Believe it or not, Toronto did not make a list of the top ten most culturally diverse and linguistic cities in Canada, according to a recent study.
E-learning company Preply conducted the study where it analyzed the latest data from the Canadian Census across 110 of the largest cities and 13 of Canada’s provinces. This data was gathered in 2021 and released in 2022 and used to deduce which Canadian cities and provinces were the most diverse.
The study considered five key factors in its index: immigrants (total from before 2001 to 2021), immigrants in immigration (the increase between 2011 to 2015 and 2016 to 2021), in-migrant population (components of migration five years ago), non-official language as first language and non-official language spoken at home.
Each city and province was ranked based on the individuals within each category and then assigned an overall diversity score across all five metrics. Finally, the locations were ranked according to their final score.
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With this in mind, the number one city in Canada considered to be the most diverse large city is Kitchener, Ontario with a score of 8.33 out of 10.
“Kitchener is a vibrant city with a history of welcoming immigrants, with a significant wave of arrivals from German-speaking countries in the 20th century. The city is now home to a large number of ethnic and cultural groups,” the study read.
“Like the country as a whole, Kitchener is seeing an influx of immigration. Immigration increased by 65 per cent from 2011-15 to 2016-21, accounting for over 10,000 new permanent residents in this period. The average across Canada was only 18%. Over a quarter (27 per cent) of the population also noted speaking at least one language other than French or English,” it added.
Just behind Kitchener in second place is Winkler, Manitoba for being a regional centre for commerce, agriculture and industry, making it a great spot for economic growth and development for immigrants. Winklers immigrant population increased by 79 per cent between the periods of 2011-2015 and 2016-2021.
Coming in at third is Guelph, Ontario for having the 12th largest population of immigrants permanently living in Canada, making up 23 per cent of all residents.
Here are the top ten most diverse cities in Canada:
- Kitchener, ON
- Winkler, MB
- Guelph, ON
- Squamish, BC
- London, ON
- Abbotsford, BC
- Charlottetown, PE
- Brandon, MB
- Hamilton, ON
- Oshawa, ON
Though Toronto didn’t make the list for most diverse, it did tie for first place when it comes to the most linguistically diverse cities in Canada. Preply says Vancouver and Toronto came out on top with a score of 9.91 out of 10.
