Canadians of Taiwanese descent

Many Canadians are of Taiwanese ancestry. Whether Taiwanese Canadians also count as Chinese Canadians is a controversial issue although the Republic of China government on Taiwan classifies them as such.

Immigration

From the late 1980s, an influx of Taiwanese people immigrated to Canada, especially Vancouver, British Columbia and to the adjacent cities of Burnaby, Richmond, British Columbia, and Coquitlam. The Greater Vancouver Metropolitan Area has the largest Taiwanese community in Canada. There is also an established Taiwanese community in Toronto, but more spread out than its counterpart in Vancouver. The discussion here primarily pertains to the Taiwanese communities in the Greater Vancouver, BC Area. Unlike the Taiwanese American community with a longer history in North America, the majority of the younger Taiwanese Canadians are either 1st generation or 1.5 generation immigrants who have either grown up entirely in Taiwan or have completed at least some elementary or junior high school education in Taiwan prior to immigrating to Canada and are fluent in Mandarin as well as Taiwanese. Hakka language to a lesser extent, is also spoken by those of Taiwanese Hakka Heritage. This is because many Taiwanese Canadian families are made up of households where the providers are people, retired from their businesses and occupations in Taiwan, who have decided to move their families (many with adolescent or grown-up children) to Canada. There are also many Taiwanese Canadian households where the primary provider (mostly fathers) is not retired and still conducts business in Taiwan which requires frequent travel between Taiwan and Canada and maybe even require living away from their families for part of the year or longer (This is situation is also typical of many of the Hong Kong Chinese as well). There is a sizable Waisheng Taiwanese community as well in Vancouver that may rival the Taiwanese community in size, but they tend to identify themselves more as Chinese Canadians. Bensheng Taiwanese and Waisheng Taiwanese have both been present in Vancouver in the late 1970s and early 1980s, but it seems as if many of those immigrants have moved to the United States and have become part of the Taiwanese American and Chinese American communities.

ettlement

Many Taiwanese have recently immigrated to the Vancouver, B.C. forming a growing and stable Taiwanese Canadian community, although it is often overlooked due to the presence of a larger Hong Kong Chinese immigrant base. This immigration from Taiwan to Vancouver, B.C. started in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Many of these immigrants from Taiwan, especially those without family or relatives in United States, find it easier to immigrate to Canada. These Taiwanese immigrants are also relatively wealthy and like many of the Hong Kong Chinese can afford Vancouver's high cost of living. The Greater Vancouver, BC metropolitan area offers comfortable living and the conveniences of modern Chinese shopping centers with a vast array of restaurants, eateries, and grocery stores that provide the foods and entertainment that reflect the modern trends that the Hong Kong Chinese and Taiwanese were accustomed to prior to arriving in Canada. Because Vancouver has more Hong Kong Chinese than Taiwanese, the fashions and products available largely reflect the modern trends of Hong Kong more so than Taiwan. This is in contrast to the Santa Clara Valley/Silicon Valley and San Gabriel Valley in California where there are concentrated communities with larger proportions of people of Taiwanese heritage and where many "chinese" shopping centers, restaurants, supermarkets, and other retail businesses tend to reflect more of the modern Taiwanese trends (Note: Both Taiwan and Hong Kong have long held powerful influences on the Chinese-speaking communities around the world regarding trends in food, popular culture, and fashions). There are T & T Supermarkets in Canada as oppose to 99 Ranch Markets in the United States.

Taiwanese American Visitors, south of the USA/Canadian Border

The Greater Vancouver, B.C. Metropolitan Area also attracts Taiwanese American visitors from the Greater Seattle Area (Bellevue, Washington and North Seattle Communities) in the United States (approximately two hours south of the USA/Canadian border). Vancouver, B.C. is the only large Canadian City that is close in proximity to another large city just south of the USA/Canadian border and where both cities have well-established Chinese and Taiwanese communities. The large Canadian Cities of Toronto, Ontario and Montreal, Quebec have well-established Chinese and Taiwanese communities. However, the nearest American City with such high concentrations is New York City, which is located further away.

The Greater Seattle Area overall, has a larger and longer established Taiwanese population than Vancouver, B.C., but the Taiwanese residents are spread out over a vast area and not as highly concentrated in one area as those in Vancouver. The few "chinese" shopping center complexes in Seattle's International District (Chinatown) may be owned by Taiwanese and/or Chinese people but cater mostly to other Asians such as first-generation Southeast Asians of Vietnamese and Cambodian heritage. Shops particularly in the heart of the International District are owned by older-established Cantonese/Toisan Chinese Americans (the descendants of the first Chinese who built up most of the chinatowns in many American Cities). Seattle is much closer to Vancouver, B.C. than to Cities of San Francisco, San Jose, and Los Angeles (all located in California with large Chinese and Taiwanese Communities). The Greater Vancouver, B.C. Metropolitan Area has amenities for Taiwanese and Chinese communities quite similar to these large California Metropolitan Areas.

Despite the long lines at the USA/Canadian border, it is still worth a good road trip up to Vancouver for good food and commercial products (i.e., music CDs, books, snack items, etc.) from Taiwan and Hong Kong. Many Taiwanese Americans from the Greater Seattle Area also have business and social connections and family ties to the Taiwanese Canadian families in Vancouver, B.C. University/College students of Chinese and Taiwanese Heritage (primarily from University of Washington-Seattle Campus) make frequent road trips up to Vancouver, B.C.

Taiwanese Canadians currently not residing in Canada

*Angela Chang, (張韶涵), singer and actress in Taiwan
*Brandon Chang,(張卓楠), artist in Taiwan and Hong Kong
*Jacky Chu, (祝釩剛), actor and the lead singer of Taiwanese group 183 Club
*Elva Hsiao, (蕭亞軒), singer in Taiwan

ee also

* Taiwanese American
* Taiwan ROCSAUT

External links

* [http://www.tccs.ca Taiwanese Canadian Cultural Society]