The Directors Guild of Canada (DGC) — the labour union that represents workers in the film and TV industry across the country — has conducted a new census, and the results indicate that an “underrepresentation of BIPOC communities exists within the Guild membership in all regions of the country.”
Although the report states that BIPOC individuals make up between 26 and 27 per cent of the population of Canada, only 18.3 per cent of the DGC members are people of colour. With 3,318 members completing self-identification questionnaires, the report found almost 83 per cent of the participants identify as Caucasian, almost 9 per cent identify as Asian, almost 3 per cent identify as Indigenous and 2.5 per cent identify as Black.
“This census is one of the BIPOC committee’s top priorities. Its purpose is transparency, accountability and change. These results lay the groundwork for policies and projects that will advance the committee’s goals of a more just and equitable Guild,” RT Thorne, DGC BIPOC Members Committee Chair, noted in the report.
The LGBTQ2S+ community is well-represented
The census also looked at the sexual orientation of members, and found that almost 17 per cent of members identify as being part of the LGBTQ2S+ community. The report stated that this community is “well-represented in the Guild’s membership.”
See also: Celebrity coming out stories that will make you cry tears of Pride.
Men are overrepresented in DGC membership
Of those who answered the questionnaire, more male members made up the DCG, with almost 60 per cent identifying as male, although the report did state that it is “important to also underline that a large number of participants, mostly male, chose not to identify their gender at all.”
See also: Gender gap alert: High-performing women and underperforming men share same chances for leadership.
The path forward
“Our guild and our industry have a long way to go to ensure we represent the diversity of stories and audiences across this country, but the road towards this goal has to start with declaring who we are and acknowledging our numbers,” DGC President Warren Sonoda said in Deadline. “The census gives us a benchmark for accountability to tell us whether our efforts towards inclusion are getting the job done.”
