Injustice unmasked: a systematic review of social justice struggles during the COVID pandemic in Canada.

BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic amplified social injustices through institutional system disruption among marginalized communities in Canada. This study fills an important literature gap by providing the first holistic systematic review with a theoretically grounded framework to anticipate and mitigate social injustices in future public health crises. METHOD: Using PRISMA 2020 framework and the databases of Web of Science, Scopus, and PubMed (n = 58, 2020-2023), the study analyzed the pandemic-induced inequities through the PEO framework. RESULTS: Discrimination was identified as the most pervasive social injustice during the pandemic. Immigrants, Refugees, and Women were identified as the most vulnerable group impacted with various forms of social injustices due to the intersection between different social identities. DISCUSSION: The novel PISIIM framework was developed to equip policy makers, social workers, and other stakeholders in anticipating and mitigating injustices in future public health crises. SYSTEMATIC REVIEW REGISTRATION: https://www.prisma-statement.org/prisma-2020-flow-diagram.