Asian American versus Asian Canadian: Ethnic Segregation and Implications for a Panethnic Boundary

Ann H. Kim, University of Toronto
Eric Fong, University of Toronto

The panethnic identifier “Asian American” has been readily accepted in the US vernacular. However, a similar “Asian Canadian” identity has not emerged as a distinctive panethnic identity nor has it (yet) taken on the same significance for Asian groups in Canada. This might be explained by cross-national differences in the structural conditions that give rise to the shifting of ethnic boundaries. To examine whether the degree of pan-Asian residential experience can be one explanation for this difference in pan-Asian identities in the US and Canada, this study will compare Asian ethnic residential segregation in Los Angeles and Toronto using the 2000 US census and 2001 Canadian census. Eight Asian groups are included in the analysis as well as other racial and ethnic groups for comparison. These results will have implications for our understanding of immigrant adaptation and the shifting of ethnic boundaries, and, in particular, Asian panethnicity in different contexts.