Canadian Entertainment Industry Still Largely White and Male, Study Finds
A new study from the Directors Guild of Canada reveals the local film and TV industry still remains overwhelmingly white and male.
A voluntary self-identification census carried out among DGC members found 82.8 percent of the guild’s membership identified as white. Another 18.3 percent identified as Black, indigenous or people of color.
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That’s a significant underrepresentation compared to the 27 percent of the Canadian population that considers themselves members of BIPOC minorities. And 2.5 percent of the DGC members responding to the census self-identified as Black Canadians, another major underrepresentation given Black Canadians make up around 3.5 percent of the overall population.
The census results also indicated women made up 46.5 percent of respondents, against 53.4 percent identifying as men. At the same time, the DGC’s own membership records indicate the overall guild has 42.4 percent women and 57.5 percent men.
That results suggest women were more likely to self-identify as part of the census than men, which lessened their actual underrepresentation within the DGC. The census allowed DGC members to voluntarily self-identify on a broad range of demographic measures, including age, ethnicity, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation and disability status.
The census also covered members in creative and logistical jobs like direction, design, locations, accounting, production and editing. DGC president Warren P. Sonoda said the census results will help the guild set a baseline on the makeup of its membership to better ensure it reflects the diversity of stories and audiences in Canada.
“The census gives us a benchmark for accountability to tell us whether our efforts towards inclusion are getting the job done,” he said in a statement. DGC BIPOC members committee chair RT Thorne in his own statement said the guild was looking for a data-driven approach to ensuring greater diversity as the Canadian industry shifts towards a global market for original content.
“Moving towards greater representation within our guild will help meet the demand, and create more opportunity for our whole industry,” Thorne said.
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