Until 1975, when the first wave of about 6,000 Vietnamese refugees came to settle here after the fall of the Republic of Vietnam, the Vietnamese community has gradually shaped up and became more visibly noticed. The second wave of refugees was made up of boat people with 50,000 of them coming to Canada during 1979 and 1980.
Vietnamese refugees represent a wide range of backgrounds and they came from all walks of life. Some of them are well educated and had been exposed to western culture. Initially, some of these refugees developed physical health or emotional problems as a result of being in the refugees camps for a long time. Thanks to their determination to rebuild their lives and to the warm welcome and generous assistance provided by the Canadian public and governments, most of them have overcome these difficulties and have been very successful in their new country.
Vietnamese refugees have gone through considerable hardships. They came to Canada during the time of budget restraints, with fewer job opportunities and more competition in the labour market. They had to face tremendous obstacles in the process of adaptation and integration to the new life: language barrier, cultural shock and isolation. Nevertheless, coming from a war-devastated country with a determination to start a new life and with patience, the first generation of Vietnamese Canadians have been able to settle down with success, though not without pains.
Since then, the Vietnamese community in Canada has grown through different stages of development: from settlement (the initial stage of contact immediately after arrival) to integration (the stage when increased interaction with many other cultural groups and institutions in society). Finally, it is entering the participation stage (the community is represented in the full spectrum of economic, political, social and cultural life of the society).
In terms of population growth, the Vietnamese community in Canada has grown steadily from about 2,000 members before 1975 to more than 140,000 at present, scattered across the country with a heavy concentration in big cities, such as Toronto (42,000), Montreal (25,000), Vancouver (17,000), Calgary (10,000), Edmonton (8,000), Ottawa-Hull (7,000), Kitchener (3,000), Hamilton (3,000), Winnipeg (3,000), London (2,000), Windsor (1,500), Regina (1,000), Quebec (1,000), Victoria (1,000), with smaller populations in many other cities.
Upon their first arrival in Canada, many Vietnamese refugees lived at the subsistence level, working in the manual labour market at or near the minimum wage. In case of recession, they were among the first to be laid off. They tended to live together in clusters in order to survive; they helped each other with job referrals, car pools, interpretation services and social support. With the passage of time, the majority of them, however, have successfully settled down. They now own homes and businesses and have children in college, and have more than one job or wage earner in the household. By Canadian standard, they have attained middle class status.
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