South Asian Communities

South Asian communities in Canada are internally diverse across geography, migration history, language, caste, religion, class, gender, sexuality, immigration status, disability, and lived experience. Most study participants were of north Indian, especially Punjabi, origin, with limited south Indian representation and only one Pakistani participant. Recruiting South Asian patients with limited English proficiency and recent immigrants was difficult despite multilingual and culturally informed efforts. South Asian Canadians, defined as people tracing ethnic origins to the Indian subcontinent and related diaspora, are the largest and fastest-growing racialised group in Canada. The protocol frames South Asian health disparities as intergenerational and structurally produced. South Asian communities in Canada have higher rates of cardiometabolic disease, cardiovascular disease, and mental health conditions than people of European ancestry. IBD risk is greatest among first-generation South Asian Canadians and those who immigrated at younger ages. South Asian settlers in Canada have diverse multigenerational and transnational heritage origins.