The East Indian community in Canada

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The majority are foreign-born
Most live in two provinces
Most live in Toronto or Vancouver
A young population
Slightly more men than women
Most are Sikh or Hindu
Most can converse in an official language
More likely to be married
Few live alone
Educational attainment
Employment trends
Unemployment levels
Incomes
Close to one in five with low incomes
Most feel a sense of belonging to Canada

A growing community

Canadians of East Indian origin¹ make up one of the largest non-European ethnic groups in Canada. In fact, people of East Indian origin make up the tenth largest ethnic group in Canada. Canadians of East Indian origin also make up the second largest non-European ethnic group in the country. In 2001, over 700,000 people of East Indian origin lived in Canada. That year, they made up 2.4% of the total Canadian population.

The East Indian community in Canada is growing considerably faster than the overall population. Between 1996 and 2001, for example, the number of people who said they had East Indian origins rose by 30%, while the overall population grew by only 4%.

Almost all Canadians of East Indian origin say they have only East Indian origins. In 2001, 82% of all those who reported East Indian origins said they had only East Indian roots, while 18% said they also had other ethnic origins. In contrast, almost 40% of the overall Canadian population has multiple ethnic roots.

The majority are foreign-born

A substantial majority of the East Indian population living in Canada was born outside the country. In 2001, over 67% of Canadians of East Indian origin were born outside of Canada, compared with only 18% of all Canadians. That year, roughly half of all foreign-born Canadians of East Indian origin were from India, while smaller numbers were from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, as well as East Africa.

The majority of immigrants of East Indian origin arrived in Canada relatively recently. Indeed, 45% of ethnic East Indian immigrants living in Canada in 2001 had arrived in the previous decade, while 23% had arrived in Canada between 1981 and 1990 and a similar share came in the 1970s. In contrast, just 7% had arrived between 1961 and 1970, while less than 1% had arrived before 1961.

Most live in two provinces

The East Indian community in Canada is highly concentrated in Ontario and British Columbia. In 2001, 84% of Canadians of East Indian origin lived in one of these two provinces. Ontario was home to 58%, and 26% lived in British Columbia. That year, there were just over 400,000 people of East Indian origin living in Ontario, while another 184,000 resided in British Columbia. At the same time, there were smaller East Indian populations in other provinces including just over 60,000 in Alberta and another 34,000 in Quebec.

People of East Indian origin also account for relatively substantial shares of the populations of both Ontario and British Columbia. Canadians of East Indian origin, for example, accounted for 5% of the total population of British Columbia, while they represented 4% of Ontario's population. The East Indian community also represented about 2% of the population of Alberta, whereas they made up 1% or less of residents of all the other provinces and territories.

Most live in Toronto or Vancouver

The large majority of Canadians of East Indian origin also live in either Toronto or Vancouver. In 2001, 68% of the overall East Indian community lived in one of these two cities. That year close to 350,000 Canadians of East Indian origin lived in Toronto, while almost 150,000 lived in Vancouver. In fact, Canadians of East Indian origin made up 7% of the residents of both Toronto and Vancouver that year. At the same time, they represented 3% of all residents of both Calgary and Edmonton and 2% of those in each of Ottawa and Winnipeg.

The trend for Canadians of East Indian origin to concentrate in Toronto and Vancouver is also likely to continue in the future as recent immigrants have tended to settle in these two cities. For example, Toronto and Vancouver accounted for almost 80% of the growth in the East Indian population in Canada between 1996 and 2001.

A young population

The East Indian population in Canada is somewhat younger than the overall population. In 2001, 23% of the East Indian community were children under the age of 15, compared with just 19% of the overall population. At the same time, 16% of the East Indian community, compared with 13% of the overall population, were aged 15 to 24. Similarly, 33% of the East Indian community were in their prime working years between the ages of 25 and 44, compared with 31% of the total Canadian population. In contrast, those of East Indian origin are less likely than the overall population the overall population to be over the age of 65. That year, only 7% of the East Indian community were aged 65 or over, compared to 12% of all Canadians. At the same time, 21% of Canadians of East Indian origins were in the pre-retirement years between the ages of 45 and 64, compared with 24% of the overall population.

Slightly more men than women

In contrast to the overall population, men make up a slight majority of Canadians of East Indian origin. In 2001, 50.2% of the East Indian community, compared with just 49.1% of the overall population, were male. However, as with their counterparts in the overall population, women make up the majority of seniors of East Indian origin. That year, 52% of people aged 65 and over of East Indian origin were women, while women made up 56% of seniors in the overall population.

Most are Sikh or Hindu

The majority of Canadians of East Indian origin are either Sikh or Hindu. In 2001, 34% said they were Sikh, while 27% said they were Hindu. Another 17% were Muslim, 9% were Catholic and 7% belonged to a mainline Protestant denomination or other Christian grouping. On the other hand, relatively few Canadians of East Indian origin have no religious affiliation. That year, just 4% of people who reported East Indian origin said they had no religious affiliation, compared with 17% of the overall population.

Most can converse in an official language

Almost all Canadians of East Indian origin can carry on a conversation in at least one official language.² In 2001, 85% could converse in English, 8% could carry on a conversation in English and French, while about 1% could converse in French. In contrast, only 7% of the East Indian community in Canada could not converse in either English or French.

While most Canadians of East Indian origin can speak at least one official language, the majority have a mother tongue³ other than English or French. In 2001, 61% of the East Indian community said that their mother tongue was a non-official language.

A substantial share of people reporting East Indian origin speaks a language other than English or French at home. In 2001, 41% of people who identified themselves as East Indian said that they spoke only a non-official language at home, while another 7% said that they spoke another language in combination with either English or French at home.

On the other hand, almost all Canadians of East Indian origin who are employed speak an official language on the job. In 2001, only 4% of all people in the East Indian community with jobs spoke a language other than English or French most often on the job, while another 2% regularly used a non-official language in combination with English or French on the job.

More likely to be married

Canadians of East Indian origin are more likely than other people to be married. In 2001, 61% of people aged 15 and over who reported East Indian origin were married, compared with about 49% of all Canadian adults. In contrast, people of East Indian origin are much less likely than other Canadians to live in a common-law relationship. That year, just 2% of adults in the East Indian community were living common-law, compared with 10% of all Canadian adults.

People of East Indian origin are also less likely than the rest of the population to be lone parents. In 2001, just 4% of adult Canadians of East Indian origin were lone parents, compared with 6% of the overall population. In both the East Indian community and the rest of the population, though, the large majority of lone parents are women. In the East Indian community, for example, women represented 79% of all lone parents in 2001, while the figure in the overall population was 81%.

Few live alone

Canadian adults of East Indian origin are much less likely than other adults to live alone. In 2001, just 4% of the East Indian community aged 15 and over lived alone, compared with 13% of all adult Canadians. Seniors of East Indian origin are especially unlikely to live alone. That year, only 8% of Canadians of East Indian origin aged 65 and over lived alone, compared with 29% of all seniors in Canada. In contrast, seniors of East Indian origin are more likely than other seniors to live with members of their extended family. In 2001, 24% of seniors of East Indian origin lived with relatives, such as the family of a son or daughter, while only 5% of all seniors in Canada lived with relatives.

Educational attainment

Canadians of East Indian origin are much more likely than the rest of the population to have a university degree. In 2001, 26% of adults who reported East Indian origin were university graduates, compared with 15% of the overall adult population.

Canadians of East Indian origin are particularly likely to have a post-graduate degree. In 2001, 9% of people who identified themselves as East Indian had a post-graduate degree, double the figure in the overall population.

Canadians of East Indian origin also represent a high proportion of those with degrees in highly technical fields. In 2001, people who reported East Indian origin made up 2% of all Canadians with some post-secondary educational experience, but represented 6% of those with degrees in mathematics, physics or computer science, and 5% of those with engineering or applied science diplomas.

As in the overall population, men of East Indian origin have somewhat more education than women of East Indian origin. In 2001, 29% of men who reported East Indian origin had a university degree, compared to 23% of their female counterparts. Women of East Indian origin, though, are more likely to have a university degree than other women, just 15% of whom were graduates that year.

Young people of East Indian origin are also more likely than other young Canadians to be attending school. In 2001, 64% of people aged 15 to 24 who reported East Indian origin were enrolled in a full-time educational program, compared to 57% of all Canadians in this age group. Among young people in the East Indian community, males and females are equally likely to attend school full-time. This contrasts with the overall population, in which young women were considerably more likely than young men to be in school in 2001.

Employment trends

Canadians of East Indian origin are slightly more likely to be employed than the rest of the population. In 2001, 64% of all Canadians of East Indian origin aged 15 and over were employed, compared with 62% of adults in the overall Canadian population.

As with the overall population, men of East Indian origin are more likely than their female counterparts to be employed outside the home. In 2001, 71% of men of East Indian origin aged 15 and over were part of the paid workforce, compared with 57% of adult women of East Indian origin. However, both men and women in the East Indian community were somewhat more likely to be employed than their counterparts in the overall population. Indeed, the share of men of East Indian origin who were employed that year was 4 percentage points higher than the figure for all men in Canada, while the difference for women was just over one percentage point.

Canadians of East Indian origin are more than twice as likely as other workers be employed in manufacturing jobs. In 2001, 13% of all employed Canadians of East Indian origin had manufacturing jobs, compared with 6% of the total labour force. Canadians of East Indian origin are also somewhat more likely than other Canadian workers to be employed in scientific and technical occupations. That year, 8% of all workers of East Indian origin were employed in the natural and applied sciences compared with 6% of the overall workforce.

Canadians of East Indian origin are somewhat less likely than those in the overall workforce to be self-employed. In 2001, 10% of all employed Canadians of East Indian descent worked for themselves, compared with 12% of the overall workforce.

Unemployment levels

Labour force participants⁴ of East Indian origin are more likely to be unemployed than labour force participants in the general population. In 2001, 8.6% of East Indian labour force participants were unemployed, compared with 7.4% of those in the overall population.

As in the overall population, young Canadians of East Indian origin are more likely than older workers to be unemployed. In 2001, 15% of male East Indian labour force participants between the ages of 15 and 24, and 14% of their female counterparts, were unemployed, whereas the unemployment rate for East Indian workers over the age of 25 was well under 10%. Unemployment rates for young adults of East Indian origin, though, were similar to those for both men and women aged 15 to 24 in the overall population.

Incomes

Canadians of East Indian origin generally have a lower income than the national average. During 2000,⁵ the average income from all sources for Canadians of East Indian origin was just over $27,000, while the figure for all Canadian adults was almost $30,000.

As in the overall population, women of East Indian origin have lower incomes than their male counterparts. In 2000, the average income for adult women of East Indian origin was just under $21,000, while the figure for men of East Indian origin was over $33,000. The income gap between women and men in the East Indian community, though, is about the same as the gap in the overall population. In 2000, women of East Indian origin earned 63% of what men of East Indian origin earned, while the figure in the overall population was 62%.

Canadian seniors of East Indian origin also have relatively low incomes. In 2000, the average income from all sources for Canadians of East Indian origin aged 65 and over was just under $20,000. This was about $4,500 less than the income for all seniors, whose average income was $24,400. As with all seniors in Canada, women have lower incomes than men. That year, the average income for women of East Indian origin aged 65 and over was $15,400, compared with $24,500 for men the same age of East Indian origin.

Canadian adults of East Indian origin receive more of their income from earnings⁶ than the overall population. In 2000, Canadians of East Indian origin aged 15 and over said that 85% of their income came from earnings, compared with 77% for all Canadian adults.

In contrast, Canadians of East Indian origin receive a smaller proportion of their total income from government transfer programs than other people. In 2000, 9% of the income of people of East Indian origin aged 15 and over came from government transfers, while the average for all Canadian adults was 12%.

Close to one in five with low incomes

Canadians of East Indian origin are slightly more likely than other people to have incomes that fall below Statistics Canada's Low-income Cut-offs. In 2000, 18% of the East Indian community lived in a household with income below the Low-income cut-offs, while the figure was 16% in the total Canadian population.

Children of East Indian origin are also slightly more likely than their counterparts in the overall population to live in a Low-income family. In 2000, 21% of children of East Indian origin under the age of 15 lived in families with incomes below the low-income cut-offs, compared with 19% of all children in Canada.

Canadian adults of East Indian origin who live on their own are also relatively likely to have low incomes. In 2000, 45% of unattached adults who identified themselves as East Indian had low incomes, compared with 38% of their counterparts in the overall population.

Seniors of East Indian origin who live alone are particularly likely to have low incomes. In 2000, 60% of unattached seniors of East Indian origin had incomes below the Low income cut-offs defined by Statistics Canada, compared with 40% of all unattached seniors. As in the overall population, unattached female seniors of East Indian origin are the most likely to have low incomes. In 2000, 67% of women of East Indian origin aged 65 and over who lived alone had incomes below the Low income cut-offs, compared with 47% of unattached male seniors of East Indian origin and 43% of all women aged 65 and over.

Most feel a sense of belonging to Canada

According to the Ethnic Diversity Survey in 2002, a substantial majority of Canadians of East Indian origin feel a strong sense of belonging in Canada. In 2002, 82% of people of East Indian origin said that they had a strong sense of belonging to Canada. At the same time, 71% said they also had a strong sense of belonging to their ethnic or cultural group.

Canadians of East Indian origin are also active participants in Canadian society. For example, 66% of those who were eligible to vote did so in the 2000 federal election. At the same time, 48% of people of East Indian origin had participated in an organization such as a sports team or church in the 12 months preceding the 2002 Ethnic Diversity Survey.

At the same time, though, about half of those in the East Indian community have experienced some form of discrimination. Indeed, 49% of Canadians of East Indian origin had experienced discrimination or unfair treatment based on their ethnicity, race, religion, language or accent in the past five years, or since they arrived in Canada. A large majority (87%) of those who had experienced discrimination said that they felt it was based on their race or skin colour.

Notes:

1. All statistical information in the publication referring to East Indian, the East Indian community, Canadians of East Indian origin or people of East Indian origin denotes those who reported East Indian origins either alone or in combination with other origins in response to the question of ethnic origin in the 2001 Census or 2002 Ethnic Diversity Survey.



2. English and French are recognized as Canada's official languages in the Official Languages Act and the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.



3. A mother tongue is the language that a person learns first in childhood and that they still understand.



4. Adults aged 15 and over who are employed, or who are unemployed and looking for work.



5. In the Census, people report their income for the previous year.



6. Earnings are total wages and salaries and net income from self-employment.

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