Each dot is a published survey share on a 0–100 axis. The four bands follow the question the surveys were really asking: what Indigenous respondents report experiencing; how often everyone else thinks it happens; whether people locate it in individuals, institutions, or the victims themselves; and the backlash cluster. Sources span 2009 to 2024 and different instruments, so read rows as levels from named studies, not one series. Hover any row for source and base.
Part of the Indigenous Survey Questions Explorer, a catalogue we compiled at the Global Justice Lab (Ron Levi, Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy, University of Toronto): all 465 questions Canadian pollsters have asked about Indigenous issues since 1995. Browse the full catalogue · justice · health · evidence map · attitude space · methods.
Shares come from different organizations, modes, bases and years and are not comparable as one series. The Race Relations perception and attribution items are asked of respondents outside the group being rated; its experience item is each group's own report. The 2009 rows are the urban pair, the only time one study asked urban Indigenous residents about their experiences and urban non-Indigenous residents about the same phenomenon; neither half has been repeated. CES rows are our computations from public microdata, labelled in their entries. The UAPS attribution row's response options differ from the COT and YRB menus beside it; formats move these numbers (see the wording section of the meta-analysis). Verbatim wordings and catalogue IDs are in the table below; full entries, results and source URLs in the explorer; provenance rules on the methods page. Built 2026-08-05 from the Indigenous Survey Questions catalogue · Global Justice Lab, Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy, University of Toronto · Ron Levi · compiled and analyzed with Claude Code (Anthropic).
| Band | Item (chart label) | Catalogue ID | Shares | Full question as asked (verbatim from the catalogue) | Source and base |
| Experienced: what Indigenous respondents report themselves (percent) | Treated unfairly because of race or ethnicity, regularly or from time to time | RR-008 | Indigenous respondents (RR oversample) 57% (FN 2024); Indigenous respondents (RR oversample) 36% (Métis); National sample 26% (all 2024) | In your personal experience, have you ever been treated unfairly or discriminated against because of your race or ethnicity? | Race Relations in Canada (Environics/CRRF), respondents' own experience. First Nations respondents 2024: 57% (2019: 63%; 2021: 45%; up 12 points 2021 to 2024). Metis 2024: 36%. Population as a whole 2024: 26%. National online sample with an Indigenous oversample. |
| Experienced: what Indigenous respondents report themselves (percent) | Teased or insulted because of my Aboriginal background (agree) | UAPS-011 | Indigenous respondents 70% (2009) | Please tell me if you strongly agree, somewhat agree, somewhat disagree or strongly disagree: I have been teased or insulted because of my Aboriginal background. | UAPS 2009, urban Indigenous adults, weighted n=2,589: strongly agree 37% / somewhat 33% (agree 70%). |
| Experienced: what Indigenous respondents report themselves (percent) | Personally experienced racism in the past 12 months | RHS-021 | First Nations on-reserve 24.2% (2015-16) | In the past 12 months, have you personally experienced any instances of racism? | RHS Phase 3 (FNIGC), on-reserve First Nations adults, yes/no item: 24.2% (ages 30-49: 25.6%). A narrower window (12 months) than the lifetime items above it. |
| Experienced: what Indigenous respondents report themselves (percent) | Racism is a problem at my school (off-reserve First Nations students) | APS12-005 | Indigenous respondents (RR oversample) 18.4% (2012) | Do you strongly agree, agree, disagree, or strongly disagree: Racism is a problem at [child's] school. | APS 2012 master data, published in Arim, Bougie and Kohen 2020 (Aboriginal Policy Studies 8(2)): 18.4% (95% CI 14.2-23.4) of off-reserve First Nations high-school students (15-18, self-completed, N=739) perceived racism as a problem at school. Youth self-reports; the catalogued parent-reported version remains unpublished. |
| Experienced: what Indigenous respondents report themselves (percent) | Do not feel accepted by non-Aboriginal people (agree) | UAPS-010 | Indigenous respondents 36% (2009) | Please tell me if you strongly agree, somewhat agree, somewhat disagree or strongly disagree: I don't feel accepted by non-Aboriginal people. | UAPS 2009, urban Indigenous adults: strongly agree 8% / somewhat 28% (agree 36%); disagree 62%. |
| Experienced: what Indigenous respondents report themselves (percent) | Unfair treatment was because I am Aboriginal (among those treated unfairly) | UAPS-020 | Indigenous respondents 75% (2009) | To what extent do you think you were treated unfairly because you are an Aboriginal person? | UAPS 2009, urban Indigenous adults who reported unfair treatment by police, courts or services (weighted n=521): definitely 50% + likely 25% = 75%. Subset base. |
| Perceived: how often others think it happens (percent) | Indigenous Peoples often experience discrimination | RR-002 | National sample 39% (2019); National sample 49% (2021); National sample 31% (2024) | How often do you think Indigenous Peoples experience discrimination in Canada today? | Race Relations in Canada, asked of respondents outside the group: often 39% (2019), 49% (2021), 31% (2024); the rise and full retreat around the 2020-2021 events is the sharpest trend in the catalogue. Often + sometimes: 77 / 80 / 70. |
| Perceived: how often others think it happens (percent) | Aboriginal people are often the subject of discrimination (urban non-Indigenous) | UAPS-NA-004 | Non-Indigenous only 39% (2009) | Do you think Aboriginal people are often, sometimes, rarely, or never the subject of discrimination in Canadian society today? | UAPS 2009 Non-Aboriginal companion survey, urban non-Indigenous adults, n=2,501: often 39% / sometimes 44% (often or sometimes 83%). The urban mirror of the experienced band above. |
| Perceived: how often others think it happens (percent) | Name criminality among the stereotypes non-Aboriginal people hold (open-ended) | UAPS-041 | Indigenous respondents 12% (2009) | What do you believe are the most common stereotypes that non-Aboriginal people hold about Aboriginal people, if any? | UAPS 2009, urban Indigenous adults, open-ended: criminals-gang members-high crime named by 12% (top mentions: addiction 74%, lazy 30%, uneducated 20%, poor-on welfare 20%). The fielded neighbour of the never-fielded closed criminal-association battery below. |
| Perceived: how often others think it happens (percent) | Indigenous Peoples are often the subject of discrimination (youth) | YRB-005 | Indigenous respondents 44% (Ind. youth); Non-Indigenous only 33% (non-Ind youth) | How frequently do you think Indigenous Peoples are the subject of discrimination in Canadian society today? | Youth Reconciliation Barometer 2019 (Environics/CRE), ages 16-29: often, Indigenous youth 44% vs non-Indigenous youth 33% (often + sometimes 84% vs 77%). |
| Perceived: how often others think it happens (percent) | A great deal or a lot of discrimination against Indigenous Peoples | CES-006 | National sample 52.5% (2021) | How much discrimination is there in Canada against each of the following groups? Indigenous Peoples | CES 2021 (computed by us from the public microdata, labelled in the entry): a great deal 23.2% + a lot 29.3% = 52.5%; moderate 23.6%, little or none 19.8%, DK 4.2%. Randomized module, n=5,754. |
| Explained: individuals, institutions, or the victims themselves (percent) | Discrimination is built into laws and institutions, alone or equally with prejudice | RR-005 | National sample 52% (2019); National sample 62% (2021); National sample 53% (2024) | When it comes to discrimination against Indigenous Peoples in Canada, do you think the bigger problem is the prejudice of individuals, what is built into the country's laws and institutions, or both equally? | Race Relations in Canada, asked about Indigenous Peoples: laws-institutions alone or 'both equally': 52% (2019), 62% (2021), 53% (2024). Higher for Indigenous Peoples than for any other group the survey asks about. Individuals alone: 33 / 23 / 27. |
| Explained: individuals, institutions, or the victims themselves (percent) | Discrimination based mostly on laws and institutions, alone or equally (Indigenous youth) | YRB-006 | Indigenous respondents 44% (2019) | When it comes to discrimination against Indigenous Peoples in Canada today, do you think it is based mostly on the country's laws and institutions, or based mostly on the prejudice of individuals? | Youth Reconciliation Barometer 2019, Indigenous youth: laws and institutions 14% + both equally 30% = 44%; prejudice of individuals 52%. Non-Indigenous youth: both equally 36%, individuals 45% (their laws-institutions share was not published). |
| Explained: individuals, institutions, or the victims themselves (percent) | Problems caused primarily by Canadian attitudes and government policies (urban non-Indigenous) | UAPS-NA-003 | Non-Indigenous only 52% (2009) | In your opinion, have Aboriginal people in Canada largely caused their own problems or have the problems been caused primarily by the attitudes of Canadians and the policies of governments? | UAPS 2009 Non-Aboriginal survey, urban non-Indigenous adults: attitudes-and-policies 52% / Aboriginal people have largely caused their own problems 24% / both equally 17%. |
| Explained: individuals, institutions, or the victims themselves (percent) | Biggest obstacle is public attitudes or government policies (structural options) | COT-004 | Non-Indigenous only 22% (2019); Non-Indigenous only 43% (youth 2019) | Would you say that the biggest obstacle to achieving economic and social equality for Indigenous Peoples is ... ? The attitudes of the Canadian public / The policies of Canadian governments / Indigenous Peoples themselves / All three equally | Two versions of the obstacle menu. COT 2019, non-Indigenous adults: attitudes 8% + policies 14% = 22%, with 'all three equally' 42% and 'Indigenous Peoples themselves' 29%. Youth Reconciliation Barometer 2019, non-Indigenous youth: policies 25% + attitudes 18% = 43%. Menu options differ; read separately. |
| Explained: individuals, institutions, or the victims themselves (percent) | Racial discrimination is the main reason Indigenous Peoples cannot get ahead (agree) | RR-004 | National sample 44% (2019); National sample 54% (2021); National sample 49% (2024) | Racial discrimination is the main reason Indigenous Peoples cannot get ahead these days. | Race Relations in Canada, asked of respondents outside the group: agree 44% (2019), 54% (2021), 49% (2024). The highest agreement of any group assessed. |
| Explained: individuals, institutions, or the victims themselves (percent) | Most of native peoples' problems are brought on by themselves (agree) | IPS-003 | National sample 60% (2013) | Most of native peoples' problems are brought on by themselves. | Ipsos, Jan 2013 (Idle No More period), n=1,023: agree 60% (Saskatchewan/Manitoba 76%). The release notes 35% agreed in comparable 1989 polling: a 25-point rise across 24 years. |
| Explained: individuals, institutions, or the victims themselves (percent) | All are equally responsible for the residential school system | ARI-034 | National sample 52% (2022) | Who bears most responsibility for the residential school system? | Angus Reid, Aug 2022: all equally responsible 52% / federal government 21% / Christian churches 18% / society at the time 9%. |
| Explained: individuals, institutions, or the victims themselves (percent) | It is easy to understand the anger of Indigenous Peoples (agree) | RR-003 | National sample 63% (2019); National sample 64% (2024) | It is easy to understand the anger of Indigenous Peoples in Canada. | Race Relations in Canada, asked of respondents outside the group: agree 63% (2019), 65% (2021), 64% (2024); the most stable series in this domain. Endpoints plotted; all three waves here. |
| Resented: the backlash cluster (percent agreeing) | Aboriginal peoples receive too much support from taxpayers (agree) | IPS-002 | National sample 64% (2012); National sample 64% (2013) | Canada's Aboriginal peoples receive too much support from Canadian taxpayers. | Ipsos, 2012 and Jan 2013, near-identical wordings: agree 64% both times (2012: strongly 27 / somewhat 36). The CES 2021 special-favors cousin sits at 40.5 on a five-point scale with a neither option; formats differ. |
| Resented: the backlash cluster (percent agreeing) | Aboriginal peoples should overcome prejudice without special favors (agree) | CES-008 | National sample 40.5% (2021) | Irish, Italian, Jewish and many other minorities overcame prejudice and worked their way up. Aboriginal peoples in Canada should do the same without any special favors. | CES 2021 (computed by us): strongly agree 17.5% + somewhat 23.0% = 40.5%; disagree 38.2%, neither 16.6%, DK 4.7%. Agreement marks higher resentment on the Beauvais scale. |
| Resented: the backlash cluster (percent agreeing) | Aboriginal peoples have gotten less than they deserve (agree) | CES-009 | National sample 47.5% (2021) | Over the past few years, Aboriginal peoples have gotten less than they deserve. | CES 2021 (computed by us): agree 47.5% / disagree 27.8% / neither 18.3% / DK 6.4%. Agreement is the sympathetic side; the item is reverse-keyed on the resentment scale. |
| Resented: the backlash cluster (percent agreeing) | Colonialism created conditions that keep Aboriginal peoples down (agree) | CES-010 | National sample 53.6% (2021) | Generations of colonialism and discrimination have created conditions that make it difficult for Aboriginal peoples to work their way out of the lower class. | CES 2021 (computed by us): agree 53.6% / disagree 24.4% / neither 15.8% / DK 6.2%. Agreement is the sympathetic side; reverse-keyed on the resentment scale. |
| Never published | “How often do non-Aboriginal people associate the word criminal with Aboriginal people?” (urban non-Indigenous) | UAPS-NA-006 | N/A | How often do you think non-Aboriginal people associate the word 'criminal' with Aboriginal people in general? | Never fielded as catalogued: the battery appears on neither the Non-Aboriginal Survey questionnaire (checked 2026-08-05) nor in either public data-tables file. The fielded open-ended neighbour is charted in the perceived band above. |
| Never published | Indigenous resentment module, 2019 (favors / deserve / colonialism precursors) | CES-020 | N/A | Indigenous resentment module items (precursors to 2021 scale). Same 'Favors,' 'Deserve,' and 'Colonialism' constructs as 2021. | Module variables not identifiable in the public 2019 release. Beauvais and Stolle 2022 (CJPS) documents the module but reports standardized composite scores, which cannot be inverted into per-item percentages; no public replication dataset found (Harvard Dataverse searched 2026-08-05). Obtainable from the authors. |
Catalogue IDs match the explorer. Click a cell on the evidence map to browse any topic's items.