Hong Kong immigration to Vancouver reversing years of decline
- Canadian census and visa data show rises in tandem since 2020 imposition of national security law in Hong Kong
- Latest Canadian census figures show a 2.4 per cent rise in Hongkongers coming to the country, with 90 per cent heading to Metro Vancouver
Fenella Sung hears more Cantonese spoken in Vancouver these days. The founder of Canadian Friends of Hong Kong can tell new arrivals by overhearing their conversations in supermarkets, shopping malls and restaurants.
“You look at what they are looking at, watch how they find things, and they are speaking perfect Cantonese – and you know they are newcomers,” she said.
“I haven’t heard so much Cantonese in the past while, but in the last two or three years, I hear tons of Cantonese no matter where I go.”
Canada, particularly Vancouver, is seeing an increase in immigrants from Hong Kong, with immigration consultants and agencies citing the city’s political environment for the moves.
Canada’s most recent census figures, for 2021, show a 2.4 per cent rise in the number of Hongkongers coming to the country: a total of 76,115, or a growth of 4,915, over the previous five years.
The total change in the political climate in Hong Kong is definitely a driving factor
The vast majority of these immigrants – 90 per cent – are settling in Metro Vancouver in the Pacific coast province of British Columbia, a favoured destination for Hongkongers and mainland Chinese generally; The new surge has resulted in a 6.1 per cent increase over the last five years, bringing the total population of Hongkongers to more than 76,000.