Pakistani Canadians

People from the region that would later become Pakistan were among the pioneers who migrated from British India to British Columbia at the turn of the century. By 1905, as many as 200 participated in the building of that first community from modern-day Pakistan, which for a time had a small makeshift mosque in Vancouver. But most of these immigrants were sojourners rather than settlers, and they either returned to Pakistan in 1947 or moved on to the United States. Subsequently, Canada imposed a ban on South Asian immigration that remained in place until after World War II. When Canada opened its doors to South Asians again in 1949, Pakistan had been established as an independent state. Most of the Pakistanis who had settled in British Columbia were Punjabis and took advantage of the new immigration policy to sponsor members of their families.

Pakistanis began migrating to Canada in small numbers in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Immigration regulations gave preference to those with advanced education and professional skills, and the Pakistanis who came during this period, and throughout the 1960s, generally had excellent credentials. Many of them considered themselves to be sojourners, who had come to earn but not to settle or were students who intended to return home when their degree programs were completed. While some went back, others remained to become the founding members of the Pakistani-Canadian community.[2]

Pakistani nationals were registered in undergraduate and graduate programs at McGill University in Montreal as early as 1949, and at the University of Toronto from 1958 on. By the mid-1950s, there were five or six Pakistani families living in Montreal in addition to the students. This was probably the then largest concentration of Pakistanis in the country. Throughout the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s most who arrived were young men pursuing graduate or professional studies.

In 1976, Prime Minister Pierre Elliot Trudeau revised the Immigration Act, which saw an increase in Pakistani immigration to Canada. In the 1980s, during the Mulroney government, immigration levels were further increased. Pakistani Canadians in the 1980s tended to be urban, well-educated, and professional and are more or less familiar with western culture and ways of living. The dependents and relatives that they have since sponsored for permanent residence and citizenship to Canada in the years after 1990 happen to be characterized by lower levels of education, due to immigration by sponsorship. However, most of the Pakistanis immigrating to Canada are mainly students, professionals and economic migrants from the middle-class background who do tend to have reasonable levels of education.[3]

Figures from the 2011 Canadian Census from StatsCan indicate that there are about 155,310 Canadians who claim Pakistani ancestry.[5]

• Toronto

Toronto has the largest Pakistani-Canadian community in the country, with a majority living in the localities of Rexdale, East York particularly in Thorncliffe Park and also its western suburb Milton, Ontario. The commercial centre of Toronto's Pakistani community can be found on Gerrard Street East in East York. A large Pakistani population resides in this area, and is home to many Pakistani restaurants and stores. Popular days to visit the street are during Easter, Christmas, Halloween and Hanukkah. Toronto's Pakistani community is quite diverse with people from Punjabi, Muhajirs, Kashmiri, Pashtun, Memon, Baloch and Sindhi backgrounds. A small proportion also reside in the Greater Toronto Area, including Milton, Brampton, Richmond Hill, Pickering and Markham.

• Mississauga

Many of the Pakistanis that live in Mississauga are from Karachi.

• Milton

Milton has one of the fastest growing population of Pakistani-Canadians. Canadians of Pakistani-origin constitute about 1% of the population of Milton.[6]

• Brampton

Brampton has a small Pakistani community that is involed in top tier skilled jobs.

• Vancouver

Vancouver has the fastest growing Pakistani community in Canada. Most Pakistanis who live in Metro Vancouver reside in areas such as Burnaby and Surrey, which is home to Punjabi Market. Other areas include Abbotsford and New Westminster.

Many Pakistanis have used an adaptation technique, and are accustomed to a bicultural lifestyle. At home they live as traditional a life as possible. The old values and hierarchical decision-making patterns are generally respected, and traditional clothing, food, decorations, and language provide the warmth and reassurance of the familiar.[16]

Most Pakistani Canadians live a comfortable suburban life, with the vast majority living in the middle class and upper-middle class. They tend to follow the residence pattern set by other Canadians in that they move to more affluent suburbs as their prosperity increases. Members of the community believe in the symbolic importance of owning homes.[17] Generally, Pakistani parents in Canada appear to have successfully transported to their new home a stable family structure and the value system that supports it. While there are many cases of marriage and family breakdown, most Pakistani-Canadian children and young adults appear to respect their parents' traditional values. Most marriages are apparently still arranged by families, although the prospective brides as well as the grooms usually participate in the decision.

Women

An important aspect of Pakistani participation in the Canadian economy has been the increasing number of Pakistani-Canadian women who work outside the home. The need for two incomes to maintain a family's standard of living has required many wives and mothers to leave the cloistered life at home that had been customary in Pakistan and seek work for wages. While the new situation has created problems within families, and particularly between couples, it has also provided the opportunity for women to participate more fully in Canadian society, and many have enthusiastically embraced the change. Women who arrived in the family-immigrant class possess a range of education and skills, but some who were from the middle class in Pakistan find themselves in working-class occupations in Canada. The result is a significant adjustment problem for them and their families.[18]

Children

Young people who were born in Canada or brought as children share a particular set of issues and concerns with their parents and the wider Pakistani-Canadian community. Their perspective regarding adaptation and integration is generally not informed by significant direct experience of the culture and values of the homeland, and, as a result, parents and grandparents take on a mediating role. They have to decide what aspects of their traditional lifestyle and values must be left behind and what can be transferred to and re-established in their new home. Most significantly, they generally assume the responsibility for making these choices for their children as well. The family – even in its truncated form in the diaspora – is both the base for substantial cultural transfer and the source of intergenerational conflict.[18]

Employment

Most Pakistani Canadians work as professionals or in skilled trades. Many are self-employed and own small businesses. Those who came to Canada from Pakistan via East Africa or the Gulf are more likely to be involved in business. A number of Pakistani Canadians are also traders and are primarily involved in exporting and importing goods to and from Pakistan. A few substantial enterprises are also owned by Pakistani-Canadian entrepreneurs. A small number of them own factories in Pakistan and are engaged in importing Pakistani manufactures. Others have established textile mills in British Columbia and Ontario and are involved in multinational trade. Canada's economic relations with Pakistan have shifted from aid to trade in the past decade. A number of Pakistani-Canadian businessmen and companies have participated in this development.[17]

Students

As per Open Canada Statistics, 840 Pakistanis were given temporary student visas in 2019.

Income

The incomes of Pakistani Canadians are generally just above the national average. Some incidence of poverty may be present among the newer immigrants (especially in Toronto),[19] who tend to take low-paying jobs often due to a lack of 'Canadian experience'. Members of the family and the larger community tend to take care of each other, and to assist in times of economic need. Hence, it would be more common to turn to a community member for economic assistance rather than to a government agency. Relatively low levels of the community are therefore on welfare and public assistance, contrary to what many believe.[17]

Poverty

According to the 2005 census data for Canada, 44 percent of Pakistani-born immigrants in Canada were below the poverty line, being the second most poor group of immigrants in Canada, with many engineers, doctors and doctorates working as taxi drivers or security guards. Only 2 percent of Pakistani-born immigrants owned a home, and 64 percent lived in households with five or more people.

Most Pakistani Canadians maintain no links with Pakistan and this has been kept alive with second and third generation Pakistani Canadians as well. They travel at least once every few decades to Pakistan and often take back gifts of money, food, and clothing for friends and family, and donate generously to charities. Pakistan International Airlines serves Toronto's Lester B. Pearson International Airport three times a week non-stop to Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad and has been one of the most profitable routes in the entire network.[20] The relationship between the Canadian and Pakistani governments in the past few decades has become not so close due to disagreements on measure issues over the world such as human rights and law and order deteriorating situation in south Asia due to Pakistan policies especially within the last ten years trade between the two countries has decreased significantly. Pakistani Canadians maintain a deep interest in the society and politics of Pakistan. Funds are raised by the community for the different political parties and groups in Pakistan. Pakistani Canadians raised the 17th largest number of funds among the Pakistani diaspora to help Pakistan during the 2005 Pakistan earthquake. Annually Pakistani Canadians send remittances of approximately $7 million dollars to Pakistan.

The Pakistan Day Parade

The Toronto Pakistan Day Parade is an annual event which takes place at Toronto City Hall to mark Pakistan's Independence Day (also known as Yom-e-Istiqlal or Yaum-e-Azadi) and celebrate the culture of the country. It is observed on 14 August, the day on which the Dominion of Pakistan became independent from British rule. The Parade Committee is a non-profit organization formed in 2005 to bring together Canadians of Pakistani origin. Together with the High Commission of Pakistan in Ottawa, its mission is to project Pakistan in its true colour as a dynamic, moderate and peaceful country. The event usually lasts all day with a flag hoisting ceremony, an award ceremony, cultural programmes, mass marches and speeches. A few invited Canadian pop singers end the show at night with songs and dance.

Sahara Cup (Friendship Series)

The Sahara Cup was a bilateral ODI cricket series between Pakistan and India, which was held annually from 1996 to 1998 at the Toronto Cricket, Skating and Curling Club. Since then, no matches between the two teams have taken place. However, both teams as well as the International Cricket Council have expressed interest in restarting the series along with Canada in a Triangular Series. Venues for the series are still in question. However, Maple Leaf Cricket Club in King City recently hosted a Twenty20 Triangle Series between Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Canada, which drew 11,000 spectators per match.

Miss Pakistan World Pageant

The Miss Pakistan World Pageant[21] is an annual event which takes place in Toronto, and is open to all Pakistanis across Canada and the world. Started by Sonia Ahmed,[22] it has represented Pakistan in various international beauty pageants and has become a global pageant for contestants of Pakistani background from North America, Europe and even as far as Australia. The MPW's mission is to find positive, energetic role models who will represent and inspire Pakistani youth within their community as well as internationally. The pageant has been successfully running since 2002 and looks for intelligent and confident individuals representing Pakistan in international pageants like Miss Earth and Miss Tourism Queen International.

Television

A number of Canadian television networks broadcast programming that features Pakistani-Canadian culture. These television shows often highlight Pakistani-Canadian events in Canada, and also show events from Pakistan involving Pakistanis who reside there. Surprise CBC hit Little Mosque on the Prairie also features a Pakistani Canadian family. Recently with an upsurge in digital cable subscribers, Rogers Digital Cable now provides Geo TV, ARY News, Hum TV among other Pakistani TV channels on its Urdu Elite Package.

• The Voice of Pakistan – Vision TV (since 1971)
• Kal Kahan Ab Yahan – OMNI TV
• Yeh Karavan – OMNI TV
• Sohni Dharti Pakistan – SHAW

Radio

• Radio Saaz-o-Awaz (AM 770)
• Radio Pakistan Toronto (FM 101.6)

Print

A number of weekly Urdu language newspapers are printed and distributed throughout Canada including:

• Urdu Khabarnama, Rana Sohail
• Canada
• Paaras
• Pakistan Post
• Sunday Times Canada
• Urdu Times

Embassy of Pakistan in Ottawa

Wajid Khan and Rahim Jaffer were members of the House of Commons of Canada. Wajid Khan represented the riding of Mississauga—Streetsville district of Ontario as a Conservative Member of Parliament[23] while Rahim Jaffer was a Conservative Member of Parliament for the Edmonton—Strathcona district of Alberta.[24] Currently there are two Pakistani-Canadian women serving in the 42nd Canadian Parliament: Iqra Khalid representing Mississauga-Erin Mills[25] and Salma Zahid representing Scarborough Centre.[26] Both women are Liberal Members of Parliament elected to seats in Ontario. Pakistani Canadians can also be found in the provincial legislatures as well as on municipal councils.

Salma Ataullahjan,[27] a Toronto artist and community activist,[28] was named a Canadian Senator by Governor General Michaëlle Jean, on the advice of Prime Minister Stephen Harper, on 9 July 2010, and will sit with the Conservative caucus. With this appointment, Ataullahjan became the first Canadian senator of Pakistani Pushtun descent.

Shafiq Qaadri is a family doctor and politician in Ontario, Canada. He was a member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario, representing the riding of Etobicoke North for the Ontario Liberal Party.[29][30][31]

• Canadians in Pakistan
• Islam in Canada
• High Commission of Pakistan in Ottawa
• Pakistani diaspora
• Pakistanis
• Pakistani Americans
• Languages of Pakistan
• Canada–Pakistan relations
• List of Pakistani Canadians

• Kurian, George. "Socio-cultural adaptation of South Asian immigrants: The Canadian experience." Journal of Sociological Studies (1987) 6#1 pp: 47–62.
• Siddique, Muhammad (1977), "Changing Family Patterns: A Comparative Analysis of Immigrant Indian and Pakistani Families of Saskatoon, Canada", Journal of Comparative Family Studies, 8 (2): 179–200, doi:10.3138/jcfs.8.2.179, JSTOR 41601006
• Zaidi, Arshia U.; Shuraydi, Muhammad (2002), "Perceptions of Arranged Marriages by Young Pakistani Muslim Women Living in a Western Society" (PDF), Journal of Comparative Family Studies, 33 (4): 495–514, doi:10.3138/jcfs.33.4.495, JSTOR 41603839

• Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada – Population by Ethnic Origin
• Canadian Council on Social Development – Canada's Population from 2001–2004