Hamilton, Ontario - Demographics

Demographics

According to the 2006 Canadian Census, more than 20 percent of the local population was not born in Canada. This is the third highest such proportion in Canada after Toronto at 49%, and Vancouver at 39%. Between 2001 and 2006, the foreign-born population increased by 7.7% while the total population of the Hamilton census metropolitan area (CMA) grew by 4.3%. The share of Canada's recent immigrants who settle in Hamilton has remained unchanged since 2001 at 1.9%. Hamilton was home to 20,800 immigrants who arrived in Canada between 2001 and 2006, half of whom were born in Asia and the Middle East, while nearly one-quarter (23%) were from Europe. Hamilton also had a high proportion of people with Italian, English, Scottish, German and Irish ancestry. Nearly three in ten residents reported English as their sole ethnic origin or as one of their ancestral origins. As well, nearly one in five reported Scottish ancestry either alone or in combination with another ethnic origin.

Hamilton also has a large French community for which provincial services are offered in French. In Ontario, urban centres where there are at least 5000 Francophones or where at least 10% of the population is francophone are designated areas where bilingual provincial services have to be offered. There are francophones schools and churches, along with a cultural and community centre created by the Francophone community in 1971 : the Centre français Hamilton inc. (http://www.centrefrancais.ca). The Centre français Hamilton inc. organizes social and cultural activities to promote the use of the French language in Hamilton, and also helps francophone newcomers integrate into the community.

The top countries of birth for the newcomers living in Hamilton in the 1990s were: former Yugoslavia, Poland, India, China, the Philippines, and Iraq. The city proper of Hamilton was home to 67,845 visible minorities in 2006, representing 13.6% of its population, up from 10.9% in 2001. Visible minorities comprised 22.8% of Ontario's population, primarily due to high proportions in Toronto. The population is 84.8% White, 3.0% South Asian/East Indian, 2.8% Black, 1.9% Chinese, 1.5% Aboriginal, 1.2% Southeast Asian, 1.1% Latin American, 1.1% Arab, 0.8% Filipino, and 1.8% Other.

Children aged 14 years and under accounted for 17.8% of the population while those 65 years of age and older constituted 14.9%, resulting in an average age of 39.6 years.

The most described religion in Hamilton is Christianity although other religions brought by immigrants are also growing. The 2001 census indicates that 77.6% of the population adheres to a Christian denomination, Protestants constituting 37.1% of the population, while Catholics number 35.5% (significantly lower than the national average) with Christ the King Cathedral as the seat of the Diocese of Hamilton. The remaining 5.0% consists of Orthodox and independent Christian churches. The largest non-Christian religion is Islam with 12,880 adherents or 2.0% of the total population. Other religions, including Judaism, Buddhism, Jainism and Hinduism, constitute less than one percent each. Those with no religious affiliation accounted for 115,510 (17.6%) in 2001.

Environics Analytics, a geodemographic marketing firm that created 66 different "clusters" of people complete with profiles of how they live, what they think and what they consume, sees a future Hamilton with younger upscale Hamiltonians—who are tech savvy and university educated—choosing to live in the downtown and surrounding areas rather than just visiting intermittently. More two and three storey townhouses and apartments will be built on downtown lots; small condos will be built on vacant spaces in areas such as Dundas and Westdale to accommodate newly retired seniors; and more retail and commercial zones will be created. The city is also expected to grow by more than 28,000 people and 18,000 households by the year 2012.