Root Causes & Impacts
Rather than just individual prejudices, this term refers to how policies, practices, and societal structures produce racialized health inequities.
What is Structural Racism?
This concept in healthcare means creating an environment where there is no disrespect, challenge, or denial of a person's identity or experience, particularly for Indigenous peoples.
What is What is cultural safety?
The federal government is co-developing distinctions-based Indigenous health legislation to address systemic anti-Indigenous racism. This includes promoting cultural safety to improve health outcomes and accountability in clinical settings.
What is Anti-Indigenous Racism Frameworks?
A theory based on the premise that racism is not just from individual bias but is systemically embedded into institutions such as healthcare.
What is Critical Race Theory?
As a result of colonization and systemic barriers, Indigenous peoples in Canada experience higher rates of these, including diabetes and heart disease.
What are chronic diseases?
his concept refers to the complex overlap of social identities (e.g., race, gender, immigration status) that can create unique and compounded experiences of discrimination.
What is intersectionality?
The College of Family Physicians of Canada (CFPC) has implemented policies to include cultural safety in curriculum and program accreditation.
What is Cultural Safety and Competence?
A theory arguing that individuals with lower socioeconomic status and/or social inequalities have lesser access to healthcare, generating more health disparities.
What is Fundamental Cause Theory?
This, not race itself, is now recognized as a primary driver of poor health outcomes for Indigenous, Black, and other racialized people.
What is racism?
A Manitoba study found that 86% of staff from these groups reported experiencing racism in the healthcare workplace.
What are What are Black, Indigenous, and racially marginalized healthcare staff?
Policies are expanding the collection of race-based health data to identify inequities, with a focus on increasing representation of racialized individuals in healthcare leadership.
What is Data Collection and Representation?
A theory demonstrating that individuals refer to unconscious, prejudiced attitudes when dealing with a person of a minority group. This can negatively impact the healthcare they are given.
What is Implicit Bias Theory?
This phenomenon, often reported by Black patients and women, involves healthcare providers trivializing or dismissing pain and symptoms.
What is medical bias/stereotyping?
In 2025, this province became the first in Canada to voluntarily collect race-based data from patients to identify gaps in care.
What is Manitoba?
The Health Canada Addressing Racism and Discrimination Program aims to foster a, diverse, and inclusive workforce to eliminate barriers to care.
What is Health Human Resources?
Healthcare professionals attribute health disparities to cultural attitudes and resistant beliefs towards healthcare instead of looking inwards and realizing treatment is unequal.
What is Cultural Deficit?
To tackle systemic racism, researchers recommend moving beyond individual training and entrenching antiracism in this, as well as creating independent oversight bodies.
What is legislation (or law/policy)?
Racialized healthcare professionals are often underrepresented in these high-level positions within health organizations, pointing to structural barriers to advancement.
What are leadership/management roles?
The Canadian Human Rights Act (Section 3(1)) and the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms (Section 15(1)) provide legal grounds against discrimination, which are used to challenge systemic barriers in access to care.
What is Legal and Human Rights Frameworks?
Healthcare professionals claim to see everyone as equals due to inclusive policies, but tend to ignore the systemic racism that is creating health disparities.
What is Colour Blind?