South Asian Canadians in Greater Vancouver

South Asian Canadians in Metro Vancouver are the third-largest pan-ethnic group in the region, comprising 369,295 persons or 14.2 percent of the total population as of 2021. Sizable communities exist within the city of Vancouver along with the adjoining city of Surrey, which houses one of the world's largest South Asian enclaves.

South Asians have lived in the Vancouver region since the late 19th century; at first, mainly working in the forestry industry. After an initial first wave of immigration during the early 20th century, government policies aimed at curtailing immigration from the Indian subcontinent resulted in a populated stagnation through the 1950s. At that time, the relaxing of racial and national immigration restrictions by the federal government initiated a new wave of immigration into Vancouver and has continued into the present day.

The vast majority of South Asians in Greater Vancouver and in adjacent cities are Punjabi Sikhs, differing greatly from the diverse ethnic and religious composition of South Asians in Canada. The large proportion of Punjabi Sikhs in the region has resulted in the interchangeable and synonymous usage of one and the other.Johnston, Hugh, p. 16.

Over half (60.3 percent) of South Asian Canadians live in the Toronto and Vancouver areas as of 2021.

History

Late 19th century

South Asians first settled in Vancouver in the late 19th century. The pioneers were men, mostly Sikhs from the Punjab region of British India. These individuals first arrived in 1897 when a contingent of Sikh soldiers participated in the parade to celebrate Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee by traveling across the British Empire. On their journey home, they passed through Vancouver where some remained as Canada's first South Asian settlers.Walton-Roberts and Hiebert,
Immigration, Entrepreneurship, and the Family
'', p. 124.

Early 20th century

By 1900, the South Asian population in the Lower Mainland (contemporary regional districts of Metro Vancouver and the Fraser Valley), was estimated to be at least 100, of which almost all were of Punjabi Sikh origin.

Soon thereafter in 1904 the Empress of India arrived in Vancouver. On board was the first large contingent of South Asians to settle in Vancouver.Pang, Guek-cheng. ''Culture Shock! Vancouver''. Marshall Cavendish International Asia Pte Ltd, August 15, 2010. , 9789814484800. p
30

Most of the early South Asian pioneers worked in the sawmill industry and thus settled in areas along False Creek and the Fraser River including Kitsilano, Fraser Mills and Queensborough. A Gurdwara (Sikh temple) was constructed in Kitsilano in 1908; this was the first Sikh temple to be constructed in Canada. Later in the same year, another temple was constructed in Fraser Mills.

At the turn of the century the Mayor of Vancouver did not permit cremation, so when the first Sikh died in 1907 he could not be cremated in the Vancouver city limits. Christian missionaries did not permit him to be buried with whites. Even though the missionaries promoted burial, the Sikhs instead cremated the man in a distant wilderness. This prompted Sikhs to establish their own religious institutions. In 1908 the Canadian Dominion government had a plan to obtain labour for sugar plantations in British Honduras, now Belize, by recruiting Punjabis in Vancouver. The plan was not tested because the Punjabis had already found employment.

Anti-South Asian sentiment was present in early years of settlement. During the most infamous anti-Asian riot in BC history ( Anti-Oriental Riots of 1907), South Asians were spared as they remained indoors. However, in 1914 Canadian authorities turned away the Komagata Maru and most of its passengers; this vessel carried Punjabi Sikhs, Muslims and Hindus who were intending to move to Canada. This incident later provoked persons of Indian origin residing on the North American West Coast to oppose discrimination against their ethnic groups.

The system of sponsoring Vancouver-based South Asians sponsoring relatives in India to immigrate to Vancouver began in 1919, when the Canadian government began permitting children and women based in India entry into Canada.Johnston, Hugh, p. 3. "The 1981 census showed a Canadian population of 67,710 Sikhs and 69,500 Hindus, with 22,392 Sikhs and only 6,865 Hindus in Vancouver. Approximately one-third of Vancouver's Hindus are Punjabis, making Vancouver's total Punjabi population in 1981 about 25,000." - NOTE: Based on the figures: one third of the Vancouver Hindu population would be about 2288.33, which means there would be 22,712 Sikhs. Since the number of Sikhs was actually 22,392, this means virtually all Sikhs are Punjabi. Also: "In Toronto and other major centres in central and eastern Canada, other linguistic groups are more numerous, and Punjabis are part of a more balanced South Asian population."

By 1923 Vancouver became the primary cultural, social, and religious centre of British Columbia Indo-Canadians and it had the largest East Indian-origin population of any city in North America. However, immigration restrictions until the 1960s meant the South Asian community in Vancouver was relatively small.

Mid 20th Century

After the partition of India in 1947, unity among Punjabi Sikhs and Muslims in Vancouver wavered; few Pakistani Punjabis began to have any sense of affinity with Punjabis from India.Johnston, Hugh, p. 13.

The immigration patterns of South Asians arriving to Canada changed by the 1960s, with Ontario becoming a secondary centre of immigration. By contrast, in earlier decades British Columbia was the sole major point of immigration from the Indian subcontinent to Canada.Campbell,
The Sikhs of Vancouver: A Case Study in Minority-Host Relations
', p. 3-4. In addition, the first major non-Sikh immigration wave to Vancouver occurred during the 1960s.Indra, p. 177.

While still representing less than 10% of the South Asian population in the region, additional immigration to Vancouver of those of non Punjabi backgrounds residing in India, Fiji, and England occurred in the late 1960s. Immigration from Fiji continued to occur in the through the 1970s. Other groups immigrating to Vancouver in the same decade included Sri Lankans, Ismaili Muslims, Gujarati Hindus from East Africa and non-Punjabi Pakistanis. Soon, additional South Asian groups from Fiji, England, East Africa, East Asia, the Caribbean, and Southeast Asia arrived in Vancouver. However non Punjabi immigration to Vancouver remained small and by 1981 nearly 90% of the entire South Asian population in Vancouver remained Punjabi.Dusenbery, p. 101.

Punjabi Canadians resided in most areas of Vancouver in the 1960s. Consequently, concentrations soon developed in South Vancouver and South Burnaby. In the late 1960s, the Punjabi Market ( Little India) was founded in the Sunset neighbourhood of South Vancouver. In the following decade, other Punjabi population concentrations began appearing in North Delta, Richmond, and Surrey. Vandalism against houses owned by Indo-Canadians and a Sikh gurdwara occurred in the 1970s, especially in 1974-1975 in Richmond.Johnston, Hugh, p. 7. By 1981, the Punjabi population in Metro Vancouver increased to nearly 30,000, including about 2,288 Hindus with the remainder being Sikhs.

Late 20th Century

Immigration rapidly increased in the late 20th century; around 70,000 South Asians moved to Vancouver during the last two decades of the century, from 1981 to 2001.Bauder, Harald. ''Labor Movement: How Migration Regulates Labor Markets''. Oxford University Press, January 28, 2006. , 9780195346220. p
56
In the same timeframe, India supplied just over three quarters of the total South Asian immigration to Vancouver. Interestingly, during this period the second largest source country of South Asians was Fiji, which supplied nearly 15% of South Asian immigration to Vancouver. Others originated from Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.

Some passengers on board Air India Flight 182, which crashed in 1985, were from Greater Vancouver. The bomb that went on AI182 was first placed on a connecting flight that departed Vancouver. Since then, there have been memorial services held at Stanley Park. The Ceperley Playground at Stanley Park has a memorial listing the names of the passengers.

By the mid-1980s wealthier South Asians were moving to Surrey from South Vancouver because land in Surrey was less expensive.Johnston, Hugh, p. 10. The population continued to swell throughout the region thereafter; by 1991, the South Asian population grew to 86,200 in Metro Vancouver.Nodwell,
"Integrating Indian Culture into our Life"
," p. 1.

In 1996 a controversy occurred when Dr. Stephens, a doctor in San Jose, California, put advertisements for sex-selection services which would allow parents to reject female children. The Coalition of Women's Organizations Against Sex Selection, organized by Mahila, a women's group headquartered in Vancouver, criticized Stephens. In 2006 the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) stated that there had been attempts to extort and kidnap people in Surrey; the RCMP did not disclose when the attempts occurred and who the targets were. The RCMP stated that businesspersons of Indo-Canadian origins in Surrey need to take precautions. In response, the president of Sikh Alliance Against Violence, Kandola, stated that the warning was too vague and could cause unnecessary panic and confusion.

21st Century

In August 2008, during a community meeting,Bloemraad, p
48
the Prime Minister of Canada gave an apology for the Komagata Maru incident in a park,Lundy, Kathleen Gould. ''Teaching Fairly in an Unfair World''. Pembroke Publishers Limited. , 9781551388076. p
93
in Surrey. Some members of Canada's Indo-Canadian community argued that he should have apologized in Parliament.

In 2010 Charlie Smith, the editor of ''The Georgia Straight'', criticized area news reports which stated that South Asians were disproportionately connected to gay bashings; Smith argued that it is not fair to lump all South Asians together and label them with the same description, citing the ethnic diversity within the community.Smith, Charlie (editor).
Gay bashings and "South Asians"
(). ''The Georgia Straight''. July 18, 2010. Retrieved on October 19, 2014. He also cited the fact that no Indo-Canadian professionals were charged with any such crimes. He added "I doubt there is a single university graduate among the lot."

Demography

Population

As of 2021, there are nearly 370,000 South Asians in Metro Vancouver, representing 14.2% of the total population. Of them, based on 2016 Census responses, 243,135 were East Indian, 30,670 were Punjabi, 10,820 were Pakistani, 7,200 were South Asian, n.i.e., 5,070 were Sri Lankan, 1,510 were Bangladeshi, 1,155 were Nepali, 1,055 were Tamil, 525 were Sinhalese, 755 were Bengali, 315 were Goan, 615 were Gujarati and 150 were Kashmiri.Census Profile, 2016 Census: Greater Vancouver, Regional district
Statistics Canada. Retrieved 26 January 2019.

Ethnic origins

Presently, the majority of the South Asian population in Vancouver remains of Punjabi heritage, predominantly of the Sikh faith.

As of 2021, the Punjabi population in Metro Vancouver is 239,205, representing approximately 9.2% of the total population. As of 2011, 83 percent of Punjabis in Metro Vancouver were Sikh, with the remaining 17 percent being Hindu or Muslim.

The heavy concentration of Punjabis in Vancouver differs from the South Asian populations in Toronto and other central and eastern Canadian cities, as those groups have more balance and diversity in their South Asian linguistic groups.

Despite the large proportion of Punjabis in the region, the South Asian population in Vancouver nonetheless remains diverse; minority populations of Gujaratis, Bengalis, and individuals from South India as well as East African Ismailis,Johnston, Hugh, p. 11. and Fijian Indians are present.

Language

As of 2021, the most prominent South Asian languages spoken in Metro Vancouver include Punjabi, Hindustani (Hindi-Urdu) and Gujarati.

The Punjabi speaking population in Vancouver has witnessed large growth over recent decades. In 1986, around 30,000 individuals in Metro Vancouver spoke Punjabi;Koehn, Sharon Denise. 1993. ''Negotiating New Lives and New Lands: Elderly Punjabi Women in British Columbia'' (M.A. thesis), University of Victoria, Victoria.
See info at
ResearchGate
see profile at
Google Books. CITED: p. 8. by 1991, this number grew to around 40,000.Walton-Roberts, Margaret.
Three Readings of the Turban
" p. 314.

As of 2021, Metro Vancouver has approximately 240,000 Punjabi speakers, accounting for roughly 9.2% of the region's total population. Punjabi is also the third most commonly spoken language across Metro Vancouver, after English and Mandarin.

Due to prominence of Punjabi in the region, the City of Vancouver, British Columbia, and Canadian federal institutions in Vancouver have literature and office signage using the Gurmukhi script.Sutherland, Anne. "Sikhs in Canada." In: Ember, Carol R., Melvin Ember, and Ian A. Skoggard. ''Encyclopedia of Diasporas: Immigrant and Refugee Cultures Around the World. Volume I: Overviews and Topics; Volume II: Diaspora Communities''. Springer Science & Business Media, 2005. , 9780306483219. CITED: p
1077
Of the Punjabi speakers in Canada, most are located in the Vancouver and Toronto areas (predominantly Surrey and Brampton).

Knowledge of language

Many South Asian Canadians speak Canadian English or Canadian French as a first language, as many multi-generational individuals do not speak South Asian languages as a mother tongue, but instead may speak one or multiple as a second or third language.

Mother tongue

Religion

The 1981 Census stated that about 65% of the persons of South Asian origin in the Vancouver Census Metropolitan Area were Sikh. In addition, 20% were Hindu, and 15% belonged to other religions. The other religious groups included Buddhists, Christians, Jains, Muslims, and Zoroastrian Parsis. Ismailis were among the Muslims.Nodwell,
"Integrating Indian Culture into our Life"
," p. 1-2.

Sikhism

Vancouver is home to Canada's most influential, oldest, and largest Sikh community. Until the 1960s Sikh religious organizations were the primary political interest groups of the Indo-Canadian community in the Vancouver region, and Sikh gurdwaras (Sikh temples) in Vancouver were the city's only community centres for the Indo-Canadians until the 1960s. This meant that the gurdwaras at the time also gave social outlets to Punjabi Hindus and Muslims along with other South Asians.Johnston, Hugh, p. 5. By 1981, gurdwaras mainly filled religious purposes.

Many major gurdwaras in Greater Vancouver were initially established in isolated areas, but these areas over time became urbanized.Nayar, "The Making of Sikh Space," p
48
As Vancouver has an extremely high proportion of Sikhs, being Punjabi in the region has come to mean, exclusively, being Sikh. While making up a majority of the Punjabi population in India and Pakistan, this definition has come to exclude Punjabi Muslims and Hindus who reside in Vancouver as a minority.Johnston, Hugh, p. 2.

Sikhs are the largest non-Christian group in Metro Vancouver, with a population numbering 155,945 as of 2011, representing around 7% of the region's total population.

Hinduism

In the past, Hindus went to Sikh gurdwaras because they lacked their own Hindu temples. However, in 1972 Indo-Fijian Canadians established the first Hindu temple in Vancouver.Buchignani, Norman. "Indo-Fijians." In: Magosci, Paul R. (editor). ''Encyclopedia of Canada's Peoples'' (G - Reference, Information and Interdisciplinary Subjects Series). University of Toronto Press, 1999. , 9780802029386. p
722
"Indo-Fijians in the Vancouver area played an important role in the establishment of the first permanent Hindu temple there in 1972." and "Muslim Indo-Fijian immigrants joined with coreligionists from other South Asian communities to found one of the first permanent mosques in the Vancouver area."

Historically there were ten times the number of Punjabi Sikhs compared to Punjabi Hindus. Around the 1970s Punjabi Hindus began having fewer interactions with Sikhs, and in general became more distant from Punjabi Sikhs, as they established their own Hindu religious organizations. This occurred as the Indo-Canadian community increased with more and more immigration. As of 1981 Vancouver had 6,865 Hindus, about one third of them ethnic Punjabis. As of 1988 there was no specific Punjabi Hindu organization in Greater Vancouver. Because the Gujarati society morphed into a Gujarati Hindu society, Gujarati Hindus had religious and social functions from both the Vishva Hindu Parishad, the primary Hindu temple in Vancouver, and from their ethnic society. As of 1988 the primary Hindu temple in the area was the Vishva Hindu Prasad, which in 1982 had about 500 members who paid dues.

In 1974 Vishva Hindu Prasad received its own building, a former community centre for an adjacent church. The temple building has a kitchen in the basement and the temple on the primary floor. Its worshipers include South Indians, Bengalis, Gujaratis, and Punjabis. Its primary language is Hindi; Hugh Johnston stated that this "has been an obstacle for the South Indians". The first head priest was an East African Punjabi who was of the Brahman caste and a part of Arya Samaj. A South Indian Vedantist priest began participating in 1981 after the first priest did not participate in a ceremony to install idols and, after a political struggle, resigned.Johnston, Hugh, p. 12. Other temples included a Hare Krishna temple and the Shiv Mandir. Westerners supported the former and Fijians supported the latter.

As of the 2001 Statistics Canada there were 27,405 Hindus in Greater Vancouver.

Islam

As of 1988 the B.C. Muslim Association has a majority Fijian membership. The Pakistan Canada Association, according to Hugh Johnson, "have played a leading role in its affairs." By 1983 there was a mosque and community centre in Richmond and a mosque in Surrey controlled by this organization.Johnston, Hugh, p. 12-13. The primary language used in the mosque is English. In addition to Indian Fijians and Punjabis, Arabs and other non-South Asian ethnic groups are a part of the mosque.

Originally Muslims participated in Sikh gurdwaras. After 1947 Indo-Canadian Muslims continued having a relationship with Sikhs but began referring to themselves as "Pakistanis" due to the Partition of India. The B.C. Muslim Association was established in 1966. Around the 1970s Punjabi Muslims began having fewer interactions with Sikhs, and in general became more distant from Punjabi Sikhs, as they established their own Muslim religious organizations. The movement of South Asian professionals of Pakistani national origins from other Canadian provinces into Vancouver caused existing Punjabi Muslims to move further away from Punjabi Sikhs. Immigration from several countries, including Fiji and Middle Eastern countries, increased the Indo-Canadian Sunni Muslim population. Several South Asian groups, including Indo-Fijians, together established one of the Vancouver area's first permanent mosques. There were 8,000 Muslims that were a part of the B.C. Muslim Association in 1983.

Christianity

As of 1997 there are eight Punjabi Christian churches in Greater Vancouver. In February 2014 the Punjabi Masihi Church had about 300 worshipers, most of them of South Asian origins. It was the first ever Punjabi Christian church to be established. Most of its services are held in English, while some are also in Hindi, Punjabi, and Urdu. It originally operated in an annex of the Delta Pentecostal Church in Delta. Construction on its standalone congregational building in Surrey began in 2008; initially, , it was scheduled to open in March of that year and there are further plans to build additions until the building has a total of . For Syro-Malabar Catholics, The Syro-Malabar Catholic Eparchy of Mississauga has a church, St. Alphonsa, located in Vancouver, with high attendance from the Malayali community in the region.

Other

Anand Jain, a person quoted in a 2006 ''Vancouver Sun'' article, stated that the Lower Mainland region may have around 60 Jain families.As Diwali celebrations begin, Jains choose a quieter ritual
( ). ''Vancouver Sun''. October 21, 2006. Retrieved on April 30, 2015.

Geographical distribution

In the 1950s there was no particular residential concentration of South Asians in the Vancouver region.Ames, Michael M. & Joy Inglis. 1974.
Conflict and Change in British Columbia Sikh Family Life
(). In '' British Columbia Studies'', Vol. 20. Winter 1973-1974. - CITED: p. 22. "The Sikh "community" of Vancouver lower mainland, where most B.C. Sikhs live, is not a residential entity; it operates more as a collection of reference groups of relatives, friends, and acquaintances who recognize a common ethnic membership, a proudly shared religion, mutual interests, and several temples." Later, throughout the 1960s, many new immigrants began settling on the south slope within the city of Vancouver.Durward, M. Lynne, Janet L. Moody, and E. Norman Ellis.
Evaluation of the Punjabi-English Class at the Moberly Primary Annex for the 1973-74 School Year
(). Department of Planning and Evaluation, Vancouver School Board Board of Trustees. August 1973. p. 1 (PDF P. 9/33). Retrieved on November 16, 2014
See profile at
Education Resources Information Center (ERIC). This was due to the proximity of the gurdwara and the lumber mills.Chadney, "Sikh Family Patterns," p. 33. "Although the Sikhs are residentially dispersed throughout Greater Vancouver, members of the effective ethnic community are concentrated in a section of Southern Vancouver. This concentration is growing and is reinforced by the proximity of the lumber mills (most important economically) and the Gurdwara (most important religiously and sociopolitically)." In the following decade, the Punjabi Market ( Little India) was established within the Sunset neighbourhood of southeast Vancouver; the neighbourhood became the centre of Metro Vancouver's South Asian community by 1970. A secondary concentration soon also developed in the Edmonds neighbourhood of South Burnaby later in the 1970s. In the ensuing two decades, during the 1970s and 1980s, South Asians were located throughout Greater Vancouver and not only in South Vancouver and South Burnaby; about 66% of Indo-Canadians lived in Vancouver city while about 33% lived in Burnaby, Richmond, Surrey and other suburban cities.

Beginning in the 1990s, the majority of new immigrants from South Asia arriving to Metro Vancouver began moving directly Surrey and Delta, primarily enticed by cheap housing on larger properties relative to the city of Vancouver. Part of a larger trend in large metropolitan areas across North America, new immigrants began to bypass traditional migration patterns to an inner-city enclave − at the time for South Asians in Metro Vancouver, the inner-city enclave was located in the Sunset neighbourhood − instead opting to migrate to suburban locales, leading to the creation of the '' Ethnoburb''.

The pattern shift in South Asian immigration to Metro Vancouver began to alter the geographic distribution across the region. This was reflected in the shift of Punjabi speakers in the region; in 1991, only 20% of those who natively spoke Punjabi in Metro Vancouver lived in Surrey. In the ensuing two decades, by 2011, this number nearly completely reversed; nearly 60% of Punjabi speakers in Metro Vancouver were situated in Surrey. As of 2016, South Asians made up more than 32% of the Surrey population, and formed the largest visible minority group in the city.Good, Kristin R. ''Municipalities and Multiculturalism: The Politics of Immigration in Toronto and Vancouver'' (Volume 34 of Studies in comparative political economy and public policy). University of Toronto Press, 2009. , 9781442609938. p
169
As many South Asians have moved to suburban areas such as Surrey, Delta and Coquitlam, the number of businesses in the Vancouver's Punjabi Market began to decline in the 2000s.Johnston, Jesse.
Can Vancouver’s Little India district survive?
(). CKWX (News 1130). February 4, 2013. Retrieved on October 19, 2014.

Of all Canadian municipalities, Surrey has the second-highest concentration of South Asians.Nayar, '' The Punjabis in British Columbia'', p
327
Surrey includes many shopping centres, Gurdwaras, Mandirs and Masjids catering to the South Asians community. Surrey has been viewed as the South Asian equivalent of Richmond, which houses an equally large East Asian/ Chinese population. Newton and Whalley are the two largest South Asian neighbourhoods in Surrey.Sinoski, Kelly and Brian Morton.
Immigrants choose Metro Vancouver’s ethnic enclaves for support network
( ). ''Vancouver Sun''. April 1, 2013. Retrieved on October 22, 2014.
As of 2011, South Asians made up 62.1% of the immigrants in Newton while the total number of immigrants made up over 40% of Newton's total population.

As of 2013, many younger Indo-Canadians are moving to areas in Vancouver and Burnaby close to their places of work instead of areas with concentrated Indo-Canadian populations. Also as of 2013, the city of Surrey began construction of a new "Little India" in Newton, with a plan to supersede the Punjabi Market in Vancouver. Construction was completed in 2016 with Little India fronting the intersection of 128th Street and 80th Avenue.

Subdivisions

Federal electoral districts

As of 2016, South Asians form 12% of the total population of Metro Vancouver. However, the geographic distribution of South Asians varies greatly by area, ranging from 2.5% of the total population of Vancouver East to 60.7% of the total population of Surrey Newton.

Punjabi language street signs are visible in neighborhoods that have large numbers of South Asians.Hickman, Pamela. ''Righting Canada's Wrongs: The Komagata Maru: and Canada's Anti-Indian Immigration Policies in the Twentieth Century''. James Lorimer & Company, April 30, 2014. , 9781459404373. p
84

Holidays

Vaisakhi

The largest celebrated holiday and festival across Vancouver is Vaisakhi. The Vaisakhi parade takes place in Vancouver and Surrey every year, is the largest outside of India. The British Columbian government recognized the parade in 1995. The Vancouver Vaisakhi parade draws over 200,000 visitors and is the largest festival in the city.Todd, Douglas.
South Asian secularists counter religious power
" ''Vancouver Sun''. May 11, 2013. Retrieved on December 22, 2014. The Surrey Vaisakhi Parade draws up to 500,000 visitors.

Diwali

Sikhs, Hindus, and Jains in the Vancouver area celebrate Diwali. Events related to Diwali are held in Vancouver and Surrey, including DiwaliFest, which was established in 2004 as "Vancouver Celebrates Diwali". Within the Lower Mainland region DiwaliFest is one of the largest such events.

Other

The Indian Summer Festival is held every year. Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) Vancouver sponsors the festival.

Several South Asian organizations, including religious and regional-based groups, manage celebrations and cultural events.

As of 1988 Bengali Hindus in the Vancouver area celebrate Durga Puja.

Economy

Many Indo-Canadians work as taxi drivers in Vancouver.Pang, Guek-Cheng. ''Culture Shock! Vancouver''. Marshall Cavendish International Asia Pte Ltd, August 15, 2010. , 9789814484800. p
31
Other Indo-Canadians have professional jobs and many also own their businesses. They are a community in diverse professions.

James G. Chadney, the author of the 1984 book ''The Sikhs of Vancouver'', stated that "one knowledgeable informant" told him that due to "business purposes" many wealthy Vancouver Sikhs use their company or the name of their spouses to legally list their residences.

During the Indo-Canadian community's early history, many members worked in sawmills within the Vancouver city limits and in areas which would become suburbs in Greater Vancouver. They also opened firewood businesses. Indo-Canadians entered this sector because they were not permitted to enter several other occupations. By 1991 Indo-Canadians continued to be active in the wood business, and Indo-Canadian construction, wood processing, and distribution businesses opened by the 1980s. As of 1998 most of the businesses were located in Vancouver, North Delta, and Surrey.Walton-Roberts and Hiebert,
Immigration, Entrepreneurship, and the Family
'', p. 125. Within Greater Vancouver, about 2,300 men of South Asian heritage each worked in the construction and wood processing areas in 1991, and during the same year there were about 2,000 men of South Asian heritage working in the Greater Vancouver transportation sector.

According to Michael M. Ames and Joy Inglis, authors of "Conflict and Change in British Columbia Sikh Family Life," as of circa 1973-1974, within the Vancouver Lower Mainland area, about 20% of Sikhs are managers and foremen and about 80% work in semi-skilled or unskilled jobs; most of the latter are in the lumber sector. Others were accountants, importers, salespeople, shopkeepers, and truckers.Ames, Michael M. & Joy Inglis. 1974.
Conflict and Change in British Columbia Sikh Family Life
(). In '' British Columbia Studies'', Vol. 20. Winter 1973-1974. - CITED: p. 22-23. Ames and Inglis stated that they got the supporting data from August 1951-December 1966 marriage records,Ames, Michael M. & Joy Inglis. 1974.
Conflict and Change in British Columbia Sikh Family Life
(). In '' British Columbia Studies'', Vol. 20. Winter 1973-1974. - CITED: p. 23. as well as donor lists, at the Vancouver Khalsa Diwan Society temple.

In 2009 Judy Villeneuve, a member of the Surrey City Council, stated that the main developers of Surrey were the Indo-Canadians. By 2009 the City of Surrey had posted job advertisements in the '' Indo-Canadian Times''.

Businesses

Indian restaurants in the Punjabi Market and other parts of the Vancouver area serve Punjabi food and other South Asian cuisines.Dining in Vancouver: A Passage to India
(). ''Fodors''. Retrieved on March 18, 2015. The majority of Indo-Canadian restaurants focus on the cuisine of northern India. ''Fodors'' wrote that Vij's, a restaurant established by Vikram Vij that prepared South Asian food with Canadian ingredients and produce, "shook up the Vancouver food scene" in the 1990s when it first opened. There are also many Indian restaurants in Surrey. In 2013 Alexandra Gill of ''The Globe and Mail'' wrote that in regards to area food critics the Indian restaurant scene was "a largely unknown dining landscape."

Other businesses operated by the South Asians, as of 1988, included automobile dealerships, contractors, insurance agencies, jewellers, real estate agencies, sari shops, sweet shops, and travel agencies.

In 1970 there were no specialized South Asian movie theatres in the Vancouver area; five of them appeared by 1977, and there was one more by 1980.

Institutions

In 1988 Hugh Johnston wrote that "Vancouver's South Asian community was an unweildy entity without a great sense of common purpose" even before the 1984 assault at Amritsar, and that because of the Khalistan-related tensions there was no "effective umbrella organization" in existence.Johnston, Hugh, p. 13-14. The National Organization of Canadians of Origins (NACOI) in India, founded in 1977, had a British Columbia chapter, but Shiromani Akali Dal Sikhs chose not to take part, and Khalsa Diwan Society extremist Sikhs hijacked the British Columbia chapter in 1985.Johnston, Hugh, p. 14. The promotion of the multicultural policies in Canada in the mid-20th century also caused additional organizations, including those funded by governments and private entities, to be founded.Nayar, ''The Sikh Diaspora in Vancouver'', p
191

Associations

In 1947 the East Indian Canadian Citizens' Welfare Association (EICCWA) or the Canadian East Indian Welfare Association opened.Johnston, Hugh, p. 6. It was officially not a part of any gurdwara.Dusenbery, p. 106. Members originated from both the Khalsa Diwan Society (KDS), a Sikh society which historically had ''de facto'' dominance in the organization; affiliates of the KDS; and the Akali Singh Society. The organization began taking political functions from the KDS. By 1961 it was the primary Vancouver-area organization representing Indo-Canadian interests. The organization avoided publicity to reduce chances of negative public attention while it promoted quotas for Indo-Canadian politicians. Hugh Johnson wrote that "resentment" sometimes resulted from the KDS's dominance. Dusenbery wrote that the organization, by taking the entire East Indian community into its scope, promoted the idea that "there exists a distinct "East Indian" ethno-cultural group sharing unique interests and activities" and therefore "implicitly accepted the Canadian view of social reality". Prior to the 1977 formation of the NACOI it was the sole pan-South Asian organization in Vancouver.

The Multilingual Orientation Service Association for Immigrant Communities (MOSAIC) serves newly arrived immigrants in the city of Vancouver and also is involved with social concerns. The organization Options serves immigrants, particularly adults, by providing referrals and resources; it is headquartered in Surrey. New immigrants in the Surrey and also Delta, particularly adults, receive services from the Surrey-Delta Immigrant Services Society.

A senior centre for Sikh persons in Surrey opened on November 29, 1994.

Issues related to employment and labour are handled by the Progressive Intercultural Community Services Society (PICS), which serves Vancouver and Surrey.

The Rainbow Project, an organization involved in health-related matters, is based in Surrey.

Ethnic and national organizations

As of 1988 there is no specific Punjabi ethnic organization in Greater Vancouver while there are dedicated ethnic organizations for the Bengalis, East Africans, Gujaratis, and South Indians. The Gujarati association became a Gujarati Hindu organization exclusively even though Hindus, Ismailis, and Parsis had worked to establish the organization; the post-1974 growth of Ismailis caused the focus of the organization to change.

As of 1988 there are about 700-800 members of the Pakistan Canada Association in Greater Vancouver, with most of them being ethnic Punjabi. English and Urdu are the organization's primary languages. The Pakistan Canada Association Centre serves as the hub of activity. The association organized in 1963, had about 200 members in the Vancouver area in 1983.

Cultural organizations

The youth committee Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara in Surrey established "Sikh Skillz," an Indo-Canadian arts organization that originally had a focus on music but later branched into television.Asingh.
Ik Onkar TV back for season three
(). '' South Asian Post''. Retrieved on April 13, 2015.

Politics

As of 2011 three South Asian and East Asian-dominated " ridings" are in Greater Vancouver: Burnaby-Douglas, Newton-North Delta, and Vancouver South.

Vancouver

Until the 1960s Sikh religious organizations were the primary political interest groups of the Indo-Canadian community in the Vancouver region.Johnston, Hugh, p. 1.

In 1973 Dr. Venkatachala Setty Pendakur, an Indo-Canadian, was the first visible minority elected to the Vancouver City Council. He served one term, which ended in 1974. He was defeated in his re-election campaign that year, and in 1985 there were no Indo-Canadians who had any elected positions in area municipal governments.Ironside, p. 8.

Irene Bloemraad, author of "Diversity and Elected Officials in the City of Vancouver," stated that the at-large voting system used by Vancouver makes it difficult to elect women and minorities, and that the council's majority White demographics were "probably" influenced by the original rationale of the at-large system, to "keep those with social democratic ideologies out of politics".Bloemraad, p
6061
The ward system was abolished in 1935.Bloemraad, p
60
Charlie Smith of ''The Georgia Straight'' wrote in 2004 that from 1990 to 2004 there had been difficulty in having Indo-Canadians elected to City of Vancouver municipal positions.Smith, Charlie.
Shred the System
(). ''The Georgia Straight''. September 30, 2004. Retrieved on October 24, 2014. That year, the President of the Ross Street Sikh Temple, Jarnail Singh Bhandal, advocated for a ward voting system in the City of Vancouver so that Indo-Canadians and other ethnic minorities have more of a chance to be elected. During a 2004 failed election proposal to reinstitute the ward system in the City of Vancouver, the area with the highest concentration of Indo-Canadians mostly voted in favor of reestablishing it.Bloemraad, p
61
In 2008 Kashmir Dhaliwal, a candidate for the Vision Vancouver council, stated that he had plans to legally challenge the at-will voting system. Dr. Lakhbir Singh, a candidate for the Vancouver School Board, criticized the at-large voting system, saying that it discriminates against Indo-Canadians and that he would join the legal challenge. Smith accused the voting community of Vancouver city of racism, saying that racism results in a lack of votes for South Asian candidates.

Surrey

The first Indo-Canadian elected to Surrey's city council was Tom Gill, who was elected in 2005.Indo-Canadian elected to Canadian city council
(). '' Indo-Asian News Service'' at the ''Hindustan Times''. November 25, 2005. Retrieved on October 23, 2014.

In 2014 Barinder Rasode campaigned to be the Mayor of Surrey. Kalwinder "Kal" Dosanjh, a former Vancouver Police Department officer, joined One Surrey, Rasode's political party, and campaigned to be a member of the Surrey city council in 2014.

Kristin R. Good, the author of ''Municipalities and Multiculturalism: The Politics of Immigration in Toronto and Vancouver'', stated in 2009 that Surrey's Indo-Canadian community was politically fragmented, including along religious lines.Good, Kristin R. ''Municipalities and Multiculturalism: The Politics of Immigration in Toronto and Vancouver'' (Volume 34 of Studies in comparative political economy and public policy). University of Toronto Press, 2009. , 9781442609938. p
170

In October 2014 a series of political campaign signs in Surrey showing South Asian candidates were vandalized. Signs belonging to Surrey First and SafeSurrey Coalition, two political parties, were defaced, with only names of Indo-Canadian candidates crossed out. Tom Gill accused racists of defacing the signs.

Other Cities

In 2005 Bobby Singh won a position in the Richmond School Board.

Kamala Elizabeth Nayar, the author of '' The Punjabis in British Columbia: Location, Labour, First Nations, and Multiculturalism'', wrote that compared to Indo-Canadian people who were born and raised in the Lower Mainland, Indo-Canadians born in Canada whose ancestors settled in rural areas of British Columbia, and who themselves live in Vancouver, "tended to assess Canada's policy of multiculturalism more critically".

Culture

Nayar stated that third-generation Punjabis who have lived in Vancouver their whole lives have a positive opinion of multiculturalism while those who live in Vancouver but have lived outside of Vancouver before have ambivalence about it: they argue that multiculturalism can divide people while it can also protect culture.Nayar, ''The Sikh Diaspora in Vancouver'', p
211

Nayar uses the term "Punjabi Bubble" to refer to a common effect of Punjabis only associating with other Punjabis. This occurs in Greater Vancouver.Nayar, ''The Sikh Diaspora in Vancouver'', p
210
Nayar stated that "The Vancouver Sikh community is more insulated from the mainstream" compared to small town British Columbia Sikhs.Nayar, ''The Sikh Diaspora in Vancouver'', p
201
"In contrast to Sikhs in Vancouver, which has a large Sikh community, Sikhs in small towns throughout British Columbia interact far more with other communities." and "The Vancouver Sikh community is more insulated from the mainstream and is networked according to village and clan ties "

An anonymous interviewee of Nayar, a woman in the third generation, stated "In Vancouver, there is pressure to live strictly according to the precepts in comparison to other places like in California." She referred to the practice of Sikhism.

As of 1988 many residents of rural Punjab, including children, women, and dependent older persons, were arriving in Vancouver due to the sponsorship of relatives. Relations among clans and the home village ancestry are major factors within the Vancouver Sikh community. Margaret Walton-Roberts, the author of "Embodied Global Flows: Immigration and Transnational Networks between British Columbia, Canada, and Punjab, India," wrote that there is a specific "spatial relationship" between the Greater Vancouver region and Doaba, a region of Punjab, to the point where Punjabi villagers recite the specific locations of their Canadian relatives.

Sher Vancouver, an Indo-Canadian LGBT support group, was founded in April 2008 by Alex Sangha, a resident of North Delta and a former resident of Surrey. Sher Vancouver has opposed antigay laws in India. The organization showcases South Asian LGBT culture in its Out and Proud Project.

Bhangra dance

The Vancouver Indo-Canadian community practices Bhangra dance and Bhangra music. In the 1960s and 1970s immigrants from the Punjab used Bhangra, as did 1980s area labour movements. Bhangra dancers and DJs both perform in the city. In 2014 Gurpreet Sian, an instructor at the Simon Fraser University (SFU) School for the Contemporary Arts, described Metro Vancouver as "the capital of bhangra outside of India" which has "the best bhangra dancers, schools and the best teams."Crawford, Tiffany.
SFU enjoys huge response to first-of-a-kind bhangra class
(). ''Times-Colonist''. January 16, 2014. Retrieved on April 30, 2015.

The City of Bhangra Festival is celebrated annually, involving Bhangra teams originating from throughout North America. Held in both Surrey and Vancouver and lasting for about ten days, it is hosted by the Vancouver International Bhangra Celebration Society (VIBC). The Museum of Vancouver put on a temporary exhibit about Bhangra, ''Bhangra.me: Vancouver’s Bhangra Story'', from May 5, 2011 to October 23, 2011. guest curator Naveen Girn and curator of contemporary issues Vivian Gosselin, received the Canadian Museums Association's Award for Excellence. As of 2014 SFU is the only North American university that offers bhangra as a course for university credit. Sian, who also serves as the executive director of South Asian arts, as of 2014 serves as the class's instructor.

Media

There is a variety of Indo-Canadian newspapers and magazines serving Greater Vancouver and the Lower Mainland. As of 1985 most of these publications were in Punjabi, while some were printed in English and Hindi.Ironside, p. 7. As of 2009, of all of the major ethnic categories in Vancouver the South Asians had the highest number of media products.

Newspapers

There are several South Asian newspapers in the Lower Mainland. There are several groups: The Voice group, the largest and oldest in North America, which consists of the Indo-Canadian Voice Newspaper in English, Indo-Canadian Awaaz Newspaper in Punjabi, South Asian Link, Indo-Canadian Business Pages like yellow pages, Indo Canadian Construction Pages, and Punjabi Link. Other than this there is another group The Asian Star group which consists of The Asian Star and The Punjabi Star newspapers.
The other newspapers are connected with some religious organization or temple,
The ''Indo-Canadian Times'' is a Punjabi-language weekly and is one of the country's largest. The ''Indo-Canadian Voice'' is an online English-language newspaper, where the editor is Rattan Mall, serving the Indo-Canadian community but also covering a wide range of British Columbia and other news. Mall had been a reporter for the ''Times of India'' from 1979 to 1990, for the ''Vancouver Sun'' in 1994, and ''The Province'' in 1996, and was an associate producer what CFMT-TV (now Omni) in Toronto in 1999 and 2000. Also of note are ''Apna Roots: South Asian Connection'', which publishes in English, and ''Punjab di Awaaz/Voice of Punjab'', which publishes in Punjabi. In 1985 other publications included ''Canadian Darpan'', ''Link'', ''Overseas Times'', ''Ranjeet'', and ''Sikh Samajar''. As of 1996 gurdwaras and establishments in the Punjabi Market distribute Punjabi newspapers.

The ''Circular-i-Azadi'' began publication in 1906-1907. This made it the city's first Punjabi newspaper.Kaur, Mandeep.
THE MAKING OF CANADIAN PUNJABI DIASPORA
() (Chapter 3). In: Kaur, Mandeep.
Canadian-Punjabi Philanthropy and its Impact on Punjab: A Sociological Study
'
PhD thesis
. Punjabi University. Award date: 22 August 2012. p. 85 (PDF 25/32). As of 1971 there was a quarterly publication and a monthly publication, both in English, catering to South Asians.

A South Asian paper in New York established a subsidiary publication in Vancouver during the 1970s.

In 1980 there were three Punjabi newspapers published in Vancouver. Four Punjabi papers in the Vancouver area were established in the period 1972 to 1980. As of 1980 there were no newspapers published in other Indo-Pakistani languages in Greater Vancouver.

A Punjabi journalist established a new paper, published every two weeks (one fortnight) in Vancouver, in 1972. The Anglophone publication included South Asian-related news in Canada and news related to India. This paper's target audience included all South Asian groups.

The ''Sach Di Awaaz'' is a weekly newspaper headquartered in Surrey. As of 2011 Mickey Gill is the newspaper's publisher.

Radio

In 1971 the only South Asian-catered radio services included a one and one half hour radio program on Sunday morning and a one-hour program on Friday, both on the same radio station. As of 1985 ''CFRO'' and one other area radio station broadcast programs in Punjabi and Hindi.

The first fully Indo-Canadian radio station, Rim Jhim, was established in 1987. The founder, Shushma Datt, was born in Kenya and had previously worked in the BBC
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