Canada and the World
Current Events with a Canadian Perspective
Last update
08 June 2011
Immigrants Cluster in Cities
New waves of immigration have transformed the
face of urban Canada. And, with a lower
birth rate, the country will need more
immigrants to keep the population from declining
A hundred years ago most immigrants to Canada were British. Between 1896 and 1905,
the Canadian government started actively recruiting non-
William James Topley / Library and Archives Canada/Bibliothèque et Archives Canada
/ PA-
They began to flood in during the first decade of the century: in 1901, 50,000 came; in 1913, there were 400,000 new arrivals.
Immigration Opened to Non-
During the 1960s, immigration policy reforms eliminated preferences for immigrants
of European origin and implemented a points-
As more people from visible minorities started to settle, the character of communities changed.
In March 2004, Statistics Canada reported that there has been a phenomenal increase
in visible-
In 1981, Canada could count only six such neighbourhoods across the country. In 1991, there were 77, but by 2001, the number swelled to 254, nearly all of them in Toronto (135) and Vancouver (111), with some in Montreal (8).
In 2001, 73 percent of Canada’s four million visible-
More than 60 percent of these neighbourhoods were Chinese (157 out of 254), about one third were South Asian, with Blacks comprising only 13 of the total.
By 2003, nearly 44 percent of the population of the Greater Toronto Area was foreign-
Ethnic Clusters
One community that has seen dramatic change is Thorncliffe Park in Toronto, home
to one of the largest Afghan communities in the city. Thorncliffe is a community
of high-
Heading east to Agincourt in North Scarborough where there are so many Asian residents that a Dragon Centre, a Chinese shopping mall, was developed in 1984. It was a move that raised concerns among local residents that their community was being taken over.
In addition, there are large “Chinatown” neighbourhoods in Vancouver, Toronto (left),
and Montreal.
While it’s natural for immigrants to feel comfortable within their own ethnic neighbourhoods, the StatsCan report also raised concerns that by doing so they are becoming isolated from the rest of the community.
“Residential concentration of minority groups may result in social isolation and
reduce minorities’ incentives to acquire the host-
Difficult Integration with Wider Community
But, some say it’s misleading to suggest that minorities who cluster in groups with family and friends don’t adapt as well to their new home. Most of them still interact with people outside their ethnic community, whether it’s at work or in school.
Usha George, director of Canada’s Joint Centre of Excellence for Research on Immigration
and Settlement, says new immigrants could also be restricted to poor neighbourhoods
with affordable housing because they are at the bottom of the socio-
“For a lot of them, the congregations in certain neighbourhoods are not by choice. Most of them are forced to do it,” says Ms. George, who is also a professor in the University of Toronto’s social work department.
The Statistics Canada report also found that visible-
In Toronto, the unemployment rate rises from 5.7% in neighbourhoods where less than
one-
Canada’s Population Decline
But, many argue that Canada needs immigrants as an answer to looming labour shortages.
As the first statistical portrait of Canada in the 21st century, the 2001 Census
showed that the country’s population growth rate has slowed to an all-
Even for the population to stay where it is will require more immigrants: Canada’s
fertility rate is just 1.5 children (the average number of children a woman will
have over her lifetime), and that figure needs to be 2.1 children per woman to sustain
the current level of population.
Economists and demographers expect the birth rate to continue to drop, and a result will be labour shortages within five years unless young immigrants are brought here to fill jobs.
In the past, Canada has boosted immigration to counter its dropping birth rate, but in the last two decades, the immigrants Canada selected have been more educated and urbanized. So, they too have had fewer children.
Many say the country needs more immigrants, beyond the current level of 210,000 people a year.
According to a 2001 report by the Urban Futures Institute in Vancouver, “the long term financial sustainability of Canada’s pension plans, health care, income redistribution programs, and other social services are dependent upon Canada having its current, or a higher, level of immigration in the future…We must look at immigration…as an investment in the future, ours and everyone else’s. If we don’t, we are all going to be a lot poorer.”
Image credits
AILAFM
Lars Plougmann
Sources
“Visible Minority Neighbourhoods in Toronto, Omntreal, and Vancouver.” Fen Hou and Garnet Picot, Canadian Social Trends, Spring 2004.
Joint Centre of Excellence for Research on Immigration and Settlement.
“Ethnic Mini-
Urban Futures Institute.
© Canada and the World, June 2011
All rights reserved
FIRST CHOICE
There are many reasons why people come to Canada.
According to a 2001 Statistics Canada study, 98 percent of newcomers to Canada between October 2000 and September 2001 said it was the only destination they applied to when they chose to leave their homeland, and they are developing a strong attachment to the country.
The study involved about 12,000 of the roughly 164,200 immigrants aged 15 and older who arrived that year.
Many of them emigrated for economic reasons; some came to Canada to reunite with their family; others chose to leave their homeland for political or other personal reasons.
Whatever the reason, most (91 percent) said they intended to settle here permanently and become Canadian citizens. And, most (78 percent) settled in areas where their network of friends and relatives lived.
Three-
Education prospects (12 percent), lifestyle (six percent) and business prospects (six percent) were the other top reasons for many applicants to settle in areas other than the three largest cities.
The survey also found that, prior to coming to Canada, the two most common occupational groups for men were natural and applied sciences and management; for women, they were business, finance, and administration, as well as social science, education, government services, and religious occupations.
The 2001 Canadian census showed that, for the first time in 100 years, Canada is growing more slowly than the United States.
In the 1950s, the average Canadian woman had four children over her lifetime.
Shiploads of people from different countries would come across the ocean in the hopes of starting a life in the new world.
Some settled in New Brunswick, but most moved on to other parts of Canada and the United States.
Regardless of their destination, if they entered North America via the Saint John Harbour, they had to be inspected by quarantine staff.
From 1785 to 1942, Partridge Island served as North America's first Quarantine Station to prevent the spread of diseases.
In 1830, there were so many immigrants afflicted with fever and smallpox that they were housed in army tents. Hospitals often were overflowing.
The most tragic years for Partridge Island were 1845-
Sick people were forced to lie on bare ground, despite the weather. Partridge Island was designated a national historic site in 1947. Another important Quarantine Station was the island of Grosse Ile, located close to the Port of Quebec.