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Despite a significant presence in large cities today, it was only 50 years ago that Koreans officially began their trek to Canada. With the 1966 reform of Canadian immigration laws, South Korean immigration to Canada grew significantly from a community of 70 members to nearly 20,000 by 1980. The following decade saw a further influx, which nearly doubled Canada's Korean population. The 1990s growth in South Korean migration to Canada occurred at a time when Canadian unemployment was high and income growth was low relative to the United States. The weakness of the Canadian dollar relative to the U.S. dollar meant that South Korean migrants bringing savings to Canada for investment would be relatively richer than those going to the United States. Other drivers behind the growth of South Korean immigration to Canada included domestic anti-Americanism and the large presence of Canadian English teachers in South Korea. Today, more than 200,000 Korean-born immigrants have made Canada their home, and make up one of the country's most dynamic communities, with growth in all sectors-business, cultural, heritage, arts. The majority of the Korean population in Canada are, in fact, immigrants and relatively recent arrivals. (Canadianimmigrant.ca) Student supply South Korea was the largest supplier of international students to Canada in the late 1990s, which has helped to infuse the West with modern Korean culture, from movies to food to music. It was around this time that Korean pop culture began gaining a global following-a cultural phenomenon known as the hallyu, or Korean Wave (Canadianimmigrant.ca) 
Toronto, Ontario, Canada's Korean Business Area, known more generally as Koreatown (or Korea Town, K-town or The K.B.A.), is centred along Bloor Street between Christie and Bathurst Streets. Also known as "Little Korea", Koreatown came into prominence during the summer of 2002 as the Korean team surprised everyone by playing into the semi-final round in the 2002 World Cup tournament. Traffic came to a halt on Bloor Street West as exuberant crowds celebrated the accomplishments of their favourite team.
The adoption of a more liberal immigration policy by the Canadian government in 1967 led to an influx of Korean immigrants, many of whom settled in the Toronto area. Indeed, Toronto has the largest single concentration of Koreans in Canada with almost 50,000 living in the city, according to the 2001 Census. Many of them settled in the Bloor and Bathurst area, and before long, a small Korean business neighbourhood emerged along Bloor Street, centred around the intersection of Bloor and Manning Avenue. Restaurants, bakeries, gift shops, grocery stores, and travel agencies began to open up, most of which catered to the Korean-Canadian community. Today, although many Koreans work in the region, very few Koreans actually live in Koreatown. Prior to the influx of Korean immigrants in the 1980s, the section of Bloor West of Bathurst was heavily populated by people from Central and South America, and the area still has a strong Latin influence today. Toronto Korean community is the 3rd most populated by ethic origin of Asians in Toronto.  
Since the early 1990s, a Koreatown has also emerged in North York along Yonge Street between Sheppard Avenue and just north of Steeles Avenue. The area composes of North York, Ontario (Willowdale, Toronto and Newtonbrook) and Thornhill, Ontario (Vaughan, Ontario and Markham, Ontario).
The new Koreatown comprises retail stores and family restaurants catering to younger Koreans and those living in the north part of the City of Toronto and York Region. A larger proportion of this neighbourhood are recent immigrants or visa students from South Korea. |
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The Embassy of the Republic of Korea
150 Boteler Street, Ottawa, Ontario K1N 5A6 Tel: 613-244-5010 Fax:613-244-5043, 5034 |
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Consulate General of the Republic of Korea in Toronto
555 Avenue Road, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M4V 2J7 Tel: (416) 920-3809 Fax: (416) 924-7305 E-mail: toronto@mofat.go.kr |