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Proportion of Total Population of Major Asian Ethnic Groups by Selected Metropolitan Areas

As a proportion of total metropolitan area population, Canadians of Asian origins are making the largest impact in Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary, Winnipeg and Toronto. When compared to the last census, taken in 2001, the proportion of Asian Canadians increased in all cities mentioned. In the 2006 Census, almost 40% of Vancouver-area residents indicated an Asian ethnicity; for Toronto, over 30% of their population belong to an Asian ethnic group. Of notable interest, is the proportion of Chinese-Canadians residing in Vancouver - this group alone accounted for 18.99% of the city’s total population.

Proportion of Total Population of Asian Major Ethnic Groups by Selected Metropolitan Areas
Western Canada
	Vancouver	Edmonton	Calgary	Saskatoon	Winnipeg
Chinese	18.99	5.19	6.99	2.12	2.40
East Indian	8.59	3.34	4.47	0.85	1.95
Filipino	3.96	2.04	2.47	0.89	5.51
Japanese	1.43	0.27	0.54	0.16	0.33
Korean	2.17	0.37	0.65	0.05	0.32
Pakistani	0.32	0.33	0.64	0.07	0.14
Punjabi	0.65	0.21	0.28	0.02	0.14
Sri Lankan	0.18	0.36	0.35	1.60	0.54
Tamil	0.18	0.01	0.01	-	0.02
Vietnamese	1.23	0.94	1.32	0.25	0.54
Other Asian*	1.44	0.61	0.58	0.50	0.61

Total Asian	39.15	13.40	18.03	4.97	12.02
Eastern & Central Canada
	Toronto	Ottawa - Gatineau	Montreal	Quebec	Halifax
Chinese	10.50	3.24	2.27	0.31	1.00
East Indian	9.48	1.87	1.08	0.06	0.75
Filipino	3.55	0.70	0.68	0.02	0.16
Japanese	0.46	0.22	0.11	0.04	0.12
Korean	1.12	0.22	0.13	0.02	0.18
Pakistani	1.49	0.24	0.31	0.03	0.09
Punjabi	0.44	0.05	0.05	-	0.01
Sri Lankan	0.07	0.33	0.10	0.52	1.00
Tamil	0.57	0.09	0.06	-	-
Vietnamese	1.10	0.73	0.84	0.17	0.12
Other Asian*	1.63	0.91	0.92	0.11	0.13

Total Asian	31.91	8.43	6.76	0.75	2.60

Source: Ethnic Origin. Ottawa: Statistics Canada, April 2, 2008. 2006 Census of Canada. Catalogue number 97-562-X2006006. 2 April 2009.

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Note: 1. Ethnic origin refers to the ethnic or cultural origins of the respondent’s ancestors and should not be confused with his or her citizenship, nationality, language or place of birth.
2. Figures are taken from the total responses category. Multiple responses may be given.
* Other Asian includes: Afghan, Bangladeshi, Bengali, Burmese, Cambodian, Goan, Gujarati, Hmong, Indonesian, Kashmiri, Khmer, Laotian, Malaysian, Mongolian, Nepali, Pashtun, Sinhalese, Singaporean, Taiwanese, Thai and Tibetan.