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The demographics of Toronto, Ontario make Toronto one of the most multicultural cities in the world. Data released by Statistics Canada as part of the 2006 census indicated that 49.9% of Toronto's population is foreign-born.[1] According to the 2011 National Household Survey (NHS) performed by Statistics Canada, that percentage had dropped - only slightly - to 48.6%[2]
The most common reported ethnic origins[3] of Toronto residents are those from England (12.9%), China (12.0%), Canada (11.3%), Ireland (9.7%), Scotland (9.5%), India (7.6%), Italy (6.9%), the Philippines (5.5%), Germany (4.6%), France (4.5%), Poland (3.8%), Portugal (3.6%), and Jamaica (3.2%), or are of Jewish ethnic origin (3.1%). There is also a significant population of Ukrainians (2.5%), Russians (2.4%), Sri Lankans (2.3%), Spanish (2.2%), Greeks (2.2%), people from the British Isles in general (2.0%), Koreans (1.5%), Dutch (1.5%), Iranians (1.4%), Vietnamese (1.4%), Pakistanis (1.2%), Hungarians (1.2%), Guyanese (1.1%), and Welsh (1.0%). Communities of Afghans, Arabs, Barbadians, Bangladeshis, Bulgarians, Colombians, Croats, Ecuadorians, Ethiopians, Grenadians, Macedonians, Mexicans, Nepalis, Romanians, Salvadorans, Serbs, Somalis, Tibetans, Trinidadians, and Vincentians are also recognized. Established ethnic neighbourhoods such as Chinatown, Corso Italia, Little India, Greektown, Koreatown, Little Jamaica, Little Portugal and Roncesvalles celebrate the city's multiculturalism.[4]
Christianity is the largest faith group in Toronto's census metropolitan area,[5] adhered to by 56.7% of the population, with Roman Catholics in particular being 30.4% of the population. 21.1% of the population has no religious affiliation. Islam is the second most popular religion with 8.2% of the population, followed by Hinduism at 5.9%. As regards Protestant denominations, the Anglican Church accounts for 4.1% of the population, with the United Church of Canada only slightly lagging, at 3.7%. The Eastern stream of Christianity is adhered to by that 3.7% of the population of the Toronto CMA that are Christian Orthodox. Judaism is the religion of 3.0% of Torontonians, closely followed by Sikhism, which is the religion for 2.9% of the population; there are also 2.2% of residents of the Toronto CMA that are Buddhists. Protestant denominations such as Pentecostalism (1.8%), Presbyterianism (1.7%), and Baptists (1.5%) follow.
While English is the predominant language spoken by Torontonians, Statistics Canada reports that other language groups are significant, including Chinese varieties (particularly Cantonese and Mandarin), Italian, Punjabi, Spanish, Tagalog, Urdu, Tamil, Portuguese, Persian, Arabic, Russian, Polish, Gujarati, Korean, Vietnamese, and Greek. Canada's other official language, French, is spoken by 1.2% of the population.
The last complete census by Statistics Canada estimated there were 2,615,060 people living in Toronto,[20] making it the largest city in Canada,[22] and the fifth most populous municipality in North America.[23]
Population growth studies have projected the City of Toronto's population in 2020 to reach 4,000,000, 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%.
2011 Census population data for the City of Toronto are to found readily aggregrated at a finer level than the city as a whole at i. the electoral district (riding) level (2003 redistribution)[21] and ii. the neighbourhood level.[24] The three ridings with the largest increase in population between 2006 and 2011 in the City of Toronto have been Trinity-Spadina (25.5%), Etobicoke-Lakeshore (7.3%), and Toronto Centre (7.3%); actually, the following four (4) ridings in the GTA have had a higher population increase even than Trinity-Spadina, and along with the aforementioned City of Toronto riding constitute the five (5) Ontario ridings with the highest increase in population: Oak Ridges-Markham (35.5%), Halton (33.9%), Vaughan (27.1%), and Bramalea-Gore-Malton (25.8%). On the contrary, the population in the Davenport riding actually decreased (-2.2%), whereas in Scarborough-Agincourt (+0.2%) and Toronto-Danforth (+0.3%) it only marginally increased (these are the lowest figures for the GTA at large too).
The neighbourhoods in the City of Toronto that experienced the highest increase in population from 2001 to 2011 are:
It is in the neighbourhoods of Corso Italia-Davenport (-12.8%), Greenwood-Coxwell (-11.9%), Regent Park (-11.3%), and Little Portugal (-10.3%) in the old city of Toronto; and Caledonia-Fairbank (-10.4%) and Beechborough-Greenbrook (-10.0%) in York that population has declined the most.
In 2004, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) reported that Toronto had the second-largest proportion of foreign-born residents of major world cities, behind only Miami, Florida. While Miami's foreign-born population is dominated by those of Cuban and Latin American descent, Toronto's foreign-born population is not dominated by any particular ethnic or geographical group.
The 2011 National Household Survey (NHS) indicates that 49.1% of Toronto's population is composed of visible minorities; 1,264,395 non-Whites, or 20.2% of Canada's visible minority population, live in the city of 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, a projection which, given the 49.1% figure in the 2011 NHS, may actually prove true, at least for the case of Toronto. According to a study released by the Toronto District School Board in December 2012 found that 66 percent of students ages 4 through 18 came from visible minorities. East Asians made the largest ethnic group (33 percent) along with South Asians (28 percent) coming in second of the city of Toronto's overall population.
In particular, the progression of the percentage of visible minorities in the city of Toronto from 1996 to 2011 has been as follows:
The top visible-minority groups per Community Council (2006 Census) are as follows:
While the progression of the percentage of visible minorities in the aforementioned Community Councils (pre-amalgamation municipalities or pairs thereof) has not been uniform:
RIDINGS (2011 NHS)
The finest granularity of visible minority in Toronto provided by the 2011 NHS is that of the federal electoral district (riding; 2003 redistribution).[31] Census tracts (and hence ward and neighbourhood) data is not available. This per-riding data (based on the 2003 redistribution) is also available for the 2001 and 2006 censuses, thus enabling useful comparisons. For instance, visible minorities as a percentage of the population only marginally increased, or even decreased (Toronto-Danforth, Parkdale-High Park, Toronto Centre, and, in the last five years, Davenport) in the "Old" Toronto, East York and South Etobicoke ridings, while on the other hand increased significantly in Scarborough and North York.
TORONTO & EAST YORK
NORTH YORK
SCARBOROUGH
ETOBICOKE & YORK
Toronto CMA
Concentrations of ethnic groups per Toronto CMA municipality are as follows, with the largest proportion of each group in bold[32] (only percentages higher than 3% are included):
Top ethnic origin per Toronto neighbourhood (as designated by the City of Toronto; 2006 Census data - total responses)
The finest granularity of ethnic origin data provided by the 2011 NHS is that of the federal electoral district (riding; 2003 redistribution).[36] Census tracts (and hence ward and neighbourhood) data is not available. For each of the federal electoral districts in the City of Toronto, the ethnic origin groups with 3% of more of population are shown, in a rough correspondence with community councils and pre-amalgamation municipalities (highest % for each ethnic group as well most populous ethnic group in riding as shown in bold):
Roman Catholics accounted for 33.4% of the population of the city of Toronto in 2001, followed by Protestants with 21.2%. Members of Christian Orthodox churches accounted for 4.9%, and other Christians (those not specifically identifying as Catholic, Protestant or Orthodox) formed 3.9%. The city's religious makeup also includes Islam with 5.5% (including large number of Sunni and Ahmadiyya members), Hinduism (4.1%), Judaism (3.5%), Buddhism (2.1%), Sikh (1%), and other communities; 16.6% reported no religious affiliation.[37] Toronto's Baha'i community is one of the strongest of its kind and is a 'learning site' by which other Baha'i communities can learn from.
In particular, the 2001 Census data showed the following data per pre-amalgamation municipality:
The 2011 National Household Survey found that Roman Catholics accounted for 28.2% of the population in the city of Toronto in 2011, followed by those of no religious affiliation at 24.1%, "Other Christian" at 9.7%, and Muslims at 8.2%. Besides those registered in the "other christian" category there were other Christian denominations who were also registered in the census, including Anglicans(3.8%), Baptists (1.4%), Christian Orthodox (4.3%), Lutheran (0.6%), Pentecostal (1.6%), Presbyterian (1.5%), and United Church (3%). Buddhists (2.7%), Hindu (5.6%), Judaism(3.8%), Sikh (0.8%), Aboriginal spirituality (0.03%) and "Other religions" (0.5%) were also included.[38]
While English is the predominant language spoken by Torontonians, Statistics Canada reports that other language groups are significant, of which most prevalent[39] are:
The finest granularity of mother tongue and language spoken in Toronto yet provided by the 2011 Census is that of the federal electoral district (riding; 2003 redistribution).[41] Census tracts (and hence ward and neighbourhood) data is not yet available. For each of the federal electoral districts in the City of Toronto, the top three (3) (or more if having more than 3% of native speakers; single responses are used - it is indicated by way of using bold whether English is the mother tongue of more than 60% of the population or if another language exceeds 10% of native speakers) are as follows:
ETOBICOKE YORK
Following are the corresponding data for the GTA ridings neighbouring the City of Toronto:
IN YORK REGION
IN PEEL REGION
IN DURHAM REGION
According to the Canadian government, Toronto has the highest per capita immigration rate in the world.[42] Within Canada itself, 43% of all new immigrants to Canada settle in the Greater Toronto Area adding significantly to Toronto's population. According to the 2006 Census,[43] 45.7% of the residents of Toronto were immigrants. For the City of Toronto, the corresponding figure stood at 50.0%[44]
The 2006 Census data[45] show the following temporal patterns in the sources of immigration to Toronto (and retention of immigrants per source country):
The percentage and breakdown of immigrants per place of birth for each City of Toronto Community Council is as follows:[46]
The City of Toronto ward with the highest percentage of total immigrants is Ward 41 Scarborough-Rouge River where 71.4% of the total population are immigrants (Eastern Asia 41.4%, Southern Asia 10.7%, Southeast Asia 6.0%, Caribbean & Bermuda 3.8%). At the other end of the spectrum is Ward 16 Eglinton-Lawrence having the lowest percentage of immigrants, 24.7% in particular (Eastern Europe 4.1%, Northern Europe 3.4%, Southern Europe 3.3%).
(highest %)
(highest %; single responses)
Spain, Portuguese language, Lisbon, Porto, Madeira
United Kingdom, Angles, Cornwall, Isle of Man, English language
Delhi, India, Rajasthan, Pakistan, Maharashtra
European Union, United Kingdom, France, Germany, Canada
Berlin, North Rhine-Westphalia, Hamburg, France, United Kingdom
Ontario, Canada, New York City, Greater Toronto Area, Atlanta
Toronto, Toronto Islands, Harbourfront, History of Toronto, Greater Toronto Area
Canada, Aboriginal peoples in Canada, Arab Canadians, European Canadian, Chinese Canadian
Toronto, Toronto Argonauts, Hamilton, Ontario, Toronto Maple Leafs, Toronto Raptors
Calgary, Canada, Chinese Canadian, Arab Canadians, Canadians