Urdu: پاکستانی کینیڈین | |
---|---|
Total population | |
303,260 [1] (0.81%) | |
Regions with significant populations | |
Ontario | 212,650 |
Alberta | 39,535 |
Quebec | 16,645 |
British Columbia | 19,050 |
Languages | |
L1 : English, French L2 : Urdu, Punjabi, Pashto, Sindhi [2] [3] | |
Religion | |
Majority: Sunni Islam Minority: Shi'a Islam, Twelvers, Ismaili, Ahmadiyya, Hinduism, Zoroastrianism, Sikhism, and Christianity | |
Related ethnic groups | |
Pashtun Canadians, Pakistani diaspora, Muslim Canadians |
Pakistani Canadian refers to the community in Canada of Pakistani heritage or descent. It can also refer to people who hold dual Pakistani and Canadian citizenship. Categorically, Pakistani Canadians comprise a subgroup of South Asian Canadians which is a further subgroup of Asian Canadians.
There is no official classification of Pakistani Canadians. However, they are usually defined by Asian or South Asian.
Year | Pop. | ±% |
---|---|---|
2001 | 74,015 | — |
2006 | 124,730 | +68.5% |
2011 | 155,310 | +24.5% |
2016 | 215,555 | +38.8% |
2021 | 303,260 | +40.7% |
Punjabi people from the Punjab region that would later become Pakistan were among the pioneers who migrated from British India to British Columbia at the turn of the century. By 1905, as many as 200 participated in the building of that first community from modern-day Pakistan, which for a time had a small makeshift mosque in Vancouver. But most of these immigrants were sojourners rather than settlers, and they either returned to Pakistan in 1947 or moved on to the United States. Subsequently, Canada imposed a ban on South Asian immigration that remained in place until after World War II.[ citation needed ]
Pakistanis began migrating to Canada in small numbers in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Immigration regulations gave preference to those with advanced education and professional skills, and the Pakistanis who came during this period, and throughout the 1960s, generally had excellent credentials. Many of them considered themselves to be sojourners, who had come to earn but not to settle or were students who intended to return home when their degree programs were completed. While some went back, others remained to become the founding members of the Pakistani-Canadian community. [4]
Pakistani nationals were registered in undergraduate and graduate programs at McGill University in Montreal as early as 1949, and at the University of Toronto from 1958 on. By the mid-1950s, there were five or six Pakistani families living in Montreal in addition to the students. This was probably the then largest concentration of Pakistanis in the country. Throughout the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s most who arrived were young men pursuing graduate or professional studies.[ citation needed ]
Pakistanis have integrated well into Canadian society, partly due to the Canadian Government's policies and assistance given to all immigrants settling in the country. [5]
Most Pakistani Canadians are Muslims. [6] Religion figures prominently in the lives of Pakistani Canadian families. The majority of Pakistanis belong to the Sunni sect of Islam; [7] Pakistani Canadians also participate in and contribute to the larger Islamic community, which includes Arab Canadians, Iranian Canadians, Turkish Canadians, and Asian Canadians. [8]
Islamic Pakistani Canadians have played important roles in many organizations, including:
Most Pakistani Canadians speak English or French. However, many also speak a second or third language, as they often tend to keep hold of their native tongues, which includes Urdu, Punjabi. [17] [18]
Province | 2001 | 2011 | 2021 |
---|---|---|---|
Ontario | 52,830 | 109,295 | 212,650 |
Alberta | 5,450 | 17,825 | 39,535 |
Quebec | 7,990 | 12,470 | 16,645 |
British Columbia | 6,270 | 9,770 | 19,050 |
Saskatchewan | 495 | 3,195 | 7,640 |
Manitoba | 565 | 1,810 | 5,030 |
Nova Scotia | 305 | 490 | 1,285 |
Figures from the 2021 Canadian Census from StatsCan indicate that there are 303,260 Canadians who claim Pakistani ancestry. [24]
City | 2001 | 2011 | 2021 |
---|---|---|---|
Toronto | 43,035 | 90,610 | 162,710 |
Calgary | 3,455 | 10,450 | 24,050 |
Montreal | 7,890 | 12,220 | 16,060 |
Vancouver | 5,680 | 8,865 | 15,765 |
Edmonton | 1,745 | 5,480 | 12,765 |
Hamilton | 2,055 | 3,705 | 8,820 |
Ottawa | 2,255 | 3,910 | 7,885 |
Kitchener-Cambridge Waterloo | 1,045 | 3,210 | 8,015 |
Saskatoon | 255 | 1,705 | 4,150 |
Winnipeg | 560 | 1,590 | 4,660 |
Oshawa | 480 | 1,225 | 6,965 |
Regina | 220 | 1,330 | 2,940 |
London | 665 | 1,010 | 3,850 |
There were 162,710 Pakistani-Canadians in the Greater Toronto Area per the 2021 Census, making it home to one of the largest Pakistani diaspora communities in North America. [25] [26] Per the 2021 Census, there were 41,705 Pakistani-Canadians residing within the actual city of Toronto; [27] the majority of the community is concentrated throughout the suburbs of the GTA.
There are 41,025 Pakistani-Canadians residing in Mississauga per the 2021 Census, comprising 5.76% of the City's population. [28] This is up from 27,345 recorded in the 2011 Census. [29] Urdu is the 2nd most common reported mother tongue after English, and there are 55,765 speakers in Mississauga. [30]
Pakistani-Canadians made up 3.81% of the population of Milton in 2011, [31] per the 2021 census this number has tripled to 12.88%, making it one of the fastest growing Pakistani communities in the nation. [32] Urdu is the 2nd most common reported mother tongue, with 19,830 speakers per the 2021 Census. [33]
There are 10,825 Pakistani Canadians living in Metro Vancouver per the 2016 Census. [34] Most Pakistanis who live in Metro Vancouver reside in areas such as Surrey, which has 5,565 Pakistani Canadian residents per the 2016 Census. [35]
Many Pakistanis have used an adaptation technique, and are accustomed to a bicultural lifestyle. At home they live as traditional a life as possible. The old values and hierarchical decision-making patterns are generally respected, and traditional clothing, food, decorations, and language provide the warmth and reassurance of the familiar. [36] Pakistani Canadians who are members of the community believe in the symbolic importance of owning homes. [37] Those who came to Canada from Pakistan via East Africa or the Gulf are more likely to be involved in business. A number of Pakistani Canadians are also traders and are primarily involved in exporting and importing goods to and from Pakistan. A number of Pakistani-Canadian businessmen and companies have participated in this development. [37]
An important aspect of Pakistani participation in the Canadian economy has been the increasing number of Pakistani-Canadian women who work outside the home. [38] The experience of Pakistani-Canadian women varies, from educated women with large social and economic freedom, to those separated in the community from traditional gender roles. [38] Still, Pakistanis have shifted towards more freedom for Pakistani-Canadian women, including later marriages, more liberal attire, and greater social and economic freedom. [38]
Young people who were born in Canada or brought as children share a particular set of issues and concerns with their parents and the wider Pakistani-Canadian community. Their perspective regarding adaptation and integration is generally not informed by significant direct experience of the culture and values of the homeland, and, as a result, parents and grandparents take on a mediating role. They have to decide what aspects of their traditional lifestyle and values must be left behind and what can be transferred to and re-established in their new home. Most significantly, they generally assume the responsibility for making these choices for their children as well. The family – even in its truncated form in the diaspora – is both the base for substantial cultural transfer and the source of intergenerational conflict. [38]
The Toronto Pakistan Day Event is a small scale event held on Pakistan Day to celebrate Pakistani culture. [39] A number of Canadian television networks broadcast programming that features Pakistani-Canadian culture. These television shows often highlight Pakistani-Canadian events in Canada, and also show events from Pakistan involving Pakistanis who reside there, for example, The Voice of Pakistan – Vision TV (since 1971).
Pakistan International Airlines serves Toronto's Lester B. Pearson International Airport three times a week non-stop to Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad and has been one of the most profitable routes in the entire network. [40]
Wajid Khan and Rahim Jaffer were members of the House of Commons of Canada. Wajid Khan represented the riding of Mississauga—Streetsville district of Ontario as a Conservative Member of Parliament [41] while Rahim Jaffer was a Conservative Member of Parliament for the Edmonton—Strathcona district of Alberta. [42] Currently there are two Pakistani-Canadian women serving in the 42nd Canadian Parliament: Iqra Khalid representing Mississauga-Erin Mills [43] and Salma Zahid representing Scarborough Centre. [44] Both women are Liberal Members of Parliament elected to seats in Ontario. Pakistani Canadians can also be found in the provincial legislatures as well as on municipal councils.
Salma Ataullahjan, [45] a Toronto artist and community activist, [46] was named a Canadian Senator by Governor General Michaëlle Jean, on the advice of Prime Minister Stephen Harper, on 9 July 2010, and will sit with the Conservative caucus. With this appointment, Ataullahjan became the first Canadian senator of Pakistani Pushtun descent.
Shafiq Qaadri is a family doctor and politician in Ontario, Canada. He was a member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario, representing the riding of Etobicoke North for the Ontario Liberal Party. [47] [48] [49]
Brampton is a city in the Canadian province of Ontario. It is part of the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) and is a lower-tier municipality within Peel Region. The city has a population of 656,480 as of the 2021 Census, making it the ninth most populous municipality in Canada and the third most populous city in the Greater Golden Horseshoe urban area, behind Toronto and Mississauga.
Oakville is a town in Halton Region, Ontario, Canada. It is located on Lake Ontario between Toronto and Hamilton. At its 2021 census population of 213,759, it is Ontario's largest town. Oakville is part of the Greater Toronto Area, one of the most densely populated areas of Canada.
The Greater Toronto Area, commonly referred to as the GTA, includes the City of Toronto and the regional municipalities of Durham, Halton, Peel, and York. In total, the region contains 25 urban, suburban, and rural municipalities. The Greater Toronto Area begins in Burlington in Halton Region to the west, and extends along Lake Ontario past downtown Toronto eastward to Clarington in Durham Region.
The Golden Horseshoe is a secondary region of Southern Ontario, Canada, which lies at the western end of Lake Ontario, with outer boundaries stretching south to Lake Erie and north to Lake Scugog, Lake Simcoe and Georgian Bay of Lake Huron. The region is the most densely populated and industrialized in Canada. Based on the 2021 census, with a population of 7,759,635 people in its core and 9,765,188 in its greater area, the Golden Horseshoe accounts for over 20 percent of the population of Canada and more than 54 percent of Ontario's population. It is part of the Quebec City–Windsor Corridor, itself part of the Great Lakes megalopolis.
Brampton West is a federal electoral district in Ontario, Canada, that has been represented in the House of Commons of Canada since 2004. Its population was 170,422 in 2006- making it the most populous riding in Canada.
Etobicoke North is a federal electoral district in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, that has been represented by one Member of Parliament in the House of Commons of Canada since 1979. It covers the neighbourhood of Rexdale, in the northern part of the Etobicoke district of Toronto.
South Asian Canadians are Canadians who were either born in or can trace their ancestry to the Indian subcontinent, which includes the nations of India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, and the Maldives.
Brampton Centre is a federal electoral district in Ontario, Canada, that is represented in the House of Commons of Canada. This riding was created in 1996 from parts of Brampton riding and in 2013, Elections Canada redistributed 3 ridings in the city of Brampton to bring back Brampton Centre. This was primarily due to large population increases in the Greater Toronto Area, and Peel Region in particular.
The demographics of Toronto, Ontario, Canada make Toronto one of the most multicultural and multiracial cities in the world. In 2021, 57.0 percent of the residents of the metropolitan area belonged to a visible minority group, compared with 51.4 percent in 2016, and 13.6 percent in 1981. Toronto also has established ethnic neighbourhoods such as the multiple Chinatowns, Corso Italia, Little Italy, Little India, Greektown, Koreatown, Little Tokyo, Little Jamaica, Little Portugal, Little Malta, Roncesvalles (Polish), and Bloor West Village (Ukrainian), all of which celebrate the city's multiculturalism. Data from the suburban municipalities are also included for some metrics as most of these municipalities are part of the Toronto CMA.
Foreign-born people are those born outside of their country of residence. Foreign born are often non-citizens, but many are naturalized citizens of the country in which they live, and others are citizens by descent, typically through a parent.
The demographics of Metro Vancouver indicate a multicultural and multiracial region. Metro Vancouver is a metropolitan area, with its major urban centre being Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The Vancouver census metropolitan area, as defined by Statistics Canada, encompasses roughly the same territory as the Metro Vancouver Regional District, a regional district in British Columbia. The regional district includes 23 local authorities. Figures provided here are for the Vancouver census metropolitan area and not for the City of Vancouver.
Ontario, one of the 13 provinces and territories of Canada, is located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province by a large margin, accounting for nearly 40 percent of all Canadians, and is the second-largest province in total area. Ontario is fourth-largest in total area when the territories of the Northwest Territories and Nunavut are included. It is home to the nation's capital city, Ottawa, and the nation's most populous city, Toronto.
Sikhismin Canada has nearly 800,000 adherents who account for 2.1% of Canada's population as of 2021, forming the country's fastest-growing and fourth-largest religious group. The largest Sikh populations in Canada are found in Ontario, followed by British Columbia and Alberta. As of the 2021 Census, more than half of Canada's Sikhs can be found in one of four cities: Brampton (163,260), Surrey (154,415), Calgary (49,465), and Edmonton (41,385).
Indo-Canadians or Indian Canadians, are Canadians who have ancestry from India. The term East Indian is sometimes used to avoid confusion with the Indigenous peoples of Canada. Categorically, Indo-Canadians comprise a subgroup of South Asian Canadians which is a further subgroup of Asian Canadians. According to Statistics Canada, Indians are one of the fastest growing communities in Canada and one of the largest non-European ethnic groups.
In 2021, the population of the city of Ottawa was 1,017,449. The population of the census metropolitan area, Ottawa-Gatineau, was 1,488,307.
Brampton East is a federal electoral district in Ontario. It encompasses a portion of Ontario previously included in the electoral districts of Bramalea—Gore—Malton and Brampton—Springdale.
South Asian Canadians in Metro Vancouver are the third-largest pan-ethnic group in the region, comprising 369,295 persons or 14.2 percent of the total population as of 2021. Sizable communities exist within the city of Vancouver along with the adjoining city of Surrey, which houses one of the world's largest South Asian enclaves.
The South Asian community in British Columbia was first established in 1897. The first immigrants originated from Punjab, British India, a northern region and state in modern-day India and Pakistan. Punjabis originally settled in rural British Columbia at the turn of the twentieth century, working in the forestry and agricultural industries.
South Asian Canadians in the Greater Toronto Area form 19% of the region's population, numbering 1.1 million as of 2021. Comprising the largest visible minority group in the region, Toronto is the destination of over half of the immigrants coming from India to Canada, and India is the single largest source of immigrants in the Greater Toronto Area. South Asian Canadians in the region also include significant Pakistanis, Bangladeshis, Sri Lankans, and Nepalis, all representing several different ethnolinguistic backgrounds.
Sikhism in Greater Vancouver is one of the main religions across the region, especially among the Indo-Canadian population. The Sikh community in Vancouver is the oldest, largest and most influential across Canada, having begun in the late 19th century.