Dr. Doug Norris, chief demographer at marketing services company Environics Analytics, will provide expert analysis of new census data on the ethnic origins and visible minority status of Canadians as well as shifting employment patterns across the nation. Following next Wednesday’s release of the seventh round of data from the 2006 Census, Norris will lead an online web seminar on April 9th to help the general public and business leaders understand the implications of the new census data. He will also be available to the media for interviews on April 2nd and prior to then for background information.

Although earlier data from the 2006 Census of Population examined Canada’s immigrant population, the new release analyzes the cultural diversity of the total Canadian population including native-born residents. The latest information will include how Canadians define their ancestry, whether they’re the product of multiple ethnicities or now consider themselves assimilated enough to term their ancestry as “Canadian”. The census data will also consider the economic health of Canada’s ethnic and visible minority groups, an issue of importance to marketers as well as sociologists and policymakers. “There’s a lot of interest in how well the children of immigrants from the 1970s and 1980s are doing,” says Norris. “These are the kids of the wave of immigrants from Asia and other non-European countries, and I suspect the data will show these second generation Canadians to be doing quite well. Many of their parents put a real premium on education.”

The new Census release is also expected to document the continued migration of jobs from cities to suburban communities. Norris expects census data to show a rise in the number of workers who are commuting not from suburb to city, but from city to suburb, and suburb to suburb. “In recent decades, we’ve seen the flow of people from cities to suburbs for affordable housing and quieter lifestyles,” says Norris. “Now, I anticipate the census will indicate that jobs are moving out to suburbia as well. This means that more and more Canadians are commuting across suburbia each day.”

Norris will offer more detailed commentary about the latest Census release during a web seminar and online discussion to be held Wednesday, April 9th at 1:00 pm ET. Pre-registration is available online at www.environicsanalytics.ca. For access to the seminar, please connect to www.environicsanalytics.ca five to ten minutes prior to session start and click the link to the WebEx session. A phone number will also be provided for audio.

In addition, media representatives interested in interviewing Norris for quotes and insight into the new Census findings should call Emma Flood at (416) 969-2733, or e-mail her at emma.flood@environicsanalytics.ca.