For all the "visibility" of Asian faces in Canada, the reality is the population is still of predominantly European origins. Of a population of more than 31 million, visible minorities (non-whites and non-Aboriginal) make up four million. Of those, more than one million are Chinese, making them the largest group. Since the late 1990s, the fastest growing population of visible minorities, however, is South Asian.
The proportion of Canada's population that is non-European has been rising much faster than that which is European since the 1980s, having risen two and a half times since then. Much of this is explained by immigration. In 1980, the United Kingdom, historically where Canada drew most of its immigrants, was third behind India and China as a source of immigrants. In the 1990s, nine of the top ten countries of origin of immigrants to Canada were Asian; in 10th place was the United States.
New Canadians
Today, newcomers to Canada are most likely to come from Asia, including the Middle East. Ranked by the greatest number of immigrants to Canada, those countries are: China, India, Vietnam, Korea, Pakistan, Iran, Japan, Lao PDR, Cambodia, Indonesia, Thailand and Sri Lanka. Europe ranks second with about 20% of Canada's immigrants, then the Caribbean and Central and South America followed by Africa. Newcomers enter under various classes, including business, skilled workers, refugees, or family reunification, and the composition from individual countries shifts. Of today's foreign students in Canada, the greatest number comes from South Korea, followed by Japan and China.
Because very few immigrants choose to live in Canada's rural areas, the Asian influences in everyday life are more evident in the changing cityscapes and urban life. This is so particularly in Canada's two largest cities, Toronto and Vancouver, where one-third of their residents are visible minorities. Vancouver's Asians are mostly Chinese. In Toronto, South Asians outnumber the Chinese. By comparison, in Calgary and Edmonton, visible minorities are 1 in 6, 1 in 14 in Oshawa and, in Saskatoon, still fewer at 1 in 20, and in St. John's, 1 in 100.
Where are you from?
A question that rankles some visible minorities is, "Where are you from?" Often the questioner intends to inquire about someone's ethnic heritage rather than to ask how long someone or his or her family has been in Canada. Of course, the answer to the latter can vary. For example, the majority of Japanese in Canada were born here. In contrast, most Sri Lankans have come since the 1990s.
Learn more: The ethnocultural diversity of the Canadian population