Are many people outside Canada aware that Canada has a large Asian population?

[Capsicum]

It seems like many people, even some Americans fairly close to the Canadian border, are surprised to see so many Asian Canadians (in cities at least). That demographic doesn't seem to be as well known outside Canada (except for family members of Asian Canadians abroad).

Canada is 17.7% of Asian descent (not quite comparable with the definition of Asian American, since it includes those of "West Asian" (mideastern) descent but still very high by western hemisphere standards). That means about 1 out of every 5-6 Canadians (also close to the proportion that Hispanic Americans are in the US).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asian_Canadians

Ontario, with 3.1 million Asian Canadians and British Columbia with 1.3 million (the two Canadian provinces with the largest numbers) are up there with California's over 5.5 million Asian Americans and New York state's 1.6 million (the two US states with the largest number).

[tayser]

In Australia, it's around 16% according to wikipedia which draws the data from the 2016 census: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asian_Australians

Our next census is in 2021 and given most NOM is from the Asian region, I'd expect the number to steadily increase too.

[dimondpark]

I'm aware:hi:

[craigs]

It seems like many people, even some Americans fairly close to the Canadian border, are surprised to see so many Asian Canadians
I don't believe "many people" are "surprised to see" Asians in Canada. It seems like you just made that up.

[kool maudit]

This is going to be the new "Americans with skis on the roof in July". "By golly, Martha, this place is full of Chinamen!". I don't think this is a major narrative or perception.

[Northern Light]

This is going to be the new "Americans with skis on the roof in July". "By golly, Martha, this place is full of Chinamen!". I don't think this is a major narrative or perception.

You almost made me spit my coffee!

Story: My mother was a medical translator for a pharma giant in the 1960s, before I was born.

She was at that point, in her 20s.

She was dispatched on a work trip to Indiana for some reason.

She was coming home, and a young man sidled up to flirt w/her at the airport.

It was July, he apparently asked her if she would miss all the warmth, going back to Canada.

Needless to say, he didn't get to first base.

*****

I take for granted that in this day and age most Americans are at least somewhat more knowledgeable of Canada.

I'm sure some were then too.

But I wouldn't be surprised if some folks came to Toronto and Vancouver and find it rather more cosmopolitan than they first expected.

That's not suggesting a high level of ignorance; but Toronto is now majority-minority and majority foreign born.

That is comparatively rare among major cities and would surely be surprising to some.

I'm less certain the surprise, as such, would be specific to the Asian-subset of that diversity.

[Crawford]

I doubt most non-Canadians are aware of the demographic nuances of Canada. Most Americans probably aren't aware of the demographic nuances of their own country.

You think most people know that U.S. isn't even 2% Jewish, or that there are far more Latinos than African Americans? I doubt it.

Also, the differing definitions of Asian probably matter. Canada has very large Persian, Lebanese and Middle Eastern populations. Those folks won't be classified as Asian in most non-Canadian contexts.

[Razor]

This is going to be the new "Americans with skis on the roof in July". "By golly, Martha, this place is full of Chinamen!". I don't think this is a major narrative or perception.

Ya, I don't know why that whole skis in July myth gathered steam in the first place..I hate it when somebody lies about that story when they tell me it happened to them...And I never got the "you know Gord?" either..Another myth.

[Docere]

I doubt most non-Canadians are aware of the demographic nuances of Canada. Most Americans probably aren't aware of the demographic nuances of their own country.

You think most people know that U.S. isn't even 2% Jewish, or that there are far more Latinos than African Americans? I doubt it.

Also, the differing definitions of Asian probably matter. Canada has very large Persian, Lebanese and Middle Eastern populations. Those folks won't be classified as Asian in most non-Canadian contexts.

A "pan-Asian" identity doesn't really exist in Canada. East Asians and South Asians are pretty separate and few really see Iranians and Lebanese as "Asians."

The vast majority of Armenians and about half of Lebanese identify as "White" on the Census.

[pj3000]

I think this is fake news.

If Canada actually had such a large Asian population, there would be a lot more oriental hockey players.

[Capsicum]

I don't believe "many people" are "surprised to see" Asians in Canada. It seems like you just made that up.

Well, I know at least a few cases where such surprise was expressed -- including those traveling to Toronto from the Midwest, and even Asian Americans from California.

Not sure if it's super common, but I recall at least some of my previous Asian Canadian classmates when I was younger mention when traveling abroad the locals (in Europe, in Africa, even in Asia itself) are surprised and some even find it shocking for them to introduce themselves as Canadian -- revealing that there are Canadians with Asian faces, even when other minorities in the west (like American minorities) are more well known. I think it's that Canadian minorities don't have as much reach/image overseas (even Europeans and Asians abroad are aware of African Americans, Hispanic and Asian Americans because of the US's influence, military bases etc. but there are many fewer visible minority Canadians abroad).

[Capsicum]

I think this is fake news.

If Canada actually had such a large Asian population, there would be a lot more oriental hockey players.

Well, the first NHL player to break the color barrier was actually an Asian Canadian, though his stint was very short.

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/larry-kwong-first-player-asian-heritage-skate-nhl-has-died-94-180968557/

[pj3000]

Well, the first NHL player to break the color barrier was actually an Asian Canadian, though his stint was very short.

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/larry-kwong-first-player-asian-heritage-skate-nhl-has-died-94-180968557/

Never knew that! Thanks for the info.

[lio45]

Also, the differing definitions of Asian probably matter. Canada has very large Persian, Lebanese and Middle Eastern populations. Those folks won't be classified as Asian in most non-Canadian contexts.It's true that if you showed someone a Copt, an Istanbulite and an Israeli or Lebanese, their chances of correctly guessing who's the African, who's the European and who's the Asian probably wouldn't be very high. (On the other hand, I get that there have to be lines somewhere.)

Russia is also a good example - if you relocate to the other side of the Urals, you morph from being an European to being an Asian, while continuing to be completely indistinguishable ethnically/culturally/linguistically from old-stock locals.

[Docere]

Justin Trudeau has two turban-wearing Sikh men in his Cabinet, as well as a a Somali refugee. I think Canada does have an image abroad of being a multicultural and tolerant society though I don't know if people specifically know much about the country's specific demographics.

[SpongeG]

I met a guy from Argentina who was living in Victoria hoping to be able to immigrate, anyway he said when he landed in Vancouver, he thought he was coming to Canada not China, he said he didn't know there would be so many Asians

[JManc]

Every Canadian looks and talks like Bob and Doug McKenzie. Hosers.

[Razor]

Every Canadian looks and talks like Bob and Doug McKenzie. Hosers.

Take off eh!

Nope not going to pull out the Texan Boomhauer and Mirrored glasses stereotype..Nope :P

[iheartthed]

I don't think most people ever wonder about the demographic nuances of Canada. But I get surprised at the demographics of a lot of places, both in the U.S. and all over the world. Here are a few off the top of my head:


(East) Asians in west coast cities (U.S. and Canada), particularly in the SF Bay Area and Vancouver, are far more visible than they are in any major city in the eastern U.S.

When I first visited Paris there were a lot more people of sub-Saharan African descent than I was aware.

Berlin hardly feels German at all because everybody there seems like they are from some other part of the world. Turks are the well-known most visible group, but there were also a lot of people from all parts of Europe, as well as a few Africans.

I was surprised at how many mixed black and Japanese people I encountered in Tokyo.

Counter to my experience in Tokyo, I don't recall encountering any mixed black and Korean people when I visited there. But I have only visited Korea once, and I spent most of my time in Korea away from Seoul.

I was surprised at how few people of African descent there are in Argentina.

Santiago de Chile has a ton of Haitians for some reason.

[Urbanguy]

I don't think most people ever wonder about the demographic nuances of Canada. But I get surprised at the demographics of a lot of places, both in the U.S. and all over the world. Here are a few off the top of my head:


(East) Asians in west coast cities (U.S. and Canada), particularly in the SF Bay Area and Vancouver, are far more visible than they are in any major city in the eastern U.S.

When I first visited Paris there were a lot more people of sub-Saharan African descent than I was aware.

Berlin hardly feels German at all because everybody there seems like they are from some other part of the world. Turks are the well-known most visible group, but there were also a lot of people from all parts of Europe, as well as a few Africans.

I was surprised at how many mixed black and Japanese people I encountered in Tokyo.

Counter to my experience in Tokyo, I don't recall encountering any mixed black and Korean people when I visited there. But I have only visited Korea once, and I spent most of my time in Korea away from Seoul.

I was surprised at how few people of African descent there are in Argentina.

Santiago de Chile has a ton of Haitians for some reason.


^In regards to the last two -- Argentina never had a large presence of Africans to begin with same for Uruguay most of their immigrants came from Europe especially Italy.

As for Chile -- a lot of it has to do with Haitians looking for work -- there were many that also went to Brazil and in many of those cases where they lost their jobs they ended up making the journey northward to the US Mexican-Border or to Chile where the economy was relatively stable.

[iheartthed]

^In regards to the last two -- Argentina never had a large presence of Africans to begin with same for Uruguay most of their immigrants came from Europe especially Italy.

That's not really true:

https://www.ibtimes.com/blackout-how-argentina-eliminated-africans-its-history-conscience-1289381

[isaidso]

I don't think people outside Canada are generally aware of Canada period.... so the answer is no.

[Centropolis]

Midwesterners are obsessed with Canada and my rural parents, of the storied flyover, have been to MANY more major cities in Canada than myself. In my opinion its not really a big thing in the U.S. that Americans wouldnt know, with exception, and that goes for all of the Commonwealth at this point.

Now in China, it might be.

[The Chemist]

Chinese people definitely know there's lots of Chinese in Canada. When I tell people here that I'm Canadian, they almost invariably start talking about how many Chinese people there are in Canada and how they know somebody who's living in Canada. :D

[Centropolis]

Chinese people definitely know there's lots of Chinese in Canada. When I tell people here that I'm Canadian, they almost invariably start talking about how many Chinese people there are in Canada and how they know somebody who's living in Canada. :D

lol i mean outside of say shanghai.

[Steely Dan]

Midwesterners are obsessed with Canada.
We are?

As a lifelong midwesterner, I can't recall ever meeting anyone in this region who was obsessed with Canada, or even terribly interested in it.

From my experiences, Midwesterners seem to be like most other Americans when it comes to Canada: from the mildly interested to the entirely indifferent/ignorant.

[Centropolis]

We are?

As a lifelong midwesterner I can't recall ever meeting anyone in this region who was obsessed with Canada, or even terribly interested in it.

From my experiences, Midwesterners seem to be like most other Americans when it comes to Canada: from the mildly interested to the entirely indifferent/ignorant.

haha maybe just my parents then, they’ve been to most canadian provinces. myself just ontario and bc.

[Razor]

I suppose many Americans on here are more curious about certain Canadian cities vs the country or racial demographics itself. I myself am aware of Idaho, but am more curious about Boise. San Fran has a lot of Asians, but the city is what I'm interested in. I just learned on here that Chicago had a large Mexican born population, and I was kind of meh on that fact, so I imagine it would be the same for outsiders learning about the Aian demographics in Canada.."Show me Montreal street festival pictures!"

[Urbanguy]

That's not really true:

https://www.ibtimes.com/blackout-how-argentina-eliminated-africans-its-history-conscience-1289381

Unfortunately, that was short lived that's why they only make up about 0.4% of the population.

[iheartthed]

Unfortunately, that was short lived that's why they only make up about 0.4% of the population.

I wouldn't say it was "short lived," either. People of African descent made up a substantial portion of the humans living in Argentina for most of its colonial history. Some estimates suggest that Argentina was between 30-50% African at one point. The historian Henry Louis Gates wrote a pretty in-depth piece about what is believed to have happened to Argentina's African population:

https://www.theroot.com/true-or-false-there-are-no-black-people-in-argentina-1790876367

It should strike anyone as odd that Argentina, which is as much a product of European colonialism as Brazil or the United States, would have few visual traces of Africans today. It doesn't make sense that this one place did not do what all of the places surrounding it did.

[MonkeyRonin]

It should strike anyone as odd that Argentina, which is as much a product of European colonialism as Brazil or the United States, would have few visual traces of Africans today. It doesn't make sense that this one place did not do what all of the places surrounding it did.


Admittedly I had no idea of the history of Argentina's African population, however, their relatively small numbers today never struck me as odd. The countries in the Americas with historically large black populations are those where the plantation economy flourished - which for many (Canada, Northern US, Mexico, Chile, etc) was never the case. I'd have otherwise assumed that was the case for Argentina as well.

[Tom In Chicago]

I doubt most non-Canadians are aware of the demographic nuances of Canada. Most Americans probably aren't aware of the demographic nuances of their own country.

I was at the skating ribbon in Maggie Daley Park here in downtown Chicago with my nephews on Saturday and overheard someone - someone white and probably from the 'burbs - say, "I'm surprised to see so many minorities. . . "

I don't think this person was referring to latino or black folks but many young people from far-east and south Asia out enjoying the day. . . [/anecdote]

. . .

[Tom In Chicago]

From my experiences, Midwesterners seem to be like most other Americans when it comes to Canada: from the mildly interested to the entirely indifferent/ignorant.

Yep. . .

. . .

[Docere]

It seems like many people, even some Americans fairly close to the Canadian border, are surprised to see so many Asian Canadians (in cities at least). That demographic doesn't seem to be as well known outside Canada (except for family members of Asian Canadians abroad).

Canada is 17.7% of Asian descent (not quite comparable with the definition of Asian American, since it includes those of "West Asian" (mideastern) descent but still very high by western hemisphere standards). That means about 1 out of every 5-6 Canadians (also close to the proportion that Hispanic Americans are in the US).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asian_Canadians

Ontario, with 3.1 million Asian Canadians and British Columbia with 1.3 million (the two Canadian provinces with the largest numbers) are up there with California's over 5.5 million Asian Americans and New York state's 1.6 million (the two US states with the largest number).

For consistency, 14.2% of Canadians are Asian if you use the "Asian American" definition. About the same as California percentage-wise.

[Capsicum]

For consistency, 14.2% of Canadians are Asian if you use the "Asian American" definition. About the same as California percentage-wise.

In Australia, it's around 16% according to wikipedia which draws the data from the 2016 census: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asian_Australians

Our next census is in 2021 and given most NOM is from the Asian region, I'd expect the number to steadily increase too.

Okay, so Australia beats both (Canada and California) in % slightly, considering Australia's definition also excludes west Asians or mid-easterners. I had thought either Canada or Australia was the most % Asian in the English-speaking west.

[Capsicum]

I don't think most people ever wonder about the demographic nuances of Canada. But I get surprised at the demographics of a lot of places, both in the U.S. and all over the world. Here are a few off the top of my head:


(East) Asians in west coast cities (U.S. and Canada), particularly in the SF Bay Area and Vancouver, are far more visible than they are in any major city in the eastern U.S.

When I first visited Paris there were a lot more people of sub-Saharan African descent than I was aware.

Berlin hardly feels German at all because everybody there seems like they are from some other part of the world. Turks are the well-known most visible group, but there were also a lot of people from all parts of Europe, as well as a few Africans.

I was surprised at how many mixed black and Japanese people I encountered in Tokyo.

Counter to my experience in Tokyo, I don't recall encountering any mixed black and Korean people when I visited there. But I have only visited Korea once, and I spent most of my time in Korea away from Seoul.

I was surprised at how few people of African descent there are in Argentina.

Santiago de Chile has a ton of Haitians for some reason.


Seems like while many people are vaguely aware that other countries have diverse minorities, it still seems to pale in comparison to the awareness that people have of the US' own demographics.

People all over the world know about say African Americans but the African diaspora in other countries gets overlooked.

Also, the Asian diaspora isn't as well known in the western countries (aside from Asian Americans and Asians from Asia itself).

[Capsicum]

Chinese people definitely know there's lots of Chinese in Canada. When I tell people here that I'm Canadian, they almost invariably start talking about how many Chinese people there are in Canada and how they know somebody who's living in Canada. :D

lol i mean outside of say shanghai.

I thought Hong Kong would be the city most aware of the Asian Canadian demographic -- it's got the highest population of Canadian citizens (including and probably heavily influenced by immigrant returnees) of cities outside Canada or the US.

[Capsicum]

Midwesterners are obsessed with Canada and my rural parents, of the storied flyover, have been to MANY more major cities in Canada than myself. In my opinion its not really a big thing in the U.S. that Americans wouldnt know, with exception, and that goes for all of the Commonwealth at this point.

Now in China, it might be.

Chinese people definitely know there's lots of Chinese in Canada. When I tell people here that I'm Canadian, they almost invariably start talking about how many Chinese people there are in Canada and how they know somebody who's living in Canada. :D

Actually, I'm surprised that it's actually often Asians from Asia that are surprisingly unaware of their own diasporas. Makes sense thinking about it though because Asian countries are just so much more populous than their diasporas (e.g. billions of Chinese or Indians vs. few millions of Chinese Americans or Canadians). By contrast, say Ireland has its diaspora much more populous than the old country (many more Irish Americans that the few million in the old country). A Chinese person can live in his or her own country thinking or assuming the only fellow Chinese people they'll see are also Chinese from China. Not Chinese from London, or Chinese from Manila, or Vancouver or Orange County etc. Those might be off their radar, unless they are cosmopolitan in outlook.

Never been to China, but I've noticed that the most recently arrived mainland Chinese immigrants often don't realize that previous Chinese immigrants have a prior history in the west (e.g. Chinatowns dating to the 1800s) long before themselves. I've heard Asian-Americans and Asian-Canadians travel to Asia and apparently sometimes that confuses the locals (e.g. they don't understand why someone who looks Asian doesn't speak their language or identifies as "Canadian" or "American" and sometimes even assume that Canada is overwhelmingly white).

By contrast, say Africans from Africa, when they arrive in the west, seem more aware that there is an African diaspora in the west already that preceded them, such as African Americans, Afro-Latinos etc.

[The Chemist]

lol i mean outside of say shanghai.

I travel all over the country for work and I get these kind of comments from Chinese people pretty much everywhere I visit - and not just in the big cities, I go to a lot of pretty remote / rural areas too.

[mrnyc]

as for awareness in general, when i was a kid on the shores of lake erie they used to accept canada money, coins anyway, one to one with usa money at the local corner stores, even though it was never one to one.

otherwise, canada was always in the mix for vacations, but that's about it and no more or less than anywhere else. like my parents went to niagara falls, my grandparents to nova scotia, stuff like that. i do have a french canadian aunt from montreal in cleveland, so i recall talking to her about montreal and frenchy stuff from time to time.

[iheartthed]

Admittedly I had no idea of the history of Argentina's African population, however, their relatively small numbers today never struck me as odd. The countries in the Americas with historically large black populations are those where the plantation economy flourished - which for many (Canada, Northern US, Mexico, Chile, etc) was never the case. I'd have otherwise assumed that was the case for Argentina as well.

Even before post war migration, I don't think places like Canada and the northern United States were as completely devoid of black people as Argentina is today. Honestly, the reason I looked up the history is because I've been there several times and it always strikes me as weird that there seem to be none living there. I can probably count using my fingers the number of people with visible African ancestry that I've encountered on all of my trips put together. I saw far more black people in Tokyo.

[Rico Rommheim]

Asians in Canada don't even know that Quebec has a large population of french-speaking asians. Some of my (fully canadianized anglo asian) Vancouver friends were STUNNED when they first came to Montreal: they witnessed asians speaking french...amongst themselves. WOW was essentially their reaction.

[mrnyc]

^ well that's interesting.

who knew, but montreal went form 5% asian in 1981 to 31% asian today. that's a lot for a place you don't think of as with a huge asian population, like vancouver.

[Acajack]

^ well that's interesting.

who knew, but montreal went form 5% asian in 1981 to 31% asian today. that's a lot for a place you don't think of as with a huge asian population, like vancouver.

Where did he say that Montréal was 31% Asian today?

[isaidso]

According to online the Montreal CMA was roughly 11.5% of Asian ethnicity in the 2016 Census. It's significant below the national rate of 17.7%. 17.7% is higher than I thought it was though. Canada is really not that far off from 1 in 5 people being of Asian descent.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_Montreal#East_Indians
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asian_Canadians