In Metro Vancouver a region where almost 45% of the citizens are foreign born, population changes have been observed over the recent years, with some groups declining and being replaced by other groups.
Greeks, Dutch, Italians, Poles and Germans are leaving Metro Vancouver and groups mostly form Asia, Saudi Arabia, Kazakhstan, Myanmar, the Philippines, Iran, India and China are taking their place. Also, a significant number of immigrants from Brazil, the US and the Republic of Ireland are among the newcomers
The Greek population of Metro Vancouver is declining with the fastest rate in comparison to other groups. According to a chart created by The Vancouver Sun’s, Chad Skelton, there are 25% fewer Greek-born residents in Metro Vancouver, than five years ago. More specifically, the Greek born residents are now only one out of 900 in the region and amount to 2,730 people, according to the Vancouver Sun.
According to the owner of the Omega Travel agency on Broadway, Nick Panos, the Greek population is diminished, as some of the people who lived there have died and some others have moved to B.C Interior to retire, or to other places such as Arizona or Europe. He also talks about a small number of Greeks who have selected their homeland for retirement, taking advantage of the opportunity to buy low-cost properties, due to the economic crisis.
The owner of the supermarket Parthenon, Kyriakos Katsanikakis referred to the mistaken impression of some British Columbians, who believe that there are almost 100,000 Greeks in Metro Vancouver, due to the people rushing there every year for the Greek Days. The 2006 Statistics revealed that the Greek residents of Metro Vancouver are only about 15,000, including people born in Canada claiming to have an ancestor of Greek origin. In fact, there are 31 ethnic groups larger than the Greek population in Metro Vancouver.
In the framework of the population changes, the Greek restaurants of the region are slowly being replaced, particularly by sushi restaurants.
As it is natural, the population changes in Metro Vancouver have a huge effect on neighborhoods, schools, universities, housing patterns and generally on culture, bringing new styles of stores, music and cuisine.
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