Racial Identity Data Standard

The Racial Identity Data Standard supports a consistent and culturally safe approach to collecting racial identity data.

The standard supports:

• High quality data collection to improve decision-making and help make government services more equitable and culturally appropriate
• Research, analysis and reporting to identify and address systemic racism and advance racial equity

It specifies the variables, values and other requirements for collecting and using racial identity information in a consistent and culturally safe way under the Anti-Racism Data Act (ARDA). Adopting this standard ensures that racial identity information collected is:

• Complete
• Comparable
• Useful for planning and reporting purposes
• Coordinated across program areas and ministries

The introduction of this standard does not mean that ministries must only collect the variables in this standard. Ministries that collect other variables under another legislative authority (for example, the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act) may continue to do so.

For more information on how to apply the standard, see the Guidelines to the Indigenous Identity and Racial Identity Data Standards.

Table of contents

• About the Racial Identity Data Standard
  • Overview
  • Application of this standard
  • Authority
  • Who to contact for advice on this standard
  • Distinctions-based
  • Acknowledgments
  • Standard as a living document
• Standard requirements
  • Supporting cultural safety
  • Asking the identity questions
  • Data entry, coding and management
• Variables – mandatory and optional
  • Mandatory variable: Race
  • Optional variable: Ethnicity
  • Optional variable: Religion or spirituality
  • Optional variable: Visible markers of religion or spirituality
  • Optional variable: Arrival year
  • Optional variable: English language proficiency
  • Optional variable: Service language
• Data standards and guidelines definitions