I didn’t expect Oakville to be so high, I also didn’t expect Richmond to be so low
Now let’s see Brampton Allen’s card.
The top 6 cities are in Canada. Ten out of the top 18 are in Canada. Good stats.
Chinese as in…. Chinese nationals???
(Because no, obviously not. A Chinese-American is very unlikely to be Chinese in any sense of national identity. An ethnic or racial background is not the same as a nationality. This is an important distinction to make, because there are Chinese nationals in the U.S., and also immigrants and green card holders who hold Chinese citizenship, but these are different from the Chinese-American population, and from the population with shared Chinese ancestry.) (I use only the US example because I am not familiar with the demographics of Canada. But I imagine a Canadian of Chinese ancestry would likewise not want to be conflated with a Chinese national, and vice versa.)
[Downvoters: a homework question: how many Irish are in the US?]
[deleted]
If you’re in the malls in Richmond, you’d guess it’s 90%+ Chinese.
[deleted]
Hey, interesting graph. Not surprising as someone living in Burnaby/Vancouver area of BC.
Thought I’d share some notes on race vs ethnicity data in Canada and the US as this is an area I have experience in (gov reporting on demographics).
According to stats Canada:
Race = colour of your skin. (e.g. you look black therefore you are black)
Ethnicity = personally disclosed identity. (E.g. you were raised by Nigerian parents, therefore you identify as black)
As you may imagine, there is usually a fairly strong correlation between these two metrics (but not always!) and the distinction gets quite blurry.
Not sure about the US, but here there are often attempts to clear up “visible minority” vs “ethnic minority” as this data is often mixed up, even by large reputable institutions.
Historically, US census data is primarily focused on race, while Canada has historically focused on ethnicity data. Canada actually didn’t even collect racial data until recent decades.
Additionally, reporting categories between US and Canada can often be very different with different focuses. As an example, Canada has various classifications which fall under “Indigenous peoples” which do not correspond to race (Métis, Inuit, First Nations). While the US has much larger black and Latino populations which they may want to measure in more detail.
Anyways, all this can make reporting on race and ethnicity very difficult across borders, not just Canada vs. US, but globally is an even bigger shit show.
While “Chinese” is generally accepted in the US, Canada, and specifically BC may often distinguish between Mandarin and Cantonese (Mainland Chinese vs Honk-Kong and other places). In Vancouver it’s common for young “Chinese” people to specify if they’re “canto” or “mando” when meeting other Chinese people (not in a hostile way, just in a fun way).
I don’t really have a point here, other than ranting that comparing race and ethnicity across countries can be very difficult, even when you have reliable data.
This is not a shot at OP or his graph btw. I am curious how the data is sorted exactly, but I do not doubt it’s legitimacy.
I’m slightly surprised that no towns in NJ reach 10% because having some random small town only people who have lived less than 20 minutes away from has ever heard of with some super unique demographic quirk is totally our thing.
Define “Chinese”… are not many/most Canadian?
I live in Richmond and many of my US friends don’t believe me when I tell them that percentage-wise, I live in the most Chinese city in North America. Instead, they insist it is San Francisco or New York.
Well… here you go.
Fun fact about the 2nd entry: there’s a section in the south called “agin court” that some of the locals (accidentally or intentionally) call “Asian court”
i was expecting more out of the san gabriel valley, i scarcely exaggerate when i say there’s almost as much chinese as english on signs over there
![[OC] Chinese Population Distribution in Canada and the USA](https://www.europesays.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/729dqy8acrvf1-1240x1024.png)
14 comments
Chinese or Chinese American?
*edit*
Or Chinese Canadian
I didn’t expect Oakville to be so high, I also didn’t expect Richmond to be so low
Now let’s see Brampton Allen’s card.
The top 6 cities are in Canada. Ten out of the top 18 are in Canada. Good stats.
Chinese as in…. Chinese nationals???
(Because no, obviously not. A Chinese-American is very unlikely to be Chinese in any sense of national identity. An ethnic or racial background is not the same as a nationality. This is an important distinction to make, because there are Chinese nationals in the U.S., and also immigrants and green card holders who hold Chinese citizenship, but these are different from the Chinese-American population, and from the population with shared Chinese ancestry.) (I use only the US example because I am not familiar with the demographics of Canada. But I imagine a Canadian of Chinese ancestry would likewise not want to be conflated with a Chinese national, and vice versa.)
[Downvoters: a homework question: how many Irish are in the US?]
[deleted]
If you’re in the malls in Richmond, you’d guess it’s 90%+ Chinese.
[deleted]
Hey, interesting graph. Not surprising as someone living in Burnaby/Vancouver area of BC.
Thought I’d share some notes on race vs ethnicity data in Canada and the US as this is an area I have experience in (gov reporting on demographics).
According to stats Canada:
Race = colour of your skin. (e.g. you look black therefore you are black)
Ethnicity = personally disclosed identity. (E.g. you were raised by Nigerian parents, therefore you identify as black)
As you may imagine, there is usually a fairly strong correlation between these two metrics (but not always!) and the distinction gets quite blurry.
Not sure about the US, but here there are often attempts to clear up “visible minority” vs “ethnic minority” as this data is often mixed up, even by large reputable institutions.
Historically, US census data is primarily focused on race, while Canada has historically focused on ethnicity data. Canada actually didn’t even collect racial data until recent decades.
Additionally, reporting categories between US and Canada can often be very different with different focuses. As an example, Canada has various classifications which fall under “Indigenous peoples” which do not correspond to race (Métis, Inuit, First Nations). While the US has much larger black and Latino populations which they may want to measure in more detail.
Anyways, all this can make reporting on race and ethnicity very difficult across borders, not just Canada vs. US, but globally is an even bigger shit show.
While “Chinese” is generally accepted in the US, Canada, and specifically BC may often distinguish between Mandarin and Cantonese (Mainland Chinese vs Honk-Kong and other places). In Vancouver it’s common for young “Chinese” people to specify if they’re “canto” or “mando” when meeting other Chinese people (not in a hostile way, just in a fun way).
I don’t really have a point here, other than ranting that comparing race and ethnicity across countries can be very difficult, even when you have reliable data.
This is not a shot at OP or his graph btw. I am curious how the data is sorted exactly, but I do not doubt it’s legitimacy.
I’m slightly surprised that no towns in NJ reach 10% because having some random small town only people who have lived less than 20 minutes away from has ever heard of with some super unique demographic quirk is totally our thing.
Define “Chinese”… are not many/most Canadian?
I live in Richmond and many of my US friends don’t believe me when I tell them that percentage-wise, I live in the most Chinese city in North America. Instead, they insist it is San Francisco or New York.
Well… here you go.
Fun fact about the 2nd entry: there’s a section in the south called “agin court” that some of the locals (accidentally or intentionally) call “Asian court”
i was expecting more out of the san gabriel valley, i scarcely exaggerate when i say there’s almost as much chinese as english on signs over there
Comments are closed.