Korean Canadians

The first Koreans to live in Canada were local Christians sent by Canadian missionaries as seminary students. Tae-yon Whang is largely regarded as the first recorded Korean immigrant to go to Canada. Tae-yon Whang visited Canada in 1948 as a mission-sponsored medical intern, and stayed in Toronto after his term was over.[5] Unlike Korean Americans who have relatively much longer history settling in the United States, very few settled in Canada; as late as 1965, the total permanent Korean population of Canada was estimated at only 70.[6] However, with the 1966 reform of Canadian immigration laws, South Korean immigration to Canada began to grow.[6] By 1969, there were an estimated 2000 Koreans in Canada.[7] Between 1970 and 1980, 18,148 Koreans immigrated to Canada, and another 17,583 arrived in the following decade.[8] In the late 1990s, South Korea became the fifth-largest source of immigrants to Canada.[9] Toronto has the country's largest absolute number of Koreans, but Vancouver is experiencing the highest rate of growth in its Korean population, with a 69% increase since 1996. Montreal was the third most popular destination for Korean migrants during this period.[10] In 2001, the number of Korean emigrants headed for Canada exceeded the number headed for the United States.[11] The number of temporary residents has also grown ever since the Canadian government granted a visa waiver to South Korea; South Korea was the largest supplier of international students to Canada in the late 1990s.[12] Aside from South Korea, some immigrants are also drawn from among the population of Koreans in China.

The 1990s growth in South Korean migration to Canada occurred at a time when Canadian unemployment was high and income growth was low relative to the United States.[13] One pair of researchers demonstrated that numbers of migrants were correlated with the exchange rate; the weakness of the Canadian dollar relative to the United States dollar meant that South Korean migrants bringing savings to Canada for investment would be relatively richer than those going to the United States.[14] Other factors suggested as drivers behind the growth of South Korean immigration to Canada included domestic anti-Americanism and the large presence of Canadian English teachers in local hagwon.[15]

According to a 2021 Statistics Canada article, Korean-Canadians have one of the highest poverty rates among all visible minorities hovering between 27% and 32%.[16]

Several Korean communities have developed in Canada since the migration after 1966. The two most concentrated areas are the Koreatown in Toronto and burgeoning Korean communities in Coquitlam and Vancouver.

Toronto

Main article: Koreatown, Toronto

Korean businesses and restaurants along Bloor Street in Toronto's Koreatown.

A portion of Seaton Village on Bloor St. from Bathurst St. to Christie St. was designated as Koreatown in 2004.[17] According to the 2001 census Toronto had roughly 43,000 Koreans living in the city,[18] and in 2011 the numbers have grown to 64,755.[19] The Korean community in Toronto has developed Koreatown such that it offers a Korean grocery store,[20] hairdressers, karaoke bars and a multitude of restaurants.[21] The City of Toronto describes Koreatown as "Korea Town is primarily a business district offering a wide range of Korean restaurants, high-end-fashion Korean boutiques, herbalists, acupuncturist and many other unique services and shops which are filled with made-in-Korea merchandise."[17] Koreatown Toronto is also known for its Spring Dano Festival which is run on the 5th day of 5th month of the Korean Lunar Calendar. The festival is run is the Christie Pits area and has been run for the past 21 years with the exception of 2013 when it was cancelled.[17][22]

Unofficially, the Willowdale/Newtonbrook areas in North York have large numbers of Korean businesses running from Yonge St. between Sheppard Ave. and Steeles Ave. Dubbed Koreatown North, it also has a growing number of Koreans residing in this area. This area first appeared in the 1990s and acceleration in the late 1990s onwards.[23] In the 2000s the community has expanded into York Region with the area centred along Yonge Street in what is referred to as Thornhill (Vaughan and Markham)

Province	Koreans 2021	% 2021
Ontario	100,025	0.7%
British Columbia	72,025	1.5%
Alberta	24,170	0.6%
Quebec	10,655	0.1%
Manitoba	4,250	0.3%
Nova Scotia	2,545	0.3%
Saskatchewan	1,950	0.2%
New Brunswick	1,480	0.2%
Newfoundland and Labrador	225	0.0%
Prince Edward Island	130	0.1%
Yukon	100	0.3%
Northwest Territories	75	0.2%
Nunavut	15	0.0%
Canada	217,650	0.6%

2007 figures from the South Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade showed 86,084 Canadian citizens, 72,077 permanent residents, 20,738 people on student visas, and 19,271 other temporary residents.[30] The Canada 2001 Census recorded 101,715 Canadians of Korean descent, but Korean community leaders and media organisations suspected that it undercounted the population, especially mobile short-term residents such as English as a Foreign Language students. According to the Canada 1996 Census, 53.6% of Korean immigrants to Canada had attended a four-year tertiary institution, as compared to 23% of the general population. However, because their qualifications and technical certifications are often not recognised by Canadian employers, Korean immigrants often take jobs not commensurate with their education; 40% worked in family-owned businesses, and their average personal income is only 67% that of the average Canadian resident.[8]

• List of Korean Canadians
• Koreatown, Toronto
• East Asian Canadians
• Korean diaspora

• Han, J. D.; Ibbott, Peter (2005), "Korean Migration to North America: Some Prices That Matter" (PDF), Canadian Studies in Population, 32 (2): 155–176, doi:10.25336/P6XS4T, retrieved September 2, 2014
• Kwak, Min-Jung (July 2004), "An Exploration of the Korean-Canadian Community in Vancouver" (PDF), Research on Immigration and Integration in the Metropolis Working Paper Series, 4 (14), archived from the original (PDF) on July 23, 2011, retrieved July 11, 2007
• Lindsay, Colin (2001), The Korean Community in Canada (PDF), Profiles of Ethnic Communities in Canada #14, Statistics Canada, ISBN 978-0-662-46523-2, retrieved March 13, 2011
• Yoon, In-Jin (2006), "Understanding the Korean Diaspora from Comparative Perspectives" (PDF), Transformation & Prospect toward Multiethnic, Multiracial & Multicultural Society: Enhancing Intercultural Communication, Asia Culture Forum, archived from the original (PDF) on September 29, 2007, retrieved July 11, 2007
• 재외동포현황 [Current Status of Overseas Compatriots], South Korea: Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, 2009, archived from the original on October 23, 2010, retrieved May 21, 2009

• Multicultural Canada website includes digitized issues of Minjoong Shinmoon newspaper