Asian Canadians are Canadians who were either born in or can trace their ancestry from Asia. Canadians with Asian ancestry comprise both the largest and fastest-growing group in Canada, after European Canadians, forming approximately 20.2 percent of the Canadian population as of 2021, making up the majority of Canada's visible minority population. Most Asian Canadians are concentrated in the urban areas of Southern Ontario, Southwestern British Columbia, Central Alberta, and other large Canadian cities.

Asian Canadians are considered visible minorities and may be classified as East Asian Canadians, South Asian Canadians, Southeast Asian Canadians, and West Asian Canadians.

According to the 2021 Canadian census, the pan-ethnic breakdown of major Asian-origin Canadian groups includes South Asian Canadians (2,571,400 persons or 35.1%), East Asian Canadians (2,288,775 persons or 31.2%), Southeast Asian Canadians (1,435,360 persons or 19.6%), and West Asian Canadians (1,086,230 people or 14.8%). In further detail, the largest self-reported Asian origin groups in Canada are Chinese Canadians, Indian Canadians, Filipino Canadians, Pakistani Canadians, Vietnamese Canadians, and Lebanese Canadians.

In the Canadian census, people with origins or ancestry in East Asia (e.g. Chinese Canadians, Korean Canadians, Japanese Canadians, Tibetan Canadians), South Asia (e.g. Bangladeshi Canadians, Indian Canadians, Pakistani Canadians, Sri Lankan Canadians), Southeast Asia (e.g. Laotian Canadians, Cambodian Canadians, Filipino Canadians, Vietnamese Canadians), West Asia (e.g. Iranian Canadians, Kurdish Canadians, Israeli Canadians, Lebanese Canadians, Turkish Canadians), or Central Asia (e.g. Afghan Canadians, Uzbek Canadians, Kazakh Canadians) are all classified as part of the Asian race.

The first record of Asians in what is known as Canada today can be dated back to the late 18th century. In 1788, renegade British Captain John Meares hired a group of Chinese carpenters from Macau and employed them to build a ship at Nootka Sound, Vancouver Island, British Columbia. After the outpost was seized by Spanish forces, the eventual whereabouts of the carpenters was largely unknown.

By late 1700s, Filipinos, then-known as "Manila men" were recruited in naval operations, aboard the ship San Carlos el Filipino sent to support the short-lived Spanish settlement of Santa Cruz de Nuca and Fort San Miguel, Nootka Island, off the coast of Vancouver.

During the mid 19th century, many Chinese people arrived to take part in the British Columbia gold rushes. Beginning in 1858, early settlers formed Victoria's Chinatown and other Chinese communities in New Westminster, Yale, and Lillooet. Estimates indicate that about 1/3 of the non-native population of the Fraser goldfields was Chinese. Later, the construction of the Canadian Pacific Railway prompted another wave of immigration from the East Asian country. Mainly hailing from Guangdong Province, the Chinese helped build the Canadian Pacific Railway through the Fraser Canyon.

Many Japanese people also arrived in Canada during the mid to late 19th century and became fishermen and merchants in British Columbia. Early immigrants from the East Asian island nation most notably worked in canneries such as Steveston along the pacific coast.