Visible minorities: The 2001 Census provides information on the characteristics of people in Canada who are members of a visible minority, as defined by the Employment Equity Act. The Act defines visible minorities as "persons, other than Aboriginal peoples, who are non-Caucasian in race or non-white in colour". Under this definition, regulations specify the following groups as visible minorities: Chinese, South Asians, Blacks, Arabs, West Asians, Filipinos, Southeast Asians, Latin Americans, Japanese, Koreans and other visible minority groups, such as Pacific Islanders.

Visible minority not included elsewhere: Includes respondents who reported a single write-in response indicating a Pacific Islander group (e.g., Fijian or Polynesian) or another single write-in response likely to be a visible minority group (e.g., Guyanese, West Indian).

Multiple visible minority: Includes respondents who reported more than one visible minority group.