The Black wealth gap: Why participation has not become ownership in Canada

Canada can identify the Black wealth gap without pretending it has fully measured it. What the evidence shows is a chain of conversion failures — and the missing measure is wealth itself. This is the third paper in IIBD's Community Wealth Infrastructure series. Working Paper No. 1 argued that Canada has an ownership problem; Working Paper No. 2 showed that wealth is produced through institutional design. This paper applies those propositions to the Black wealth gap. Part of the Community Wealth Infrastructure Series (Working Paper No. 3), published by IIBD. Suggested citation: Williams, R., & Dillon, D. (2026). The Black wealth gap: Why participation has not become ownership in Canada (Community Wealth Infrastructure Series, Working Paper No. 3). IIBD.