in 2021. As per the 2021 census, of the provinces, British Columbia had the highest proportion of visible minorities, representing 34.4% of its population, followed by Ontario at 34.3%, Alberta at 27.8% and Manitoba at 22.2%. Additionally, as of 2021, the largest visible minority group was South Asian Canadians with a population of approximately 2.6 million, representing roughly 7.1% of the country's population, followed by Chinese Canadians (4.7%) and Black Canadians (4.3%). Subdivisions with notable visible minority populations National average: 22.3%Source: Canada 2016 Census Note: Subdivisions shown below have visible minority populations above the national average. Alberta Edmonton () Brooks () Calgary () Chestermere () Wood Buffalo () Banff () British Columbia Richmond () Greater Vancouver A () Burnaby () Surrey () Vancouver () Coquitlam () New Westminster () West Vancouver () Delta () Abbotsford () Port Coquitlam () North Vancouver (city) () Port Moody () North Vancouver (district municipality) () Manitoba Winnipeg () Ontario Markham () Brampton () Richmond Hill () Mississauga () Ajax () Toronto () Pickering () Milton () Whitchurch-Stouffville () Vaughan () Oakville () Windsor () Aurora () Waterloo () Ottawa () Newmarket () Whitby () Quebec Brossard () Dollard-des-Ormeaux () Montréal () Laval () Mount Royal () Kirkland () Dorval () Legislative versus operational definitions According to the Employment Equity Act of 1995, the definition of visible minority is: "persons, other than aboriginal peoples, who are non-Caucasian in race or non-white in colour". This definition can be traced back to the 1984 Report of the Abella Commission on Equality in Employment. The Commission described the term visible minority as an "ambiguous categorization", but for practical purposes interpreted it to mean "visibly non-white". The Canadian government uses an operational definition by which it identifies the following groups as visible minorities: "Chinese, South Asian, Black, Filipino, Latin American, Southeast Asian, Arab, West Asian, Korean, Japanese, Visible minority, n.i.e. (n.i.e. means "not included elsewhere"), and Multiple visible minority". However, a few exceptions are applied to some groups. According to the Visible Minority Population and Population Group Reference Guide of the 2006 Census, the exception is: The term "non-white" is used in the wording of the Employment Equity Act and in employment equity questionnaires distributed to applicants and employees. This is intended as a shorthand phrase for those who are in the Aboriginal and/or visible minority groups. Controversy The classification "visible minorities" has attracted controversy, both nationally and from