Asian Canadians are Canadians who were either born in or can trace their ancestry to the continent of Asia. Canadians with Asian ancestry comprise both the largest and fastest growing group in Canada, after European Canadians, forming approximately 20.2 percent of the Canadian population as of 2021. Most Asian Canadians are concentrated in the urban areas of Southern Ontario, Southwestern British Columbia, Central Alberta, and other large Canadian cities.
Chinese labourers working on the Canadian Pacific Railway, 1884
South Asians at a lumber camp in British Columbia, circa 1914
Damage after the September 1907 anti-Asian riot in Vancouver
Indians in Vancouver, 1908
East Asian Canadians are Canadians who were either born in or can trace their ancestry to East Asia. East Asian Canadians are also a subgroup of Asian Canadians. According to Statistics Canada, East Asian Canadians are considered visible minorities and can be further divided by on the basis of both ethnicity and nationality, such as Chinese Canadian, Hong Kong Canadian, Japanese Canadian, Korean Canadian, Mongolian Canadian, Taiwanese Canadian, or Tibetan Canadian, as seen on demi-decadal census data.
Chinese labourers working on the Canadian Pacific Railway, 1884
Founding members of the Canadian Japanese Association at the Japanese Canadian War Memorial in Vancouver, 1920.