Good to know
Good to Know
- Vancouver is one of North America's most multicultural cities with 244+ different cultural origins among residents.
- The city's tech ecosystem has grown 22% in 2025, with particular strength in cleantech, AI, biotech, and gaming sectors.
- Unlike Toronto's ecosystem, venture capital is less concentrated; many top VC firms are based in Toronto and Montreal, which can make institutional funding more challenging.
- Vancouver attracts significant cross-border US venture investment due to proximity to Seattle and West Coast tech centers, though many successful startups eventually relocate to Silicon Valley.
- Immigration pathways and the Startup Visa Program make Vancouver attractive for international entrepreneurs and tech talent seeking permanent residency.
- Despite being ranked #39 globally for startups, Vancouver trails Toronto in overall deal volume and startup activity within Canada.
Immigration Patterns 2016 2021
- Recent Immigrants
- 154820
Top Source Countries
India
- Percentage Of Recent
- 25.4
- Count
- 39390
China
- Percentage Of Recent
- 20.3
- Count
- 31450
Philippines
- Percentage Of Recent
- 13.7
- Count
- 21220
Top Nationalities And Ethnic Groups
Chinese
- Percentage
- 19.6
- Metro Vancouver Percentage
- 28.33
- Note
- Largest non-white ethnic group in Metro Vancouver
South Asian
- Percentage
- 14.2
- Metro Vancouver Percentage
- 7.04
- Note
- Includes Indo-Canadians, primarily Punjabi
Filipino
- Percentage
- 5.5
- Metro Vancouver Percentage
- 5.37
English (Ancestry)
- Percentage
- 13
- Note
- Most common European origin within city proper
Scottish (Ancestry)
- Percentage
- 10.6
Languages
- Bilingual
- 0.6
- Other Language Primary
- 5.8
- French Primary Language
- 1.6
- English Primary Language
- 92.1
- Note
- 52% of Metro Vancouver population identifies a language other than English as first language
City Population
- City Proper
- 662248
- Metro Vancouver
- 3108941
- Year Of Estimate
- 2024
Visible Minorities
- Percentage
- 54.5
- Metro Vancouver Percentage
- 54
- Note
- Majority of residents identify as visible minorities
Foreign Born Percentage
- Percentage
- 42.2
- Source Year
- 2021
- Note
- City of Vancouver; Metro Vancouver at 41.8%
Business And Tech Presence
- Tech Jobs
- 111000
- Tech Professionals
- 75000
Key Sectors
- cleantech/climate tech
- artificial intelligence
- biotech
- fintech
- video games/digital entertainment
- mining and metals technology
Startup Count
- Estimate
- 1468-2941
- Note
- Estimates vary; sources cite 1600+ companies in ecosystem
Film And Television
- Jobs
- 20000
- Industry Rank
- North America's third-largest production center
- Note
- Strong digital entertainment and content production sector
Major Tech Companies
- Amazon (large office presence)
- Microsoft
- Salesforce
- Brex
- EA (Electronic Arts)
- Nintendo
Startup Ecosystem Ranking
- Source
- Startup Genome 2024
- Global Rank
- 39
- North America Rank
- 15
Accelerators And Investors
- entrepreneurship@UBC
- VentureLabs
- Creative Destruction Lab
- Foresight Clean Accelerator Centre
- GetFresh Ventures
- SFU Venture Labs
- Innovate BC
- 7 Gates Capital
- Chrysalix Venture Capital
- Luge Capital
Notable Startups And Scale Ups
- Visier (unicorn)
- AbCellera (unicorn)
- Trulioo (unicorn)
- Lumen5 (AI video)
- 360Learning (AI training)
- Zucara Therapeutics (biotech)
- Produce8 (work analytics)
Non Permanent Residents Percentage
- Percentage
- 6.6
- Includes
- temporary workers and international students
AI-generated estimateData refreshed July 2026
Sources cited for this category
These are the sources cited in this local demographics research for this city. Individual figures may not each trace to one of them.
More About Vancouver
Data last updated July 2026 · Verify anything important.