SamuraiJack
Apr 2nd, 2008, 02:14 PM
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080402.wcensusmain0402/BNStory/census2006/?page=rss&id=RTGAM.20080402.wcensusmain0402
The number of visible minorities in Canada has cracked the five-million mark for the first time in history, representing 16.2 per cent of the country's total population, new census data released Wednesday show.
The growth in the visible minority population, driven largely by immigration from non-European countries, soared 26.2 per cent between 2001 and 2006, five times faster than the 5.4 per cent increase for the population as a whole, Statistics Canada reports.
And 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 hail from such countries as India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Nepal.
In comparison, the number of Canadians who self-identified as Chinese increased 18.2 per cent from the last census to 1.216 million.
Canada's visible minority population has grown steadily over the past 25 years. In 1981, when data on minorities were first collected, the estimated 1.1 million visible minorities represented 4.7 per cent of Canada's total population. If immigration trends continue, visible minorities will account for about one-fifth of Canada's population by 2017, Statscan says.
If those numbers surprise you, it's likely you live in rural or small-town Canada. Just under 96 per cent of visible minorities live in a census metropolitan area, compared to 68.1 per cent of Canada's overall population. Most are concentrated in Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal. Almost half, 46.9 per cent, of Toronto's population is made up of visible minorities. Conversely, for the entire Atlantic region, it's only 2.6 per cent.
There are also regional differences in the makeup of the minority population, said Rosemary Bender, spokeswoman with Statistics Canada.
"If you look at Quebec, you see a greater proportion that are Blacks and Arabs coming from primarily French-speaking countries," she said. "If you look at Ontario, you'll see a much higher proportion of Chinese and East Indian, and the same of course for Vancouver."
Other highlights of Wednesday's census release:
• There was a 33.1 per cent increase in the number of mixed unions (marriage and common-law), with Japanese, Latin Americans and Blacks most likely to be involved in a mixed relationship, although they still make up a small percentage — 3.9 per cent — of all couples in Canada. South Asians and Chinese were least likely to form a union outside their ethnic group.
• More people than ever are reporting multiple ancestries. "Canadian" remains the most frequently reported ethnic origin, followed by English, French, Scottish and Irish.
• The higher number of visible minorities is due to an increase in immigration from non-European countries. About 75 per cent of recent immigrants — those who arrived after 2001 — were visible minorities.
• The median age of visible minorities is 33 years, considerably younger than the national median of 39 years.
Statscan also released new data on commuters and "work clusters" which could have significant implications for city planners and public transit policy.
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.
"This is having a very interesting impact for city planners and for those who are creating public transit lines or new routes into the workplace," said Ms. Bender. "Certainly, public transit is used traditionally far more to get to the city core, where the clusters have generally been ... People commute to these [suburban] workplaces by car because there's less access to public transit."
In 2006, Canadians were commuting farther to work than in 2001, but slightly fewer were driving their car to work, when population growth was taken into account. The census also found more Canadians were travelling to work as a passenger or on public transit than in the past, although the increase for each was under one per cent.
Census by the numbers
1 — Ranking of Abbotsford, B.C., when it comes to the highest proportion of South Asians in any metropolitan area of Canada. At 16.3 per cent, its South Asian community was higher than Toronto (13.5) and Vancouver (9.9).
4.0 — Percentage of the total Canadian population made up of South Asians, meaning people whose origins are from the Indian subcontinent now represent the single largest visible minority in Canada.
4.1 — Percentage of the country's visible minority population that does not live in a major urban area.
10.4 — Percentage of people in Victoria who walk to work, the greatest proportion in any major Canadian city.
16.2 — Percentage of the Canadian population that is a visible minority.
20 — Percentage increase, from 2001 to 2006, in the number of Canadians (195,500) who biked to work.
27.4 — Percentage growth rate of the visible-minority population between 2001 and 2006, compared with a 5.4-per-cent increase for the population as a whole.
30.2 — Percentage of visible minorities born in Canada.
52 — Percentage of Canada's black population with Caribbean origins.
54.2 — Percentage of Canada's visible minority population that lives in Ontario.
63.2 — Percentage of Canada's Japanese population born in Canada.
65.4 — Percentage of the visible minority population of Markham, Ont., the greatest in any Canadian city, meaning it is one of a few communities in the country where non-visible minorities are actually in the minority.
83.9 — Percentage of recent immigrants from non-European countries, explaining the growth of the visible minority population.
175 — The total visible-minority population of Shawinigan, the home town of former prime minister Jean Chrétien and one of several Quebec cities with a visible minority population of less than 0.5 per cent.
223 — Number of different ancestries reported in the latest census. In 1901, there were only 25.
17,025 — Number of Canadians who identified their ethnic origin as "Newfoundlander" — far more than those who chose "Nova Scotian" (1,875) or "Ontarian" (1,650).
58,600 — Number of visible minorities in the entire Atlantic region, which is less than the minority population of some Toronto suburbs like Vaughan, Ont.
289,400 — Number of mixed unions, meaning marriages or common-law marriages involving at least one visible minority. The number of these marriages has increased 33 per cent since 2001.
Now let's see some of this representation in the media and in government.
The number of visible minorities in Canada has cracked the five-million mark for the first time in history, representing 16.2 per cent of the country's total population, new census data released Wednesday show.
The growth in the visible minority population, driven largely by immigration from non-European countries, soared 26.2 per cent between 2001 and 2006, five times faster than the 5.4 per cent increase for the population as a whole, Statistics Canada reports.
And 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 hail from such countries as India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Nepal.
In comparison, the number of Canadians who self-identified as Chinese increased 18.2 per cent from the last census to 1.216 million.
Canada's visible minority population has grown steadily over the past 25 years. In 1981, when data on minorities were first collected, the estimated 1.1 million visible minorities represented 4.7 per cent of Canada's total population. If immigration trends continue, visible minorities will account for about one-fifth of Canada's population by 2017, Statscan says.
If those numbers surprise you, it's likely you live in rural or small-town Canada. Just under 96 per cent of visible minorities live in a census metropolitan area, compared to 68.1 per cent of Canada's overall population. Most are concentrated in Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal. Almost half, 46.9 per cent, of Toronto's population is made up of visible minorities. Conversely, for the entire Atlantic region, it's only 2.6 per cent.
There are also regional differences in the makeup of the minority population, said Rosemary Bender, spokeswoman with Statistics Canada.
"If you look at Quebec, you see a greater proportion that are Blacks and Arabs coming from primarily French-speaking countries," she said. "If you look at Ontario, you'll see a much higher proportion of Chinese and East Indian, and the same of course for Vancouver."
Other highlights of Wednesday's census release:
• There was a 33.1 per cent increase in the number of mixed unions (marriage and common-law), with Japanese, Latin Americans and Blacks most likely to be involved in a mixed relationship, although they still make up a small percentage — 3.9 per cent — of all couples in Canada. South Asians and Chinese were least likely to form a union outside their ethnic group.
• More people than ever are reporting multiple ancestries. "Canadian" remains the most frequently reported ethnic origin, followed by English, French, Scottish and Irish.
• The higher number of visible minorities is due to an increase in immigration from non-European countries. About 75 per cent of recent immigrants — those who arrived after 2001 — were visible minorities.
• The median age of visible minorities is 33 years, considerably younger than the national median of 39 years.
Statscan also released new data on commuters and "work clusters" which could have significant implications for city planners and public transit policy.
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.
"This is having a very interesting impact for city planners and for those who are creating public transit lines or new routes into the workplace," said Ms. Bender. "Certainly, public transit is used traditionally far more to get to the city core, where the clusters have generally been ... People commute to these [suburban] workplaces by car because there's less access to public transit."
In 2006, Canadians were commuting farther to work than in 2001, but slightly fewer were driving their car to work, when population growth was taken into account. The census also found more Canadians were travelling to work as a passenger or on public transit than in the past, although the increase for each was under one per cent.
Census by the numbers
1 — Ranking of Abbotsford, B.C., when it comes to the highest proportion of South Asians in any metropolitan area of Canada. At 16.3 per cent, its South Asian community was higher than Toronto (13.5) and Vancouver (9.9).
4.0 — Percentage of the total Canadian population made up of South Asians, meaning people whose origins are from the Indian subcontinent now represent the single largest visible minority in Canada.
4.1 — Percentage of the country's visible minority population that does not live in a major urban area.
10.4 — Percentage of people in Victoria who walk to work, the greatest proportion in any major Canadian city.
16.2 — Percentage of the Canadian population that is a visible minority.
20 — Percentage increase, from 2001 to 2006, in the number of Canadians (195,500) who biked to work.
27.4 — Percentage growth rate of the visible-minority population between 2001 and 2006, compared with a 5.4-per-cent increase for the population as a whole.
30.2 — Percentage of visible minorities born in Canada.
52 — Percentage of Canada's black population with Caribbean origins.
54.2 — Percentage of Canada's visible minority population that lives in Ontario.
63.2 — Percentage of Canada's Japanese population born in Canada.
65.4 — Percentage of the visible minority population of Markham, Ont., the greatest in any Canadian city, meaning it is one of a few communities in the country where non-visible minorities are actually in the minority.
83.9 — Percentage of recent immigrants from non-European countries, explaining the growth of the visible minority population.
175 — The total visible-minority population of Shawinigan, the home town of former prime minister Jean Chrétien and one of several Quebec cities with a visible minority population of less than 0.5 per cent.
223 — Number of different ancestries reported in the latest census. In 1901, there were only 25.
17,025 — Number of Canadians who identified their ethnic origin as "Newfoundlander" — far more than those who chose "Nova Scotian" (1,875) or "Ontarian" (1,650).
58,600 — Number of visible minorities in the entire Atlantic region, which is less than the minority population of some Toronto suburbs like Vaughan, Ont.
289,400 — Number of mixed unions, meaning marriages or common-law marriages involving at least one visible minority. The number of these marriages has increased 33 per cent since 2001.
Now let's see some of this representation in the media and in government.