Highlights

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• Over half of Canadians of Jamaican origin were born outside of Canada. Of these, 84% arrived in Canada in the last thirty years.



• The majority of Canadians of Jamaican origin live in Toronto. Indeed, 71% of all Jamaicans living in Canada in 2001 resided in Toronto, where they made up 3% of the city's population.



• The Jamaican population in Canada is relatively young. In 2001, 45% of all those in the Jamaican community in Canada, compared with 33% of the overall population, was under the age of 25. In contrast, Canadians of Jamaican origin are only about half as likely as other Canadians to be seniors: 6% versus 12%.



• Virtually all Canadians of Jamaican origin report that English is their mother tongue.



• Only 34% of adults in the Jamaican community are married, compared with 50% of all Canadian adults. Canadians of Jamaican descent are also less likely than other Canadian adults to live in a common-law union, whereas they are more likely to be a lone parent. In fact, one in four women of Jamaican origin is a lone parent, versus one in 10 of all women in the overall population.



• People of Jamaican origin are less likely than their counterparts in the overall population to have a university degree. In 2001, just 10% of Jamaican adults were university graduates compared with 15% of all Canadian adults. At the same time, though, Canadians of Jamaican origin are more likely than those in the rest of the population to have completed a community college program.



• Canadians of Jamaican origin are more likely to be employed than other Canadians. In 2001, 68% of Canadians of Jamaican origin aged 15 and over were employed, compared with 62% of adults in the overall Canadian population. At the same time, though, the unemployment rate among Jamaican labour force participants (8.6%) was somewhat higher than the national figure (7.4%) that year.



• The average income of Canadians of Jamaican origin is about $3500 lower than the national average.



• 34% of children of Jamaican origin live in families with incomes below the Low-income Cut-offs, compared with 19% of all children in Canada.



• 69% of senior women of Jamaican origin who live alone have incomes below the Low-income Cut-offs.

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