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 is more ethnically diverse than Miami, Los Angeles, and New York City. 49.9% of Toronto's population is foreign-born.^[1]

A majority of Torontonians claim their origins from as either in whole or part from England, Scotland, Ireland and Italy. There is a significant population of Afghans, Arabs, Barbadians, Bengalis, Chinese, Colombians, Dutch, Ecuadorians, Filipinos, French, Germans, Greeks, Grenadians, Guyanese, Hungarians, Indians, Iranians, Jamaicans, Jews, Koreans, Mexicans, Pakistanis, Poles, Portuguese, Romanians, Russians, Salvadorans, Somalis, Sri Lankans, Tibetans, Trinidadians, Ukrainians, Vietnamese, and Vincentians throughout the city. Neighbourhoods such as Chinatown, Corso Italia, Little India, Greektown, Koreatown, Little Jamaica, Little Portugal and Roncesvalles are examples of these large ethno-cultural populations.^[2].

Christianity is the largest faith group in Toronto's 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 Islam (5.5%), Hinduism (4.1%), Judaism (3.5%), Buddhism (2.1%), and Sikhism (1.9%). 16.6% of the population claim they have no religious affiliation.^[3]

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

Basic information

Municipal	population
1831	3,969
1841	14,249
1851	30,775
1861	44,821
1871	59,000
1881	96,196
1891	181,215
1901	156,098
1911	376,538
1921	521,893
1931	631,207
1941	657,612
1951	675,754
1961	672,407
1971	712,786
1981	599,217
1991	635,395
2001*	2,481,494
2006*	2,503,281
*After	amalgamation

City of Toronto (2006 census)	2,503,281
Toronto Census Metropolitan Area (2006 census)	5,113,149
Annual Growth Rate	0.2%

Population growth studies have projected the City of Toronto's population in 2020 to reach 3,000,000, and the Greater Toronto Area would reach a population of roughly 7.5 million in 2025. 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. Most recent studies show this has dropped to around 35.4 years of age, and the growth rate has increased to 0.4%.

Multicultural diversity

In 2001, 43.7% of Torontonians were foreign-born.^[4]

Pie chart showing Toronto's visible minority make up (according to Canada 2006 Census).

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. 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 composed of visible minorities; 1,162,630 non-Whites, or 23% of Canada's visible minority population, live in Toronto; of this, approximately 70% are of Asian ancestry. Annually, almost half of all immigrants to Canada settle in the Greater Toronto Area. In March 2005, Statistics Canada projected that the combined visible minority proportion will comprise a majority in both Toronto and Vancouver by 2012.

Ethnicities in the City of Toronto (2006) Source: Stats Canada 2006 Toronto Community Profile: Visible Minorities		Population	%
Ethnicities	White / Aboriginal	1,313,930	53.1
	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	25,195	1.0
Total population		2,476,565	100

Ethnicities in the Toronto CMA (2006) Source: Stats Canada 2006 Toronto CMA Community Profile: Visible Minorities		Population	%
Ethnicities	White / Aboriginal	2,898,005	57.1
	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	46,705	0.9
Total population		5,072,075	100

Religion

Roman Catholics accounted for 33.4% of the population of the City of Toronto in 2001, followed by Protestants with 21.2%. The city also has Islam (6.7%), Christian Orthodox (4.9%), Hindu (4.1%), Jewish (3.5%), Buddhist (2.1%), Sikh (1%), and other communities; 16.6% reported no religious affiliation.^[5]

Languages

Languages of Toronto city
Language
English			56%
Chinese Languages (Cantonese, Mandarin etc.)			8.5%
Indians (Punjabi, Tamil, Gujarati etc.)			8%
Italian			4%
Filipino Languages			2.5%
French			1.5%
Native Americans			1%
Other Asian Languages			11%
Other European Languages			9%
Other Languages			1%

While English is the predominant language spoken by Torontonians, Statistics Canada reports that other language groups are significant including Chinese, Portuguese, 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 2006)^[6]

• English: 2,849,285
• Italian: 194,620
• Chinese (not otherwise specified): 175,900
• Cantonese: 170,490
• Punjabi: 137,730
• Tagalog: 113,875
• Portuguese: 113,015
• Spanish: 112,875
• Urdu: 105,555
• Tamil: 98,265
• Polish: 81,975
• French: 72,590
• Russian: 66,070
• Persian: 65,755
• Mandarin: 63,820
• Arabic: 60,800
• Gujarati: 57,100
• Greek: 48,810
• Korean: 48,795
• Vietnamese: 46,955
• German: 42,075

Immigration patterns

According to the Canadian government, Toronto has the highest per capita immigration rate in the world.^[7] Within Canada itself, 43% of all new immigrants to Canada settle in the Greater Toronto Area adding significantly to Toronto's population.

References

Toronto portal

1. ^ A city of unmatched diversity, The Toronto Star, December 5, 2007
2. ^ "Population by selected ethnic origins (Toronto)". Statistics Canada. 2001. http://www12.statcan.ca/english/census01/products/highlight/ETO/Table1.cfm?Lang=E&T=501&GV=2&GID=535. Retrieved May 20 2006. 
3. ^ "Religions in Canada (Toronto)". Statistics Canada. 2001. http://www12.statcan.ca/english/census01/products/highlight/Religion/Page.cfm?Lang=E&Geo=CMA&View=2a&Code=535&Table=1&StartRec=1&Sort=2&B1=501&B2=1. Retrieved May 19 2006. 
4. ^ http://www40.statcan.ca/l01/cst01/demo47a.htm
5. ^ "2001 Community Profiles, Toronto, Ontario (City)". Statistics Canada. 2001. http://www12.statcan.ca/english/profil01/CP01/Details/Page.cfm?Lang=E&Geo1=CSD&Code1=3520005&Geo2=PR&Code2=35&Data=Count&SearchText=toronto&SearchType=Begins&SearchPR=35&B1=All&Custom=. Retrieved 19 May 2008. 
6. ^ Detailed Mother Tongue, Toronto CMA 2006, Retrieved on August 8, 2009.
7. ^ (BP-190E)

• Human Development Report 2004 - Ch. 5, page 99
• [1]
• [2]
• [3]