List of Canadians of Asian ancestry

This is a list of Canadians of Asian ancestry. Asian Canadians comprise the largest visible minority in Canada, at 11% of the Canadian population.

Ethnicity

List of Asian Canadian demographies according to the 2006 Census

Population of various Asian Canadian groups

Ethnic Origins	Population
Chinese Canadians	1,364,215 (including 71,705 from Taiwan)
Indo-Canadians	1,036,813
Filipino Canadians	436,190
Vietnamese Canadians	180,125
Lebanese Canadians	165,150
Korean Canadians	146,550
Pakistani Canadians	124,730
Iranian Canadians	121,510
Sri Lankan Canadians	103,625
Japanese Canadians	98,900
Armenian Canadians	50,500
Afghan Canadians	48,090
Syrian Canadians	31,375
Iraqi Canadians	29,955
Cambodian Canadians	25,245
Bangladeshi Canadians	24,600
Palestinian Canadians	23,975
Laotian Canadians	20,110
Indonesian Canadians	14,320
Malaysian Canadians	12,165
Israeli Canadians	10,755
Thai Canadians	10,015
Jordanian Canadians	6,905
Burmese Canadians	4,590
Mongolian Canadians	3,965
Nepali Canadians	3,780
Saudi Canadians	2,735
Yemeni Canadians	2,300
Canadians of Singaporean descent	1,390

Notable Asian Canadians

• Ken Adachi, Toronto Star writer
• Tahmena Bokhari, professor and social worker; Mrs Pakistan World 2010
• Mikey Bustos, singer, Canadian Idol finalist of Filipino ancestry
• Raymond Chan, Member of Parliament
• Terry Chen, film and television actor
• Wei Chen, television news anchor (CTV Television Network, Toronto One)
• Ben Chin, former television news anchor (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Toronto One); current advisor to Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty
• Ken Chinn, also known as Mr. Chi Pig, vocalist and co-founding member of seminal Canadian punk rock group SNFU
• Denise Chong, writer and economist
• Ida Chong, British Columbia Cabinet Minister
• Kevin Chong, novelist
• Tommy Chong, actor and comedian
• Olivia Chow, Member of Parliament; wife of New Democratic Party leader Jack Layton
• Wayson Choy, novelist
• Nathalie Chung, journalist and television news anchor of Korean and French-Canadian descent (RDI / SRC)
• Adrienne Clarkson, Governor General of Canada from 1999 to 2005, former journalist, novelist, publisher, winner of a Gemini Award
• Monika Deol, television presenter of Sikh ancestry
• Herb Dhaliwal, Liberal Member of Parliament and cabinet minister of Indian ancestry
• Lexa Doig, actress of Filipino ancestry
• Ujjal Dosanjh, former premier of British Columbia, of Indian ancestry, Liberal MP and federal Minister of Health
• Tzvi Erez, virtuoso classical pianist of Israeli ancestry
• Sorel Etrog, artist, writer, and philosopher of Israeli ancestry
• Ghazi Falah, Israeli-born Canadian geographer
• Hedy Fry, Liberal Member of Parliament
• Yasmeen Ghauri, Canadian supermodel of Pakistani descent
• Jian Ghomeshi, musician (Moxy Früvous) and former CBC Radio One host
• Gurmant Grewal and Nina Grewal, Conservative Members of Parliament, the first married couple to serve as MPs in the same session of Parliament
• Emm Gryner, singer-songwriter of mixed Filipino ancestry
• Corey Haim, Canadian actor of Israeli ancestry
• Ian Hanomansing, CBC journalist of Indian ancestry
• Tariq Hussain, Canadian singer-songwriter and radio personality of Pakistani descent; host for CBC Radio 3
• Robert Ito, actor
• Simcha Jacobovici, Israeli-born film director, producer, freelance journalist, and writer
• Rahim Jaffer, politician of Pakistani ancestry
• Zillur Rahman John, Bangladeshi Canadian, mime and pantomime artist
• Ron Josol, stand-up comedian and TV host of Filipino ancestry
• Nazem Kadri, draftee of the Toronto Maple Leafs, born and raised in London, Ontario, of Lebanese descent
• Paul Kariya, NHL star of partial Japanese ancestry
• Wajid Khan, businessman, politician; current member of the Canadian House of Commons, representing the riding of Mississauga—Streetsville for the Conservative Party of Canada; special advisor of the Prime Minister of Canada for the Middle East and South Asia
• Kid Koala, musician and turntablist, born Eric San
• Gail Kim, World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) wrestler of Korean heritage
• Tanya Kim, CTV personality, Host of eTalk Daily (with Ben Mulroney)
• Joy Kogawa, writer of Japanese ancestry
• Ron Korb, composer and flautist of half Japanese ancestry
• Kristin Kreuk, actress born to a Chinese-Indonesian mother
• Jenny Kwan, Member of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia
• Miranda Kwok, actress, screenwriter and film producer
• Norman Kwong, former Lieutenant Governor of Alberta, former Canadian Football League player and National Hockey League team executive
• Larissa Lai, writer
• David Lam, former Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia, lawyer, real estate tycoon
• Evelyn Lau, poet and novelist
• Henry Lau, violinist and member of boy band Super Junior M
• Jeannie Lee, CBC journalist
• Sook-Yin Lee, musician, television (MuchMusic) and radio (CBC Radio One) personality
• Sophia Leung, Liberal Member of Parliament
• Eugene Levy, actor of Jewish ancestry
• Alan Lowe, born in, and Mayor of, Victoria, British Columbia
• Linlyn Lue, actress
• Ken Lum, visual artist
• Mig Macario, actor of Filipino descent
• Hazel Mae, sports broadcaster of Filipino descent
• Shaun Majumder, comedian
• Gurbax Malhi, Liberal Member of Parliament
• Inky Mark, Conservative Member of Parliament
• Deepa Mehta, film director of Indian ancestry
• Roy Miki, poet of Japanese ancestry
• Rohinton Mistry, writer, of Indian ancestry
• Shay Mitchell, actress
• Bharati Mukherjee, novelist
• Zarqa Nawaz, freelance writer, broadcaster, and filmmaker; of Pakistani descent; creator and writer of popular Canadian CBC sitcom Little Mosque on the Prairie
• Paul Nguyen, activist, journalist, and filmmaker of Vietnamese descent
• George Nozuka, singer/songwriter
• Sandra Oh, actor of Korean ancestry; appeared in the 2004 film Sideways; appears on the TV show Grey's Anatomy
• Santa J. Ono, Japanese-Canadian-American biologist, university administrator
• Ruth Ozeki, novelist
• Rey Pagtakhan, former Liberal Member of Parliament and Cabinet Minister
• Alex Pagulayan, billiards world champion of Filipino origin
• Jon Kimura Parker, classical pianist and recording artist of Japanese ancestry
• Russell Peters, comedian of Anglo-Indian ancestry
• Vivienne Poy, Senator
• Keanu Reeves, actor of partial Chinese and Hawaiian ancestry
• Sasha Roiz, actor of Israeli descent
• Kerri Sakamoto, novelist of Japanese ancestry
• Shyam Selvadurai, novelist
• Tetsuro Shigematsu, CBC radio host
• Haroon Siddiqui, Toronto Star journalist, columnist
• Jaspreet Singh, author
• Ashwin Sood, drummer for (and husband of) Sarah McLachlan, of Indian descent
• Alfred Sung, fashion designer
• David Suzuki, scientist and television personality of Japanese ancestry
• Siu Ta, actress, This is Wonderland
• Harinder Takhar, Ontario Member of Provincial Parliament; currently Minister of Transportation
• Jennifer Tilly, actress of mixed Chinese ancestry; sister of Meg Tilly
• Meg Tilly, actress of mixed Chinese ancestry; sister of Jennifer Tilly
• Osnat Tzadok, Israeli-born painter
• David Usher, singer-songwriter of mixed Thai ancestry
• Gil Vainshtein, association football player
• M.G. Vassanji, novelist of Indian descent; born in Kenya
• Adnan Virk, anchorman of The Score; of Pakistani descent
• Fred Wah, poet and novelist
• Ellen Wong, actress
• Jan Wong, Globe & Mail reporter and author
• Jean Yoon, poet and playwright
• Christine Yoshikawa, classical pianist and recording artist of Japanese ancestry
• Catalina Yue, actress, singer, songwriter and recording artist of Chinese and Japanese ancestry

See also

• Demographics of Canada
• Immigration to Canada
• Asian American
• Asian Argentine
• Asian Australian
• Asian Brazilian
• British South Asian
• British East Asian
• Desi
• For more Asian Canadians of Chinese ancestry, see Chinese Canadians.
• For more Asian Canadians of Taiwanese ancestry, see Taiwanese Canadians.

External links

• Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada
• 2001 demographics from Statistics Canada
• Information for South Asians and Indians in Canada