Visible minorities under-represented in Canadian Forces: StatsCan
Last Updated: Wednesday, July 23, 2008 | 8:51 PM ET
CBC News
The Canadian Armed Forces are younger and more bilingual and earn higher incomes than their civilian counterparts but have fewer visible minorities, according to a report by Statistics Canada.
As well, the study found some differences in the psychological well-being between the two groups, with a small minority of military personnel experiencing slightly more mental health problems than civilians.
The study found that members of the Canadian Forces are much younger than their counterparts. More than 70 per cent are under 40 compared to 53 per cent of civilians in 2002. Less than one per cent of CF members were 55 to 64, compared with 11 per cent of the working population.
"This is not surprising since, unlike most other jobs, the forces still have a compulsory retirement age," the report says.
The reports also found that about twice the proportion of the military are bilingual, with 40 per cent speaking two languages. The study noted that the high percentages are because of the high proportion of bilingual officers and members from Quebec.
The study also looked at wages in both sectors and found that the earnings of civilian workers have remained constant at $35,000 since 1991. Comparatively, Canadian Forces have had steady increases since the late 1990s.
For example, military personnel have earned more than other public sector employees since 1999.
As well, the report found that that in 2002, the median personnel income in the Canadian Forces was $50,000 compared with $40,000 for their civilian counterparts.
Military personnel receive a number of allowances in addition to their salaries that could account for the differences in income levels.
Visible minorities were found to make up a small proportion of the military, compared to the general workforce (six per cent compared to 17 per cent of the civilian working population).
The study cites the "importance of education, family and ethnic identity, a relatively low ranking of military service as a career, combined with the negative image provided by their own native militaries" as reasons for the under-representation of visible minorities in the Canadian Forces.
On a psychological comparison, there were "small but statistically significant" differences, with the Canadian Forces reporting slightly higher rates of job dissatisfaction (5 per cent vs. 4 per cent); self-perceived negative mental health (9 per cent vs. 6 per cent) and reports of major depression in the past 12 months (8 per cent vs. 5 per cent).
They also found that military officers had higher work stress than civilian managers.
Collection of the data took place between May and December 2002. Nearly 8,500 regular Forces personnel and reserve forces were interviewed. Nearly 37,000 people were interviewed among the general working population.
