His Highness the Aga Khan has a long-standing relationship with Canada, dating back to the arrival of the first Ismailis in the 1950s and 1960s as part of a professional pool that immigrated to Canada from the United Kingdom and western European countries. This steady growth continued until the early 1970s when political changes in many Asian and African countries led to the arrival of large numbers of Ismailis in Canada. Today, approximately 120,000 Ismailis of diverse origins are settled throughout Canada.