All growth scenarios considered, the diversity of Canada's population will continue to increase significantly during the next two decades, especially within certain census metropolitan areas, according to new projections of the country's ethnocultural makeup.

By 2031, between 25% and 28% of the population could be foreign-born. This would surpass the proportion of 22% observed between 1911 and 1931, the highest during the twentieth century. About 55% of this population would be born in Asia.

Between 29% and 32% of the population could belong to a visible minority group, as defined in the Employment Equity Act. This would be nearly double the proportion reported by the 2006 Census. The visible minority population is likely to increase rapidly among the Canadian-born, many of whom are children and grandchildren of immigrants.

The vast majority (96%) of people belonging to a visible minority group would continue to live in one of the 33 census metropolitan areas. By 2031, according to the reference scenario, visible minority groups would comprise 63% of the population of Toronto, 59% in Vancouver and 31% in Montréal. In contrast, they would comprise no more than 5% of the population in St. John's, Greater Sudbury, Trois-Rivières, Québec or Saguenay.

Foreign-born population
Between now and 2031, the foreign-born population of Canada could increase approximately four times faster than the rest of the population. The population of foreign-born could reach between 9.8 million and 12.5 million, depending on various immigration assumptions.

The proportion of foreign-born in the total population would increase from 20% in 2006 to between 25% and 28%.

By 2031, nearly one-half (46%) of Canadians aged 15 and over would be foreign-born, or would have at least one foreign-born parent, up from 39% in 2006.

Canadian-born population
Regardless of future immigration, diversity will grow among the Canadian-born population. By 2031, according to the reference scenario, 47% of second-generation Canadians would belong to a visible minority group, nearly double the proportion of 24% in 2006. Second generation refers to those who are Canadian-born and have at least one parent born outside Canada.

Within the third generation or more, the proportion belonging to visible minorities, although low, would almost triple, from 1% to 3%. The third generation or more are people who are Canadian-born and whose parents and possibly grandparents were Canadian-born.

Visible minorities
According to the scenarios developed for the projections, the visible minority population would continue to be bolstered by sustained immigration, slightly higher fertility and a younger age structure. In 2006, the median age of this population was 32.5 years, compared with 40.4 for the rest of the population.

Under the low- and high-growth scenarios of these projections, Canada could have between 11.4 million and 14.4 million persons belonging to a visible minority group by 2031, more than double the 5.3 million reported in 2006. The rest of the population, in contrast, is projected to increase by less than 12%.

The South Asian population, which would still be the largest visible minority group, could more than double from roughly 1.3 million in 2006 to between 3.2 million and 4.1 million. The Chinese population is projected to grow from 1.3 million to between 2.4 million and 3.0 million.

South Asians would represent 28% of the population belonging to visible minority groups, up from 25%, while the share of Chinese would decline from 24% to 21%. This is because Chinese women have one of the lowest fertility rates in Canada, unlike South Asian women. Also, people born in China have a higher propensity to emigrate than South Asians.

Canada's Black and Filipino populations, which were the third and fourth largest visible minority groups in 2006, could also double in size. The Arab and West Asian groups could more than triple, the fastest growth among all groups.

Religious denomination
By 2031, the number of people having a non-Christian religion in Canada would almost double from 8% of the population in 2006 to 14% in 2031.

The proportion with a Christian religion would decline from 75% to about 65%. The share with no religion would rise from about 17% to 21%.

Within the population having a non-Christian religion, about one-half would be a Muslim by 2031, up from 35% in 2006.

Metropolitan areas
By 2031, according to the reference scenario, more than 71% of all visible minority people would live in Canada's three largest census metropolitan areas: Toronto, Vancouver and Montréal.

In Toronto, 24% of the population, or 2.1 million, would be South Asians, which would continue to be its largest visible minority group, up from 13% in 2006.

In Vancouver, Chinese would be the largest visible minority group, with a population of around 809,000. They would account for about 23% of Vancouver's population, up from 18% in 2006.

In Montréal, visible minority groups would represent 31% of the population, nearly double the 16% in 2006. By 2031, its Arab population would almost reach the Black population.

Also available are diversity profiles for the three largest census metropolitan areas: Montréal, Toronto and Vancouver.

You can find more details at: http://www.statcan.gc.ca/daily-quotidien/100309/dq100309a-eng.htm

Holi, the vibrant festival of colours is always celebrated with great energy and exuberance. This year Rogers celebrates the spirit of joy and excitement with Rogers Holi Hungama. Customers have some great offers to look forward to as part of the festivities.

Rogers Holi Hungama is creating a splash everywhere. The excitement and hungama reaches out to customers from Rogers TV commercials, print ads, direct mail, slides and posters in cinema, out of home pieces, online banners, facebook ads, a microsite and more. If you want to play Holi go to the vibrant microsite rogers.com/holi. You can play Holi Touch with your favourite new Rogers touchphone, or take a shot at the Holi Quiz. To get a picture of yourself in holi colours, head to the cinema and pose with the colourful Rogers holi cut-out.

Entertainment now becomes even more colourful with the Rogers digital TV offer - ‘Super-hit TV Packages at Super-value Prices’. The new South Asian programming packages include the new Hindi Mega Package, the new Punjabi Package and the Urdu Package. These packages offer over 20 plus channels, some available only on Rogers and not available on satellite. They bring to the viewer a mix of popular soaps, songs, news, action, blockbusters and more, at a value price.

Festival time is a time for celebrating with loved ones even if they are back home and not here with us in Canada. This Holi, Rogers does away with distance, everyday, with the Home Phone International Value Plan. It includes 200 long distance minutes per month to 30 countries including India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and the UK. You also get two calling features of your choice, plus unlimited local calling, no contracts and no PINs. What’s great is that even your system access fee is included in the plan.

Rogers brings vibrancy to the world of the youth with an exclusive range of sophisticated touchphones, at the attractive starting price of $19.99. Choose from LG, Nokia and Samsung models in sleek modern designs. Now a touch of your finger gets you your pictures, games and music. Add to the versatility of your phone with the new Rogers Data Day Pass. Get mobile Internet access, where you need it, when you need it, for just $1 a day.

Learn more about these festive offers and play Holi at rogers.com/holi.

Life expectancy at birth in Canada reached 80.7 years for the three-year period between 2005 and 2007, up from the average of 80.5 between 2004 and 2006, and 78.4 a decade earlier between 1995 and 1997.

Gains during the past decade were stronger among men. Their life expectancy at birth rose by 2.9 years to 78.3 in 2005-2007, while among women it increased by 1.8 years to 83.0.

The gap between the sexes has been closing for several years.

Life expectancy among seniors at the age of 65 has also been on an upward trend for several years.

On average, a 65-year-old man could expect to live an additional 18.1 years in 2005-2007, an increase of 2.0 years from the previous decade. A 65-year-old woman could expect to live an additional 21.3 years, up by 1.3 years.

Gains in life expectancy among seniors during the past decade have accounted for about 70% of the increase in life expectancy at birth.

Table 1 Life expectancy at birth and at age 65 by sex, Canada

Provincially, life expectancy at birth in British Columbia was 81.2 years in 2005-2007, highest among the provinces, followed by Ontario at 81.0 years. Life expectancy at birth in Quebec was at the national average.

Largest increase in deaths in 14 years
The number of deaths registered in Canada in 2007 recorded its largest increase since 1993, continuing a long-term upward trend resulting from a growing and aging population.

In 2007, 235,217 people died in Canada, up 7,138 or 3.1% from 2006.

Both male and female deaths rose, but the increase was slightly larger among women, 3.2% compared with 3.1% for men.

Infant mortality rate up slightly in 2007
The infant mortality rate rose from 5.0 infant deaths per 1,000 live births in 2006 to 5.1 in 2007.

In general, the infant mortality rate has been declining since 1982, when the rate was at 9.1 infant deaths per 1,000 live births.

Among boys, the infant mortality rate increased from 5.4 in 2006 to 5.5 infant deaths per 1,000 live births in 2007. Among girls, the rate went up from 4.6 to 4.7 during the same period.

Crude death rate up, standardized rate unchanged
The crude death rate in Canada rose from 7.0 deaths per 1,000 population in 2006 to 7.1 in 2007.

However, when differences in age structure of the population were taken into account, the age-standardized death rate remained unchanged.

In 2007, Nunavut had the highest standardized death rate in Canada, followed by the other two territories. The lowest standardized rate occurred in British Columbia, followed by Ontario, Quebec and Alberta.

You can find more details at: http://www.statcan.gc.ca/daily-quotidien/100223/dq100223a-eng.htm

With a huge amount of confidence and a passionate team, but absolutely no history to go by, Masala! Mehndi! Masti! (M!M!M!) kicked off the first ever South Asian winter festival to launch its 10th year celebrations in 2010. With a phenomenal track record of summer festivals, the M!M!M! team launched a brilliant concept on a fabulous weekend - sun, glorious sun and no winds, with plus 3 degree temperatures! Harbourfront Center has never looked so colourful and vibrant in winter as it did this past weekend.

The celebrations kicked off on Thursday night (Feb18th) with a full house at the Gladstone Hotel. A feast of music co-hosted with TablaHYPE's Tabla-Co-Lab featuring brilliant performances by Gurpreet Chana and guest artists Usra Leedham, Andrea Lucarelli and Version Xcursion. Positive vibrations permeated an excellent evening that saw artists (some who performed at M!M!M!'s first festival ten years ago), corporate bigwigs and even mayoral candidate Rocco Rossi attend.
 

Friday evening opened with a fantastic cultural collaboration of classical Indian and Persian dance by Paromita Kar and Ida Meftahi. The South Asian festival of colors, ‘Holi’ was marked by celebratory music performed by a stellar group of folk singers and musicians led by Vineeta Dayal and Chitra Mathur.
 

This was followed by a huge line up for the much anticipated special pre screening of Cooking with Stella which opens to the public in Canada next month. Producer David Hamilton, internationally acclaimed director Deepa Mehta (who wrote the script), lead actor Don McKellar and his real life inspiration, Chef Cameron, were all on hand to introduce the film and participate in a lively Q & A session led by OMNI TV’s Mohit Rajhans.
 

The Artists’ Walkway was a dedicated space for artists’ work featuring: Asha Aditi Ruparelia Gaya Navaratnam, Annandi Merhai, and Shawn Barry.  

The festival saluted the achievement of a decade in the arts of social activist drum and bass band Lal featuring Rosina Kazi and Murr. 

The late night performances for MMM Rocks! were highlighted by Canadian Pakistani group KAZAK launching their worldwide debut album Avraga. Their performance was preceded by Naomi Zaman and her song Rock This Desi and songstress-about-town Prita Chhabra and a surprise guest appearance by Imaan Faith. All girl band Secret Trial 5 also thrilled the crowd with their punk rock vibe.  

Saturday’s events were kicked off with dance workshops and performances by DIYAS Arts & Entertainment, The Ismailova Theatre of Dance, Melange Entertainment, and 7 Arts Dance Company. Hugely popular and packed to the hilt, this special GhuMMMo! branded feature of the festival was a massive crowd favourite.  

The pristine white on the ice rink at Harbourfront Centre was splashed, for the first time, with the colourful vibrancy of professional ice skaters performing popular Bollywood tracks  for the four Bollywood on Ice shows. 

The food demos, well presented by 5^th ElementT’s Chef Johnee who demonstrated his skills with fruit carving, Shrimp Curry, Spicy Mango Salad, and Chicken Chettinad, offering the audience generous samples. 

Short films Rahul’s Arranged Marriage, When Chotalaal Met Christina and Dilip Mehta’s feature film The Forgotten Woman, all ran to full house shows and elicited great audience response and interaction with the film makers.  

Music performances brought on standing ovations as Mint & Crow, Ayesha, Wardah and Blitz launched The Urban Youth Showcase. M!M!M! alumnus Deesha brought the house down with a World Premiere performance of songs from her yet unreleased second album.  

The SAMA (Sacred Arts and Music Alliance) concert featured spiritual music inspired by Sufi, Sikh, Hindu, Jewish, Islamic, Christian and Native cultures. Packed to capacity, audiences gave this performance a rousing standing ovation.  

Onkar Singh’s interactive and insightful performance had great following as he shared personal inspirations and experiences associated with his music session.  

Dhol Circle’s interactive drumming session had festival goers dancing and drumming in a frenzy as they picked up ‘dhols’ and jammed with the artists.  

Theatre and poetry performances ‘Tea With Tagore’ by Rasik Arts and Umbereen Inayat’s ‘Meri Kahani’ were so popular that anxious patrons were turned away due to full houses.  

The late night party rocked the festival as everyone danced the night away to the inimitable sound of DJ Amita and DJ Double Up after a unique performance by new on the scene boy-band

Avalla – a Bhangra fusion group who hit the crowd with a fresh blast to the usual bhangra sounds! 

A bazaar, great food, arts and crafts and kids story telling added to all of the artistic programming to ensure smiling faces, lots of colour and positive vibes across the Harbourfront Centre site!

All boy Bhangra band 'Avalla': http://projectedlife.smugmug.com/Events/MMM-Winterfest-2010/ProjectedLifePhotography/794350106_7fMHH-X3.jpg

Full House at 'Cooking with Stella': http://projectedlife.smugmug.com/Events/MMM-Winterfest-2010/ProjectedLifePhotography/794343214_FjaHU-X3.jpg

Abhishek Mathur [festival director] and Deepa Mehta [Director]: http://projectedlife.smugmug.com/Events/MMM-Winterfest-2010/ProjectedLifePhotography/794338364_c3KJU-X3.jpg

Kazak: http://projectedlife.smugmug.com/Events/MMM-Winterfest-2010/ProjectedLifePhotography/794340574_kGmLa-X3.jpg

DJ Amita and DJ Double Up: http://projectedlife.smugmug.com/Events/MMM-Winterfest-2010/ProjectedLifePhotography/794350372_JVTUZ-X3.jpg

Diyas Arts and Entertainment: http://projectedlife.smugmug.com/Events/MMM-Winterfest-2010/ProjectedLifePhotography/794341996_ix4PY-X3.jpg
 

"Photo Credit: Projected Life Photography http://www.projectedlife.com"

For more information please contact:

Nita Balani: 416.902.6482