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Visible minority population soaring |
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Roughly one out of every five people in Canada could be a member of a
visible minority by 2017 when Canada celebrates
its 150th anniversary, according to a report by Statistics Canada.
Using new ethno-cultural population projections, it said Canada would
have between 6.3 million and 8.5 million visible minorities 12 years
from now - or between 19% and 23% of the nation's population.
This contrasts with just 13% of the population identifying themselves as belonging to a visible minority group in 2001.
Depending on the growth scenario, this would mean an increase in the
visible minority population ranging from 56% to 111% from 2001, when
their number was estimated at about 4.0 million. In contrast, the
projected increase for the rest of the population was estimated at
between only 1% and 7% between 2001 and 2017.
As was the case in 2001, almost three-quarters of visible minorities
in 2017 would be living in one of Canada's three largest metropolitan
areas: Toronto, Vancouver and Montréal, Statistics Canada said. About
one-half of the population in Toronto and Vancouver could belong to a
visible minority.
Among the factors that account for the more rapid growth in the visible
minority population, the most important are unquestionably sustained
immigration along with the high proportion of visible minority people
among the new arrivals.
Other factors include higher fertility and a "younger" age structure,
which result in fewer deaths and higher birth rates for visible
minorities than for the rest of the population.
In 2001, about 70% of the visible minority population were born outside Canada.
On the basis of the immigration composition and levels set for the
various projection scenarios, Canada's immigrant population would reach
between 7.0 million and 9.3 million in 2017.
This would represent an increase of between 24% and 65% from levels in 2001.
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