Grant: Travel Awards - Institute Community Support

Background: Racism is a root determinant of health, yet it remains largely invisible within British Columbia's (BC) public health data ecosystem due to the absence of racism data. This perpetuates the cycle of inequity by failing to capture the full scope of racism's impact on health. There is an urgent need for routinely collected system-wide data on racism to inform evidence-based decision-making. This project offers a foundation and pathway for how this work could unfold in BC - grounded in community knowledge, anti-racist principles, and public health accountability. Methods: We convened a Knowledge Summit at the Vancouver Aboriginal Friendship Centre. The Summit followed Coast Salish protocols guided by Knowledge Keeper Siem Te Ta-in. The purpose of the Summit was to bring together participants with lived and professional experience of racism and public health to explore what measuring racism would like look within BC's public health system. Data sources include: (1) qualitative discussion circles (2) post-Knowledge Summit reflection survey, and (3) feedback gathered at follow-up (member-checking process). Results: Key findings highlight the necessity of Indigenous-led governance in data collection, limitations of existing race-based data efforts, and risks of reinforcing harm if measurement approaches do not center Indigenous governance and self-determination. Participants underscored that without data, public health systems remain unaccountable for the ongoing impacts of racism. Shifting the focus from those who experience racism to the systems and structures that uphold it is necessary - ensuring that measurement efforts drive systemic accountability. Conclusion: This presentation will share key findings from our work on the path towards measuring racism in our province, discuss challenges and opportunities in measuring racism as a determinant of health, and outline pathways for embedding anti-racism accountability into public health systems.