Harassment and discrimination experiences of Indigenous Peoples in the Canadian Armed Forces

The experiences of Indigenous Peoples in the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) have largely been unexplored. Research in civilian settings has indicated that Indigenous Peoples face interpersonal mistreatment at higher rates than their non-Indigenous peers. Thus, the authors suggest that Indigenous CAF members may face similar obstacles during their service.

Using data from the CAF Harassment and Discrimination Survey (N = 4,715), the authors investigated the experiences of Regular Force members who self-identified as Indigenous (N = 487). Nine multinomial logistic regressions were conducted to determine the patterns of harassment (personal harassment, abuse of authority) and discrimination experienced by Indigenous members.

Relative to non-Indigenous members, Indigenous members had an increased likelihood of experiencing both personal harassment and abuse of authority; however, Indigeneity explained less than 1% of the variance. After controlling for gender, visible minority identity, and rank group, Indigenous members showed an increased likelihood of experiencing personal harassment, abuse of authority, and discrimination relative to non-Indigenous members. Controlling for other known factors also increased the variance the model accounted for to 4% to 7%.

Overall, the results suggest that Indigenous members are at increased risk for interpersonal mistreatment during their service in the CAF. Future studies should incorporate intersectionality into their research design to further investigate the experiences of Indigenous members.