BIPOC professionals in Canada’s advertising and marketing industry are reporting rising levels of racism and declining structural support, according to the latest Visible & Vocal survey from People of Colour in Advertising and Marketing (POCAM).

Findings from the poll of more than 200 BIPOC professionals from December to February show increases in reported anti-Black (plus-7%), anti-Asian (plus-5%) and anti-Indigenous (plus-2%) discrimination in Canada year over year, while many workplace experiences remain largely unchanged or worsening.

At the same time, structural DEI efforts appear to be pulling back. Just 14% of companies introduced new DEI policies in the past year, down 15 percentage points year over year, while unconscious-bias training also dropped five points.

Representation at senior levels also dipped. The share of companies hiring BIPOC professionals into executive roles fell to 35%, down from 43% a year earlier, continuing a multi-year decline.

Fifty-nine per cent of respondents still said their employer is taking positive steps on inclusion, a three-point increase from last year. The number rises to 83% in BIPOC predominant companies and falls to 51% in non-BIPOC-predominant firms.

That tension is reflected in workplace sentiment: 88% of BIPOC professionals say they feel the need to be “on guard” against bias at work, a figure that matches the Visible & Vocal survey’s record high, which was hit last year.

“The findings point to a continued sense of being ʻon guardʼ in the workplace, reinforcing patterns of exclusion and discrimination seen in previous studies,” said POCAM co-founder and Franklin management Group principal, Julian Franklin. “At the same time, there are encouraging signs of progress in how BIPOC professionals are building networks and demonstrating resilience – both within and beyond systems that are not always designed with them in mind.”

Franklin and Nitin Bagga, CSO at Barrett and Welsh, presented the results of this year’s sixth annual Visible & Vocal Study last month at a town hall at Nia Centre for the Arts in Toronto and at a separate event with the British Columbia American Marketing Association at Rethink’s offices in Vancouver.