Taiwanese Canadians

Taiwanese Canadians
Taiwanese Canadians
Hanyu Pinyin	Táiwān yì Jiānádà rén
Yue: Cantonese
Jyutping	Toi4waan1 jeoi6 Gaa1naa4daai6 jan4

Taiwanese Canadians
Total population
Overseas Taiwanese in Canada; (2016 estimate)	173,000
Taiwan-born Canadians; (2021 census)	65,365
Ethnic Taiwanese Canadians; (2021 census)	64,020
Regions with significant populations
	Vancouver, Toronto, Montreal
Languages
	Chinese (Mandarin, Hokkien, Hakka), Formosan languages, English, French
Religion
	Chinese folk religions, Buddhism, Christianity, Taoism

Taiwanese Canadians are Canadians who carry full or partial ancestry from the East Asian country of Taiwan. There are over one hundred thousand Taiwanese who have gained citizenship or permanent residency status in Canada.^[3]^[4]^[5]

Immigration

Chinese Canadians

.

Languages

First-generation or 1.5-generation Taiwanese Canadians (especially

Hokkien. To a lesser extent, Hakka is also spoken by those of Taiwanese Hakka heritage. Among the second generation, English often becomes their preferred language and linguistic fluency in the heritage language varies. Thus, many second-generation Taiwanese Canadians either speak Taiwanese as their heritage language and may not know any Mandarin or speak Mandarin as their heritage language and know little Taiwanese (the latter is particularly common among families from the Taipei Metropolitan Area). Maintaining their heritage language depends on the efforts of their parents and whether the individuals are exposed to Mandarin through Mandarin Chinese schools. Second-generation Taiwanese of Hakka descent tend to speak better Mandarin as their heritage language. According to the 2011 census, 9,635 reported to speak Taiwanese as their mother tongue.^[6]

Settlement in Vancouver

Many Taiwanese immigrants have recently (as of 2011) settled in Vancouver, B.C., forming a growing and stable Taiwanese Canadian community; however, it is often overlooked due to the presence of a larger

T & T Supermarkets in Canada as opposed to 99 Ranch Markets

in the United States.

Taiwanese Americans

Greater Seattle Area in the United States (approximately 200 km south of the Canada–US border

). Vancouver is the only large Canadian city that is close in proximity to another large city just south of the Canada–US border and where both cities have well-established Chinese and Taiwanese communities.

The Greater Seattle Area overall has a larger and longer established Taiwanese population than Vancouver, but its Taiwanese residents are spread out over a vast area and not as highly concentrated in one area as those in Vancouver. The few "Chinese" shopping center complexes in Seattle's International District (Chinatown) may be owned by Taiwanese and/or Chinese people but cater mostly to other

Chinatowns

in many American cities). Seattle is much closer to Vancouver than to San Francisco, San Jose, and Los Angeles (all located in California with large Chinese and Taiwanese communities).

The Greater Vancouver area has amenities for Taiwanese and Chinese communities quite similar to these large California metropolitan areas. Despite the long wait times at the Canada–United States border customs, it is still worth a road trip up to Vancouver for food and commercial products (i.e., music CDs, books, snack items) from Taiwan and Hong Kong. Many Taiwanese Americans from the Greater Seattle Area and other Asian American hubs also have business and social connections and family ties to the Taiwanese Canadian families in Vancouver. University and college students of Chinese and Taiwanese heritage (primarily from the University of Washington's Seattle campus) make frequent road trips to Vancouver.

Notable Taiwanese Canadians

Tsai Ah-hsin (蔡阿信), first female Taiwanese physician, one of few immigrants emigrated in Japanese colonial period
Angela Chang
(張韶涵), singer and actress in Taiwan
Brandon Chang (張卓楠), artist in Taiwan and Hong Kong
Terry Chen, film and television actor
Jacky Chu (祝釩剛), actor and the lead singer of Taiwanese group 183 Club
Godfrey Gao, model and actor
Ed Hill, award-winning stand-up comedian
Christine Kuo (苟芸慧), actress based in Hong Kong
Cindy Lee, founder of the T&T Supermarket chain
Sherren Lee, film and television director
Chungsen Leung (梁中心), businessman and federal MP for Willowdale
Chase Tang (唐嘉壕), Taiwanese-Canadian actor, model and mental health advocate
Joseph Tsai, vice chairman of Alibaba Group
Paul Tseng, Taiwan-born American and Canadian applied mathematician
Manhattan, New York City
Eddie Yuyan Peng (彭于晏), actor and singer in Taiwan
Jeremy Wang, Twitch streamer and YouTube personality
Demos Yu-bou Chiang, Taiwanese Canadian designer and businessman
Mark Chao (趙又廷), Taiwanese-Canadian actor, model
Taiwan

Notes

^ I.e., those who responded "Taiwanese" when asked what their ethnic identity was.

References

^ "Overseas Chinese Affairs Council - Taiwan (ROC)" (PDF). OCA Council.
^ ^a ^b "Profile table, Census Profile, 2021 Census of Population – Canada". Statistics Canada. Government of Canada. February 9, 2022.
^ "Statistical Yearbook of the Overseas Chinese Affairs Council, Republic of China (Taiwan)" (PDF) (in Chinese). ocac.gov.tw. 2016. Retrieved June 3, 2018.
^ "CIC Facts and Figures 2003" (PDF).
^ "CIC Facts and Figures 2009" (ASP).
^ "Census Profile".

External links

[3] I.e., those who responded "Taiwanese" when asked what their ethnic identity was.

[1] "Overseas Chinese Affairs Council - Taiwan (ROC)" (PDF). OCA Council.

[2021_census-2] "Profile table, Census Profile, 2021 Census of Population – Canada". Statistics Canada. Government of Canada. February 9, 2022.

[auto-4] "Statistical Yearbook of the Overseas Chinese Affairs Council, Republic of China (Taiwan)" (PDF) (in Chinese). ocac.gov.tw. 2016. Retrieved June 3, 2018.

[5] "CIC Facts and Figures 2003" (PDF).

[6] "CIC Facts and Figures 2009" (ASP).

[7] "Census Profile".

[1]

[2]

[a]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]