Toronto Star Article: Interracial Marriage Explosion In Canada More Black, Arab, & South Asian Men Are Marrying Outside Of Their Race.

Mixed-race couples increase 33%

Spouses earn more money, are better educated

Published On Tue Apr 20 2010

MIXED RACE MARRIAGES BY VISIBLE MINORITY GROUP

• Chinese: 56,000 or 9.5 %
• Black: 55,200 or 25.5 %
• South Asian: 41,500 or 6.8 %
• Latin American: 40,000 or 30.7 %
• Filipino: 35,600 or 19.8 %
• Arab/West Asian: 26,500 or 14.3 %
• Japanese: 22,200 or 59.7 %
• Southeast Asian: 18,100 or 18.4 %
• Korean: 6,800 or 10.8 %
• Multiple groups: 29,400 or 41.3 %

2006 Census, Statistics Canada

By

Nicholas Keung Immigration/Diversity Reporter

They embody the elements of modern-day success — young, urban, educated and loaded.

Mixed-race couples have been on the rise in Canada since early 1990s and according to a new Statistics Canada study released Tuesday, they are doing better socioeconomically than those who marry within their own race.

Based on 2006 Census data, mixed couples, with a median family income of $74,670 a year, made $5,000 more than non-mixed couples, who earned $69,830.

While those who marry within the same visible minority group earned just $53,710, the lowest of all groups, the highest earners, making $76,150, were couples in which a visible minority was married to a Caucasian.

Mixed-race couples are also more highly educated. Among Canadian couples with a university degree, 6.4 per cent were in mixed unions. Of those with a high school degree or less, 1.8 per cent were mixed couples.

“Given that many visible minority group members are recent immigrants — who are generally more highly educated than the Canadian-born population — this could also be related to the tendency for persons in mixed unions to have higher levels of education,” said the report, titled A Portrait of Couples in Mixed Unions.

Oakville lawyer Carina DelFrate, a Canadian-born Filipina who is married to Rob DelFrate, an Italian from Sudbury, said mixed couples are very accepted in urban Canada.

“Growing up in Toronto, it’s very multicultural and I’m exposed to many different cultures and the Filipino community is not a dominant one,” said the 35-year-old mother of two. “It’s a benefit for my kids to grow up with this diversity and open-mindedness to different cultures, views and opinions.”

Overall, 3.9 per cent or 289,400 of Canada’s 7.5 million couples were mixed unions, representing a 33 per cent jump from 2001.

Some 247,600 of mixed unions were between those who belonged to a visible minority group paired with a Caucasian. An additional 41,800 couples were made up of people of two different visible minority groups, up almost 50 per cent from 2001.

Although visible minority men and women were equally likely to be in a mixed union, gender differences were found within ethnic groups.

For instance, Arab, West Asian, black or South Asian men had higher proportions of mixed unions compared to women from those communities. In 2006, 19 per cent of Arab or West Asian men were paired outside their ethnic group, twice the 9 per cent found among Arab or West Asian women.

Similarly, three in 10 black men were in mixed unions versus two out of 10 black women.

Toronto real estate agent Elisa Marcucci, a Canadian-born Italian, has been married to her engineer husband, Headley Hamilton, a Jamaican French-Canadian, for five years. The couple is proud to raise their daughter, Simona, 1, and son, Luca, 4, in a multicultural household.

“Here in Toronto, those who are pure-pure bred are becoming rare,” said Marcucci, 39. “I always believe at some point, as years and generations go by, we will all be so mixed and diluted that racism will not be so prevalent and strong. We all bleed red, don’t we”