Visible minority allophones in Canada
Visible minority allophones in Canada refer to individuals whose mother tongue is a language other than English or French and who belong to designated visible minority groups. Canada is a multicultural nation with a significant and growing population of visible minorities, which includes communities such as South Asians, Chinese, Black Canadians, and others. As of the 2021 census, approximately 26.5% of the Canadian population identified as part of a visible minority, with many of these individuals being immigrants who predominantly settle in urban areas like Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver.
These allophone groups contribute richly to Canada’s cultural mosaic but face unique challenges in terms of assimilation and discrimination. They often seek support within vibrant ethnic communities that provide social and emotional resources. The demographic landscape in Canada has shifted significantly over the past few decades, leading to a greater representation of visible minorities in the population. The South Asian community represents the largest segment of visible minorities, followed by those of Chinese and Black descent.
Despite the overall positive perception of Canada as a multicultural society, visible minority allophones may experience social isolation and marginalization, particularly in areas where they represent a small minority. Understanding the dynamics of this demographic is crucial for fostering an inclusive society that values the contributions of all its members.
Visible minority allophones in Canada
SIGNIFICANCE: A nation composed largely of immigrants, Canada originally consisted of three founding peoples, the aboriginals, the English, and the French. However, immigration has made Canada a multicultural society with a growing population of visible minorities: blacks, Chinese, Filipinos, Japanese, Koreans, Latin Americans, other Pacific Islanders, South Asians, Southeast Asians, West Asians, and Arabs.
Similar to developed countries worldwide, in the twenty-first century, native born Canadians began to experience decreased birth rates and longer life expectancies. Birth rates fell below levels needed to sustain its population size. Thus the native Canadian population began to age, and younger demographics contracted. Canada realized it was dependent on attracting immigrants to both maintain its population and for labor. Its immigration policies soon reflected this awareness. Projections showed that Canada would permit entry to 12.5 immigrants per 1,000 residents in 2025. In comparison, the US planned to allow 3.0 immigrants per 1,000 residents. In practical terms, Canada scheduled the admittance of more than four times the number of immigrants as America on a per capita basis. In the mid-2020s immigration accounted for all the growth in Canada's labor force. Furthermore, in the coming decade, assessments were that immigrants would provide 100 percent of the country's population growth.
Canada, founded by the aboriginals, the English, and the French, has recognized the languages of two of these groups via a bilingual policy that makes French and English the nation’s official languages. However, in reality Canada is not a bicultural or even tricultural nation but a multicultural, multiethnic, and multilingual community composed of people from every part of the globe who have immigrated to Canada over the years in search of political freedom, human rights, a better economic life, and a chance to live in a democratic society.
Although the United Nations has rated Canada as the most desirable country in the world in which to live, serious problems of adjustment and assimilation remain in a nation that at times seems to consist of people who have more differences than commonalities. The constant tension between English and French Canada is fueled by the incessant threat of French separation. Governmental attempts to placate French-speaking Quebecers, even to the extent of constitutional renewal to declare Quebec a distinct society, have generated feelings of resentment among other Canadians, who feel that too much energy and too many financial resources are diverted to appeasing Quebec rather than addressing the needs of multicultural Canadian society. The challenge to the Canadian government is to adjust the requirements of competing groups with diverse agendas. Canada suffers from an acute need for its citizens to develop a sense of personal and national identity in a rapidly changing demographic situation.
Important Statistics
In Canada, there are three linguistic groups: anglophones, whose main language is English; francophones, whose dominant language is French; and allophones, whose mother tongue is something other than French or English. According to the 2021 Canadian census, 4.6 million Canadians predominantly spoke a language other than French or English. This number constituted 12.7 percent of the Canadian population. Several dialects of Chinese are spoken in Canada. The two most prevalent are Mandarin and Cantonese. Native speakers of both languages total over 1.3 million people, or 3.5 percent of the Canadian population, followed by Punjabi at a little more than 1 percent of the population. By contrast, 66 percent of Canadians spoke English as their main language and 21 percent spoke French.
Immigrants have been settling mostly in Canada’s largest cities, specifically Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver, which boast thriving ethnic communities, some having Chinatowns and Little Indias complete with specialty restaurants, gift shops, ethnic food stores, and active community associations. In 2024, a large majority of allophones lived in Canada's six largest metropolitan areas. There is a vibrant ethnic press in Canada, and allophones can enjoy television programs in their native language across the nation.
Visible Minorities
The allophone presence in Canada is most noticeable with respect to groups defined as "visible minorities." On the basis of census data, the government of Canada has officially defined and named the following visible minority groups: black people, Chinese people, Filipinos, Japanese people, Koreans, Latin Americans, other Pacific Islanders, South Asians, Southeast Asians, West Asians, and Arabs. Another often-used term in Canada is "Racialized Minorities." In 2011, Racialized Minorities made up 19.1 percent of Canada's population, or over 6 million people. By 2021, 8.9 million Canadians, or 26.5 percent of its population, were part of this group. This was almost twice the percentage it had been in 2001 when it stood at 1.4 percent. Furthermore, the composition of the racialized population has changed as smaller groups increased their population share.The majority of immigrants to Canada in the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries—about three-quarters of the total—have been visible minorities; as such, visible minorities are heavily represented among allophones.
It is the visible minorities who experience most of the problems in assimilation and who encounter discrimination in housing, employment opportunities, treatment at educational institutions, and various realms of Canadian society. They tend to congregate in urban areas because the ethnic communities in cities provide the support they need to sustain their social, psychological, and emotional needs. In 2024, a large majority of visible minorities lived in a metropolitan area, with Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver combined being home to 70 percent of the visible minority Canadian population. Members of visible minorities can, however, be found in all parts of Canada. Where they are a very small minority, they can suffer from social isolation and relative marginalization. The largest sector of the visible minority population is South Asians, mainly Indian, but also Pakistani and Sri Lankan. South Asians account for 25 percent of the visible minority population and 4.8 percent of Canada's population overall.
According to the Canadian 2021 census, the largest group of visible minorities is the South Asian community at nearly 2.3 million. The second largest group is of Chinese descent and represents over 1.6 million people. They include both long-term residents and a large group of immigrants who arrived during the 1980s and 1990s before Hong Kong (a British colony) was annexed by China in 1997.
Approximately 1.4 million people identified as Black, the third largest group. This demographic is followed by Filipinos, Latin Americans, Arabs, Southeast Asians, West Asians, Koreans, and Japanese people. Aside from black Canadians, who often come from English-speaking or French-speaking countries, immigrants from these groups are mainly allophones.
Bibliography
Anderson, Stuart. "U.S. Immigration Critics Ignore Canada’s Welcome Mat for Immigrants." Forbes, 7 Nov. 2022. www.forbes.com/sites/stuartanderson/2022/11/07/us-immigration-critics-ignore-canadas-welcome-mat-for-immigrants. Accessed 24 Oct. 2024.
"Changing Demographics of Racialized People in Canada." Statistics Canada, 23 Aug. 2023, www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/36-28-0001/2023008/article/00001-eng.htm. Accessed 24 Oct. 2024.
Edmonston, Barry, and Eric Fong. The Changing Canadian Population. McGill-Queen's University Press, 2010.
“English–French Bilingualism in Canada: Recent Trends after Five Decades of Official Bilingualism." Statistics Canada, 21 June 2023,www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2021/as-sa/98-200-X/2021013/98-200-X2021013-eng.cfm. Accessed 24 Oct. 2024.
Perigoe, Ross, and Mahmoud Eid. Mission Invisible: Race, Religion, and News at the Dawn of the 9/11 Era. University of British Columbia Press, 2014.
Prasad, Gail. "Multiple Minorities or Plurilingual Learners? Allophone Immigrant Children's Language Education Rights in Canada." Language Rights Revisited: The Challenge of Global Migration and Communication. Ed. Dagmar Richter, et al. Berliner Wissenschafts, 2012, pp. 161–170.
"While English and French Are Still the Main Languages Spoken in Canada, the Country’s Linguistic Diversity Continues to Grow." Statistics Canada, 17 Aug. 2022, www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/daily-quotidien/220817/dq220817a-eng.htm. Accessed 24 Oct. 2024.