Canadian Race Relations Foundation

Canada 2017 – Serving Canada’s Multicultural Population for the Future was a policy forum held in Gatineau Quebec in 2005, by Canadian Heritage- Multiculturalism when Raymond Chan held the Minister of State (multiculturalism) portfolio. With the support of this portfolio, Stats Canada developed projections that were based on current data from the 1996 and 2000 census. The aim of examining the data was to determine what the ‘face’ of Canada would be like in 2017, Canada’s 150th anniversary, given the current trends in immigration and population growth. The forum brought together participants from various sectors viz. health and social services, public and private sectors, labour, municipalities and government. The challenges, opportunities and potential for growth were discussed. With the greatest number of immigrants concentrated in the major cities and mainly Toronto and Vancouver, this will impact the economy, demographics and political stance. Newcomers no longer come from the eastern European countries but now come from Asia, the Middle East, Central and South America and Africa. Many of these people are visible minorities. Soon the visible minority in the large cities will be the visible majority and serious consideration should be given to an ‘adapted terminology’.