COVID 19: Ethno-Racial Identity & Income

As of January 1, 2022, this dashboard was no longer updated due to provincial government changes in testing guidance and case and contact protocols, and was subsequently archived. Toronto Public Health continues to collect socio-demographic data on COVID-19 cases but as a result of the testing changes, this information is not representative of the population. Toronto Public Health is committed to collecting, reporting on, and using data that can advance health equity for COVID-19 and all public health issues. We continue to work with partners to develop new strategies to expand this work.

This page presents a historical summary of the purpose of the ethno-racial and income COVID dashboard.  The dashboard provides an example of how race and income data can help to identify and to inform ways to decrease health inequities.

Toronto Public Health (TPH) collected socio-demographic data on COVID-19 cases including Indigenous identity, racial group, income, and household size from May 20, 2020 to December 31, 2021. Data on ethno-racial identity, income and household size were analyzed and summarized monthly in this dashboard. TPH supports Indigenous-led uses and reporting of Indigenous COVID-19 data and consults with Indigenous partners on an ongoing basis. Data on Indigenous identity were not reported by TPH in this dashboard to respect the autonomy and self-determination of Indigenous communities and the expressed recommendations of our Indigenous partners.

The data from this dashboard were used to inform work by the City of Toronto, TPH, health care, and community partners to address inequities in COVID-19. The findings and trends enabled focused intervention in specific neighbourhoods and populations that were most impacted by COVID-19. This work included:

  • Strengthening partnerships with agencies, health care professionals and community leaders serving racialized communities, particularly the groups that were identified as being over-represented in reported COVID-19 cases
  • Expanding vaccine access and reducing barriers
  • Expanding access to COVID-19 testing through mobile and pop-up testing, outreach and promotion
  • Sharing public health information, supplies and promoting vaccine uptake through outreach and engagement
  • Providing supports for isolation for those unable to safely do so at home
  • Addressing other socio-economic impacts of COVID-19
  • Continuing to bring attention to the social determinants of health and how other levels of government can address them
  • Planning longer-term and advocacy for a more equitable system of health and social services

Examples of additional TPH work on understanding race, income and health:

  • Socio-demographic information was collected from participants of a parent survey on COVID vaccine hesitancy.
  • Advocating for data linkages of datasets where possible to facilitate socio-demographic analysis. For example, Statistics Canada already has socio-demographic data from the Census that could be leveraged.
  • Collaborating with community and health system partners to advocate for the collection of race and other demographic data in OHIP (Ontario Health Insurance Plan) and other provincial databases.
  • Building a long-term approach to incorporating information gained from socio-demographic data into public health actions on health equity.

View mobile version.

Area-based analysis also shows that ethno-racial group and income are associated with reported COVID-19 infection.