Vietnamese CanadiansTotal population275,530 (2021)[1]0.76% of the Canadian population (2021)Regions with significant populationsToronto, Hamilton, Waterloo Region, London, Windsor, Ottawa, Montreal, Calgary, Edmonton, Metro VancouverLanguagesVietnamese, Canadian English, Canadian French, Vietnamese FrenchReligionBuddhism (48%) • Irreligion (24%)Catholic (22%) • Protestant (5%) • Other (1%)[2]Vietnamese folk religion • Caodaism • Hòa HảoRelated ethnic groupsVietnamese, Vietnamese Americans, Vietnamese people in France
Vietnamese Canadians (Vietnamese: Người Canada gốc Việt; French: Canadiens vietnamiens) are Canadian citizens of Vietnamese ancestry. As of 2021, there are 275,530 Vietnamese Canadians, most of whom reside in the provinces of Ontario, British Columbia, Alberta, and Quebec.
Mainstream Vietnamese communities began arriving in Canada in the mid-1970s and early 1980s as refugees or boat people following the end of the Vietnam War in 1975, though a couple thousand were already living in Quebec before then, most of whom were students. After the Fall of Saigon, there were two waves of Vietnamese immigrants to Canada. The first wave consisted mostly of middle-class immigrants. Many of these immigrants were able to speak French and or English and were welcomed into Canada for their professional skills. The second wave consisted of Southern Vietnamese refugees who were escaping the harsh regime that had taken over the former South Vietnam. Many of them were of Chinese descent and were escaping ethnic persecution resulting from the Sino-Vietnamese War. These south Vietnamese refugees were known globally as the “boat people”.[3]
In the years 1979-80, Canada accepted 60,000 Vietnamese refugees.[4] Most new arrivees were sponsored by groups of individuals, temples, and churches and settled in areas around Toronto, Ontario, Vancouver, British Columbia,Winnipeg, Manitoba and Montreal, Quebec. Between 1975 and 1985, 110,000 resettled in Canada (23,000 in Ontario; 13,000 in Quebec; 8,000 in Alberta; 7,000 British Columbia; 5,000 in Manitoba; 3,000 in Saskatchewan; and 2,000 in the Maritime provinces). As time passed, most eventually settled in urban centres like Vancouver (2.2% Vietnamese), Calgary (1.6% Vietnamese), Montreal (1.6% Vietnamese), Edmonton (1.6% Vietnamese), Toronto (1.4% Vietnamese), Ottawa (1.0% Vietnamese), and Hamilton (0.8% Vietnamese).[5]
The next wave of Vietnamese migration came in the late 1980s and 1990s as both refugees and immigrant classes of post-war Vietnam entered Canada. These groups settled in urban areas, in particular Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal, and Calgary. In Metro Vancouver, they have settled mainly in East Vancouver, Richmond, and Surrey. In the Montreal area, they settled in Montreal’s downtown, South Shore, and the suburb of Laval. In Toronto, they have settled in the city’s Chinatown area near Spadina Avenue and Dundas Street West and in the inner suburbs of North York, York, Scarborough, and Etobicoke. Other municipalities in the Toronto area with large Vietnamese Canadian populations include Mississauga, Brampton, Vaughan, and Markham.
According to the 2011 National Household Survey, approximately 50% of Vietnamese Canadians identify as Buddhist, 25% identify as Christian, and the rest reported having no religious affiliation.[4][6]
Vietnamese-Canadian population by province, 2021 Province Vietnamese population
[7]
Ontario 122,735 British Columbia 51,890 Quebec 45,570 Alberta 39,395 Manitoba 7,290 Saskatchewan 4,730 Nova Scotia 1,374 New Brunswick 1,295 Prince Edward Island 730 Northwest Territories 225 Newfoundland and Labrador 175 Yukon 90 Nunavut 0 Canada (2021) 275,530 Canadian metropolitan areas with large Vietnamese-Canadian populations, 2021 City Province 2021 Vietnamese population[citation needed] Greater Toronto Area Ontario 82,225 Greater Montreal Quebec 38,660 Greater Vancouver British Columbia 34,915 Calgary Region Alberta 21,010 Edmonton Capital Region Alberta 14,180 Ottawa-Gatineau Ontario, Quebec 9,650 Winnipeg Capital Region Manitoba 5,580 Waterloo Region Ontario 5,555 Hamilton Ontario 4,855 London Ontario 3,110 Windsor Ontario 2,555 Guelph Ontario 2,425
In Canada, local Vietnamese media includes:
- Viet Nam Thoi Bao — Edmonton magazine[8]
- Thoi Bao — Toronto newspaper[9]
- Thoi Bao TV — Toronto[10]
- Thoi Moi — Toronto newspaper[11]
- Little Saigon Canada — Toronto newspaper
- Vietnamville — Montreal[12]
- Phố Việt Montreal, printed newspaper of Vietnamville.ca
- Viethomes Magazine — Toronto magazine[13][14]
- Culture Magazin — national magazine, first-ever bilingual English-Vietnamese magazine in Canada[15]
In Vancouver, a large population of Vietnamese Canadians are self-employed as owners of a variety of businesses, stores and restaurants throughout the city. Vietnamese Canadians also brought their cuisine and phở has become a popular food throughout the city. Vietnamese Canadians also reside in Central City, Surrey, which is a rapidly growing suburb of Metro Vancouver.[citation needed]
In the Toronto area, there are 19 Vietnamese owned supermarkets.[citation needed]
In Montreal there are about 40,000 Vietnamese Canadian population among highest median income and education of Vietnamese Canadians in major cities. There are more than 100 Vietnamese restaurants, hundreds of small size manufacturers of different products from clothing to technology, about 80 pharmacies and hundreds of doctors, dentists, over a thousand scientists, engineers and technicians, about sixty convenient stores and groceries. Since November 2006, Ngo Van Tan has started a project to promote and build the first ‘Vietnam Town’ in Canada called ‘Vietnamville’ near metro Jean Talon including St-Denis, Jean Talon, St-Hubert, and Belanger streets with over 130 businesses already opened in the area. Investment opportunities in Vietnam Town are open to Vietnamese worldwide.[citation needed]
- Canada portal
- Vietnam portal
- Canada-Vietnam relations
- Overseas Vietnamese
- Asian Canadians
- Vietnamese in Toronto
Vietnamese Canadian organizations
- Vietnamese Canadian Federation (Liên hội người Việt Canada)
- Vietnamese Canadian Community of Ottawa
- Communauté Vietnamienne au Canada – Région de Montréal (Cộng đồng người Việt Quốc gia vùng Montréal)
About Vietnamese Canadians
- “A Moonless Night: Boat people, 40 years later (2016)”. CinemaClock.
- History of Vietnamese Canadians (Source: the Canada’s Digital Collections)
- Civilization.ca – Boat People No Longer: Vietnamese Canadians – Religion (the Canadian Museum of Civilization)
- Vietnamese (Discover Vancouver)
- Welcome to Canada (CBC Archives)
- Sponsoring refugees: Canadians reach out (CBC Archives)
- Multicultural Canada website Vietnamese Boat People collection including photographs, correspondence, books, magazines, oral histories, newsletters, personal items, and organizational records.
