May 2023
Liton Chakraborty
Ranjan Datta
Indigenous peoples are at a greater risk of poor health outcomes than non-Indigenous Canadians. Emerging data from the COVID-19 pandemic has revealed higher infection and mortality rates of the elderly, Indigenous, and health-related vulnerable populations, which points to pre-existing health vulnerabilities and inequities among this population. This research focuses on the socioeconomic and health vulnerabilities to the COVID-19 pandemic among Indigenous peoples living in Canada’s health regions. Using microdata from the 2017 Aboriginal Peoples Survey and the 2016 national population census, the paper represented the social, economic, and health-related deprivation indices of the 970,000 Indigenous peoples across health regions in Canada. These deprivation indices were integrated with the 2021 population estimates of Statistics Canada and comprehensive health region summaries from Esri’s data hub for COVID-19 data. Statistical and geospatial analyses revealed considerable geographic variations in measures of social and health inequalities to COVID-19 for Indigenous peoples. Results provide preliminary evidence of socio-geographic inequities in the distribution of infection fatality and case fatality from COVID-19 to Indigenous peoples in Canada. The research suggests targeting culturally appropriate emergency planning and programs to effectively prevent and control novel coronavirus that supports inclusive emergency management for Indigenous people with health-related vulnerabilities.