Visible & Vocal

Each year, POCAM gathers the voices of BIPOC professionals across Canadian advertising and marketing to highlight the experiences of working in a systemically white industry. As the only industry study created by BIPOC professionals, for BIPOC professionals, Visible & Vocal is more than a survey—it’s a call for accountability.

Now in its fifth year, Visible & Vocal highlights the persistent challenges and often harmful realities faced by BIPOC professionals, demonstrating the need for systemic change. Key trends include:

• A year-over-year increase in microaggressions, workplace trauma and pessimism about race relations in Canada.
  • Only 12% of BIPOC professionals think race relations are good (a 6% decline since 2022).
  • Since 2022, experiences of microaggressions have increased by 11%, racial discrimination by 12% and racial harassment by 7%.
• The need for DEI policies to remain a priority and source of support for BIPOC professionals.
  • 29% of BIPOC professionals report that their company instituted DEI policies in 2024.
  • 34% report that DEI policies were instituted in previous years.
• BIPOC professionals stepping up to guide and nurture talent among one another as overall career progression slows and the pipeline for BIPOC executives continues to shrink.
  • BIPOC professionals report a 5% decline in workplaces hiring BIPOC executives since 2022.
  • 31% of BIPOC professionals report having a BIPOC mentor or sponsor in the last year.

To learn more, download the full Visible & Vocal report.

Previous Visible & Vocal reports:

• 2023
• 2022
• 2021
• 2020