Visible Minority Population, 2006

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Abstract

The 2006 Census estimated 5.1 million individuals who belonged to a visible minority. The Employment Equity Act defines visible minorities as 'persons, other than Aboriginal peoples, who are non-Caucasian in race or non-white in colour’. This map shows the percentage of visible minorities by census divisions and subdivisions.

The 2006 Census estimated 5.1 million individuals who belonged to a visible minority. The Employment Equity Act defines visible minorities as 'persons, other than Aboriginal peoples, who are non-Caucasian in race or non-white in colour.' Regulations specify the following groups as visible minorities: Chinese, South Asian, Black, Arab, West Asian, Filipino, Southeast Asian, Latin American, Japanese, Korean and other visible minority groups, such as Pacific Islanders.

The visible minority population has grown steadily over the last 25 years. In 1981, when data for the four Employment Equity designated groups were first derived, the estimated 1.1 million visible minorities represented 4.7% of Canada's total population. In 1991, 2.5 million people were members of the visible minority population, 9.4% of the total population. The visible minority population further increased to 3.2 million in 1996, or 11.2% of the total population. By 2001, their numbers had reached an estimated 3.9 million or 13.4% of the total population. In 2006, the visible minorities accounted for 16.2% of Canada’s total population.

Between 2001 and 2006, the visible minority population increased at a much faster rate than the total population. Its rate of growth was 27.2%, five times faster than the 5.4% increase for the population as a whole. The growth of the visible minority population was due largely to the increasing number of recent immigrants (landed immigrants who came to Canada up to five years prior to a given census year) who were from non-European countries. In 1981, 68.5% of all recent immigrants to Canada were born in regions other than Europe, and by 1991, this proportion had grown to 78.3%. The 2006 Census showed that 83.9% of the immigrants who arrived between 2001 and 2006 were born in regions other than Europe.

Consequently, the proportion of newcomers who belonged to a visible minority group also increased. In 1981, 55.5% of the newcomers who arrived in Canada in the late 1970s belonged to a visible minority group. In 1991, slightly over seven in 10 (71.2%) recent immigrants were members of a visible minority group, and this proportion reached 72.9% in 2001. In 2006, three-quarters (75.0%) of the recent immigrants belonged to a visible minority group.

Visible Minorities in the Provinces and Territories

The 2006 Census enumerated a population of 58 600 that belonged to a visible minority in the Atlantic region. They accounted for 2.6% of the region's population of about 2.3 million residents, well below the national average of 16.2%.

In Québec, there was a visible minority population of 654 300, the third highest number after Ontario and British Columbia. This population accounted for 8.8% of Quebec's total population, up from 7.0% in 2001 and 6.2% in 1996. The vast majority (90.2%) of the visible minorities in Quebec lived in the census metropolitan area of Montréal. Its visible minority population of 590 400 represented 16.5% of its total population.

Ontario had a population of 2.7 million visible minorities in 2006, more than half (54.2%) of Canada's total visible minority population. Visible minorities comprised 22.8% of Ontario's total population in 2006. In contrast, just 25 years earlier, they accounted for only 6.4%. Most visible minorities in Ontario lived in major urban centres in 2006, especially in the census metropolitan area of Toronto. Much of this growth can be traced to immigration, particularly among newcomers from India and the People's Republic of China.

The three Prairie provinces—Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta—were collectively home to 597 200 people belonging to a visible minority group.These individuals represented 11.2% of the region's 5.3 million residents in 2006. Alberta was home to the major share of the visible minorities in the three Prairie provinces, an estimated population of 454 200. Another 109 100 lived in Manitoba and 33 900 in Saskatchewan. They accounted for 13.9% of the population in Alberta, 9.6% in Manitoba and 3.6% in Saskatchewan, all below the national average of 16.2%.

For the first time, the 2006 Census enumerated over 1 million people who reported as belonging to a visible minority population in British Columbia. The province's visible minorities represented 24.8% of its population, the highest proportion of all provinces and territories. The vast majority (86.8%) of visible minorities in British Columbia resided in just one census metropolitan area: Vancouver.

The census enumerated a visible minority population of 3900 in the three territories, only 3.9% of the combined population. The largest group, Filipino, represented one-quarter of all visible minorities in the territories.

Visible Minorities in the Census Metropolitan Areas (CMAs)

Visible minorities had a strong presence in Canada's largest census metropolitan areas. Almost all (95.9%) visible minorities resided in Canada's census metropolitan areas, compared with 68.1% of the country's total population. Toronto, Vancouver, Montréal, Calgary, Ottawa - Gatineau, Edmonton and Winnipeg were each home to a population of 100 000 visible minorities in 2006. Six in 10 visible minorities resided in just two census metropolitan areas: Toronto and Vancouver. The visible minority population made up a large proportion of the population in these two census metropolitan areas, 42.9% and 41.7%, respectively.

The Daily is Statistics Canada's official release bulletin. The Daily for April 2, 2008, marked the public release of this census variable. Highlight tables allowing users to perform simple rank and sort functions with the data at various levels of geography are available for this variable here: Ethnocultural Portrait of Canada Highlight Tables, 2006 Census. Technical notes for this variable can be found at Visible Minority Population and Population Group Reference Guide, 2006 Census.

The text was adapted from Statistics Canada, Canada’s Ethnocultural Mosaic, 2006 Census: Findings, catalogue number 97-562-XIE2006001. Statistics Canada information is used with the permission of Statistics Canada. Information on the availability of the wide range of data from Statistics Canada can be obtained from the Statistics Canada's Regional Offices, its World Wide Web site at www.statcan.gc.ca, and its toll-free access number 1-800-263-1136.