[LINK] "York region key destination for Russian immigrants"

[rfmcdonald]

yorkregion.com's Chris Taber reports that York Region, a collection of municipalities located immediately to Toronto's north, has become a major centre for Russian-Canadians.

According to Statistics Canada and the 2006 Census, there are 64,000 Russian-born immigrants in Canada, with 60 per cent living in Ontario.

In the four years following the fall of communism in 1991, 4,800 Russian-born newcomers arrived in Ontario.

Similar arrivals, from 1996 to 2006 increased six-fold.

York Region, one of the nation’s most culturally diverse and welcoming collection of communities, is a magnet for newcomers.

More than 200 distinct ethnic groups reside here with more than half of our neighbours identifying themselves as having one ethnic origin.

Though a relatively small but growing percentile of York’s populace, Russian-speaking residents represent 11 per cent of Vaughan’s citizenry and 10 per cent of Richmond Hill’s.

The Russian Federation is now among the top five countries of birth for immigrants to York Region.

The influx is burgeoning with good reason, Ms Roufanova, herself a newcomer from Saratov in 2000, said.

With an expanding and established Russian community willing and able to sponsor family members, plentiful Russian resources and social supports, newcomers see York Region as bright beacon offering haven and a new beginning.

“The political and economic situation (in Russia) was difficult and I saw Canada as an opportunity for a better life in a safe place for my children and me,” she said.