Children are playing in the sand, sliding on a playground slide and sharing toys in the yard. The scene is like any other at a child’s daycare centre, but this daycare, located in Markham, is different than others in Canada.
Shahina Lalani, Director of the Macklin House Daycare Center says the community is more diverse than ever. And Statistics Canada agrees.
The National Household Survey, released Wednesday, indicates that Markham is Canada’s most diverse community with the highest proportion of visible-minorities.
The first-of-its-kind voluntary survey, which gathered responses from more than three million people, replaced the cancelled long-form census. The data covered topics such as religion, Aboriginals, immigration and visible minorities.
“Almost every child here speaks another language,” says Lalani. “We currently have 117 children registered here and at least 85 per cent are from ethnic minorities.”
According to the National Household Survey, 72.3 per cent of Markham’s population is comprised of visible minorities. The minority populations are mostly Chinese, making up 52.9 per cent of the community and South Asian populations comprising of 17.2 per cent of the population. The black community also accounts for 4.5 per cent of Markham’s population.
There has been an increase in Markham’s minority populations since 2006, according to the data, but it has been viewed as controversial to compare the voluntary survey to the long-form census, which was mandatory.
The Harper government decided to replace the long-form census in 2010.
But Markham’s diversity is clearly visible to the passerby: Many road signs are bilingual- in English and Chinese.
“There is a lot of children who come from different countries to our daycare center,” says Claire Morgan, supervisor at Macklin House Daycare Center. “That’s why it’s important our staffing team represents those cultures and will speak to them in their mother tongue.”
Morgan says children and staff speak a variety of languages including: Tamale, Mandarin, Cantonese and Spanish.
“We embrace multiculturalism here in Markham,” says Councillor Carolina Moretti, who has been in the community for more than 30 years. “We have restaurants from different nationalities, we have sports and arts from such a diverse background.”
“It doesn’t matter where you are from because we are all people and that’s what brings us together as a community,” Moretti adds.
As the director gathers the children to play outside in the daycare’s yard, a young Chinese girl turns to another and says something in Chinese.
“She’s asking her what she’s playing,” says the daycare worker.
The two young girls continue to whisper in their mother tongue.
“I think it’s a welcoming environment for minorities who are able to come and find a home,” says Morgan. “And while we do celebrate their background, we also create a Canadian atmosphere of diversity and acceptance.”
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