The Tamil community in Canada has a population size of about 73,000 (in 1994), and an overwhelming majority - about 93 per cent - of them have come from Sri Lanka (or Eelam, as it is known in Tamil) in the last decade. Most originate from the Jaffna district in the Northern Province, and hence are known as Jaffna Tamils. They were admitted throughf humanitarian and compassionate considerations as a result of the continuing communal conflict in that country. Other immigrants from Sri Lanka - Sinhalese, Malays, and Burghers - constitute about 10 per cent of the total Sri Lankan population of about 75,000 in Canada. A total of 80 landings were recorded in 1964 who declared themselves as citizens of Sri Lanka - or Ceylon, as it was known then. There were another 4,300 Sri Lankan immigrants landed-of which about 30 per cent were Tamils - in the next two decades; the others arrived in the last decade.

Tamils constitute about one-fifth of the population of Sri Lanka (17.4 million in 1991), and India has a Tamil population of about 55 million in the south Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Tamil immigrants from India constitute about 6 per cent of the Canadian Tamil population, with less than 1 per cent from Malaysia, Singapore, Fiji, Mauritius, Trinidad, Guyana, and South Africa - descendants of the colonial migrants from India. Common cultural linkage notwithstanding, historically Jaffna Tamils have developed a distinct social tradition from that of Tamils of India. Today, the Sri Lankan Tamil community is often seen as synonymous with both the Sri Lankan community and the Tamil community in Canada.

Early Tamil migrants to Canada - just like other post-1967 migrants from developing nations admitted under the immigration points system - were mostly professionals and their families. They were scattered across the country in major cities, with the largest proportion living in Toronto and Montreal. Presently, nearly 90 per cent of Tamil Canadians live in the greater Toronto region - Ajax to Oakville to Richmond Hill - and this population represents a cross-section of the home-country population. An estimated Tamil population of 5,000 lives in Montreal, with much smaller groups of Tamils living in other major cities, such as Ottawa, Winnipeg, Edmonton, and Vancouver.

As a young community in Canada, the Tamil community has very close connections with both its language and culture. The propagation of Tamil language is fairly assured among recent immigrants, whose family conversations, social gatherings, and cultural programs are conducted almost entirely in Tamil. However, a significant proportion of children who were either born in Canada or came as very young children can understand the language cursorily but do not speak it (again, a phenomenon evident among immigrant communities). As a result, a series of weekend heritage language classes have been organized within several municipal school boards. Students are learning Tamil as they would German, Spanish, or French in high school, and they obtain the appropriate credit for each grade level.