Canada and Culture

Canada and Culture

Canada and Culture

Numbering 917,000 in 2001, South Asians were the second largest visible minority group in Canada, just behind the Chinese at slightly over one million people. The South Asian community is one of the most diverse visible minority groups, consisting of a range of ethnic, religious and linguistic groups whose ancestries, immigration histories and personal experiences are quite varied. And yet, the South Asian community is one of the most unified when it comes to the value they attach to family interaction, the maintenance of social networks within their cultural group, and the preservation of ethnic customs, traditions and heritage languages. (Buchignani, N., D. Indra.2000 p. 124-125.)

Growth and diversity within the South Asian population in Canada are in part the result of centuries of migration from the Indian subcontinent. Many South Asians can trace their lineage back to India and other parts of Southern Asia, but have family members who have settled in all parts of the world. Over the years, the South Asian community in Canada has evolved from a relatively small and homogenous population to one that is unique in its diversity, boasting a multitude of different birthplace origins, ethnicities, religions and languages. Many of the earliest immigrants faced economic hardship, discrimination, and loneliness and looked to the South Asian community in Canada for support. South Asian immigration to Canada began at the start of the 20th century. As with the U.S. most immigrants were from the Punjab. In Canada most South Asian immigrants worked in the sawmill industry rather than in agriculture.

After 1962 the influx was more balanced between men and women. Besides Sikhs from the Punjab, Hindus from Gujarat, Bombay and Delhi came to Canada, as well as Muslims from Pakistan and Bangladesh, Christians from Kerala, Parsis from Bombay, and Buddhists from Sri Lanka. In Canada, South Asians made up a significant proportion of total immigrants and as a result very the target of significant harassment. However, in the 1990's South Asians in Canada are a prosperous and well-educated minority and enjoy a much higher level of acceptance than in former decades.

Indians, Pakistanis, and Bangladeshis began to come to the UK as factory workers in the 1950's and 1960's. They were met with hostility from working class Britons and tended to concentrate in urban ghetto neighborhoods. By the mid-1980's South Asian composed more than half the non-white population in the UK. Some South Asians also settled in Australia after that country began to reverse its previously discriminatory policies in the 1960's. South Asian immigration to Canada began at the start of the 20th century. However, in the 1990's South Asians in Canada are a prosperous and well-educated minority and enjoy a much higher level of acceptance than in former decades. Abolition of slavery in the European colonies of the Western hemisphere between 1834 and 1873 created the need for a new source of labor. In areas where land was scarce, such as the Caribbean Islands, newly freed slaves were forced ...