Asian Canadians


Asian Canadians are Canadians who can trace their ancestry back to the continent of Asia or Asian people. Canadians with Asian ancestry comprise the largest and fastest growing group in Canada, after European Canadians, with roughly 17.7% of the Canadian population. Most Asian Canadians are concentrated in the urban areas of Southern Ontario, Southwestern British Columbia, Central Alberta, and other large Canadian cities.
Asian Canadians are considered visible minorities and may be classified as East Asian Canadians, South Asian Canadians, Southeast Asian Canadian, or West Asian Canadians.

Terminology

In the Canadian Census, people with origins or ancestry in East Asia, South Asia, Southeast Asia, West Asia or Central Asia are all classified as part of the Asian race.

History

18th Century

The first record of Asians in what is known as Canada today can be dated back to the late 18th century. In 1788, renegade British Captain John Meares hired a group of Chinese carpenters from Macau and employed them to build a ship at Nootka Sound, Vancouver Island, British Columbia. After the outpost was seized by Spanish forces, the eventual whereabouts of the carpenters was largely unknown.

19th Century

During the mid 19th century, many Chinese arrived to take part in the British Columbia gold rushes. Beginning in 1858, early settlers formed Victoria's Chinatown and other Chinese communities in New Westminster, Yale and Lillooet. Estimates indicate that about 1/3 of the non-native population of the Fraser goldfields was Chinese. Later, the construction of the Canadian Pacific Railway prompted another wave of immigration from the East Asian country. Mainly hailing from Guangdong Province, the Chinese helped build the Canadian Pacific Railway through the Fraser Canyon.
Many Japanese people also arrived in Canada during the mid to late 19th century and became fishermen and merchants in British Columbia. Early immigrants from the East Asian island nation most notably worked in canneries such as Steveston along the pacific coast.
Similarly in the late 19th century, many Indians hailing from Punjab Province settled in British Columbia and worked in the forestry industry. Most early immigrants hailing from South Asia first settled around sawmill towns along the Fraser River in southwestern British Columbia such as Kitsilano, Fraser Mills and Queensborough. Later, many Indian immigrants also settled on Vancouver Island, working on local sawmills in Victoria, Coombs, Duncan, Ocean Falls and Paldi.
Lebanese and Syrians also first immigrated in Canada during the late 19th century; as both countries were under Ottoman dominion at the time they were originally branded as Turks. Settling in the Montreal area of southern Quebec, they became the first West Asian group to immigrate to Canada.
By 1884 Nanaimo, New Westminster, Yale and Victoria had the largest Chinese populations in the province. Other settlements such as Quesnelle Forks were majority Chinese and many early immigrants from the East Asian country settled on Vancouver Island, most notably in Cumberland. In addition to work on the railway, most Chinese in the late 19th century British Columbia lived among other Chinese and worked in market gardens, coal mines, sawmills, and salmon canneries.
In 1885, soon after the construction on the railway was completed, the federal government passed the Chinese Immigration Act, whereby the government began to charge a substantial head tax for each Chinese person trying to immigrate to Canada. A decade later, the fear of the "Yellow Peril" prompted the government of Mackenzie Bowell to pass an act forbidding any East Asian Canadian from voting or holding office.
Many Chinese workers settled in Canada after the railway was constructed, however most could not bring the rest of their families, including immediate relatives, due to government restrictions and enormous processing fees. They established Chinatowns and societies in undesirable sections of the cities, such as East Pender Street in Vancouver, which had been the focus of the early city's red-light district until Chinese merchants took over the area from the 1890s onwards.

20th Century

Immigration restrictions stemming from anti-Asian sentiment in Canada continued during the early 20th century. Parliament voted to increase the Chinese head tax to $500 dollars in 1902; this temporarily caused Chinese immigration to Canada to stop. However, in following years, Chinese immigration to Canada recommenced as many saved up money to pay the head tax.
Due to the decrease in Chinese immigration, Steamship lines began recruiting Indians to make up for the loss of business; the Fraser River Canners' Association and the Kootchang Fruit Growers' Association asked the Canadian government to abolish immigration restrictions. Letters from persons settling in Canada gave persons still in India encouragement to move to Canada, and there was an advertising campaign to promote British Columbia as an immigration destination.
Heightened anti-Asian sentiment resulted in the infamous anti-Asian pogrom in Vancouver. Spurred by similar riots in Bellingham targeting South Asian settlers, The Asiatic Exclusion League organized attacks against homes and businesses owned by East Asian immigrants under the slogan "White Canada Forever!"; though no one was killed, much property damage was done and numerous East Asian Canadians were beaten up.
In 1908, the British Columbia government passed a law preventing South Asian Canadians from voting. Because eligibility for federal elections originated from provincial voting lists, Indians were also unable to vote in federal elections. Later, the Canadian government enacted a $200 head tax and passed the continuous journey regulation which indirectly halted Indian immigration to Canada, thus restricting all immigration from South Asia.
A direct result of the continuous journey regulation was the Komagata Maru Incident in Vancouver. In May 1914, hundreds of South Asians hailing from Punjab were denied entry into the country, eventually forced to depart for India. By 1916, despite a declining population due to immigration restrictions, many Indian settlers established the Paldi mill colony on Vancouver Island.
During the first world war, Turkish Canadians were placed in “enemy alien" internment camps.
In 1923, the federal government passed the Chinese Immigration Act of 1923, which banned all Chinese immigration, and led to immigration restrictions for all East Asians. In 1947, the act was repealed.
The second world war prompted the federal government used the War Measures Act to brand Japanese Canadians enemy aliens and categorized them as security threats in 1942. Tens of thousands of were placed in internment and road camps camps in British Columbia; prison of war camps in Ontario; and families were also sent as forced labourers to farms throughout the prairies. By 1943, all properties owned by Japanese Canadians in British Columbia were seized and sold without consent.
The Iranian revolution of 1979 resulted in a spike of immigration to Canada from the West Asian country. In the aftermath, many Iranian-Canadians began to categorize themselves as "Persian" rather than "Iranian", mainly to dissociate themselves from the Islamic regime of Iran and the negativity associated with it, and also to distinguish themselves as being of Persian ethnicity.

During and after the Vietnam War, a large wave of Vietnamese refugees began arriving in Canada. The Canadian Parliament created the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada in 1985 to better address issues surrounding Canada-Asia relations, including trade, citizenship and immigration. When Hong Kong reverted to mainland Chinese rule, people emigrated and found new homes in Canada.

21st Century

In 2016, the Canadian government issued a full apology in parliament for the Komagata Maru Incident.
In recent decades, a large number of people have come to Canada from India and other South Asian countries. As of 2016, South Asians make up nearly 17 percent of the Greater Toronto Area's population, and are projected to make up 24 percent of the region's population by 2031.

Today, Asian Canadians form a significant minority within the population, and over 6 million ethnic Asians call Canada their home. Asian Canadians are among the educated and socioeconomically affluent groups in Canada. Asian Canadian students, in particular those of East Asian or South Asian background, make up the majority of students at several Canadian universities.

Demography

Population

The Canadian population who reported full or partial Asian ethnic origin, including West Central Asian and Middle Eastern, according to the 2016 census:
Province or territoryAsian origins%
3,100,45523.4%
1,312,44528.8%
756,33519.0%
563,1507.1%
178,65014.4%
99,1259.3%
42,4954.7%
19,4102.7%
10,0902.0%
6,4854.6%
3,1257.6%
2,8558.1%
6151.7%
Canada6,095,23517.7%

Ethnic Origins

While the Asian Canadian population is diverse, many have ancestry from a few select countries in the continent. Nearly four million or 66% of Asian Canadians can trace their roots to just three countries; China, India and the Philippines.
Ethnic OriginsPopulation
Chinese Canadians1,769,195
Indian Canadians1,374,715
Filipino Canadians851,410
Vietnamese Canadians240,615
Lebanese Canadians219,555
Pakistani Canadians215,560
Iranian Canadians210,405
Korean Canadians198,210
Sri Lankan Canadians152,595
Japanese Canadians121,485
Punjabi Canadians118,395
Arab Canadians
111,405
Afghan Canadians83,995
Syrian Canadians77,045
South Asian Canadians
76,400
Iraqi Canadians70,920
Turkish Canadians63,995
Armenian Canadians63,810
Tamil Canadians48,670
Bangladeshi Canadian45,940
Palestinian Canadians44,820
Cambodian Canadians38,495
Taiwanese Canadians36,515
Israeli Canadians28,735
West Central Asian and Middle Eastern
25,280
Laotian Canadians24,575
Bengali Canadians22,900
Other Asian origins
22,745
Indonesian Canadians21,395
Thai Canadians19,010
Nepali Canadians17,140
Malaysian Canadians16,920
Kurdish Canadians16,315
Jordanian Canadians14,250
Assyrian Canadians13,830
Burmese Canadians9,330
Gujarati Canadians8,350
Tibetan Canadians8,040
Mongolian Canadians7,475
Sinhalese Canadians7,285
Saudi Arabian Canadians6,810
Yemeni Canadians6,645
East and Southeast Asian
6,505
Azerbaijani Canadians6,425
Goan Canadians6,070
Tatar Canadians4,825
Pashtun Canadians4,810
Georgian Canadians4,775
Karen Canadians4,515
Uzbek Canadians3,920
Bhutanese Canadians3,600
Kazakh Canadians3,330
Kashmiri Canadians3,115
Tajik Canadians2,905
Singaporean Canadians2,845
Kuwaiti Canadians2,240
Uighur Canadians1,555
Hazara Canadians1,520
Kyrgyz Canadians1,055
Turkmen Canadians1,040
Hmong Canadians805

Language

Knowledge of language

As of 2016, 6,044,885 or 17.5 percent of Canadians speak an Asian language. Of this, the top five Asian tongues spoken include Mandarin, Cantonese, Punjabi, Arabic and Tagalog.
#Knowledge of languagePopulation % of Asian languages
1Mandarin814,450
2Cantonese699,125
3Punjabi668,240
4Arabic629,055
5Tagalog 612,735
6Hindi433,365
7Urdu322,220
8Persian 252,320
9Vietnamese198,895
10Tamil189,860
11Korean172,755
12Gujarati149,045
13Bengali91,220
14Japanese83,090
15Hebrew75,020
16Turkish50,775
17Min Nan
42,840
18Chinese, n.o.s.41,690
19Armenian41,295
20Malayalam37,810
21Ilocano34,530
22Sinhala27,825
23Cebuano27,045
24Khmer 27,035
25Pashto23,180
26Telugu23,160
27Malay22,470
28Nepali21,380
29Sindhi20,260
30Assyrian Neo-Aramaic19,745
31Lao17,235
32Wu 16,530
33Marathi15,570
34Thai15,390
35Kurdish15,290
36Hakka12,445
37Indo-Iranian languages, n.i.e.8,875
38Kannada8,245
39Hiligaynon7,925
40Chaldean Neo-Aramaic7,115
41Tibetan7,050
42Konkani6,790
43Austronesian languages, n.i.e.5,585
44Azerbaijani5,450
45Pampangan 5,425
46Other37,530
Total6,044,885

Mother Tongue

As of 2016, 4,217,365 or 12.2 percent of Canadians speak an Asian language as a mother tongue. Of this, the top five Asian tongues spoken include Mandarin, Cantonese, Punjabi, Tagalog and Arabic.
#Mother TonguePopulation % of Asian languages
1Mandarin592,035
2Cantonese565,275
3Punjabi501,680
4Tagalog 431,385
5Arabic419,895
6Persian 214,200
7Urdu210,820
8Vietnamese156,430
9Korean153,425
10Tamil140,720
11Hindi110,645
12Gujarati108,775
13Bengali73,125
14Japanese43,640
15Chinese, n.o.s.38,575
16Armenian33,455
17Turkish32,815
18Min Nan
31,795
19Malayalam28,570
20Ilocano26,345
21Khmer 20,130
22Cebuano19,890
23Hebrew19,530
24Nepali18,275
25Pashto16,910
26Sinhala16,335
27Assyrian Neo-Aramaic16,070
28Telugu15,655
29Wu 12,920
30Malay12,275
31Sindhi11,860
32Kurdish11,705
33Hakka10,910
34Other101,295
Total4,217,365

Religion

Subdivisions with notable Asian Canadians

Source: Canada 2016 Census
National average: 17.7%

Alberta