Vietnamese Canadian

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Vietnamese Canadians
Total population

151,410 [1]

Regions with significant populations
British Columbia, Prairie Provinces, Ontario, Quebec
Languages

Vietnamese, English,

French
Religions
Mahayana Buddhist, Roman Catholic, Nonreligious [2]
Related ethnic groups
Vietnamese, Vietnamese Americans

Vietnamese began arriving in Canada in the mid 1970s and early 1980s as refugees or boat people following the end of the Vietnam War in 1975, though a couple thousands were already living in Quebec before then. Most new arrivees were sponsored by groups of individuals, temples, and churches and settled in areas around Southern Ontario, Montreal, Quebec, and Vancouver, British Columbia. Between 1975 to 1985, 110,000 settled in Canada (23,000 in Ontario; 13,000 in Quebec; 8,000 in Alberta; 7,000 British Columbia; 5,000 in Manitoba; 3,000 in Saskatchewan; and 2,000 in the Maritime provinces). As time progressed, most eventually settled in urban centres like Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, Ottawa, Edmonton, Hamilton and Calgary.

The next wave of Vietnamese migration came in the late 1980s and 1990s as both refugees and immigrant classes of post-war Vietnam entered Canada. Some of these immigrants are ethnic Chinese from Saigon in southern Vietnam. These groups settled in urban areas, in particular Toronto, Montreal, Calgary and Vancouver.

Vietnamese immigrants settled mainly in the eastern sections of Vancouver and in Montreal's downtown and south shore. In Toronto they have settled in the city's Chinatown area near Spadina Avenue and Dundas Street West or to the west in Mississauga. Vietnamese Canadians also brought their cuisine and pho has become a popular food everywhere in Canada.

Contents

[edit] Notable Canadians of Vietnamese origin

Humanitarians

  • Kim Phuc - Humanitarian, UNESCO ambassador, Vietnam War Survivor

Entertainers

  • Chuckie Akenz (aka Phong Nguyen) is a song writer and rapper
  • Christy Chung, Hong Kong based actress
  • David Huynh, Los Angeles based actor
  • Nguyen Ngoc Ngan, writer, essayist, and host of Paris By Night
  • Thuong Vuong-Riddick, poet - Two Shores / Deux Rives (1995)
  • Minh Thanh Nguyen, non-fiction writer - Leaving Vietnam (1996)
  • Siu Ta, actress (This is Wonderland)

Politicians

Business

  • Huu Trung Nguyen, Senior Vice President Finances, Strategic Alliances and International, Caisse Centrale Desjardins; Canadian representative, APEC Business Advisory Council; Member, Board of Directors, Canadian Payments Association; Officer, Board of Directors, Oxfam-Quebec; Member, Board of Directors, Board of Trade of Metropolitan Montreal.

Others

  • Father Dinh Nghi, Catholic priest
  • Hai Trieu, a former president of the Vietnam Community Association of Vancouver and current editor of Viet Nam magazine
  • Ngo Van Tan, Financial planner, poet (pen name Tan Van), humanitarian activist, editor of http://vietnamville.ca, former editor of Vietnam Canada News (82-86), publisher of Vietnamese Canadian Directory of Montreal since 1982, president of Vietnam-Canada Foundation, founder/promoter of Vietnam Town, president of Movement for Prosperity. Biography listed in Marquis Who's Who in the World, Who's Who in Finance and Business, Who's Who in America, International WHO'S WHO of Professionals etc...

[edit] Business

In Canada, local Vietnamese media is dominated by:

In Vancouver, hardworking Vietnamese Canadians managed to open a variety of stores and restaurants throughout Vancouver, especially on the east side of the city around Kingsway and Fraser. The area is home to several Vietnamese clothing, food stores, and shops.

Vietnamese Canadians have also opened up stores and restaurants in Central City, Surrey which is a growing suburb of Metro Vancouver.

In the Toronto area, there are 19 Vietnamese owned supermarkets.

In Montreal there are about 40,000 Vietnamese Canadian population among highest median income and education of Vietnamese Canadians in major cities. There are more than 100 Vietnamese restaurants, hundreds of small size manufacturers of different products from clothing to technology, about 80 pharmacies and hundreds of doctors, dentists, over a thousand scientists, engineers and technicians, about sixty convenient stores and groceries. Since Nov 2006, Mr. Ngo Van Tan has started a daring project to promote and build the first Vietnam Town in Canada called Vietnamville near metro Jean Talon including St-Denis, Jean Talon, St-Hubert and Belanger streets with over 130 businesses already opened in the area. Investment opportunities in Vietnam Town are open to Vietnamese worldwide.

[edit] References

  1. ^ [1] Statistics Canada, Census 2001 - Selected Ethnic Origins1, for Canada, Provinces and Territories - 20% Sample Data
  2. ^ [2] (Statistics Canada, Census 2001 - Selected Demographic and Cultural Characteristics (105), Selected Ethnic Groups (100), Age Groups (6), Sex (3) and Single and Multiple Ethnic Origin Responses (3) for Population, for Canada, Provinces, Territories and Census Metropolitan Areas 1 , 2001 Census - 20% Sample Data)

[edit] External links

Vietnamese Canadian organizations
About Vietnamese Canadians
Languages