May 10, 2013
Canada’s Diversity Continues to Grow
The recently released data from the 2011 National Household Survey highlighted the trend of continuing change in Canadian society. As immigration numbers continue to rise, it is no surprise that so too does diversity. Canada now boasts 200 ethnic groups and 100 religions, and 19% of its population (about 6.3 million people) as members of a visible minority.
Ontario currently maintains status as the province of choice for immigrants, understandably so with cities like Markham which is 72.3% immigrants, the highest in the country.
In 1981, a mere 4.7 % of the Canadian population deemed themselves members of a visible minority. Twenty years later, this percentage had increased almost threefold, and by 2011 it had increased to one in five.
Asia and the Middle East accounted for the vast majority of immigrants between 2006 and 2011, and the Philippines being the country with the highest number at 152,300. While European-born immigrants were the most common during the 1960s, their percentage has gone down sharply with only 159,700.
This first set of data released by Statistics Canada focused on citizenship, visible minorities, place of birth, ethnic origin, religion, aboriginal people and language. Still to come are statistics relating to labour, education, workplaces, migration, income, earnings and housing.