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HB NEWS ALL AREAS OF HALTON BECOMING MORE DIVERSE Continued from page 1 With immigrants hit- ting a demographic mile- stone in Canada, ni ing up nearly a ‘quarter of other parts of the region. Jaydeep Bhatt has called north Halton home for the past four years. Originally hailing from Gujarat, India, his immi- gration journey began asa student at Humber Col- lege in 2011 before being of- fered a job the year after — and eventually becoming a citizen. “This land has every- thing for everyone. I want- ed to have a nice family life, a balanced life. I al- a land of opportunity, for shat, 36, lives with his wife and young daughter. He is now employed by the City of Mississauga, work- ing on projects where "I can give back to the com- mun 0, kind of com- plete nen tte he said. cording to the 2021 census, more than 8.3 mil- lion people are or have been a landed immigrant or permanent resident in 2021, representing about 23 per cent of the population — the highest in 150 years. “This land has everything for everyone... This is a land of opportunity.” - Jaydeep Bhatt is recent projec- tions, Statistics Canada says the proportion could increase to between 29 and 34 per cent by 2041. The contribution of immi- grants to the country's la- bour force is also high- lighted in the report. Of the more than 13 million new immigrants settled permanently in the country from 2016 to 2021, most came from India (18.6 per cent), followed by the Philippines (11.4 per cent) per cent). The record Thumber of newcomers continues to shape Halton's diverse Population ple who identified as visible minorities made up 13.5 per cent of Halton Hills' population in 2021, up from 7.4 per cent in 2016. This compared to Milton's 55 per cent (up from 42.7 per cent in 2016), Oakville's 42.5 per cent (up from 30.8 per cent) and Burlington's 20.8 per cent (up from 16 per cent). "the two largest visible diversity. minority groups in Halton Hills, Milton and Burling- ton were South Asian and lack residents, while South Asian and Chinese were the top two in Oak- ville, the latest census da- ta reveals. Here's a partial break- down of the visible minor- ity population in 2021 (based on 25 per cent sam- leg data): ton Hills: Sout Aslan (3,505), Black (1, O90) Chinese (720), ipino (650) Milton: South Asian Start planning your dream vacation with hand-picked travel deals and inspiration just for Canadians Dennis Scott, chair of the Halton Black History Awareness Society, welcomes Halton's growing ity. (87,100), Black (7,655), Ar- ab (7,405), Filipino (5,300) Oakville: South Asian (28,685), Chinese (23,055), Arab (10,020), Black (7,020) 595 Black (4,670), Chinese (4,380), Ar- ab (4,100) Dennis Scott, chair for the Halton Black History Awareness Society, wel- comes the diversification. "It's been going on for quite some time now," he said of the demographic trend. While the region has Graham Paine/Metroland many unique qualities that attract newcomers, he said, there is a lot more to uses on promo: history, culture and arts — and fighting anti-Black racism. Among his goals is. Fig Source: Statistics Canada to get Black history into 8 the education system across the country. ‘he group is also work- ing to create a vibrant community fo for all. He would like to see so- ciety continuing forging a toward multicultur- alism and diversity, be- cause “anything else is go- ing to hold us back." "We are moving gradu- ally toward what we need, and that's equality and ap- preciation on an equal ba- sis to anythin; thing that's really, the bottom line is everyone in Canada, with the exception of the Indig- enous, are immigrants," he said. STORY BEHIND THE STORY: We wanted to examine the growth of visible minorities in Hal- ton following the latest 2021 census data released from Statistics Canada. ‘SCAN THESE CODES for first two instalments of census series, focusing on challenges facing seniors and the rise in multl-generational homes. Welcome our Fea WH UONEH - dl CUL | 2 ' F Z FI iy g Zz 2 3 z 8 5 8 eordyouy