The Rise of the Asian-Canadian Age

Thomas Park
Sep 8, 2018 · 3 min read
I brought together a young group of Korean Canadians to the office — I was surprised by the calibre of the talent. Photo credit: Korean Consulate of Montreal

I hate the CBC’s “Kim’s Convenience”. If you’ve never heard of the show, consider yourself lucky — the premise is of a Korean immigrant family who owns a convenience story reduced to cliché racial stereotypes. The show’s greatest fault is that it’s a 20th century view of us. The 21st century will see the rise of the Asian Canadians. We need to shed Kim’s Convenience and embrace that the future is Crazy Rich Asians.

We knew this was coming. From the 2016 Census, almost 20% of Canada’s population claim Asian ancestry. Those with Chinese and Indian origins make up nearly half of all visible minorities in the country. And this number is growing rapidly — Asians makeup nearly 50% of all immigrants in Canada.

And it’s not just about the sheer numbers. Asian Canadians have some of the highest educational attainment rates of any demographic which a 21st century economy will value more than the 20th.

Asian Canadians also benefit of being the diaspora of the most dynamic centres of economic activity, something that will make them even more valuable. A study from the Peterson Institute point out how diaspora communities can help governments and businesses overcome a number of informal trade barriers. Asian governments have long seen the potential of diasporas in furthering their country’s interests. The Korean government has a specific work permits for ethnic Koreans. And it’s not alone.

The implications of the rise of Asian Canadians is many but I believe there are three things leaders and influencers will need to adapt to:

My message: Don’t settle

Progressives will need to renew their narratives if they want continued support from Asian-Canadians: Asian Canadians have been a core voting block for progressives for decades. Progressives have often championed open immigration policies and diversity initiatives that have greatly benefited Asian-Canadians. However, progressives can take this support for granted. Education is becoming a fault line between this community and progressive policies ranging from sex education to admissions policies at elite schools. As progressives shift towards more identity-based politics, they should not assume Asian-Canadians will follow them.

Those organizations that can break the bamboo ceiling will be the winners: Over dinner, one of the largest Chinese venture capital investor to me how easy it is to recruit from Canada. The “bamboo ceiling” allowed him to poach high quality talent from corporate Canada. The bamboo ceiling is well known bias that Asians were seen as competent operators but not management materials despite their educational and professional achievements. Stanford’s business school has an executive education program specifically support Asian Americans on how to overcome this bias. Organizations that find a way to overcome this bias will be well placed for the 21st century; those that fail will likely be acquired by Asian conglomerates.

Canadian leaders need to better take advantage of diaspora networks: Asian Canadians and their countries of origin are already actively building relationships and networks without the support of the Canadian government. There are a number of low cost policy initiatives that will help the country take advantage of these links. These include flexible and longer temporary work visas and funding for cultural and economic exchanges beyond the c-suite would be tremendously impactful with minimal costs. Other ways could include appointment Asian-Canadians to foreign postings — the American foreign service are a good model to look at.

Understand this — the Kim’s Convenience mindset is well entrenched and it comes with a serious risk. Let’s set aside the arguments about equity. The failure to overcome this bias will mean that Canada is at risk of failing to capitalize on a network and talent pool of Canadians that are well placed to carry the country into the 21st century. Asian governments will wonder why Canada is making it so easy for them to tap into these networks for their own goals; Asian-Canadians will wonder the same thing as they look abroad for better opportunities. Like Kim’s Convenience, we will wonder why we squandered the opportunity for a more interesting alternative.

Thomas Park

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Driven to work on cool projects that help people. I now work in government venture capital & private equity to drive Canadian innovation

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