XUNICEF Reunion - Toronto 2023 / Second Update : the Reunion Committee

2016 World Cup Celebrations in Portugal Village

Toronto (GTA)*: A City of Immigrants

Toronto, the capital of the Province of Ontario, with Ottawa, also in Ontario, as the capital of Canada, is home to approximately 3 million persons. It is one of the most multicultural and multiracial cities in the world. Over 50 percent belong to a visible minority group according to the 2016 census.

In 2021, close to half of the population living in Toronto were immigrants. Immigrants make up more than half of the residents of four municipalities in Toronto namely Markham, Richmond Hill, Mississauga and Bampton.

India, the Philippines and China are the top three countries of origin for immigrants moving to Canada currently. Others include those from Latin America, West Asia, Southeast Asia, Korea, Arab speaking countries, Japan, Afghanistan, Iran, European countries etc.

A record number of 405,000 immigrants were admitted to Canada in 2021, surpassing previous records. The Government has recently announced that it wants to increase the number of immigrants it accepts in the country.

Toronto is the most linguistically diverse city in Canada and one of the most diverse in this regard in the world. Approximately 200 different languages are spoken in Toronto. Almost half of its residents speak a mother tongue other than English or French, according to the 2011 census.

Toronto is home to multiple ethnic localities: Chinatown, Little India, Koreatown, Corso Italia, Greektown, Little Jamaica, Little Portugal, Roncesvalles Polish neighbourhood. TehranTo etc.and you can find amazing restaurants from all over the world include Ethiopian, Uzbek, Lebanese, Indian, Pakistani, Indonesian, Cuban, Portuguese, Mexican etc. In the course of the year, each of these diverse communities have their own celebrations, film and theatre festivals, parades, as well as more academic, political and cultural conferences. Pls see the link below to learn more about this aspect of Toronto.

Toronto GTA is also home to upto 500,000 undocumented migrant workers. Activists continue to advocate for the regularization of the status of these hardworking individuals, in order to also avoid labour trafficking and further exploitation of these individuals. Many are from Mexico and other Latin American countries, as well as Jamaica and other Caribbean countries.

We hope that our Reunion attendees will be able to experience some of this very rich diversity while visiting Toronto in August 2023.

*GTA: Greater Toronto Area refers to Toronto and its immediate surroundings.

https://ibeantravelling.com/2021/01/17/around-the-world-via-10-ethnic-neighbourhoods-in-toronto/