I know its a bit long to read but at least all of us can relate to this  so take a few minutes of your time and check it out



The Latin American Community in Canada

A growing community

Canadians with Latin American origin¹ make up one of the largest non-European ethnic groups in Canada. In 2001, 244,400 people of Latin American origin lived in Canada. That year, they represented almost 1% of the total population of Canada.

The Latin American community in Canada is growing considerably faster than the overall population. Between 1996 and 2001, for example, the number of people reporting Latin American origins rose by 32%, while the overall population grew by only 4%.

The group of Canadians with Latin American origin includes people from a number of countries in that part of the world. In 2001, for example, 16% came from Mexico, 15% were from Ecuador while 14% were Chilean, 11% came from El Salvador, 7% were Peruvian and 6% were from Colombia.

The majority of Canadians of Latin American origin report they only have one ethnic origin. In 2001, 61% of all those who reported an ancestry that originated in Latin America said they had only one ethnic origin, while 39% said they also had other ethnic origins. This was similar to the number of the overall Canadian population that reported multiple ethnic origins, 40%.

The majority are foreign-born

A majority of the Latin American population living in Canada was born outside the country. In 2001, 62% of Canadians who reported Latin American origins were born outside of Canada, whereas this was the case for 18% of the overall Canadian population.

As well, most immigrants of Latin American origin arrived in Canada relatively recently. Of foreign-born Latin Americans living in Canada in 2001, 47% had arrived in the previous decade, while another 35% had come to Canada between 1981 and 1990. In contrast, only 3% had arrived in the 1960s, while less than 1% had come to Canada before 1961

Most live in four provinces

Almost all Canadians of Latin American origin live in Ontario, Quebec, British Columbia or Alberta. Indeed, in 2001, almost half (47%) of all Canadians who reported Latin American origin lived in Ontario, while 27% lived in Quebec, 13% resided in British Columbia and 9% made Alberta their home. That year, 115,000 people of Latin American origin lived in Ontario, while 65,000 made Quebec their home, 32,000 resided in British Columbia, and 22,000 lived in Alberta. Overall, Canadians of Latin American origin made up around 1% of the population of each of these four provinces. They also represent almost 1% of the population of Manitoba, whereas they accounted for only a fraction of the total number of people living in the other provinces and territories.

Most live in large cities

The majority of the Canadian population with Latin American origins live in one of Canadas major metropolitan areas. In 2001, for example, 31% of the overall Latin American community in Canada lived in Toronto, while 23% resided in Montreal and 9% made Vancouver their home. That year, just over 75,000 people with Latin American origins lived in Toronto, 56,000 resided in Montreal and 23,000 lived in Vancouver.

People who reported Latin American origin also make up relatively large shares of the overall populations in both Toronto and Montreal. In 2001, those with Latin American origins represented around 2% of the populations of both Toronto and Montreal, while they accounted for around 1% of the total population in Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, and Ottawa.

The trend for Canadians of Latin American origin to concentrate in large metropolitan areas such as Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver is also likely to continue in the future, as recent immigrants have tended to settle in Canadas largest cities. For example, these three metropolitan areas accounted for almost 65% of the growth in the Latin American population in Canada between 1996 and 2001.

A relatively young population

Compared with the overall Canadian population, the Latin American community in Canada is relatively very young. In 2001, children under the age of 15 made up 29% of all those who reported Latin American origin, compared with 19% of the overall population. At the same time, 18% of people reporting Latin American origins were aged 15 to 24, versus 13% of the overall population.

Canadians of Latin American origin are also more likely than those in the overall population to be in the prime working years between the ages of 25 and 44. In 2001, 34% of people reporting Latin American origin were in this age category, compared with 31% of those in the overall population.

In contrast, Canadians of Latin American origin are considerably less likely than those in the overall population to be either seniors or approaching retirement age. In 2001, seniors made up only 3% of the people who reported Latin American origins, compared with 12% of all Canadians. Similarly, 16% of people who reported a Latin American origin were aged 45 to 64, versus 24% of the overall population.

Slightly more women than men

As in the overall population, women make up the majority of Canadians of Latin America origin. In 2001, 51.4% of the Latin American community, compared with 50.9% of the overall population, were female. Women make up an even more disproportionate share of seniors of Latin American origin. That year, 62% of people aged 65 and over of Latin American origin were women, whereas females made up 56% of all seniors in the overall population.

Most can converse in an official language

Almost all Canadians of Latin American origin can carry on a conversation in at least one official language.² In fact, in 2001, 94% of all those who reported they had Latin American origins said they could speak either English, French or both, while only 6% reported they could not speak either official language.

While most Canadians of Latin American origin can speak at least one official language, the large majority have a mother tongue³ other than English or French. In 2001, 87% of the Latin American community said that their mother tongue was a non-official language, in most cases Spanish.

A substantial number of Canadians of Latin American origin also speak a language other than English or French at home. In 2001, 44% of people who identified themselves as Latin American said that they spoke only a non-official language at home.

Almost all Canadians of Latin American origin who are employed speak English or French on the job. In 2001, only 5% of employed Canadians of Latin American origin spoke only a non-official language at work, while another 3% regularly used a non-official language in combination with English or French on the job.

Most are Catholic

The majority of Canadians of Latin American origin are Catholic. In 2001, 64% of the Latin American community in Canada reported they were Catholic, while 16% belonged to a mainline Protestant denomination. At the same time, relatively few Latin Americans have no religious affiliation. That year, 12% said they had no religious affiliation, compared with 17% of the overall population.

Less likely to be married

Overall, Canadians of Latin American origin are somewhat less likely than other adults to be married. In 2001, 46% of people aged 15 and over who reported Latin American origins were married, compared with 50% of the overall population of Canadian adults. Almost all of this difference, though, is accounted for by age differences in the two populations. In fact, the same percentages of those with Latin American origin and all Canadians aged 25 and over were married that year.

People of Latin American origin are also somewhat less likely than other adults to live in a common-law relationship. In 2001, 7% of adults of Latin American origin were living common-law, compared with 10% of all Canadian adults. Those of Latin American origin are more likely than the rest of the population to be lone parents. That year, 8% of adult Canadians of Latin American origin were lone parents, compared with 6% for the overall population. As with the rest of the population, though, the large majority of lone parents of Latin American origin are women. Indeed, women represented 86% of all lone parents of Latin American origin in 2001, while their share in the overall population was 81%

Few live alone

Canadians of Latin American origin are less likely than other adults to live alone. In 2001, just 7% of adults aged 15 and over of Latin American origin lived alone, compared with 13% of all Canadian adults. Seniors of Latin American origin are also somewhat less likely to live alone than their counterparts in the overall population. That year, 20% of seniors of Latin American origin, compared with 29% of all Canadians aged 65 and over, lived alone.

By contrast, seniors of Latin American origin were more likely than other seniors to live with members of their extended family. In 2001, 20% of seniors of Latin American origin lived with relatives, such as the family of a son or daughter, while only 5% of all seniors in Canada lived with relatives.

Educational attainment

Canadian adults of Latin American origin are somewhat more likely than adults in the rest of the population to hold a university degree. In 2001, 17% of Canadians aged 15 and over of Latin American origin were university graduates, compared with 15% in the overall adult population.

People with Latin American origin are also more likely than their counterparts in the overall population to have a post-graduate degree. In 2001, 6.3% of people aged 15 and over who reported Latin American origin had either a Masters Degree or a Doctorate, compared with 4.8% of all Canadian adults.

As in the overall population, men in the Latin American community are slightly more likely than their female counterparts to have a university degree. In 2001, 17% of men of Latin American origin had a university degree, while the figure was 16% for Latin American women. Both men and women of Latin American origin, though, were more likely than their respective counterparts in the overall population to have a university degree.

Young people of Latin American origin are also more likely than other young Canadians to be attending school. In 2001, 67% of young people aged 15 to 24 who reported Latin American origins were enrolled in a full-time educational program, compared with 57% of all Canadians in this age group.

Among young people of Latin American origin, females are more likely than males to be attending school. In 2001, 69% of  young women aged 15 to 24 of Latin American origin were enrolled in some form of full-time educational program, compared with 66% of their male counterparts. This is similar to the overall population, in which young women are more likely than young men to be in school.

Employment levels

Canadian adults of Latin American origin are somewhat more likely to be employed than the rest of the adult population. In 2001, 64% of adults of Latin American origin aged 15 and over were employed, compared with 62% of all Canadian adults.

Most of the difference in the employment rates of people with Latin American origins and those in the overall population is accounted for by people between the ages of 45 and 64. In 2001, 71% of people of Latin American origin aged 45 to 64 were part of the paid workforce, compared with 68% of their counterparts in the overall population. In contrast, people of Latin American origin between the ages of 25 and 44 were less likely than their counterparts in the overall population to be employed that year: 73% versus 80%.

As in the overall population, men of Latin American origin are somewhat more likely than their female counterparts to be employed outside the home. In 2001, 72% of men aged 15 and over of Latin American origin were part of the paid workforce, compared with 57% of women of Latin American origin. Both men and women of Latin American origin, though, were more likely to be employed than their respective counterparts in the overall population

More likely to work in manufacturing

Labour force participants of Latin American origin tend to be overrepresented among Canadians employed in manufacturing jobs. In 2001, 14% of all workers who reported they had Latin American origins were employed in the manufacturing sector, whereas this was the case for only 7% of all employed Canadians. Workers of Latin American origin are also somewhat more likely than the overall labour force to be employed in sales and service jobs, while they are underrepresented in almost all other occupational categories. That year, for example, just 6% of employed people with Latin American origins held management positions, whereas the figure was over 10% for all employed Canadians.

Unemployment rates

Labour force participants⁴ of Latin American origin are more likely to be unemployed than their counterparts in the general population. In 2001, 10.0% of labour force participants of Latin American origin were unemployed, compared with 7.4% of those in the overall labour force.

As in the overall population, young Canadians of Latin American origin are more likely to be unemployed than their older counterparts. In 2001, for example, 14% of labour force participants of Latin American origin between the ages of 15 and 24 were unemployed, whereas the figure was 10% or less in older age groups. There was little difference, though, in the unemployment rates of young male and female labour force participants with Latin American origins. The unemployment rates of young Latin American labour force participants were similar to those for all labour force participants in Canada between the ages of 15 and 24. In contrast, Latin American labour force participants over the age of 25 were more likely than their counterparts in the overall population to experience unemployment.

Incomes

Canadians of Latin American origin generally have lower incomes than the national average. In 2000, the average income from all sources for Canadians of Latin American origin aged 15 and over was almost $22,500, almost $7,500 less than the figure for all Canadians

As in the overall population, women of Latin American origin have lower incomes than their male counterparts. In 2000, the average income for adult women of Latin American origin was just under $18,000, while the average for men aged 15 and over of Latin American origin was over $27,000. However, the income gap between women and men of Latin American origin is somewhat smaller than the gap in the overall population. That year, for example, the incomes of women of Latin American were 66% those of their male counterparts, whereas the figure in the overall population was 62%.

Canadian seniors of Latin American origin also have relatively low incomes. In 2000, Canadians of Latin American origin aged 65 and over had an average income of $19,000, more than $5,000 less than the figure for all other seniors in Canada. As with the overall senior population, female seniors of Latin American origin have lower incomes than their male counterparts. In 2000, the average income for women of Latin American origin aged 65 and over was less than $16,000, compared with $25,000 for men the same age of Latin American origin.

Canadians of Latin American origin receive a slightly larger share of their income from earnings⁶ than does the overall population. In 2000, Canadians of Latin American origin aged 15 and over said that 85% of their income came from earnings, whereas the figure for all Canadian adults was 77%.

At the same time, though, people of Latin American origin receive about the same share of their total income from government transfer programs, such as Employment Insurance, Old Age Security and the Canada and Quebec Pension Plans, as do other Canadians. In 2000, 11% of the income of Canadians of Latin American origin aged 15 and over came from government transfers, while the figure for all Canadian adults was 12%.

The low income population

Canadians of Latin American origin are more likely than other people to have incomes that fall below Statistics Canadas Low-income Cut-offs. In 2000, 28% of people who reported Latin American origin had incomes below the Low-income Cut-offs, compared with 16% of the total Canadian population.

An even larger share of children of Latin American origin live in low-income families. In 2000, 32% of children of Latin American origin under the age of 15 lived in families with incomes below the Low-income Cut-offs, whereas 19% of all children in Canada lived in low-income families.

Unattached adults of Latin American origin are particularly likely to have low incomes. In 2000, 53% of adults of Latin American origin who lived alone had low incomes, compared with 38% of their counterparts in the overall population.

Seniors of Latin American origin living on their own are especially likely to have low incomes. In 2000, 71% of unattached seniors aged 65 and over who reported Latin American origin had incomes below the Low-income Cut-offs, well above the figure for all unattached Canadian seniors, 40% of whom were considered to have low incomes.

As in the overall population, unattached female seniors of Latin American origin are the most likely to have low incomes. In 2000, 75% of women of Latin American origin aged 65 and over who lived alone had incomes below the Low-income Cut-offs, compared with 57% of unattached male seniors of Latin American origin and 43% of all unattached women in this age group.

Most feel a sense of belonging to Canada

According to the Ethnic Diversity Survey, a large majority of Canadians of Latin American origin say they feel a strong sense of belonging to Canada. In 2002, 82% of those who reported Latin American origin said they had a strong sense of belonging to Canada. At the same time, 57% said that they had a strong sense of belonging to their ethnic or cultural group.

People with Latin American origins are also active in Canadian society. For example, 66% of Canadians of Latin American origin who were eligible to vote did so in the 2000 federal election. Canadians of Latin American origin are also active in other ways. In 2002, 40% of people of Latin American origin had participated in an organization such as a sports team or a church in the 12 months preceding the survey.

At the same time, though, many people of Latin American origin report they have experienced discrimination. In 2002, 26% of Canadians of Latin American origin reported they had experienced discrimination or unfair treatment based on their ethnicity, race, religion, language or accent in the past five years, or since they had arrived in Canada


Top 4 latin americans in Toronto based on population

Ecuadorians 20%
Mexicans      17%
Salvadorians  13%
all others       50%



Dispite all the recent influx of mexicans ....Ecuatorianos are still on top