Urban clusters: new waves of immigration have transformed the face of urban Canada. And, with a lower birth rate, the country will need more immigrants to keep the population from declining.

A hundred years ago I most immigrants to Canada were British. Between 1896 and 1905, the Canadian government started actively recruiting non-British immigrants from Poland, Germany, Ukraine, and Russia, mostly to farm the Prairies. They began to flood in during the first decade of the century: in 1901, 50,000 came; in 1913, there were 400,000 new arrivals.

During the 1960s, immigration policy reforms eliminated preferences for immigrants of European origin and implemented a points-based system for economic immigrants. This was to ensure maximum employability in an economy where skilled labour was becoming a priority. As more people from visible minorities started to settle, the character of communities changed.

In March 2004, Statistics Canada reported that there has been a phenomenal increase in visible-minority neighbourhoods--areas where at least 30 percent of the population comes from a single ethnic group. In 1981, Canada could count only six such neighbourhoods across the country. In 1991, there were 77, but by 2001, the number swelled to 254, nearly all of them in Toronto (135) and Vancouver (111), with some in Montreal (8).

In 2001, 73 percent of Canada's four million visible-minority citizens lived in the three cities. About one-third of them came here during the 1990s, one-third arrived before 1991, and the rest were born in this country.

More than 60 percent of these neighbourhoods were Chinese (157 out of 254), about one third were South Asian, with Blacks comprising only 13 of the total. By 2003, nearly 44 percent of the population of the Greater Toronto Area was foreign-born, and more than half of the population was visible minorities.

One community that has seen dramatic change is Thorncliffe Park in Toronto, home to one of the largest Afghan communities in the city. Thorncliffe is a community of high-rise apartment buildings, close to the city centre and public transit.

Heading east to Agincourt in North Scarborough where there are so many Asian residents that a Dragon Centre, a Chinese shopping mall, was developed in 1984. It was a move that raised concerns among local residents that their community was being taken over.

While it's natural for immigrants to feel comfortable within their own ethnic neighbourhoods, the StatsCan report also raised concerns that by doing so they are becoming isolated from the rest of the community.

"Residential concentration of minority groups may result in social isolation and reduce minorities' incentives to acquire the host-country language or to gain work experience and educational qualifications," the study warned.

But, some say it's misleading to suggest that minorities who cluster in groups with family and friends don't adapt as well to their new home. Most of them still interact with people outside their ethnic community, whether it's at work or in school. Usha George, director of Canada's Joint Centre of Excellence for Research on Immigration and Settlement, says new immigrants could also be restricted to poor neighbourhoods with affordable housing because they are at the bottom of the socio-economic ladder in their new community.

"For a lot of them, the congregations in certain neighbourhoods are not by choice. Most of them are forced to do it," says Ms. George, who is also a professor in the University of Toronto's social work department.

The Statistics Canada report also found that visible-minority neighbourhoods are more likely to experience higher unemployment and lower income levels than other neighbourhoods.

In Toronto, the unemployment rate rises from 5.7% in neighbourhoods where less than one-tenth of the population is Chinese to 7.1% where the Chinese account for at least half of the community.

But, many argue that Canada needs immigrants as an answer to looming labour shortages. As the first statistical portrait of Canada in the 21st century, the 2001 census showed that the country's population growth rate has slowed to an all-time low. And, unless the birth rate goes up or tens of thousands more immigrants enter the country, our population is expected to start declining by 2011. Even for the population to stay where it is will require more immigrants: Canada's fertility rate is just 1.5 children (the average number of children a woman will have over her lifetime), and that figure needs to be 2.1 children per woman to sustain the current level of population.

Economists and demographers expect the birth rate to continue to drop, and a result will be labour shortages within five years unless young immigrants are brought here to fill jobs. In the past, Canada has boosted immigration to counter its dropping birth rate, but in the last two decades, the immigrants Canada selected have been more educated and urbanized. So, they too have had fewer children. Many say the country needs more immigrants, beyond the current level of 210,000 people a year.

According to a 2001 report by the Urban Futures Institute in Vancouver, "the long term financial sustainability of Canada's pension plans, health care, income redistribution programs, and other social services are dependent upon Canada having its current, or a higher, level of immigration in the future ... We must look at immigration ... as an investment in the future, ours and everyone else's. If we don't, we are all going to be a lot poorer."

FIRST CHOICE

There are many reasons why people come to Canada. According to a 2001 Statistics Canada study, 98 percent of newcomers to Canada between October 2000 and September 2001 said it was the only destination they applied to when they chose to leave their homeland, and they are developing a strong attachment to the country.

The study involved about 12,000 of the roughly 164,200 immigrants aged 15 and older who arrived that year. Many of them emigrated for economic reasons; some came to Canada to reunite with their family; others chose to leave their homeland for political or other personal reasons. Whatever the reason, most (91 percent) said they intended to settle here permanently and become Canadian citizens. And, most (78 percent) settled in areas where their network of friends and relatives lived. Three-quarters of them settled in Toronto, Vancouver, or Montreal. Those who moved outside these three large urban areas joined family and friends elsewhere (36 percent) or cited employment opportunities (32 percent) as the reason for their choice.

Education prospects (12 percent), lifestyle (six percent) and business prospects (six percent) were the other top reasons for many applicants to settle in areas other than the three largest cities. The survey also found that, prior to coming to Canada, the two most common occupational groups for men were natural and applied sciences and management; for women, they were business, finance and administration, as well as social science, education, government services, and religious occupations.

Shiploads of people from different countries would come across the ocean in the hopes of starting a life in the new world, Some settled in New Brunswick, but most moved on to other parts of Canada and the United States. Regardless of their destination, if they entered North America via the Saint John Harbour, they had to be inspected by quarantine staff. From 1785 to 1942, Partridge Island (right) served as North America's first Quarantine Station to prevent the spread of diseases.

In 1830, there were so many immigrants afflicted with fever and smallpox that they were housed in army tents. Hospitals often were overflowing. The most tragic years for Partridge Island were 1845-1847, when Irish immigration peaked. Dr. George Harding reported that on one day he had over 2,500 immigrants in quarantine. Sick people were forced to lie on bare ground, despite the weather. Partridge Island was designated a national historic site in 1947. Another important Quarantine Station was the island of Grosse lie, located close to the Port of Quebec.

FACT FILE

The 2001 Canadian census showed that, for the first time in 100 years, Canada is growing more slowly than the United States.

FACT FILE

According to the 2001 Canadian census, the population of Canada was then about 30 million, almost four million fewer people than live in the state of California.

FACT FILE

In the 1950s, the average Canadian woman had four children over her lifetime.

FACT FILE

Many countries, including Russia, Japan, and Germany, are having, or will soon have, real population declines.

SUGGESTED ACTIVITIES:

1. The Centre For Diverse Visible Cultures is a community-based, provincial organization in Halifax, Nova Scotia. The Centre promotes ethnic diversity and provides programs and services for those from various cultural and ethnic backgrounds. Research what the Centre does, or report on a similar organization that operates in your province.

2. With more than 170 different ethnic groups, speaking more than 100 languages, Toronto is recognized as one of the most multicultural cities in the world. The largest ethnic groups in the city are Chinese, Italian, English, East Indian, and Portuguese. Approximately 100,000 immigrants and refugees are attracted to the city each year. Many say the most intriguing aspect of the city is its distinct ethnic neighbourhoods--a taste of the world all in one city. Investigate how immigration has changed in your city or province over the last century, what skills each group of immigrants brought to their new country, and how they progressed with successive generations. Discuss how these immigrants have shaped Canada's identity as a multicultural country.

3. Set up a debate on the pros and cons of ethnic enclaves that immigrants join when they leave their country of origin.

Websites

Diversity NOW--http:// www.diversitynow.ca/index. shtml

Diversity Watch--http:// www.diversitywatch.ryerson. ca/about/

Joint Centre of Excellence for Research on Immigration and Settlement--http:// ceris.metropolis.net/

Urban Futures Institute--http: //www.urganfumres.com