Of course this also brought many problems that pervade immigrant communities, including difficulties in employment, education and language barriers. The Sikh community also experienced difficulty dealing with alcoholism, domestic violonce, discrimination on all fronts, and identity issues such as integrating their cultural and religious background in the best social climate. There are approximately 100 Sikh children in Richmond Hill's local elementary school and 80 Sikh youth in its local high school. Sikh men in the area are predominantly employed as taxi drivers, and construction, store and warehouse workers. A small percentage of them own small businesses or work for the government.
Women are mostly housewives and store and warehouse workers.
There are few professionals or large business owners who have continued to remain in Richmond Hill. Because of the density of the Sikh population in this area, Richmond Hill is a unique target site to implement our proposed programmes. We aim to serve the needs of the Sikhs in the area in a systematic and comprehensive fashion with the ultimate goal of creating a pilot programme that would serve as a modal for future programmes in other areas. Sadly, a large number of women are the victims of domestic violence, as continuously reported by social activists. Alcoholism is rampant in this community.