Anti-racist education: An approach to education designed to eradicate racism in all its forms and denounce social, economic and educational inequalities to which ethnocultural groups are subject. It relies on a systemic approach to change (as opposed to the teaching of social issues within curriculum content). One of its primary aims is to promote critical thinking about racism and its origins among teachers and students. 

Assimilation: The process of trying to refashion minorities into the image of the dominant majority. 

Barriers: Generally falling into three areas: attitudinal/behavioural; procedural; physical. Barriers prevent people from participating as they are qualified and entitled because of their ethnicity or race. 

Behaviour: Outward expression of values. Values are communicated by individuals in behaviour such as language, signs, gestures, actions, customs, styles. 

Culture: The aspects of individual and group identities that include: language; race; religion; ethnicity; experience of migration/immigration; social class structure; social norms; behavioural patterns; political affiliations; family influences; attitudes to different age groups; attitudes toward sexual orientation; experience or absence of experience with discrimination; experience of fighting discrimination and other injustices. 

Diagnosis: Accurately and comprehensively assessing the institution's situation in terms of current performance levels, morale, strengths, weaknesses, problems and outside factors. 

Discrimination: Unfavorable treatment and/or denial of equal treatment of individuals or groups because of race, gender, religion, ethnicity or disability (different from bias which refers to prejudicial attitudes that may lead to discrimination). Direct discrimination can be defined as the reaction of an individual or a group of individuals to any of the above characteristics, leading to unfair treatment of that individual or group, as opposed to systemic discrimination.

Diversity: Variety in terms of ethnicity, gender, abilities, age, physical characteristics, religion, values, culture and lifestyle.

Employment Equity: A policy which seeks the achievement of equal employment opportunities in the workplace for all Canadians. Employment Equity means employment practices must correct and prevent conditions that create disadvantages in employment for the following designated groups: Aboriginal people; women; members of visible minority groups and persons with disabilities. 

Empowerment: Sharing authority, control and power to enable people to decide, act and create in realms important to them. 

Ethnicity: There exists more than one definition for ethnicity. It can be used to describe how people are defined, differentiated, organized and entitled to group membership based on assumed shared cultural characteristics. Ethnicity can also be used in reference to a consciously shared system of beliefs, values, practices and loyalties shared by members of a group who perceive themselves as a group. Ethnicity can essentially be thought of as an attachment that a person or a group feels towards a common cultural heritage. 

Ethnocentrism: The tendency to judge all other cultures by the norms and standards of one's own culture. 

Ethnocultural group: A group whose members share a belief that they have a common heritage, culture, racial background and traditions. 

Inclusion: Equitable participation in a public or community institution of all members of the community, as clients, stakeholders or employees (as appropriate). 

Institutional change: A planned approach to developing and implementing inclusive policies, programs and practices that are adaptive to the needs of a diverse and evolving society. Successful institutional change results in the removal of all structural and behavioural barriers that reduce access to services and inhibit the full participation of all members of society in all aspects and at all levels of the institution. 

Mainstream: A designation for the group (or groups) comprising the majority of people and/or controlling the majority of resources and decisions in a given institution, region or society. 

Majority: Any group that controls the largest share of the scarce resources of wealth, status and power. 

Managing diversity: A comprehensive managerial approach and process for developing an environment that values, dignifies and empowers a work force toward the achievement of the institution's mission through meaningful work. 

Minority group: Sociologically, the concept 'minority group' does not refer to demographic numbers, but is used for any group which is disadvantaged, underprivileged, excluded, discriminated against, or exploited. As a collective group, a minority occupies a subordinate status in society. 

Mission: An agreed-on statement or definition (formal or informal) of purpose, typically describing who is doing what, how (through what means), for whom, and why (to what benefit). 

Organizational culture: The values, customs and traditions that members of an organization share as a group. 

Pluralism: A concept which has generated a fair amount of confusion. It is currently used to express the notion of a society in which groups can remain voluntarily apart from each other when it comes to traditions, cultural practices and beliefs, while sharing a set of commonly held values and consensus on social and political norms. 

Prejudice: A body of unfounded opinions or attitudes relating to an individual or group that represent this individual or group in an unfavorable light. Prejudice encompasses personal beliefs and rationalizations which allow for unwarranted stereotyping of racially or culturally different outgroups and a predisposition to act negatively toward them, thus, often leading to discrimination. 

Race: A term used to describe people who were classified together on the basis of genetically transmitted physical similarities (such as skin color, shape of the eyes, hair texture), deriving from their common descent and who are also frequently thought to share cultural and social traits. Usually, however, a racial group will include a number of different ethnic communities.

Race relations: Race and ethnic relations refer to the recurrent patterns of interaction among groups socially defined as biologically and/or culturally different. 

Racial identification: Identification with a specific kind of ethnic character or group. Awareness of the ethnic character of one's self or of others.

Racism: Refers to a set of beliefs (often complex) which asserts the natural superiority of one racial group over another, at the individual but also the institutional level. In one sense, racism refers to the belief that biology rather than culture is the primary determinant of group attitudes and actions. This belief can then be used to extol the inherent superiority of certain 'races' and justify deferential treatment and social positions. Racism goes beyond ideology, however, involving discriminatory practices that protect and maintain the position of certain groups and sustain the inferior position of others.

Stereotypes: Stereotyping in the general sense refers to mental images which organize and simplify the world into categories on the basis of common properties. When used in reference to race or ethnic relations, stereotypes refer to a consensus regarding the generalized attributes of others (both physical and cultural attributes). For example, 'Asians are smart', 'Blacks are good athletes', etc. While stereotyping is a basic cognitive strategy used to reduce the amount of diversity to manageable proportions, they interfere with our perceptions and understanding of the world, when applied to individuals or groups. Often stereotyping gives rise to discrimination and racist behavior.

Systemic racism: Institutionalized discrimination. For example, hiring procedures or entrance requirements may have the effect of excluding various racial groups. Despite apparently neutral rules, policies and procedures, the existence of subtle, impersonal, covert discrimination against racial groups within institutions persists. Also referred to as 'institutional' racism.

Values: Ideas or beliefs of a given group about what is good and right that influence and shape most of the actions and behaviours characteristic of that group.