Statistics Canada has released data from the 2006 Census on ethnic origin, visible minorities, place of work and mode of transportation. Each wave of immigration to Canada has increased the ethnocultural diversity of Canada’s population. In fact, more than 200 different ethnic origins were reported in the 2006 Census. In contrast, just about 25 different ethnic groups were recorded in Canada in the 1901 Census.

The list of ethnic ancestries in 2006 includes North American Indian, Métis and Inuit, the Europeans that first settled in Canada, such as the English, French, Scottish and Irish. It also includes origins reflecting immigrants who came to Canada over the past century, such as German, Italian, Chinese, Ukrainian, Dutch, Polish, East Indian and so on.

Among newer groups reported in 2006 were Montserratan from the Caribbean and Chadian, Gabonese, Gambian and Zambian from Africa.

By 2006, 11 ethnic origins had passed the 1-million population mark. The largest group consisted of just over 10 million people who reported Canadian as their ethnic ancestry, either alone (5.7 million) or with other origins (4.3 million).

The other most frequently reported origins were English, French, Scottish, Irish, German, Italian, Chinese, North American Indian, Ukrainian and Dutch. These ancestries were either reported alone or in combination with other origins, reflecting the increasing diversity of the population.

Visible minority population surpasses 5-million mark
In 2006, an estimated 5,068,100 individuals who belonged to the visible minority population. They made up 16.2 percent of the total population in Canada.

(visible minorities are legally defined as “persons, other than Aboriginal persons, who are non-Caucasian in race or non-white in colour.”)

The visible minority population has grown steadily over the last 25 years. In 1981, when data for the employment equity-designated groups were first derived, the estimated 1.1 million visible minorities represented 4.7 percent of Canada’s total population.

In 1991, 2.5 million people were members of the visible minority population, 9.4 percent of the population. The visible minority population further increased to 3.2 million in 1996, or 11.2 percent of the total population. By 2001, their numbers had reached an estimated 3,983,800 or 13.4 percent of the total population.

Between 2001 and 2006, the visible minority population increased at a much faster pace than the total population. Its rate of growth was 27.2 percent, five times faster than the 5.4 percent increase for the population as a whole.

The growth of the visible minority population was due largely to the increasing number of recent immigrants who were from non-European countries. In 1981, 69 percent of all recent immigrants to Canada were born in regions other than Europe, and by 1991, this proportion had grown to 78 percent. The 2006 Census showed that 84 percent of the immigrants who arrived between 2001 and 2006 were born in regions other than Europe.

Consequently, the proportion of newcomers who belonged to a visible minority group also increased. In 1981, 56 percent of the newcomers who arrived in Canada in the late 1970s belonged to a visible minority group. In 1991, slightly over 7 in 10 recent immigrants were members of a visible minority group, and this proportion reached 73 percent in 2001.

Fully three-quarters of the immigrants who arrived between 2001 and 2006 belonged to a visible minority group.

If current immigration trends continue, Canada’s visible minority population will continue to grow much more quickly than the non-visible minority population. According to population projections, members of visible minority groups could account for one-fifth of the total Canadian population by 2017.

South Asians surpass Chinese as the largest visible minority group
The South Asians became Canada’s largest visible minority group in 2006, surpassing Chinese for the first time. The populations of both were well over 1 million.

The 2006 Census enumerated an estimated 1,262,900 individuals who identified themselves as South Asian, a growth rate of 38 percent from 2001. They represented one-quarter of all visible minorities, or 4 percent of the total population in Canada.

Tthe number of individuals who identified themselves as Chinese increased 18.2 percent from 2001 to 1,216,600 in 2006. Chinese accounted for 24 percent of the visible minority population and 3.9 percent of the total Canadian population.

The number of those identifying themselves as Black, the third largest visible minority group, rose 18 percent from 662,200 individuals in 2001 to an estimated 783,800. They accounted for 16 percent of the visible minority population and 2.5 percent of the total population in 2006.

Other visible minority groups included Filipinos, who represented 8.1 percent of the visible minority population, Latin Americans (6.0 percent), Arabs (5.2 percent), Southeast Asians (4.7 percent), West Asians (3.1 percent), Koreans (2.8 percent) and Japanese (1.6 percent).

15 Apr 2008