By 2031, the Toronto region's white population will be the new "visible minority," according to a Statistics Canada study.

The city and its suburbs are expected to surpass the 50 per cent visible minority mark in 2017. By 2031, almost 63 per cent of the region's population will be from a visible minority community, says the study released Tuesday.

For decades Toronto has proudly worn the title of "most diverse." But never before have the numbers shown so clearly just how much more diverse we are about to become.

Minority populations will more than double in the next 20 years – from 2.3 million in 2006 to 5.6 million in 2031.

"Toronto will have 43 per cent of all the diversity of the country," said Laurent Martel, one of the authors of Projections of the Diversity of the Canadian Population.

Federal agencies asked for these numbers to help plan long-range multicultural and economic programs.

In 2031, one in four residents of the GTA will be South Asian, exceeding all other minorities by far.

Besides high immigration rates, South Asians have a higher birth rate than many other visible minorities. The Chinese in Canada, for instance, have one of the lowest birth rates.

"Soon a larger share of this visible minority population will be people actually born in Canada," said Martel. "They are children of immigrants or grandchildren of immigrants. So the face of Canadians is changing."