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Survey data highlights effects of immigration in Canada
| Published: | 14 May at 6 PM |
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Data culled from the newly released 2011 National Household Survey points to major changes in Canadian society as a result of mass immigration.
The national survey revealed that modern-day Canada holds 200 separate ethnicities and 100 diverse religions, and one in every five residents is foreign-born, the highest proportion of all the G8 countries. The greater Toronto region is becoming increasingly multi-national and is now home to many unfamiliar religious practices and languages.
According to Tina Chui, Statistics Canada’s chief of cultural statistics and immigration, diversity takes different forms in different regions. Montreal, she said, has a very different migrant population than, say, Vancouver or Toronto, adding that the city of Markham has 72 per cent minority occupation, the highest in the country.
The foreign-born population of Canada now stands at 6.8 million, over 20 per cent of the total population, with 1.2 million arriving over the last five years. Most migrants come from the Middle East and Asia, although numbers from Central and South America, the Caribbean and Africa are increasing.
Toronto is the strongest magnet for immigrants, with the 2.5 million in residence comprising 46 per cent of Greater Toronto’s entire population. Immigrants are beginning to identify themselves as part of a viable minority group, with one in five in the survey stating their ethnic group.
The survey results drove home the shift in immigration patterns from Europe to Asia, the Americas and the Middle East, confirming the increasing worldwide trend towards migration. Future releases of statistics taken from the survey will examine education, income, housing and the workplace.
The national survey revealed that modern-day Canada holds 200 separate ethnicities and 100 diverse religions, and one in every five residents is foreign-born, the highest proportion of all the G8 countries. The greater Toronto region is becoming increasingly multi-national and is now home to many unfamiliar religious practices and languages.
According to Tina Chui, Statistics Canada’s chief of cultural statistics and immigration, diversity takes different forms in different regions. Montreal, she said, has a very different migrant population than, say, Vancouver or Toronto, adding that the city of Markham has 72 per cent minority occupation, the highest in the country.
The foreign-born population of Canada now stands at 6.8 million, over 20 per cent of the total population, with 1.2 million arriving over the last five years. Most migrants come from the Middle East and Asia, although numbers from Central and South America, the Caribbean and Africa are increasing.
Toronto is the strongest magnet for immigrants, with the 2.5 million in residence comprising 46 per cent of Greater Toronto’s entire population. Immigrants are beginning to identify themselves as part of a viable minority group, with one in five in the survey stating their ethnic group.
The survey results drove home the shift in immigration patterns from Europe to Asia, the Americas and the Middle East, confirming the increasing worldwide trend towards migration. Future releases of statistics taken from the survey will examine education, income, housing and the workplace.
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