South Asian Canadians
South Asian Canadians are Canadians who were either born in or can trace their ancestry to South Asia or the Indian subcontinent, which includes the nations of India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, and the Maldives. The term also includes immigrants from South Asian communities in East and South Africa, Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago, Fiji, Mauritius, and the rest of the world.
The term South Asian Canadian is a subgroup of Asian Canadian and, according to Statistics Canada, can further be divided by nationality, such as Indian Canadian, Pakistani Canadian, and Bangladeshi Canadian. As of 2021, South Asians comprise the second largest pan-ethnic group in Canada after Europeans.
According to the 2021 Canadian census, 2,571,400 Canadians had South Asian geographical origins, constituting approximately 7.1 percent of the total population and 35.1 percent of the total Asian Canadian population. This makes them the largest visible minority group in Canada comprising 26.7 percent of the visible minority population, followed by Chinese and Black Canadians respectively.
The largest South Asian Canadian communities are found in the provinces of Ontario, British Columbia and Alberta, while metropolitan areas with large populations include Toronto, Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, and Montréal. Over half of South Asian Canadians live in two metropolitan areas as of 2021; Greater Toronto and Metro Vancouver.
Terminology
In Canada, the term "Asian" broadly includes people from East Asia, Southeast Asia, South Asia, Central Asia, and West Asia. The term "South Asian" refers to individuals who trace their origins to India, Nepal, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, and the Maldives. Despite its location, Myanmar is not typically included. The term "East Indian" was used to distinguish people of Indian origin from Aboriginal peoples and Afro-Caribbeans, though "South Asian" has become the Census designation.Canadians from South Asia may also be identified by their country of origin or cultural backgrounds. The term "East Indian" was a historical term used widely in Canada to refer to people from India as opposed to who have also been referred to as "Indian". This term has been made less common after the introduction of the general term "South Asian" in areas with significant Indian Canadian populations like Toronto.
Brown and Desi are also terms used to refer to Canadians from South Asia. However, these are avoided in more formal contexts due to their ambiguity and the possibility of being perceived as derogatory.
Statistics Canada lists both cultural backgrounds like Bengali, Gujarati, Tamil, Malayali, and Goan in addition to categories like East Indian, Bangladeshi, Sri Lankan, and Pakistani.
History
Late 19th century
The first well-known record of Canadians from South Asia dates back to 1897, when Punjabi Sikh soldiers were invited to British Columbia, en route from India to Britain, as a part of Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee. However, a 2025 study revealed that South Asians were present in Eastern Canada since the country’s founding, as the 1871 census identified 11 people of South Asian origin, with 8 persons from Ontario, and the remaining 3 from Nova Scotia. The early presence in Ontario and Nova Scotia demonstrates that South Asians were part of Canadian society decades earlier than previously recognized, and in regions outside the well-known Pacific migration routes to British Columbia, with the largest concentration residing in what is now Lakeshore, Ontario.Early 20th century
With an estimated population of 100 by 1900, further South Asian settlement waves to Canada occurred in the few years after the turn of the 20th century; after hearing stories about the high wages being paid in British Columbia, some Punjabi British Indian soldiers stationed in British Malaya, British Hong Kong, and other British-controlled Chinese cities emigrated to Canada and settled in the western province. Attracted by these wages, more Sikh men began immigrating into British Columbia, working mainly in industries such as mining, logging and railroads. Many of these men, who arrived without their families, settled in the British Columbia Interior, Greater Vancouver, Vancouver Island, and the Fraser Valley in what is now Abbotsford, British Columbia.File:Sikh Temple at 2nd Avenue, Vancouver.jpg|thumb|right|Kitsilano Gurdwara, c. 1910
Punjabi Sikh settlers first arrived in Golden, British Columbia to work at the Columbia River Lumber Company in 1902. A notable moment in early South Asian Canadian history, these early settlers built the first Gurdwara in Canada and North America in 1905, which would later be destroyed by fire in 1926. During this formative era of migration from the subcontinent to Canada, South Asian settlers did not receive much attention from all levels of government or the press; by many accounts, their new homes in British Columbia were relatively welcoming and inclusive, given their status as fellow British subjects.
The government in British Columbia enacted laws limiting the rights and privileges of Canadians from South Asian countries in 1907, preventing them from voting and denying them access to political office, public sector employment, and other professions. As a result, many migrated south from Vancouver across the border to the United States, where some became the victims of the 1907 Bellingham riots. At the same time, by 1907–08, many South Asian Canadians faced discrimination and xenophobia from those of European background, similar to that experienced by East Asian Canadians, such as the Japanese and Chinese communities. European settlers viewed Asian settlers, and included the Indians, as a threat to the European nature of Canada. In addition, many Asian migrants worked for lower wages, which at the time agitated the European majority.
In an effort to prevent South Asians from immigrating to Canada, the continuous journey regulation was enacted on January 8, 1908. The law prohibited any immigrants from landing in Canada "unless they came from the country of their birth or citizenship by a continuous journey, and on through tickets purchased before leaving the country of their birth or citizenship". As there was no direct steamship route from British India to Canada, this effectively barred immigration from the subcontinent, while the regulation also prevented Indian soldiers stationed in British Hong Kong and Japan from immigrating to Canada. Annual immigration figures between 1907–08 and 1908–09 reflected the enactment of the continuous journey regulation: 2,623 persons of Indian origin arrived in Canada during the former fiscal year, declining to six persons during the latter. Year-end statistics in 1908 indicated that the South Asian Canadian population stood at 5,179 persons or 0.08 percent of the national population, primarily Punjabi settlers concentrated in British Columbia. Many later migrated south to the United States, returned to British India or British Hong Kong, and the 1911 Canadian census later recorded a population decline to 2,342 persons or 0.03 percent of the national population.
The second Gurdwara to be built in Canada was in 1908 in Kitsilano to serve a growing number of Punjabi Sikh settlers who worked at nearby sawmills along False Creek. By 1911, the Gur Sikh Temple opened in Abbotsford, British Columbia becoming the third Gurdwara built in Canada. Designated as a national historic site of Canada in 2002, it is presently the oldest existing Gurdwara in the country, as the first temple built in Golden was destroyed by fire in 1926, while the second built in Kitsilano was closed and demolished in 1970, when the temple society relocated to the newly built Gurdwara on Ross Street in the Sunset neighbourhood of South Vancouver. By 1912, a year after the construction of the Gur Sikh Temple in Abbotsford, the fourth Gurdwara was established in Victoria, British Columbia on Topaz Avenue, while a fifth soon followed at the Fraser Mills settlement later that year.
Later in the decade, most Punjabi Sikhs continued to seek employment in the forestry industry at various sawmills across British Columbia, more Gurdwaras were built, including at the Queensborough settlement in 1919. This was soon followed by another at the Paldi settlement, also in 1919.
''Komagata Maru'' incident
As a result of the continuous journey regulation enacted in 1908, a notable example of early anti-South Asian sentiment in Canada was the Komagata Maru incident, which occurred in 1914. Baba Gurdit Singh, a successful Punjabi businessman living in British Singapore, attempted to circumnavigate the regulation and chartered a Japanese steamship known as the SS Komagata Maru to travel from Kolkata, India to Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The ship made stops in Hong Kong, Shanghai and Yokohama, where it picked up more would-be settlers. In total the ship carried 376 passengers, all originating from the Punjab Province and registered as British subjects; of whom 337 were Punjabi Sikhs, 27 were Punjabi Muslims and 12 were Punjabi Hindus. Upon arriving in Vancouver though the ship was not permitted to dock with several British Columbian politicians such as Conservative MP Henry Herbert Stevens campaigning against its right to dock.With the ship held at Coal Harbour in Burrard Inlet in April 1914, some South Asian Canadians already settled in Canada began launching "shore committees" led by Husain Rahim, Muhammad Akbar, and Sohan Lal Pathak. These were to protest against the decision not to allow the settlers on the Komagata Maru no to enter Canada. Passengers threatened to start a rebellion, or ghadar, if they were forced back to India. The shore committee raised $22,000 and launched a test case legal battle in the British Columbia Court of Appeal. On July 6, the court unanimously decided they had no authority to interfere with the Department of Immigration and Colonization and had ordered the harbor tug Sea Lion to pull the ship out to sea on July 19. This resulted in rioting between the settlers on board and police officers. The ship was ultimately forced back to India on July 23, 1914, with only 20 of the settlers being allowed to stay in Canada.