City of Vancouver project aims to tackle anti-South Asian racism

The City of Vancouver is launchingan effort to better understand racism and discrimination against South Asian Canadians.

It includesanonline survey asking South Asian residents to sharehow they have experienced discrimination, and an interactive map highlighting spaces in Vancouver with cultural significance to the community.

Mayor Ken Sim said in a news statement that their findings will"inform how our city council can take meaningful action to repair trust and uplift this incredible community going forward."

The project is the latest part of an years-long effort by the city to addressdiscrimination faced by the rapidly-growingcommunity. According to the city, its findings will helpdetermine how Vancouver can remedy historical discrimination against South Asian Canadians.

Census data from Statistics Canada showsabout 14.2 per cent of Vancouver's population identified as South Asian in 2021 that's more than 360,000 people, up from about 290,000 in 2016.

'High time that the project took off'

In 2019, according to council documents, the city voted to develop a report analyzing past laws, policies and regulations that discriminated against South Asian Canadians, and create recommendationsfor how council can address them, alongsidean advisory group of South Asian Canadian residents.

In 2022, city staff and the community advisory groupadvocated for Vancouver to rename a street to commemorate the Komagata Maru, aship carrying hundreds of South Asian people that was turned away from the city in 1914.

According to council documents, the group also said itneeded to do more researchand hear the broader experiences of South Asian people in Vancouverbefore it could produce its final report and recommendations for council.

Now, with its latest engagement efforts, the city aims to start that research with the online survey and map. The city also plans to hold community engagement meetings.

"It's high time that the project took off," Satwinder Bains, director at the University of the Fraser Valley's South Asian Studies Institute said.

"Unless we know our injustices and do something about them, we will repeat them."

Bains, a member of the community advisory group, added she would like to see Vancouver do more to includeSouth Asian Canadian experiences in its historical records.

Thesurvey will be online until Jan. 31, 2025. According to the City of Vancouver's website, the advisory group and staff are scheduled toreport their findings to council next year.