A visible minority is defined by the Canadian government as "persons, other than aboriginal peoples, who are non-Caucasian in race or non-white in colour". The term is used primarily as a demographic category by Statistics Canada, in connection with that country's Employment Equity policies. The qualifier "visible" is important in the Canadian context as historically its political divisions from the period of colonial history have traditionally been determined by language (French vs. English) and religion (Catholics vs. Protestants), which are "invisible" traits.