Punjabi Canadians, are Canadians whose ancestry originates wholly or partly in the Punjab, a region in northern South Asia, which encompasses India and Pakistan.
By 1906, there were 1,500 Sikh workers living in Canada, almost entirely from the Punjab. Punjabis avoided the Anti-Oriental Riots of 1907 by staying indoors.[2]
Punjabi Canadians began occupying all areas of Vancouver in the 1960s. In the 1970s Punjabi populations began appearing in Delta, Richmond, and Surrey. Vandalism against houses owned by Indo-Canadians and a Sikh gurdwara occurred in the 1970s, especially in 1974-1975 in Surrey.[3]
Punjabi Canadians from India or have ancestry there are generally Sikh and Muslim, while those who originate from Pakistan are predominately Muslim. Some Punjabi people living in Canada are also Christian, Hindu, and of other faiths or irreligious. During the early stages of Punjabi immigration to Canada, almost all of them were of Sikh faith.[6]
^Nayar, The Punjabis in British Columbia, p. 9. "It is interesting to note that, in the BC Lower Mainland (Vancouver and surrounding municipalities, including Burnaby, New Westminster, Richmond, and Surrey), Sikhs raised outside the Punjab refer to themselves as Punjabi and use the term interchangeably with "Sikh," understanding the two as synonymous."
^(Only includes the number of native Punjabi language speakers and doesn't include native English, Hindi and Urdu language speakers.)
