The Filipino 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
More women than men
The large majority are Catholic
Almost all can converse in an official language
Family status
Few live alone
Educational attainment
Employment trends
Unemployment
Incomes
More with low incomes
Most feel a sense of belonging to Canada

A growing community

Canadians of Filipino origin¹ make up one of the largest non-European ethnic groups in Canada. In 2001, the Filipino community was the third largest non-European ethnic group in the country, after the Chinese and East Indian communities. That year, almost 328,000 people of Filipino origin lived in Canada, representing 1.1% of the total Canadian population.

The Filipino 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 Filipino origins rose by 35%, while the overall population grew by only 4%.

The large majority of Canadians of Filipino origin say they only have Filipino origins. In 2001, 81% of all those who reported Filipino origin said they had only Filipino roots, while 19% 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

In 2001, over 70% of Canadians of Filipino origin were born outside of Canada, compared to 18% of the overall population. Among foreign-born Canadians of Filipino origin, 98% were born in the Philippines.

The majority of immigrants of Filipino origin arrived in the past twenty years. In 2001, 53% of Filipino immigrants had arrived in the previous decade and another 24% had arrived in Canada between 1981 and 1990. In contrast, just 4% had arrived in the 1960s, while less than 1% came to Canada before 1961.

Most live in two provinces

The Filipino community in Canada is concentrated in Ontario and British Columbia. In 2001, almost 72% of people who reported Filipino origin lived in one of these two provinces. Ontario was home to 50% while another 21% lived in British Columbia. At the same time, 11% made Alberta their home, while 10% lived in Manitoba and 6% lived in Quebec.

Overall, in 2001, a total of 165,000 people of Filipino origin lived in Ontario, while just over 69,000 lived in British Columbia. Smaller communities lived in other provinces. For example, just over 36,000 people of Filipino origin lived in Alberta, while there were almost 32,000 in Manitoba and almost 20,000 in Quebec.

The Filipino community in Manitoba make up a larger percentage of the provincial population than they do in any other province or territory. In 2001, Canadians of Filipino origin accounted for 3% of the population of Manitoba. The same year, they represented just under 2% of the populations of both British Columbia and Ontario, and 1% of the population of Alberta. Canadians of Filipino origin also made up around 1% of the populations of the Northwest Territories and the Yukon.

Most live in Toronto or Vancouver

The majority of Canadians of Filipino origin live in one of Canada's largest cities. In 2001, 62% of the Filipino community lived in either Toronto or Vancouver. That year, 140,000 people of Filipino origin lived in Toronto, and 62,000 lived in Vancouver, accounting for about 3% of the overall population of each city.

A young population

Canadians of Filipino origin are somewhat more likely than the overall population to be children or young adults in their prime working years, while they are somewhat less likely to be approaching retirement age or to be seniors. In 2001, children under the age of 15 represented 24% of the Filipino community, versus 19% of the overall population. At the same time, 15% of people of Filipino origin, versus 13% of those in the overall population, were aged 15 to 24. Similarly, 35% of the Filipino community was aged 25 to 44, compared with 31% of the total Canadian population. In contrast, seniors made up only 6% of the Filipino community, compared to 12% of all Canadians, while 21% of the Filipino community was aged 45 to 64, compared to 24% of the overall population.

More women than men

Women make up a particularly large proportion of the Filipino community. This is especially true of women in their prime working years. In 2001, 57% of the Filipino community, compared to 51% of all Canadians, were female. For the age group 25 to 44, 62% of the Filipino community was female, while for those aged 45 to 64, 63% were female. Like their counterparts in the overall population, women over the age of 65 also make up a substantial majority of seniors of Filipino origin. In 2001, 65% of people of Filipino origin aged 65 and over were women. In the overall population, women made up 56% of seniors.

The large majority are Catholic

Almost all Canadians of Filipino origin belong to a Christian faith. In 2001, 81% said they were Catholic, while 15% belonged to either a mainline Protestant denomination or another Christian grouping. In contrast, only a relatively small proportion of the Filipino community, 3%, reported they had no religious affiliation.

Almost all can converse in an official language

Almost all Canadians of Filipino origin can converse in one of Canada's official languages.² In 2001, 99% said they could carry on a conversation in one or both official languages, while only 1% reported they could speak neither English nor French. Most, 93%, could carry on a conversation in English only, while 6% could converse in both English and French and less than 1% spoke only French.

While almost all Canadians of Filipino origin can speak at least one official language, the majority have a mother tongue³ other than English or French. In 2001, 59% of the Filipino community said that their mother tongue was a non-official language, while 41% said that their mother tongue was English and 1% that it was French. Tagalog was reported as the mother tongue of 60% of the Filipino community.

The majority of Canadians of Filipino origin speak English most often at home. In 2001, 56% of people who reported Filipino origin said that they spoke English at home, while 14% said that they spoke English in combination with a non-official language most often at home. At the same time though, almost 30% of Canadians of Filipino origin spoke a non-official language most often in their home.

Only 1% of Canadians of Filipino origin who were employed spoke a language other than English or French most often at work. On the other hand, almost all employed Filipinos speak an official language on the job. In fact, in 2001 2% regularly used a non-official language in combination with English or French.

Family status

Canadians of Filipino origin are about as likely as other Canadians to be married. In 2001, 51% of adults in the Filipino community were married, while the figure was 50% for the overall population of Canadian adults. On the other hand, adults of Filipino origin are less likely than other Canadian adults to live in a common-law relationship. In 2001, just 4% were living common-law, compared with 10% of all Canadian adults.

Canadians of Filipino origin are about as likely as the rest of the population to be lone parents. In 2001, 6% of adults of Filipino origin aged 15 and over were lone parents, the same proportion as for all Canadian adults. As well, as in the overall population, the large majority of Filipino lone parents are women. In the Filipino community, women represented 88% of all lone parents in 2001, while in the overall population, 81% of lone parents were women.

Few live alone

Canadian adults of Filipino origin are much less likely than other adults to live alone. In 2001, just 5% of the Filipino community aged 15 and over lived alone, compared to 13% of all adult Canadians. Seniors of Filipino origin were especially unlikely to live alone. In 2001, only 7% of seniors of Filipino origin aged 65 and over lived alone, compared with 29% of all seniors in Canada.

In contrast, seniors of Filipino origin are much more likely than other seniors to live with members of their extended family. In 2001, 26% of Canadian seniors of Filipino origin lived with relatives such as the family of a son or daughter, whereas this was the case for only 5% of all Canadian seniors.

Educational attainment

Canadian adults of Filipino origin are much more likely than the rest of the population to have a university degree. In 2001, 31% of Canadians of Filipino origin aged 15 and over had either a bachelor's or post-graduate degree. This is more than double the figure for the overall adult population, only 15% of which had a degree.

Canadians of Filipino origin with post-secondary qualifications are more likely to hold degrees in highly technical fields. In 2001, people of Filipino origin made up about 2% of all university graduates in Canada, but represented 3% of those with degrees in engineering or applied science, and 3% of those with degrees in health-related professions and technologies.

Unlike the overall population, women of Filipino origin have somewhat more education than men of Filipino origin. In 2001, 33% of women of Filipino origin had a university degree, compared to 27% of their male counterparts. In comparison, in the overall population 16% of men and 15% of women had a university degree.

Young people of Filipino origin are about as likely as other young Canadians to be attending school. In 2001, 57% of Canadians of Filipino origin aged 15 to 24 were enrolled in a full-time educational program, the same proportion as in the overall population. However, as with the overall population, young women of Filipino origin are more likely than their male counterparts to be attending school. In 2001, 58% of young women of Filipino origin aged 15 to 24 were enrolled in a full-time educational program, compared to 56% of their male counterparts.

Employment trends

Canadians of Filipino origin are generally more likely to be employed than their counterparts in the rest of the population. In 2001, 72% of labour force participants of Filipino origin were employed, compared with a national figure of 62%.

In both the Filipino and overall populations, men are more likely than women to be employed outside the home. In 2001, 73% of male labour force participants of Filipino origin were part of the paid workforce, compared with 70% of their female counterparts. The gap between the employment rates of men and women of Filipino origin, though, was much smaller than that in the overall labour force. In the overall population, for example, 67% of men versus 56% of women were employed outside the home.

Canadians of Filipino origin make up a high proportion of all those employed in both health occupations and in manufacturing. In 2001, people who reported Filipino origin made up about 1% of all workers, but represented 2% of people employed in health occupations and in manufacturing. In contrast, their representation was disproportionately low among those holding management positions, as well as among those employed in education, government and the social sciences.

Canadians of Filipino origin are considerably less likely than those in the overall workforce to be self-employed. In 2001, 4% of employed people in the Filipino community worked for themselves, compared with 12% of their counterparts in the Canadian labour force.

Unemployment

People of Filipino origin are generally less likely to be unemployed than labour force participants in the general population. In 2001, just 5.7% of Filipino labour force participants⁴ were unemployed, compared with a national figure of 7.4%.

As in the overall population, young Canadians of Filipino origin are more likely to be unemployed than older adults. However, the unemployment rate of young Filipinos is below that of young people overall. In 2001, 10% of all Filipino labour force participants aged 15 to 24 were unemployed, compared to 14% of their counterparts in the overall population.

Incomes

Canadians of Filipino origin generally have lower incomes than the national average. In 2000,⁵ the average income from all sources for Canadians of Filipino origin aged 15 and over was $24,600, compared with an average of almost $30,000 for all Canadian adults.

As in the overall population, women of Filipino origin have lower incomes than their male counterparts. In 2000, the average income for women of Filipino origin aged 15 and over was $22,500, more than $5,000 less than the figure for their male counterparts. However, the income gap between women and men of Filipino origin is somewhat smaller than the gap in the overall population. In 2000, the incomes of women of Filipino origin were 82% those of their male counterparts, while the figure in that overall population was 62%. In fact, the incomes of women of Filipino origin were actually only a few hundred dollars lower than those of all Canadian women, whereas the incomes of Filipino men are well below those of their counterparts in the overall population.

Canadian seniors of Filipino origin also have relatively low incomes. In 2000, the average income from all sources for Canadians of Filipino origin aged 65 and over was $16,800. This was almost $8,000 less than the income for all seniors. As with all seniors in Canada, women seniors of Filipino origin have lower incomes than their male counterparts. In 2000, the average income for women seniors of Filipino origin was $15,400, compared with $19,400 for senior men of Filipino origin.

Canadians of Filipino origin receive slightly more of their income from earnings⁶ than the overall population. In 2000, Canadians of Filipino origin aged 15 and over said that 88% of their income came from earnings, while the figure for all Canadian adults was 77%.

In contrast, Canadians of Filipino origin receive much less of their income from government transfer payments than other Canadians. In 2000, 8% of the income of Canadians of Filipino origin aged 15 and over came from government transfers, while the average for all Canadian adults was 12%.

More with low incomes

Canadians of Filipino origin are about as likely as the rest of the population to have incomes that fall below Statistics Canada's low-income cut-offs. In 2000, the incomes of 16% of the Filipino community were below the low-income cut-offs, the same figure as for the overall population.

Canadian children of Filipino origin are also about as likely as other children to live in a low-income family. In 2000, 18% of children of Filipino origin under the age of 15 lived in families with incomes below the low-income cut-offs, while the figure for all children in Canada was 19%.

Unattached Canadian adults of Filipino origin are somewhat more likely than other unattached adults to have low incomes. In 2000, 48% of unattached adults of Filipino origin had low incomes, compared with 38% of their counterparts in the overall population.

Unattached seniors of Filipino origin are particularly likely to have low incomes. In 2000, 65% of unattached seniors of Filipino origin had incomes below the low-income cut-offs compared with 40% of all unattached seniors.

As in the overall population, unattached women seniors are the most likely to have low incomes. In 2000, 67% of unattached females of Filipino origin aged 65 and over had incomes below the Low-income Cut-offs, compared with 57% of unattached male seniors of Filipino origin and 43% of all unattached female seniors.

Most feel a sense of belonging to Canada

According to the Ethnic Diversity Survey, a large majority of Canadians of Filipino origin feel a strong sense of belonging to Canada. In 2002, 78% of those who reported Filipino origin said that they had a strong sense of belonging to Canada. At the same time, 89% said that they had a strong sense of belonging to their ethnic or cultural group.

Canadians of Filipino origin are also active in Canadian society. In 2002, 73% of those who were eligible to vote reported doing so in the 2000 federal election, while 74% said they voted in the last provincial election. At the same time, 41% reported that they had participated in an organization such as a sports team or community association in the 12 months preceding the survey.

At the same time though, just over one-third (37%) of Canadians of Filipino origin reported that they 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 majority (64%) of those who had experienced discrimination said that they felt it was based on their race or skin colour, and 69% said that the discrimination had occurred in the workplace or when applying for a job.

Notes:

1. All statistical information in the publication referring to Filipino, the Filipino community, Canadians of Filipino origin or people of Filipino origin denotes those who reported Filipino 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. Includes wages and salaries and net income from self-employment.

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