, Toronto 
Children's Aid Society (CAS), a non-profit funded by the Ontario 
government, began a recruitment campaign to add more minorities to 
its board of directors.  Although 67% of the families CAS serves are 
visible minorities, its governing board currently has only one 
 
TORONTO 00000040  002 OF 002 
 
 
minority member out of 19.  Ironically, although CAS is striving to 
address the scarcity of minorities on its board, the agency's 
requirements for board applicants include previous experience on 
other corporate boards. 
 
--------------------------------------------- ---------- 
USING ALL THE COLORS:  A STEP TOWARDS CIVIC ENGAGEMENT 
--------------------------------------------- ---------- 
 
¶8. (U) The problem of minority under-representation will be 
difficult to solve until the underlying challenges to 
social-economic integration are addressed.  The vast majority - 
perhaps 80% - of the 125,000 immigrants arriving in Ontario each 
year settle in the GTA.  About 65,000 of the new immigrants are 
skilled workers, but Statistics Canada analysis shows that skilled 
immigrant workers are not succeeding as expected in the years 
following their arrival in Toronto.  60% are downwardly mobile upon 
arriving and 30% of immigrants who have a post-secondary degree find 
work in jobs requiring a high school degree or less.  Although the 
2005 Canada-Ontario Immigration Agreement provided C$920 million 
over five years (some C$3,400 per new immigrant) to the province to 
help new immigrants integrate into Ontario communities, obstacles to 
successful settlement, such as language training and adequate job 
placement, persist. 
 
¶9. (U) Addressing one such challenge, the Toronto Region Immigrant 
Employment Council (TRIEC) - a non-profit organization which 
includes community organizations and corporate partners - helps 
foreign-trained professionals find work in the Toronto region 
through a mentorship program.  In 2007, TRIEC's Mentoring 
Partnership program brought together 1,150 mentoring relationships 
between skilled immigrants and Canadian professionals (mentors are 
both Canadian-born and established immigrants).  Based on an 
evaluation survey completed at the end of 2007, nearly 80% of 
mentees who completed the program were able to find employment and 
85% of those were working in the field of their choice. 
 
---------------- 
A PERSONAL STORY 
---------------- 
 
¶10. (U) One of our colleagues at the Consulate is a prime example of 
the difficulties faced by new immigrants in Toronto.  He arrived in 
Canada from Southeast Asia in 2003 under the landed immigrant 
program, through a family-based petition.  Although he had graduate 
level education and 15 years experience as a school teacher, he was 
unable to work in his field when he first arrived in Canada.  He 
explains that he received minimal assistance for what he described 
as a complicated re-certification and licensing process.  As a 
result, he worked in fast-food service and janitorial jobs his first 
few years in Canada.  More than 3 years after immigrating, he was 
able to begin the recertification process.  In our colleague's case, 
the Ontario College of Teachers ultimately granted him a license 
without requiring that he obtain further training.  However, after 
19 months of applying to both public and private school boards in 
Toronto, he is still unable to find work in his field. 
 
¶11. (U) Comment: As the face of the GTA becomes ever more diverse 
(Statistics Canada predicts that more than 50% of GTA residents will 
belong to a visible minority by 2017.) city leaders are becoming 
aware that the leadership in the public and private sectors does not 
reflect this diversity.  While the raw numbers may indicate that 
Toronto is an extremely diverse city, area leaders will have to work 
hard to ensure that all that diversity is not stuck at only one end 
of the province's social-economic spectrum.  Given that many 
arriving immigrants immediately move to an enclave largely comprised 
of people of their own ethnic background, such an effort is an 
important part of helping integrate minorities into Canadian society 
and reducing potential alienation among their young people - those 
most vulnerable to extremist elements who might lure them toward the 
angry fringe. 
 
 
NAY