TORONTO - A new survey has found that about 30 per cent of people in Canada who identify with a specific diversity group say they have experienced at least one incident of discrimination at their current employer.

The poll, commissioned by the Boston Consulting Group's Centre for Canada's Future, found that 33 per cent of women said they had encountered at least one discriminatory incident, as did 33 per cent of LGBTQ and 34 per cent of those who identify as people of colour.

The percentage was higher for Indigenous respondents, at 40 per cent, and those with a disability at 41 per cent, according to the survey of 5,000 working Canadians at companies with more than 1,000 employees.

BCG's managing director and senior partner Nan DasGupta says these proportions are "too high" and not what most Canadians would feel comfortable with given the country's stance on multiculturalism.

The survey also found those at the top were more optimistic about the company's progress than the employee base, with 52 per cent of executives saying the firm had made progress in improving diversity in its top management team in the last one to three years, compared to 40 per cent of non-executives.

DasGupta says this perception gap is in part due to the fact that those at the executive level tend to be less diverse than the overall company, but also that they are more aware of initiatives that are underway.