Most Squamish residents claim European descent and there appear to be slightly more immigrants in town, according to the most recent census data released.
The newly released statistics, which resulted from census surveys collected in 2016, paint a picture of Squamish’s changing demographics.
Overall, the amount of immigrants has increased slightly to 3,540, up from 3,160 in 2011. Under this definition, this refers to people who were at any time considered immigrants, including those who’ve already become citizens.
Of the immigrants in that group who arrived between 1980 and 2016, most made the trip for economic reasons or as part of a family sponsorship.
Economic immigrants make up 1,200, while family sponsorship accounts for 1,245.
Refugees account for the smallest group. Only 85 were counted.
Asians and Europeans are the biggest immigrant populations, with both just about tied at 1,400 and 1,390, respectively.
In descending order, the next most common points of origin are The Americas — including the U.S. — at 460; Oceania at 160 and Africa with 130.
Data regarding the overall ethnic makeup of Squamish shows about 76 per cent of people in the community claim European ancestry.
Ethnicity refers to a person’s genetic heritage, and isn’t related to immigration. For instance, people who are ethnically Japanese aren’t considered immigrants if they were born in Canada.
There are signs of diversity in town.
For instance, the number of ethnicities claimed exceeds the number of people in town — this suggests there’s likely a fair amount of people with mixed ancestry.
As an example, a people with Caribbean and European ancestry could be counted multiple times in the survey — first, as European, second as Caribbean, and more counts could be applied if those people chose more specific identifiers, such as British, Haitian, and so forth.
Overall, about 14,970 people claimed European descent. The majority of people in this group — 11,100, to be exact — said they had ancestral ties to the British Isles.
Close to 3,000 people said they had German blood and about 2,300 said they had French heritage.
The second most common background was Asian, which includes South Asian, East Asian and Southeastern Asians. About 2,765 people fit this description.
The biggest group in this category were the 1,145 people who identified as East Indian. Filipinos came in second at 615 and the Japanese population was recorded at 300.
People with Aboriginal ancestry were recorded as the third largest group, accounting for 1,230 of the people surveyed.
North American First Nations was the largest class in this category, with 840 respondents claiming this background. This would include anyone who identified as Squamish Nation.
The second most common ethnicity was Metis, with 415 people, and Inuit was the third most common, with 20 people claiming that heritage.
The next most recorded ethnicities, in descending order, are South American, Oceanian, African and Middle Eastern.
People claiming Caribbean ancestry were the least common in Squamish, the survey found. There were 85 of them.
It’s important to note that there are grey areas when surveying ethnicity.
For example, results are determined in large part by the specificity of respondents.
In some cases, people who identify as white or black sometimes leave out a nation of origin, which can make it a challenge when grouping people according to world region or country.
See below for a breakdown of the top 3 Squamish ethnicities from each census category.
