The Nepalese Diaspora in Canada: History, Diasporic Experiences, and Contemporary Issues

Despite the Nepalese diaspora being a part of the South Asian diaspora in Canada—the largest fraction of Canadian diasporas—systematic investigations into and knowledge about the Nepalese diaspora is strikingly limited. The existing studies centred on the South Asian diaspora predominantly deal with the Indian, Pakistani, Sri Lankan, and Bangladeshi diasporas and often homogenize the Nepalese diaspora with these diasporic groups. This study, as the first scholarly investigation into this group, examines the emerging and fast-growing Nepalese diasporic community in Canada. Based on government data, reports, and in-depth semi-structured interviews, this article presents the history of the Nepalese diaspora in Canada. It also delineates their diasporic experiences as they arrive and embark on a new journey to Canada and some contemporary socio-cultural and intergenerational issues that have arisen in this diasporic community. The article finds a rapid growth in the Nepalese diaspora in about the last two decades. It identifies the quest for a better life, health care, social security, children’s education, and escape from political turmoil and instability in their native country as the chief reasons for this influx of Nepalese in Canada. The article also uncovers dramatic career shifts, adaptation or settlement-related strains, longing for homeland, cultural decline, and growing intergenerational gaps as the key post-immigration challenges encountered by the Nepalese diaspora in Canada.