Data from the 2016 census shows that the number of Mandarin speakers living in HRM has gone up. There are 250 thousand people who participated in the census reported that their mother tongue is Mandarin.
This number has gone by 3.5 times compared to the number five years ago.
Within the HRM area, both central Halifax as well as west Halifax experienced considerable increases with the biggest increase of 155 more people around the Long Lake area. In comparison, Dartmouth only has a biggest change of 50, a third of what central Halifax has had.
Within the HRM, the two areas that have the largest increase are both outside of downtown Halifax. One in the north near Clayton Park and another one in the west, very close to the Long Lake Park.
Both of these two hot spots have had new apartment buildings and houses during the last couple of years.
” I like the people here”
Wang Jun and her husband Man Bu moved to Halifax in a new apartment building at 56 Walter Havil around Long Lake Park, the area that has the biggest increase according to the census.
They moved to Canada along with their son who immigrated as a skilled worker in 2016. Instead of living in the old houses around the building they preferred the apartment because “it was clean and brand new”
“I really like the people here. They will say good morning to you in the morning and stop the car for you when you cross the road,” Wang says, “And the air here is also good.”
The building that the family live in has at least three to four Chinese households on each floor according to the property manager Meagan Sherren. She has had dealings with the apartment building over four years.
“This is a known trend. They(Chinese) love new apartments. They live in one building for two or three years then they go for another one,” Kristin Harpa says. Harpa oversees the daily operation of the company.
Chinese Foreign Workers and Travelling students
This census result mirrors trends in the influx of foreign workers and international students from the People’s Republic of China.
China has exceeded the United States of America and became the No.1 country for people with work permits since March, 2017.
A quarter of the work permit holders come from China based on the data collected between January and March.
Below is a map that indicates the percentage of change in the number of Mandarin speakers between the year of 2011 and 2016 in HRM.