Data standards and guidelines definitions
Last updated on January 29, 2026The deliberate act of opposing racism and promoting a society that is thoughtful, inclusive and just. (Source: B.C. government anti-racism definitions)
Provincial legislation that enables a public body to collect personal information for the purposes of identifying and eliminating systemic racism and advancing racial equity. (Source: Anti-Racism Data Act)
Formed under the Anti-Racism Data Act, this committee represents a wide cross-section of racialized communities and geographic regions of B.C. The committee collaborates with the Province on several initiatives to help identify and eliminate systemic racism in the public sector (for example, data directives, data standards, research priorities, reviewing annual statistics to prevent community harms). (Source: Anti-Racism Data Act website)
Means racism, prejudice, stereotyping, bias, stigmatization or other harm to which a group of persons is likely to be exposed. (Source: Anti-Racism Data Act)
Canadian constitutional law that recognizes and affirms the rights of First Nations, Métis and Inuit Peoples. (Source: Constitution Acts 1867 to 1982 (PDF))
Disclosure of personal information involves providing access to, or the release of personal information. The law permits the disclosure of personal information only under certain conditions. This includes sharing personal information (for example, client names, emails, phone numbers, gender, racial identity) with another public body for use in program evaluation or service delivery and sharing data that includes personal information with the Data Innovation Program for use in research projects.
Created when racialized and Indigenous groups become associated with deficiency, inferiority and failure and are blamed for the existing disparities. This includes unintentionally faulting the individual, their family or their culture for the challenges that they face. Deficit narratives ignore the systemic influences that cause disparities. More guidance and links to source material can be found in the Backgrounder on Countering Deficit Narrative (PDF).
Means that the Province’s work with First Nations, Métis and Inuit people will be conducted in a manner that acknowledges the specific rights, interests, priorities and concerns of each, while respecting and acknowledging these distinct peoples with unique cultures, histories, rights, laws and governments.
A person’s ethnic or cultural origins. Ethnic groups have a common ancestry, identity, heritage or shared history, often with identifiable cultural values and traditions.
Legally referred to as “Indians” in the Indian Act, this term refers to the Indigenous Peoples of North America located in what is now Canada, and their descendants, who are not Inuit or Métis.
A set of characteristics by which a person or thing is definitively recognized or known. (Source: Identity Assurance Standard)
The Indian Act is federal legislation that dates from 1876. The Act deals with registered Indians, their bands and the system of Indian reserves, amongst other topics.
Defined in the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act as “an Indigenous entity that exercises governmental functions, and includes but is not limited to an Indigenous governing body as defined in the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act.”
To identify with, or be a member of, a political or cultural rights-holding entity that stems historically from the original persons of North America. The term includes First Nations, Métis and Inuit peoples in what is now known as Canada.
The unique nature of stereotyping, bias and prejudice about Indigenous Peoples in Canada that is rooted in the history of settler colonialism. It is the ongoing race-based discrimination, negative stereotyping and injustice experienced by Indigenous Peoples that perpetuates power imbalances, systemic discrimination and inequitable outcomes stemming from the colonial policies and practices. (Source: In Plain Sight: Addressing Indigenous-specific Racism and Discrimination in B.C. Health Care)
Government and broader public sector organizations use information schedules to ensure records are kept for as long as required, identify records of enduring value for preservation and ensure that others are routinely destroyed when they are no longer needed.
An agreement between a public body and one or more other parties that sets out the terms of what information is shared, how and why. (Source: Sharing Personal Information)
In B.C.'s Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (FOIPPA), "informed consent" refers to a voluntary agreement given by an individual after being fully aware of the decision or choice at hand, understanding the potential consequences of their choice and comprehending the purpose for which released information may be used. It's a process that involves providing clear and understandable information about the nature, extent and potential impacts of the proposed use of personal information and the individual's right to refuse without penalty.
An analytical approach that describes how a person’s overlapping social identities relate to social structures of racism and oppression as well as privilege. This approach offers a more holistic view of the issue being studied and the factors that cause or perpetuate it. (Source: Anti-Racism Data Act Learning Module)
An analytical approach that describes how a person’s overlapping social identities relate to social structures of racism and oppression as well as privilege. Intersectionality combines many identity markers to create a more truthful and complex identity. This may include but is not limited to:
- Race
- Class
- Gender
- Sexual orientation
- Age
- Ethnicity
- Religion
- Disability
Indigenous people of the Arctic. The word Inuit means "the people" in the Inuit language of Inuktitut. The singular of Inuit is Inuk.
Distinct Indigenous people and nation with their own culture, languages and traditions that differentiate them from the First Nations, Inuit and Europeans. Since 2003, the Métis National Council and governing members accept the following definition:
"Métis" means “a person who self-identifies as Métis, is distinct from other Aboriginal peoples, is of historic Métis Nation Ancestry and who is accepted by the Métis Nation.”
Occurs when small pieces of personal information that seem anonymous as isolated facts can be used to identify a person when combined with other data.
First Nations people who claim Indigenous identity but do not meet the criteria for registration, or have chosen not to be registered, under the Indian Act.
Combines First Nations, Métis or Inuit people into a single data category that does not reflect their distinct identities and rights. This obscures the ways in which systemic racism impacts these groups differently and the strengths-based opportunities that exist to identify and eliminate barriers.
Has the same meaning as in the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act: recorded information about an identifiable person other than contact information. Indigenous and racial identity data are types of personal information.
Under s. 1 of ARDA: “public body” has the same meaning as in the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, except that public body does not include:
a) body referred to in Schedule 2 of that Act unless prescribed for the purposes of this definition, or
b) a local public body within the meaning of that Act unless prescribed for the purposes of this definition.
This means that currently, only ministries are considered public bodies under ARDA and have the authority to collect, use and disclose personal information under ARDA. The definition of public body under ARDA may be expanded in the future.
A social construct (idea) used to classify people into groups based on how they look or where they come from. Race or racial categories are not based on science or genetics but on differences that society has created.
The idea that nobody should face barriers or discrimination because of how they are racialized. Working towards racial equity means addressing the root causes of the issues. This includes changing any policies or programs that further existing inequities to deliver better outcomes for everyone.
The race or combination of races a person identifies with and is identified as based on how others perceive them or racialize them. Racial identity is a person’s interpretation and connection to the social construct of race. Like race, racial identity is fluid and can shift with time. Individuals may experience racism and systemic racism based on their perceived racial identity.
The process by which societies construct races as real, different and unequal. Groups of people come to be socially constructed as races based on their skin colour, ethnicity or origin. Racialization extends to other characteristics, such as language and religion, when these are deemed by society as abnormal or of less worth. As a result, people who belong to a racialized group can experience inequities in their economic, political and social lives.
(Use racialization)
A set of mistaken assumptions, opinions and actions resulting from the belief that one group of people categorized by colour or ancestry is inherently superior to another. Racism may be present in organizational and institutional policies, programs and practices, as well as in the attitudes and behaviour of individuals. It results in the inequitable distribution of opportunity, benefit or resources across ethnic/racial groups.
A person may identify as having a connection with any religion, religious community or system of belief. This can also include individual spiritual, faith beliefs, and/or practices outside an organized religion, or systems of beliefs such as atheism.
As set out in the Indian Act, “reserves are held by Her Majesty for the use and benefit of the respective bands for which they were set apart.” These are lands that are designated for the exclusive use of a respective First Nation. (Source: Indian Act (R.S.C., 1985, c. I-5)
A language that a person is confident in using to receive government services. A person’s primary language is usually their most comfortable language.
First Nations (Indian) people may be “status” (registered) as defined under the Indian Act. Status Indians are eligible to receive benefits under the provisions of the Act. (Source: Indian Act)
Occurs through inequities that are built into services, systems and structures. These are often caused by hidden biases that disadvantage people based on their race. For many Indigenous Peoples and racialized communities, this results in unequal access, poorer outcomes and negative experiences with public services such as education, health care, child welfare and policing.
Lands held by a modern treaty nation in accordance with a constitutionally protected modern treaty.
In the context of the Indigenous Identity Data Standard, this refers to whether an individual lives most of their time on a First Nations reserve or Treaty Lands, or not. Programs and services determine their thresholds of usual residency, for example, “at least half of the time.”
A quantity or quality associated with a variable (for example, 38 years old, $78,000/year, brown).
Any characteristic of a concept, person, object or an event that can be measured or counted (for example, age, income, eye colour).