CANADIAN MUSLIMS FACE HIGH UNEMPLOYMENT

Toronto, 12 Jumadil Akhir 1436/1 April 1436 (MINA) – A new report released earlier this week by the Canadian Dawn Foundation has warned that unemployment is reaching high levels among Canada’s Muslims, threatening integration of the religious community in the North American country.

“Unemployment is stubbornly high among Muslims,” said Nabil Harfoush of the Dawn Foundation in presenting the report, On Islam quoted by Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA) as reporting.

“Some 13.9 per cent of Muslims were unemployed in 2011, as compared with the national average of 7.8 per cent.

“All visible minorities which share ethnicities and cultures with Muslims and probably studied at the same universities fare much better than Muslims with unemployment rate of 9.9 per cent.”

Daood Hamdani compiled the report titled, Canadian Muslims – A Statistical Review. He is a pioneer writer on the evolution of Canada’s Muslim community.

Hamdani’s writings cover a wide range of topics and have appeared in scholarly journals. He is the author of the highly acclaimed Canadian chapter in the Encyclopedia of Muslim Minorities, and his writings are quoted in scholarly papers and doctoral dissertations.

The report was launched at an event in Toronto and Muslim community leaders were in attendance to discuss the report’s findings.

The study is based on Statistics Canada National Household Survey 2011, which replaced the long-form census, and it was supplemented by information from other censuses and statistical studies.

“The standard factors do not fully explain the high incidence of unemployment among Muslims,” noted Hamdani in the report.

“Muslims are not concentrated in the regions of high unemployment or declining industries or in occupations for which the demand is static or falling.”

“Nor could their difficulties be attributed to a lack of language skills or below par educational qualifications because Canadian-born Muslims with degrees and diplomas from Canada also experience high unemployment.” (T/P006/R03)

Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)