Edmonton Social Planning Council - Edmonton an Increasingly Diverse City

Edmonton an Increasingly Diverse City

The second to last release of 2006 census data is a report on ethnic origins and visible minorities in Canada with updated data broken down all the way to the neighborhood level. On May 1, the final Census release of data on the income and earnings of Canadians comes out.

The 2006 census data shows that Edmonton metro (CMA) population is increasingly diverse. The visible minority population of 175,295 represents 17.1% of Edmonton's total population. The largest visible minorities were Chinese, South Asian, Black, Filipino, Southeast Asian, and Latin American in that order.

What's most remarkable is the rapid growth of the visible minority population. In just five years between 2001 and 2006, Edmonton's visible minority population increased 29.1% almost three times faster than the growth in the overall population.

When you consider that the 2006 Census found an additional 52,105 people in metro Edmonton are Aboriginal, the inclusion and diversity challenges that poses for our community are considerable. How do we ensure that Edmonton is welcoming, more responsive, and fully benefits from the talents and contributions of those from visible minority and Aboriginal backgrounds?

Here's a link to the Census report:

http://www12.statcan.ca/english/census06/data/highlights/ethnic/index.cfm?Lang=E

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AnetteK - Not Surprised, but Still Astou

| Administrator | 2008-04-04 14:16:58

Of all the Census data to be released, I was most curious to see the visible minority data for Edmonton.

I didn't live in Edmonton in 2001, but based on the huge influx of people to the city in the last couple years and the observations I've heard from long time Edmontonians, I was expecting to see a big increase. The data shows my hunch was right, but it's still amazing to see the numbers!

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