OTTAWA?Canada's ethnic makeup will greatly change in the next 20 years as the number of non-Europeans or "visible minorities" rises to nearly one-third of the population, a government agency said Tuesday.

"Between now and 2031, the foreign-born population of Canada could increase approximately four times faster than the rest of the population," reaching between 9.8 million and 12.5 million, said Statistics Canada.

As well, the number of Canadian-born children and grandchildren of immigrants is expected to "increase rapidly," it said.

Canada's total population now is 33.87 million.

Sustained immigration, combined with "slightly higher fertility and a younger age structure" could nearly double the proportion of visible minorities reported by a 2006 census to up to 32 percent of the population.

Up to 28 percent of Canadians could be foreign-born -- the highest level ever, the government agency said.

By 2031, nearly one-half (46 percent) of Canadians aged 15 and over would be foreign-born, or would have at least one foreign-born parent.

The changing face of the nation would be most striking in its largest cities (Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver) where visible minorities would comprise up to 63 percent of the population.

Canada's South Asian population (from Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka) would remain the largest visible minority group in the country, with a population expected to more than double to as many as 4.1 million.

The number of Chinese Canadians is projected to grow also, to around 3.0 million. But as Chinese women have one of the lowest fertility rates in Canada, the Chinese share of the population is expected to decline.

Black and Filipino populations, which were the third and fourth largest visible minority groups in 2006, meanwhile, could also double in size.

And Arab and West Asian groups could more than triple.