Ethnic Groups in Canada

A

Population

Asian Canadians include people who came to Canada from Asia, their descendents, and people of direct Asian descent. The government divides Asian Canadians into five groups (ranked by size): East and Southeast Asians (Chinese, Filipino, Indonesian, Japanese, Korean, Malay, and other Asian); Arabs and West Asians (Afghan, Armenian, Iranian, Israeli, Kurdish, and Turkish); South Asians (Bangladeshi, Bengali, Pakistani, Punjabi, Sinhalese, Sri Lankan, Tamil, and other Indians); Indo-Chinese (Burmese, Cambodian, Laotian, Thai, and Vietnamese); and Pacific Islanders (Fijian and Polynesian). By percentage of population, the largest group was the Chinese (3.5 percent). After that, the South Asians, Arabs and West Asians, and Filipinos were the largest groups.

Asian immigrants to Canada have generally settled in the urban centers of Toronto, Montréal, and Vancouver. During the 1990s many Asian immigrants also settled in Calgary, Alberta. The Chinese have been a major source of Asian immigration to Canada since the 19th century. Many came from Hong Kong in the 1990s, before Britain surrendered control of the region to the Chinese government in 1997. The large influxes of Chinese immigrants from Hong Kong and China settled primarily in Vancouver and Toronto. In 2001 about 345,000 Chinese lived in the Vancouver metropolitan area, and more than 435,000 lived in the Toronto metropolitan area.

B

Culture

Asian Canadians, having come from so many different countries, share no one language. Most of them speak the language of their home country, but many also speak English. As immigration increased to Canada from Hong Kong and mainland China in the 1980s and 1990s, Chinese became the most frequently reported language spoken in Canadian homes after English and French. Punjabi, spoken by many South Asians, and Tagalog, spoken by many Filipinos, also experienced strong growth as Asian immigration to Canada increased.

Asian Canadians are Christian and Eastern non-Christian. Six major religions—Hinduism, Sikhism, Islam, Jainism, Buddhism, and Zoroastrianism—are common among people from the Indian subcontinent. Also common are several Christian denominations. The Chinese generally do not profess a specific religion. If they adhere to a Chinese religion, it is likely to be Buddhism or Taoism. However, in Canada, many Chinese are Roman Catholic, Presbyterian, Baptist, Anglican, or United Church of Canada.

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C

History

Asian immigration began in the late 19th century, when the Canadian government recruited Chinese men to help build the Canadian Pacific Railway, and some Asians then settled in British Columbia. Many Canadians feared and mistrusted non-British foreigners, and Canada’s immigration policy discriminated against them. In the 1880s the government imposed a head tax (fee for each person entering the country) on Chinese immigrants. In 1923 the government passed the Chinese Immigration Act, which effectively barred Chinese from entering the country. Chinese immigration began to increase after the government repealed the act in 1947. Still, the Asian population in Canada remained small.

By the late 1960s, however, the government was desperate to bolster its workforce. Fewer Europeans were coming to Canada due to prosperity in Europe. The government made immigration standards more objective so that biases against non-Europeans would no longer be a factor.

While race is no longer a factor in Canada’s immigration laws, education and work skills are. As a result, Asian immigrants who have gained legal entrance to the country are often highly educated. Many are doctors, engineers, and other professionals. Asians can be found in government and most white-collar professions. Hong Kong-born Adrienne Clarkson served as governor-general of Canada from 1999 to 2005, and Ujjal Dosanjh, an Indian Canadian, was premier of British Columbia in 2000 and 2001.

VIII

Black Canadians

A

Population

Black Canadians numbered 662,000, or 2.2 percent of the Canadian population, in 2001. Black Canadians include people with origins in Africa, the West Indies, the Americas, and the United Kingdom. Most blacks have settled in Canada’s urban centers. The largest black community is in Toronto, followed by one in Montréal and one that straddles Ottawa, Ontario, and the neighboring city of Hull, Québec.

B

Culture

Canadian blacks are culturally diverse but many, such as those of Caribbean ethnicity, speak English. Some, such as the Haitians, speak French.

Most black Canadians are Roman Catholic, Anglican, or members of the United Church of Canada. Some blacks adhere to the British Episcopal Methodist and African Episcopal Methodist churches.

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