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East Asian respondents are among the "longtime" Alberta residents in our study. Still, 20% of refugees from East Asia cannot speak any English, even though 87% have lived in Alberta since 1995. Most respondents report Vietnamese as their mother tongue (50%) or have the ability to converse in Vietnamese as a second language (40%). Many refugees from this area can also speak Cantonese. The ethnicity of the respondents is largely Vietnamese (60%); another 35% report Chinese as their ethnic origin (Indo-China Chinese). The average age of adult East Asian respondents is higher than average (43.3 years). This is likely related to their earlier arrival to the province compared to other respondents. Over half of the respondents live in either Calgary or Red Deer. These respondents have the largest incidence of spending time in a refugee camp (88%) and have the longest average stay (79 months).

Just over half of the respondents from East Asia did not have a high school diploma upon arrival. As well, very few had formal job training (31%). Only 31% report occupations as managers or professionals, with another 31% indicating they did not have a occupation prior to their arrival in Canada.

Table 3-3
East Asia
(Sample Size: 16 Adults and 4 Youth)

Language and Ethnicity

50% of respondents report Vietnamese as their mother tongue, 40% indicate Cantonese and 10% speak other mother tongues.
20% of respondents cannot speak any English.
Other languages spoken include: Vietnamese (40%), Cantonese, Thai, Laotian, Fukinese and other East Asian languages.
50% of East Asians speak Vietnamese at home, while Cantonese is spoken by 44%.
60% of respondents indicate their ethnicity as Vietnamese and 35% say they are Chinese.
Countries of origin include China, Burma and Vietnam.

Time of Arrival

56% of the sample arrived in 1992/93. 31% arrived in 1994/95 and the remaining 13% came in 1996/97.

Refugee Camp Experience

88% of East Asians have spent time in a refugee camp.
The mean number of months spent in refugee camps is 79.

Demographic Characteristics and Family Status

40% are female and 60% are male.
20% of the sample is aged 15-21 years; 40% are aged 22-40 years and 40% are over age 41.
The mean age of adults from East Asia is 43.3 years while the mean for youth is 18.5 years.
63% of adult refugees are married, the remainder are single or widowed/divorced.
Average household size is 4.3.
31% currently live in Calgary, 25% live in Red Deer. The remainder live in Edmonton, Lethbridge or Medicine Hat.
88% left family members behind in their home country.
63% indicate they arrived in Canada along with other family members.
25% had family members living in Canada upon arrival.

Education and Occupation Prior to Arrival (Adult Refugees only)

Just over half of the sample did not have a high school diploma when they arrived, just under 40% had high school level education or higher.
The mean years of schooling prior to arrival is 9.6.
31% had formal job training before they arrived.
75% held a paying job in their home country.
31% reported no occupation upon arrival; 31% were managers or professionals and the remaining 38% were clerical/service workers or blue-collar workers