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Number and share of visible minority persons in Canada, 1981 to 2006

Description

Figure 1 shows the absolute number and the percentage of visible minorities from the 1981 to 2006 censuses. In 1981, there were 1.1 million visible minority persons in Canada and the number increased to 1.6 million in the next census, 1986. From 1986 to 1991, the number of visible minority persons almost doubled to 2.5 million. In 10 years, the proportion of visible minority persons almost doubled from 4.7% of Canada's population in 1981 to 9.4% in 1991. In 1996, the visible minority population was 3.2 million, constituting 11.2% of Canada's population. The growth in the visible minority population continued in 2001, when it was 3.9 million, forming 13.4% of Canada's population. In 2006, it reached over 5 million and constituted 16.2% of the total population of Canada.

Source: Statistics Canada, censuses of population, 1981 to 2006.