Canada wraps up more than 200 different ethnic origins but ‘Canadian’ is the most famous ethnic ancestry

Another breakdown from the 2006 census by Statistics Canada shows that the number of visible minorities in Canada has not only surpassed the five million mark for the first time in history but also increased at two times in last 15 years.

According to the Canada's Employment Equity Act, the term visible minority refers to "persons, other than Aboriginal persons, who are non-Caucasian in race or non-white in colour." As per this definition, Chinese, South Asians, Blacks, Arabs, Filipinos, Southeast Asians, Latin Americans, Japanese, Koreans and other visible minority groups such as Pacific Islanders are recognized as visible minority in Canada.

The growth in the visible minority population, driven largely by immigration from non-European countries, soared 26.2 per cent between 2001 and 2006 to nearly 5.1 million, five times faster than the 5.4 per cent increase in overall population. Now visible minorities accounted for 16.2 per cent or one in every six persons in Canada, up from 13.4 per cent at the time of previous census in 2001, and 11.2 per cent at the time of 1996 census. However, it is also a fact that one in three visible minorities was born in Canada, including nearly two-thirds of Japanese, and 44.3 per cent of blacks.

And if current immigration trends continue, it could be projected that Canada's visible minority population will account for one in five of the total population by 2017.

Nearly 96 per cent of visible minorities live in metropolitan areas, compared with just 68.1 per cent of the total population. They account for 42.9 per cent of Toronto's population and 41.7 per cent of Vancouver's, by far the highest proportions among all cities.

Visible minorities also tended to be younger than the population in general with a median age — half being younger and half older — of 33 years compared with 39 for the population as a whole.

South Asians – the largest visible minority group

These latest figures also revealed an interesting fact that, for the first time, South Asians became Canada's largest visible minority group in 2006, surpassing Chinese. Nearly 1.3 million people — a 38 per cent increase over 2001 — identified themselves in 2006 as South Asian, which includes Canadians who came from countries like India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Nepal. They accounted for 24.9 per cent of the visible minority population and 4 per cent of the total population.

The number of people who identified themselves in 2006 as Chinese increased 18.2 per cent, and accounted for 24 per cent of visible minorities, while the number identifying themselves as black, the third largest visible minority, rose 18.4 per cent, and accounted for 15.5 per cent of visible minorities. Other visible minorities included Filipinos, making up 8.1 per cent of all visible minorities, Latin Americans 6 per cent, Arabs 5.2 per cent, West Asians 3.1 per cent, Koreans 2.8 per cent and Japanese 1.6 per cent.

A total of 83.9 per cent of the immigrants who arrived between 2001 and 2006 censuses were from non-European countries.

Ethnocultural Diversity

The report also noted that Canada has more than 200 different ethnic origins, which compares with just 25 in the 1901 census. In 1901, people who reported Aboriginal ancestries and British and French origins made up the largest share of the population. By 2006, there were 11 ethnic origins with more than one million people each.

The most frequently reported ethnic origin was Canadian, with just over 10 million or 32.2 per cent of the population giving that as their ethnic ancestry, including 5.7 million who gave no other ancestry and 4.3 million who included Canadian with another origin. The other most frequently reported origins, either alone or in combination with others were English, French, Scottish, Irish, German, Italian, Chinese, North American Indian, Ukrainian and Dutch.

The highest proportion of people reporting their ethnic ancestry as Canadian include 60.2 per cent in Quebec, 46.2 per cent in Atlantic Canada, and in the other regions ranged from 23 per cent in Ontario to just 4 per cent in Nunavut.

Meanwhile, the proportion reporting multiple ancestries continued to rise, reaching 41.4 per cent in 2006, up from 38.2 per cent in 2001, and 35.8 per cent in 1996.

There is also a 33 per cent increase has been reported in "mixed" marriages or common-law unions involving a visible minority person with a non-visible minority or with a person from another visible minority. Such mixed unions accounted for 3.9 per cent of all unions, up from 3.1 per cent in 2001, and just 2.6 per cent in 1991. South Asians and Chinese were least likely to form a union outside their ethnic group.

Commuters and work clusters

The census found more Canadians go to work in the suburbs of major cities than in the past: Nearly 3.5 million worked in suburbs in 2006, a 12.2 per cent increase over 2001 and nearly twice the 5.9 per cent growth rate in the number of city workers, which were estimated at 2.8 million. Large suburban work clusters include Mississauga and Vaughan in Ontario, Laval in Quebec and Surrey in B.C. The census also found that more Canadians were travelling to work as a passenger or on public transit than in the past.