Visible minorities in GTA could double by 2031: StatsCan

Posted on Mar 10 2010 - 5:38pm by News Desk
Tweet
Pin It
« PREVIOUS
|
NEXT »
Categorized as
56
Related
Al-shabaab-13

Canadian Arrested On Way To Somali Al Qaeda Group

najma

Please help us find Najma Abdullahi, 13 (A Missing Girl in Toronto)

edm_school_books

U of A helps launch Faculty of Education in Somalia

Screen shot 2014-03-06 at 10.38.56 PM

Somali parents decry TDSB action plan, saying move will stigmatize community

Somali youth to mentor their peers with Gawker funds

large_flag_of_canadaBrendan Kennedy Staff Reporter — Visible minorities in Toronto and its surrounding municipalities could more than double in the next 20 years, making up 63 per cent of the area’s total population by 2031, according to a study by Statistics Canada published Tuesday.

The federal agency projects the number of visible minorities in the area to grow from 2.3 million in 2006 to 5.6 million in 2031. The rest of the area’s population is expected to increase by only 8 per cent.

For the purposes of the study, StatsCan uses the census metropolitan area (CMA) of Toronto, which stretches from Oshawa in the east to Burlington in the west and Barrie in the north. It’s similar, though not identical, to the Greater Toronto Area.

According to the study, which projected the diversity of the population across Canada, Toronto would be home to 43 per cent of all the country’s visible minorities.

The study, “Projections of the diversity of the Canadian population,” looked at five different population growth scenarios and found that in all cases, “the diversity of Canada’s population will continue to increase significantly during the next two decades.”

The proportion of foreign-born and visible minority populations in Canada are projected to grow from 16 per cent to 31 per cent of the total population.

Canadian-born visible minorities are expected to increase “rapidly,” as the children and grandchildren of immigrants grow their families, the study states.

Almost all visible minorities will live in cities, with the largest populations concentrated in Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal.

The proportion of visible minorities are expected to double in almost all Ontario cities studied, including Barrie, Guelph, Hamilton, Kitchener, Oshawa and Peterborough.

The projections are based on “medium assumptions” of Toronto’s population growth–a middle ground between low- and high-growth scenarios that follow current demographic trends.

StatsCan used the Employment Equity Act definition of visible minorities, which defines the group as “persons, other than Aboriginal peoples, who are non-Caucasian in race or non-white in colour.”

The study was prepared for Canadian Heritage, Human Resources and Skills Development Canada, and Citizenship and Immigration Canada.

_____

Toronto Star