1.5 Redefining “at-risk”

The performing arts sector has become increasingly aware of the need to improve equity and accessibility. Many organizations have implemented equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI or DEI) policies with this goal in mind, yet too often, immuno-inclusivity is left out of the conversation.

Recent research highlights that “high-risk health status, which overlaps with but is not reducible to disability as conventionally understood, is an important axis of inequality.”^{Footnote 69} Not only that, but it is an axis that intersects with many other forms of marginalization. Indigenous and racialized people, immigrants, queer and trans people, and lower-income people all experience documented health inequities.^{Footnote 70} Women experience higher rates of infection-associated chronic illnesses such as Long COVID, myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME), and certain autoimmune diseases.^{Footnote 71} Trans and gender diverse people, bisexual people, and neurodivergent people are also at higher risk of developing Long COVID,^{Footnote 72} while children are disproportionately harmed by poor air quality, due to a variety of physiological factors.^{Footnote 73}

High-risk status is not just a personal attribute, but also a structural position—one that can change over time. Heightened risk can arise from one’s profession, working conditions, socioeconomic status, or access to health information and care.^{Footnote 74} It can also be affected by the protections that workplaces or other institutions choose to provide—or not provide.^{Footnote 75}

In 2022, BC’s Human Rights Commissioner stated that the removal of COVID-19 health protections has resulted in “profoundly unequal effects across society,” highlighting the marginalization of “immuno-compromised people, older people, Indigenous and racialized peoples, people with disabilities, and low-income communities.”^{Footnote 76} Immunocompromised people continue to die from COVID-19 at far higher rates,^{Footnote 77} but though some groups face disproportionate risks, nobody is no-risk.^{Footnote 78} It is also common to become medically higher-risk for many immune-related hazards over time, whether through aging, or from exposure to hazards that damage the body (including the immune system).^{Footnote 79}

As of 2023, 46.1% of Canadian adults report having at least one major chronic disease, with rates in some provinces as high as 59%.^{Footnote 80} As of 2022, 27% of Canadians aged 15 or over have one or more disabilities, and that number continues to rise.^{Footnote 81} Meanwhile, a 2024 survey of BC arts and entertainment workers found 78% of respondents identified as marginalized, underserved, and/or vulnerable, highlighting the widespread social and structural inequities in the sector.^{Footnote 82} Statistically, the majority of people involved in a performing arts event (on- or off-stage) likely have risk factors for more severe health outcomes—or share a household with someone who does.