Canada has attracted a number of internationally renowned writers from Sri Lanka , including Shyam Selvadurai . Despite his family 's relative privilege and urban base , his family left Sri Lanka because of the 1983 riots . Canadian Tamils have also contributed to the sports fields such as the formerly ranked Canadian tennis player Sonya Jeyaseelan and cricketer Sanjayan Thuraisingam . Pradeeban Peter-Paul a Tamil Canadian table tennis player has been part of the Canadian National Team for the past 12 years . He was one of two Canadians who qualified to represent Canada at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing , China . Soccer and cricket are two of the main sports played by the Tamil population in Canada
1983 riots
Black July
Tamil Canadians