Tamil Canadian

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Canadians of Tamil ethnicity
Total population
39,075 [1] (Actual figures should be higher than reported here, since some Tamils only report themselves as Sri Lankan or Indian on the census.)
Regions with significant populations
Southern Ontario
Languages
Canadian English, Tamil
Religions
Hinduism, Islam, Christianity, others
Related ethnic groups
Asian Indians, South Asian Canadians

Most Canadians of Tamil ethnicity come from the country of Sri Lanka, but some come from the southern part of India. Estimates of the Tamil diaspora in Canada range from between 110,000 and 200,000 (Wayland, 2002) to 400,000 (Sriskandarajah, 2002). To a population of fewer than 2,000 Tamils in Canada in 1983 (Aruliah, 1994), more than 25,000 were added between 1984 and 1992; in the 1991 census, Tamils were the fastest-growing ethnic group in Metro Toronto (Cheran, 2000). Canada's Tamil population is thought to constitute the largest Sri Lankan Diaspora in the world (Wayland, 2002), and Toronto is "the city with the largest number of [Sri Lankan] Tamils in the world" (Cheran, 2000: 170).

In 1999 Sri Lanka was the leading source country of refugee claimants to Canada. Canada hosts the single largest Sri Lankan Diaspora of any country.

In the year 2000, Sri Lanka was the 6th largest source country of immigrants to Canada, sending 5,841 people or 2.57% of Canada's immigrant total. It is also the second largest source of refugees (CIC, 2001). Between 1991-2001, Sri Lanka was the fifth largest source country of immigrants to Canada, after China, India, the Philippines, and Hong Kong. ^[2] In Canada, Sri Lankan Tamils tend to identify themselves as Tamil Canadians while Indian Tamils identify themselves with the greater Indian community. The Canadian Tamil community today boasts 4,500 software engineers and 40 medical experts. The university Tamil student population in the country numbers over 5,500, of whom more than 200 are post-graduates. ^[3]

A bilingual Tamil community directory of businesses and services for this community, Thamilar Mathiyil [Amidst Tamils], has been published since 1990 and has grown to several hundred pages in length. There are ten weekly Tamil language newspapers, four Tamil language radio stations, and three cinemas that show Tamil language films that are produced in Tamil Nadu. Toronto is also home to the largest Tamil video and music stores in the world (Cheran, 2000). There are also two television stations in Tamil serving the community. ^[4]

One of the major community organizations, the Tamil Eelam Society of Canada' and the World Tamil Movement (WTM), are accused of being pro-LTTE organizations (ibid.: 181). The Tamil Eelam Society is the also largest ethno specific provider of social services to Tamils in the province of Ontario (Wayland, 2002).

Canada has attracted a number of internationally renowned writers from Sri Lanka, including Shyam Selvadurai. Selvadurai is of Tamil background, and despite his family's relative privilege and urban base, his family left Sri Lanka because of the 1983 riots.

[edit] References

1. ^ [1] (Statistics Canada - Ethnic Origin (232), Sex (3) and Single and Multiple Responses (3) for Population, for Canada, Provinces, Territories, Census Metropolitan Areas 1 and Census Agglomerations, 2001 Census - 20% Sample Data)
2. ^ [2]
3. ^ [3]
4. ^ [4]

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