Okanagan Population Becoming More Culturally Diverse Most Recent Censuses Okanagan

From 2016 to 2021, the percentage of visible minorities increased, according to the latest round of census information from Statistics Canada. In the 2021 census report, 11.18 percent of the population identified as a visible minority, which is an increase from 7.9 percent in the 2016 census. In Penticton, 7.8 percent identified as a visible minority in 2021, compared to 5.9 percent in 2016, and in Vernon, 6.5 percent are now a visible minority compared to just over 4 percent five years earlier. 2:44 How the COVID-19 pandemic is affecting ethno-cultural communities In the greater Kelowna area, people of South Asian descent make up the largest percentage of visible minorities, accounting for 3.4 percent of the population. Current trend

			Iowa woman claims father killed 50 to 70 women, says he helped bury bodies 	   				Canadian among injured in Halloween outbreak that killed more than 150 in South Korea

Story continues below ad The next most numerous groups are those of Chinese descent, at 1.5 percent, Filipinos at 1.3 percent, and Blacks at one percent.

		Read more: ‘Because we’re black’: Kelowna, BC couple says racism contributed to their removal from flight 		
	read more 	


			‘Because we’re Black’: Kelowna, BC couple say racism contributed to their removal from flight

Despite the growth, the Okanagan’s percentage of visible minorities is still far below other larger centers in BC. In Metro Vancouver the percentage of people who belong to a visible minority has exceeded 50 percent. About 54 per cent of Metro Vancouver residents identify as members of a racial group, up from 48.9 per cent in the 2016 census. 2:03 Visible minorities struggle to make it after Covid-19 Of these, more than one in three, or 36 percent, are people of Chinese heritage. About 26 percent are of South Asian descent and 10 percent are of Filipino heritage. Story continues below ad

		Read more: North Vancouver restaurant owner says woman screamed, spat at him in racist attack