From: The Encyclopedia of Canada's Peoples/Guyanese/Subhas Ramcharan
On arrival in Canada, 70 percent of Guyanese have settled in Ontario, and more than 75 percent of these have chosen Metropolitan Toronto as their place of residence. Other cities in the province that have attracted substantial numbers of Guyanese are Mississauga, Brampton, Ottawa, Hamilton, and Windsor. Smaller numbers have settled in the metropolitan areas of Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, and Montreal. The high urban concentration of Guyanese in large cities is reflective of several factors. First, the professions and skills that they have brought are best utilized in industrial centres. Professionals in medicine, engineering, insurance, or banking, as well as merchants, are more likely to find employment in large urban areas.
Metropolitan Toronto, with the largest population in Canada, has distinct Guyanese neighbourhoods, in particular the Jameson-Queen, Finch-Weston, Lawrence-Markham, Albion-Islington, and Lawrence-Weston areas. Among professionals, occupational mobility has resulted in a shift in their residence to the suburban regions of Mississauga, Oakville, Richmond Hill, and Brampton. This settlement pattern is to a large extent based on early movement among the Guyanese in Canada, who tended to form networks of friends and a community that shared similar goals, values, and cultures. The presence of large Guyanese communities in Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal, and Vancouver has been of immeasurable help to the newer migrants. Friendship and kinship networks and the size of the group in the major metropolitan areas have made for a relatively easy adjustment for the majority of Guyanese in Canada. As well, because the home country is a pluralistic one, they are well adapted to accepting and sharing in the multicultural nature of Canadian society.
Immigration statistics show that the proportion of Guyanese who can be classified as skilled workers and professionals is among the highest of any immigrant group. In the period 1969–90, 10 percent of newcomers were in the managerial, professional, or technical categories, 14 percent skilled workers, and less than 10 percent unskilled or labourers. The majority of skilled and professional immigrants from Guyana have suffered downward occupational mobility during their first seven years in this country. However, after this initial dislocation, members of the group have been able to return to their original status, and some have moved upward in their occupations.
