Many employees in the immigration department of the federal government reported experiencing subtle acts of racial abuse, harassment, and professional marginalization while being assigned to its offices abroad, according to a survey conducted by the Canadian Immigration and Refugee Board.

According to a summary of the survey results published by the department, "employees indicated that the department mocks their accents, and group leaders express 'open contempt and even hatred for people from certain countries and for immigrants to Canada in general, using racial slurs and proclaiming their support for violence against people from other countries.'

One employee was quoted in the document as saying, "Being a Black person here is an extreme sport. I'm not joking with you. We are not protected," and another employee expressed the view that long-term postings abroad had allowed a level of comfort for leaders to express racist ideas.

The names of the employees in the survey were not mentioned for confidentiality reasons. "Polara Strategic" was contracted to conduct the work, interviewing 62 employees.

Polara conducted a similar survey in 2021. At that time, many employees described supervisors and colleagues using derogatory terms with the racist employees, who said they were also being overlooked for international positions and other professional development opportunities.

The current survey noted some progress and behavioral shifts in the past two years, but not in the foreign mailing offices of the department.

"There has been a shift in acknowledging the existence of a problem. And now we have data showing that there is a problem."

The survey indicated that a number of employees found the department to be a better workplace than other federal departments they had worked in, "both in terms of its internal diversity (at least at the lower levels of the organization) and in terms of its commitment to addressing racism head-on."

Polara also found that employees reported a slight increase in the number of racially discriminated employees who were hired or promoted, and praised "the increase in opportunities available for employees to share their experiences with their peers and allies through multiple working groups."

However, when asked to rate how much of a problem racism is in the immigration department on a scale of 1 to 10, about 63 percent of surveyed employees rated it 7 or higher.

Participants also requested the creation of an independent office to report complaints related to racism, suggesting that the department should have an ombudsman.

The Canadian Employment and Immigration Union, which represents employees of the department, expressed surprise at the existence of the report.

National executive vice-president of the union, Crystal Warner, said, "We have raised the red flag for years about systemic racism issues in the department. We feel a bit frustrated to learn at the last minute again that something has been done on this front and that the unions were not consulted."

She continued, "It’s not surprising that employees are requesting an ombudsman’s office, it’s a department with some of the worst employment abuses with favoritism and the way they hire people."

The union filed a political complaint regarding systemic racism with the department last year.