THE TERM PAKISTANI is commonly used to describe all citizens of Pakistan, regardless of their ethnic background. Today, the idea of being Pakistani is as much a matter of perception, volition, and generation as it was half a century ago. The Islamic Republic of Pakistan is characterized by great ethnic and linguistic diversity.  Flanked by Iran and Afghanistan in the west and China in the north, Pakistan also shares a border with India to the east. Within its 796,000 square kilometres live 138 million people including Punjabi, Pathan, Baluchi, and Sindhi groups. In contrast to its ethnic and linguistic variety, Pakistan is homogeneous in terms of religion: fully 98 percent of the population is Muslim; the remaining 2 percent includes Hindus, Christians, and Zoroastrians.

Settlement in Canada from that part of India today known as Pakistan began at the turn of the century with the migration of perhaps 200 pioneers from what would become the Pakistani part of Punjab. Within a few years the majority of these sojourners returned to the Asian sub-continent or made their way into the United States. What followed may be described as the exclusion era because, as a result of the 1907 immigration ban, no South Asians, including people of Muslim and Sikh origin, from what is now Pakistan, were allowed to immigrate to Canada until after the Second World War. In 1951, the Canadian government introduced a quota system for South Asian immigrants that allowed for the immigration of 100 Pakistanis a year. As quota places were taken up by students and a cadre of extremely well-educated professionals, the postwar arrivals set the stage for a marked increase in emigration from Pakistan. From 1967 to 1975, immigration statistics recorded the presence of 13,811 immigrants of Pakistani origin in Canada. These could only be described as the cream of the crop – educators, doctors, engineers, accountants, and scientists who settled throughout Canada, with the majority settling in Ontario, followed by Quebec, British Columbia, Alberta, Manitoba, and Saskatchewan. By the mid-1970s, Pakistani immigration came to be characterized by a significant number of skilled or semi-skilled workers. By the late 1970s, the occupational range of Pakistani immigrants was very wide indeed.

According to the 1996 Canadian census, 38,655 individuals said that they were wholly or partially of Pakistani origin. The major distribution of Pakistanis (single and multiple responses), according to the census data, was as follows: Ontario, 24,895; Quebec, 5,150; British Columbia, 4,180; and Alberta, 3,470. Pakistanis in Canada lived mainly in the large cities of Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver, where they were dispersed across the residential areas of these urban centres.

With the growth of the communities, an entrepreneurial infrastructure began to develop where traders and a plethora of import-export firms came to predominate. The community has also established a noteworthy presence in the food franchise industry and in accounting and finance.

Pakistanis created a host of cultural vehicles to provide support and to ensure a sense of continuity and survival. A number of journals, periodicals, and newspapers are published by and for Pakistani immigrants in Canada. Urdu, the national language of Pakistan, has become popular, and is highly celebrated. Pakistanis have proven to be ardent supporters of South Asian classical music, films whether on video or in specialty movie houses, as well as an adoring audience for visiting South Asian celebrity performers. In terms of the Muslim faith, Pakistanis, as members of the Muslim community-at-large have helped to establish parochial centres and numerous mosques and congregations in almost every city where they have settled in substantial numbers. In addition to life centred on mosques or Islamic centres, the community, in an attempt to establish a firm cultural base in the Canadian diaspora, has also supported such secular organizations as the Pakistan-Canadian Association and, on various university campuses, the Pakistani Student Association.