Numbers of Irish in BC

HOW MANY OF US ARE THERE IN BC?

It’s a tough question to answer. We know that according to Census 2021, there are over 7,000 landed immigrants and permanent residents who were born in Ireland.

Add to that over 2,500 non-permanent residents here on study or 2 year visas, not to mention the summer student influx; it is estimated that there are over 10,000 Irish in BC. Movement within Canada is not tracked so the statistics may be higher.

However, check out the following interesting numbers provided by the 2021 Canadian Population Census. If you find further stats, please get in touch.

627920

Number of BC residents of Irish ethnic or cultural origin
*recorded in the 2021 Census

7360

Number of Irish Born BC residents
*immigrating up to 2021

1305

Number of BC residents recording Gaelic/Irish as their mother tongue
*recorded in 2021 Census

Census 2021

Through Census 2021, statistics are available on the number of people throughout British Columbia who were born in Ireland as well as people with Irish heritage.

1. General Immigration Trends (Ireland to BC)

The Statistics Canada definition of an immigrant refers to a person who is a landed immigrant or permanent resident. Such a person has been granted the right to live in Canada permanently by immigration authorities. Immigrants who have obtained Canadian citizenship by naturalization are included in this group.

https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/ageandgender

2. Irish Born Immigrants in British Columbia

According to Census 2021, 29,300 Canadian residents registered their place of birth as Ireland; 7,360 of those Irish born immigrants were registered as resident in British Columbia. Check out the charts below to see where the Irish-born immigrants settled in Canada and British Columbia.

Find your locality and see how Irish it is!

In the context of census data in Canada, “CMA” refers to a Census Metropolitan Area, which is a large urban area with a population center of 100,000 or more.A “CA” stands for Census Agglomeration, which is a smaller urban area with a population center of 10,000 or more.

https://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2021/Immigrant population by selected places of birth

3. People of Irish Heritage in British Columbia.

In Census 2021 627,920 BC residents recorded themselves as having Irish cultural or ethic origins. This represents 12.6% of the population of BC.

A further 4,550 recorded themselves as of Northern Irish origins. The average age of the Irish ethnic population in BC is 42.8 years.

https://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2021/ethnicorigin

4. Irish Language Speakers in BC

Statistics Canada also record the proportion of the population by mother tongue in each census.

Definitions of Immigration Status

1. An immigrant refers to a person who is a landed immigrant or permanent resident. Such a person has been granted the right to live in Canada permanently by immigration authorities. Immigrants who have obtained Canadian citizenship by naturalization are included in this group.

2. A non-permanent resident refers to a person from another country with a usual place of residence in Canada and who has a work or study permit or who has claimed refugee status (asylum claimant). Family members living with work or study permit holders are also included, unless these family members are already Canadian citizens or landed immigrants or permanent residents.

3. Non-immigrants refers to Canadian citizenship by birth or descent.

The following table shows the change in Gaelic/Irish speakers over previous census periods.

https://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2021/language