A/HRC/13/23/Add.2 89. For some minority communities, including sectors of the African Canadian, Asian Canadian, Arab and immigrant community, consistently higher-than-average educational achievements do not translate into access to professional and skilled employment, labour mobility and wages commensurate with their educational outcomes. It must be recognized that discrimination plays a role in this equation. A disconnect between education and employment must be tackled by Government as an important issue of concern requiring policy implementation. 90. Minorities are frustrated that highly qualified workers have been encouraged to migrate to Canada, but many find on their arrival that their qualifications are not recognized at the provincial or territorial level. Many professionals are unable to gain employment in their former professions despite critical shortages, including of doctors and nurses in some regions. Professionals who have practised prior to migrating have faced lengthy, expensive and unexpected hurdles to satisfy provincial requirements. Many must resort to low-skilled, low-waged employment for years forcing some to live in conditions of hardship and poverty. The cliché of “doctors driving taxi cabs” resonates as reality for many minority professionals. While the federal, provincial and territorial governments are engaged in a collaborative process to address this longstanding problem, efforts to find solutions should be intensified as a matter of urgency. Disaggregate data currently labelled as “visible minorities” 91. Data disaggregated along ethnic and religious lines, as well as gender, is essential to reveal hidden inequalities and to provide a key resource for informed policy responses. Statistics Canada has done excellent work in the field of data collection and analysis. However demographic changes, including rapidly growing minority populations, are making new demands for deeper levels of disaggregation to keep pace with shifts in the economic and social status of specific minority communities. Digging deeper into demographic data can give recognition to even greater diversity in Canadian society. 92. While the category called “visible minority” in the Employment Equity Act was at one time a positive step to acknowledge minority communities, it is now too broad to give a realistic picture of the achievements of or problems faced by distinct communities. Certain communities, particularly those with African heritage, feel strongly that this terminology, under which their data is captured, leads inevitably to the neglect of their specific identities and situations. 93. Consultations revealed the interchangeable and overlapping use of terms including “immigrants”, “visible minorities” and “cultural communities”. A lack of clarity exists between and within different levels of Government, which may impact on the effectiveness of measures to address the issues of distinct population groups. Many positive policies appear targeted towards “immigrants”, while few seem to speak directly to the experiences of established minority communities experiencing long-standing problems and discrimination. 94. “Unpacking” the visible minority data is a first essential step towards recognition that a wide variety of experiences exist among different minority groups. Statistics Canada should hold nationwide consultations with various communities to develop terminology and a nomenclature based on the exercise of those communities’ right to self-identification. Consultations should determine the categories used in the future to disaggregate data for reporting and policymaking purposes. Consideration should be given to amending the Employment Equity Act to use corresponding terminology. 20 GE.10-11860