The actors in this film speak 59 different languages. These include Amharic, Arabic, Assamese, Aymara, Azerbaijani, Bengali, Bisaya, Bosnian, Cambodian, Cantonese, Cebuano, Chavacano, Croatian, Czech, Farsi, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Gujarati, Hindi, Hebrew, Hokkian, Hungarian, Italian, Ilonggo, Japanese, Karen, Kichwa, Kikongo, Kiswahili, Korean, Laos, Lingala, Malgasy, Malay, Malayalam, Mandarin, Marathi, Oromo, Polish, Pangasinan, Portuguese, Punjabi, , Roumanian, Russian, Serbian, Sinhalese, Slovakian, Spanish, Swahili, Tagalog, Thai, Tshiluba, Turkish, Turkmen, Ukrainian, Urdu, Vietnamese, and Yoruba.
Every cast member was a new discovery, including star Yulia Guzhva, who had never acted prior to her lead role in Diaspora.
Diaspora was filmed in the Selkirk Avenue neighbourhood of Winnipeg, with great cooperation from the community.
Bear Clan Patrol was on set to provide security for the shoot. Bear Clan Patrol came about as a result of the ongoing need to assume the traditional responsibility to provide security to the Aboriginal community. Given that the Aboriginal population in Winnipeg is anywhere from 60,000 to 80,000, and is heavily concentrated in certain inner city neighborhoods, it was felt that the community must organize to keep the peace and to assist community members. The concept behind the patrol, then, is community people working with the community to provide personal security in the inner city in a non-threatening, non-violent and supportive way. James Favel, Executive Director of Bear Clan Patrol, who is a member of the Order of Manitoba, appears in the film as Paw. Smokey Bear, who is also a member of Bear Clan Patrol, appears in the film as the Large Indigenous Man in Eva's apartment.
The cast was discovered through an open call which all members of the community were invited to attend. Hundreds of people applied in person, and in online submissions.