2.1 Definition

A. Ethnicity refers to groups that are characterized by a shared culture, language, or nationality. When asking about ethnicity, it is important to tease apart what specifically about ethnicity is being asked, for example, ethnic identity (i.e., an individuals’ sense of affiliation and relatedness to a particular ethnic group), or bilingualism (i.e., what languages a person speaks).²

2.2 Considerations and Limitations

Ethnicity can be used to understand:

• Which ethnic groups are, or are not, being served.³
• How programming may need to be adapted to reflect the ethnic diversity of participants e.g., clients may have more than one ethnic affiliation and how that effects services.³
• How to inform aspects of operational planning or reporting such as that may be required by funders.³

Ethnicity cannot be used to understand:

• Nationality or citizenship because nationality refers to the country of citizenship. Nationality is sometimes used to mean ethnicity, although the two are technically different. People can share the same nationality but be of different ethnic groups and people who share an ethnic identity can be of different nationalities.
• Place of birth or origin which may or may not be the same as a person’s nationality.
• Race. Race is a historically derived construct that categorizes individuals by their physical characteristics of skin colour, hair texture, and behavioural characteristics.⁴ Critically, “National, religious, geographic, linguistic and cultural groups do not necessarily coincide with racial groups: and the cultural traits of such groups have no demonstrated genetic connection with racial traits.” ⁵
• The language(s) a person speaks or is most comfortable using for communication. Languages can be spoken by anyone regardless of their country of origin, e.g., many Canadians speak French but do not have French cultural origins.
• Cultural identity because cultural practices may vary within ethnicities.⁶

Additional Considerations:

• Why ask in the first place?
  • • • To support data collection for use in understanding who is being served and to creating strong human rights and human resources strategies for organizations in the public, private, and non-profit sectors.⁷
      • Organizations within Alberta are engaged in research and data collection to identify and understand the human rights issues impacting communities.⁸
• To support service delivery consider asking questions around:⁹
  • • • Cultural considerations.
      • A combination of asking about both place of birth, and primary language spoken at home can help illuminate how best to support clients.
• Some people have more than one ethnic background. Allowing multiple selections instead of a generic “mixed ethnicities” option provides more accurate information.¹⁰
• It is important to give options that best represent the communities being served. This could mean that the organization lists options based on definitions of ethnicity and/or place of birth¹¹. A few resources that could be helpful to compile these lists are:
  • • • Statistics Canada¹²
      • Ontario Antiracism Directorate¹³
      • United Nations List of Member States¹⁴ (does not include, Taiwan, The Cook Islands, Niue, the Holy See, and the State of Palestine)

2.3 Suggested Collection Methods

The minimum suggested data collection method, or “basic” option reflects a synthesis of practices, considerations from nonprofit stakeholders, and recognized standards in capturing demographic data. The suggested method is modeled after what might be asked on an intake form during an initial meeting with a client. The process by which intake or registration occurs can vary widely depending on the context within which you are working. For example, the way questions are asked and data are recorded will vary for clients in crises, as compared to walk-in or drop-in sessions, or when registering for a program that requires people to meet certain eligibility requirements. In those cases, the suggested collection method can be used as a starting point but adapted to fit the needs of the context within which the data are being collected.

As a standard practice we suggest always including an option for people to write in an answer that may not fit within the options provided, along with an option not to answer. These are both important for creating inclusive demographic questions.^{1, 15, 16}

2.3.1 Basic Question(s)