Archive for March, 2010

Visible minority population on the rise

Tuesday, March 30th, 2010
30% of Canadians will be minorities

minority photo

A new report from Statistics Canada indicates that Canada’s visible minority population will soon be the majority in some cities.

The report shows that in 20 years, about 30% of Canadians will be visible minorities and in Toronto and Vancouver, about two thirds of the population will be non-white.

StatsCan says Calgary’s visible minority population is expected to be 38 % in 20 years from now.

U of C Demographer, Kevin McQuillan says a vast majority of the visible minority population has decided to live in Canada’s big cities.

“That’s where most of the economic opportunity is, so people thinking in terms of coming to the country and finding jobs, it’s not like a century ago when you thought of buying farmland and starting up in farming, I think people are now looking to the cities for jobs,” said McQuillan

According to the report, StatsCan expects the following trends in the growth of Canada’s visible minority population by 2031:

  • The South Asian population — which includes people from India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka will grow to between 3.2 and 4.1 million, up from 1.6 million in 2006
  • The Chinese population is expected to grow to between 2.4 million and 3.0 million, up from 1.3 million
  • The West Asian population will likely number some 457,000 to 592,000 people, up from 164,000 in 2006
  • The Arab population will triple, or even quadruple, to between 806,000 and 1.1 million, up from 276,000 in 2006
  • The Black population is likely to double, growing to between 1.6 million and 2.0 million, up from 815,000 in 2006
  • The Filipino population is also likely to double, growing to between 908,000 and 1.1 million, up from 427,000 in 2006


South Asians are currently the largest visible minority group in Canada and that will still be the case twenty years from now.

Economists boost growth forecasts

Thursday, March 25th, 2010
Bank Of Montreal

Bank Of Montreal

A string of stronger-than-expected reports are prompting some economists to revisit their forecasts for the strength of the recovery.

Some are now pencilling in higher forecasts after recent reports showed strength in manufacturing and wholesale trade, while retail sales continue to climb.

Bank of Montreal, for example, boosted its forecast for Canada’s first-quarter gross domestic product by a full percentage point, to 4.7 per cent from its earlier expectation of 3.7 per cent. It now believes the economy will grow 3.2 per cent this year, rather than the 3 per cent it had previously predicted.

“And that may not be the final word,” said deputy chief economist Douglas Porter in a note. “With the housing sector almost back to pre-recession highs, employment recouping almost 40 per cent of its recession losses and real retail spending and auto sales close to their highs, can we really call this a fragile recovery? It looks more and more V-shaped by the day.”

Canada’s economy powered back to life in the final quarter of last year, expanding by a better-than-expected 5 per cent thanks to the housing market, consumer spending and trade.

Royal Bank of Canada, too, believes the first quarter will show some heat. It had pegged growth at 3.8 per cent, but now has a “monitoring” forecast of more like 4.6 per cent.

“In early 2010, it looks like the strong momentum is being maintained and that strength does look fairly broadly based,” said assistant chief economist Paul Ferley in an interview.

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