Demographics of Toronto

The demographics of Toronto make Toronto one of the most multicultural cities in the world. Data released by Statistics Canada as part of the 2006 census indicates that Toronto has surpassed Miami (which held the record in 2004) in terms of the number of foreign-born population within the city, with 49.9% of the population of Toronto being foreign-born.

A majority of Torontonians claim their origins from as either in whole or part from Britain and Ireland. There is a significant population of Chinese, Italian, Greeks, Portuguese, Jamaicans, East Indians, Sri Lankans, Russians, Ukrainians, Filipinos, Latin Americans, Iranians, Vietnamese, Poles, Trinidadians, Romanians, Germans, French, Guyanese, Hungarians, Greeks, Koreans, Jews, and West Indians throughout the city. Areas like Koreatown, Chinatown, Little Jamaica, Gerrard Street East, Bloor West Village, Greektown, Portugal Village, Corso Italia, and Little Italy are examples of these large cultural populations.

Christianity is the largest faith group in the Toronto census metropolitan area, with Roman Catholics comprising 33.4% of the population. The Anglican Church and United Church of Canada account for 6.9% each. Other religious groups include Sikhism (8.0%). Judaism (7.0%), Islam (6.7%), Hinduism (4.1%), Buddhism (2.1%). 16.6% of the population have no religious affiliation.

While English is the predominant language spoken by Torontonians, Statistics Canada reports that other language groups are significant, including Chinese, Punjabi, Portuguese, Tamil, Persian, Urdu, Spanish, and Italian. Canada's other official language, French, is spoken by 1.4% of the population.

Basic information

City of Toronto (2006 census)	2,503,281
Toronto Census Metropolitan Area (2006 census)	5,113,149
Annual Growth Rate	1.7%

Population growth studies have projected the City of Toronto's population in 2031 to be 3,000,000 and the Greater Toronto Area's population to be 7,450,000 (source).

Toronto's population grew by 1.0% from 2001 to 2006, with an annual growth rate of 0.2%. As of 2001, 17.5% of the population was 14 years and under, and 13.6% was 65 years and over; the median age was 36.9 years.

Multicultural and racial diversity

In 2001, 43.7% of Torontonians were foreign-born.

Toronto is one of the world's most multicultural cities. In 2004, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) ranked Toronto second, behind Miami, Florida, in its list of the world's cities with the largest percentage of foreign-born population, but Toronto has the highest percentage of foreign population, according to the 2006 Canadian census. Miami's foreign-born population is dominated by those of Cuban and Latin American descent, unlike Toronto's foreign-born population, which is not dominated by any particular ethnic group.

The 2006 census indicates 46.9% of Toronto's population is visible minorities; 1,162,630 non-Whites, or 23% of Canada's visible minority population, live in Toronto; of this, approximately 70% originate from Asia alone. Annually, almost half of all immigrants to Canada settle in the Greater Toronto Area. In March 2005, Statistics Canada projected that the visible minority proportion will comprise a majority in both Toronto and Vancouver by 2012.

Visible Minorities in the City of Toronto (2006) Source: Stats Canada 2006 Toronto Community Profile: Visible Minorities		Population	%
Visible minority group	South Asian	298,370	12.0
	Chinese	283,075	11.4
	Black	208,555	8.4
	Filipino	102,555	4.1
	Latin American	64,855	2.6
	West Asian	42,755	1.7
	Southeast Asian	37,495	1.5
	Korean	34,220	1.4
	Arab	22,485	0.9
	Japanese	11,965	0.5
	Multiple minorities	31,100	1.3
	Other minorities	25,195	1.0
Total visible minorities		1,162,630	46.9
Not a visible minority (including Aboriginal peoples)		1,313,930	53.1
Total population		2,476,565	100

Visible Minorities in the Toronto CMA (2006) Source: Stats Canada 2006 Toronto CMA Community Profile: Visible Minorities		Population	%
Visible minority group	South Asian	684,070	13.5
	Chinese	486,330	9.6
	Black	352,220	6.9
	Filipino	171,980	3.4
	Latin American	99,295	2.0
	West Asian	75,475	1.5
	Southeast Asian	70,215	1.4
	Korean	55,265	1.1
	Arab	53,430	1.1
	Japanese	19,010	0.4
	Multiple minorities	60,075	1.2
	Other minorities	46,705	0.9
Total visible minorities		2,174,070	42.9
Not a visible minority (including Aboriginal peoples)		2,898,005	57.1
Total population		5,072,075	100

Ethnicity

The majority of Torontonians claim their ethnic origins as from Britain and Ireland, either in whole or in part. There are significant numbers of Chinese, Indian, Italian, Jamaican, Vietnamese, Tamil, French, German, West Africans, Portuguese, Hungarian, Greek, Polish, Hispanics, Somalis, Romanian, Jews, Ukrainians, Iranians, Pakistanis, Scandinavia, Arabs, and Filipinos in the city, resulting in a unique combination of communities and neighbourhoods that are often strikingly different from one another. Most ethnic groups in the world are represented by communities in Toronto.

Religion

Roman Catholics accounted for 31.4% of the population of the City of Toronto in 2001, followed by Protestants with 21.2%. The city also has Sikh (8.0%), Jewish (7.0%), Muslim (6.7%), Christian Orthodox (4.9%), Hindu (4.8%), Buddhist (2.7%), and other communities; 18.9% reported no religious affiliation.

Language

While English is the predominant language spoken by Torontonians, Statistics Canada reports that other language groups are significant including Chinese and Italian. Only 1.4% of city residents claim French (Canada's other official language) as their mother tongue, and a scant few are bilingual in English and French.

Mother tongue by population

(Toronto CMA 2001)

English: 2,684,195

Italian: 195,960

Chinese (not otherwise specified): 165,120

Cantonese: 145,490

Portuguese: 108,935

Punjabi: 95,950

Spanish: 83,245

Polish: 79,875

Tagalog: 77,220

Tamil: 72,715

French: 57,485

Urdu: 53,895

Greek: 50,165

Russian: 47,590

Arabic: 46,570

Persian: 46,175

German: 43,665

Vietnamese: 36,555

Korean: 36,505

Mandarin: 35,315

Issues

According to the federal government, Canada has the highest per capita immigration rate in the world, and 43% of new immigrants settle in the Greater Toronto Area.

References

• Human Development Report 2004 - Ch. 5, page 99
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