West Asian Canadians
West Central Asian and Middle Eastern Canadians as percent of population by province/territory
Total population
  • 1,011,145 [1]
  • 2.9% of the total Canadian population (2016)
Regions with significant populations
Toronto, Richmond Hill, Vaughan, Vancouver, Coquitlam
Languages
Religion
Related ethnic groups
Middle Eastern Canadians · Arab Canadians · Asian Canadians

West Asian Canadians, officially known as West Central Asian and Middle Eastern Canadians are Canadians who were either born in or can trace their ancestry to West Asia and Central Asia. The term West Asian Canadian is a subgroup of Asian Canadians and Middle Eastern Canadians. According to Statistics Canada, West Asian Canadians are considered visible minorities and can be further divided by nationality, such as Iranian Canadian or Afghan Canadian.

As of 2016, 1,011,145 Canadians had West and Central Asian geographical origins, constituting 2.9% of the Canadian population and 16.6% of Canada's Asian Canadian population.

Terminology

In the Canadian census, people with geographical origins or ancestry in West Asia (e.g. Arab Canadians, Armenian Canadians, Kurdish Canadians, Iranian Canadians, Turkish Canadians) and Central Asia (e.g. Afghan Canadians, Kazakh Canadians, Uzbek Canadians) are classified as West Asian, officially as West Central Asian and Middle Eastern.[3]

History

  • West & Central Asian Canadian
  • Population History
YearPop.±%
2001483,415—    
2006652,645+35.0%
2011778,465+19.3%
20161,011,150+29.9%

19th century

People from what are now Lebanon and Syria started immigrating to Canada during the late 19th century; the Ottoman province of Syria at that time covered the entire Levant, so they were called either Turks or "Syrian−Lebanese" on census reports. Settling in the Montreal area of southern Quebec, they became the first West Asian group to immigrate to Canada.[8] The first Lebanese immigrant to Canada was Abraham Bounadere (Ibrahim Abu Nadir) from Zahlé in Lebanon who settled in Montreal in 1882.[9] Because of situations within Lebanon and restrictive Canadian laws these immigrants were 90% Christian. These immigrants were mostly economic migrants seeking greater prosperity in the New World.

Similar to late 19th century through early 20th century Lebanese immigration and settler patterns, while the vast majority of Syrians migrated to South America, a small percentage made their way to the United States, and an even smaller percentage settled in Canada. Once again, in a similar demographic to early Lebanese settlers to Canada, the overwhelming majority of Syrians who settled in Canada from the 1880s–1960s were of the Christian faith. The so-called Shepard of the lost flock, Saint Raphael Hawaweeny of Brooklyn, New York, came to Montreal in 1896 to help establish a Christian association called the Syrian Benevolent Society and then later on an Orthodox church in Montreal for the newly arrived Syrian faithful.[10]

West Asian settlement into Canada was also bolstered by early Armenian immigration during the late 19th century. The first Armenians migrated to Canada in the 1880s. The first recorded Armenian to settle in Canada was a man named Garabed Nergarian, who came to Port Hope, Ontario in 1887.[11][12] Some 37 Armenians settled in Canada in 1892 and 100 in 1895. Most early Armenian migrants to Canada were men who were seeking employment. After the Hamidian massacres of mid-1890s Armenian families from the Ottoman Empire began settling in Canada.

20th century

In 1901, Canada had between 300–400 Muslim residents, equally divided between Turks and Syrian Arabs.[13] Furthermore, the turn of the 20th century featured a small wave of Syrian−Lebanese settlement into the southern prairies including Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba. Contemporarily in Lebanon, many families were from what was western Syria at the time in particular settled in southern Saskatchewan.[14] A majority of the Syrian−Lebanese families settling in the prairies were of the Christian faith, with a minority adhering to Islam, mirroring earlier settler demographics in Nova Scotia, Quebec and Ontario. Prominent settlement occurred in communities such as Swift Current, Saskatchewan, and Lac La Biche, Alberta.[15][16][17] Few reached the Northwest Territories, the best known being Peter Baker, author of the book An Arctic Arab, and later elected as a member of the legislative assembly of the Northwest Territories.[18]

During the pre-World War I period, Turks were to be found in mining and logging camps across Canada.[19] However, due to bad relations between the Ottoman Empire and the Allies, further migration was made difficult for the Turks and the Canadian government discouraged "Asian" immigration.[19] With the Canadian Immigration Act of 1910, Turkish immigration to the Canada was banned.[20] With the onset of World War I, Turkish Canadians were placed in "enemy alien" internment camps.[21] Five days after the war began, on 10 November 1914, 98 Turks were deported and settled in Kingston and then in Kapuskasing. Their number increased over time.[22] They were not the only "enemy aliens" subjected to internment. More than 8,500 people were placed in 24 camps during the war. Of them, 205 were Turks.[23][24]

Before the Armenian genocide of 1915 some 1,800 Armenians already lived in Canada. They were overwhelmingly from the Armenian provinces of the Ottoman Empire and usually lived in industrial urban areas. The influx of Armenians to Canada was limited in the post-World War I era because Armenians were classified as Asians.[12] Nevertheless, some 1,500 genocide survivors—mostly women and children—came to Canada as refugees.[25] In 1923–1924, some 100 Armenians orphans aged 8–12, later known as the Georgetown Boys, were brought to Canada from Corfu, Greece by the Armenian Canadian Relief Fund to Georgetown, Ontario.[11] Dubbed "The Noble Experiment", it was Canada's first humanitarian act on an international scale.[12] The Georgetown Farmhouse (now the Cedarvale Community Centre) was designated historic and protected municipal site in 2010.[26] Overall, between 1900 and 1930 some 3,100 Armenians entered Canada, with 75% settling in Ontario and 20% in Quebec.[27] Some later moved to the United States; 1,577 Armenians entered the U.S. from Canada between 1899 and 1917.[12]

The Iranian Revolution of 1979 resulted in a spike of immigration to Canada from the West Asian country.[28] In the aftermath, many Iranian Canadians began to categorize themselves as "Persian" rather than "Iranian", mainly to dissociate themselves from the Islamic regime of Iran and the negativity associated with it, and also to distinguish themselves as being of Persian ethnicity.[29][30]

Demography

Storefronts in North York offering Iranian cuisine. North York holds the largest population of West Asians in Toronto.

Ethnic and national origins

West and Central Asian Canadians Demography by Ethnic and National Origins (2001−2016)
Ethnic/National
Origin		 2016[4] 2011[5] 2006[6] 2001[7]
Pop. % Pop. % Pop. % Pop. %
Lebanese 219,555 21.71% 190,275 24.44% 165,150 25.3% 143,635 29.71%
Iranian 210,405 20.81% 163,290 20.98% 121,505 18.62% 88,220 18.25%
Afghan 83,995 8.31% 62,815 8.07% 48,090 7.37% 25,230 5.22%
Syrian 77,045 7.62% 40,840 5.25% 31,370 4.81% 22,065 4.56%
Iraqi 70,920 7.01% 49,680 6.38% 29,950 4.59% 19,245 3.98%
Turkish 63,955 6.32% 55,430 7.12% 43,700 6.7% 24,910 5.15%
Armenian 63,810 6.31% 55,740 7.16% 50,500 7.74% 40,505 8.38%
Palestinian 44,820 4.43% 31,245 4.01% 23,975 3.67% 14,675 3.04%
Israeli 28,735 2.84% 15,010 1.93% 10,755 1.65% 6,060 1.25%
Kurdish 16,315 1.61% 11,685 1.5% 9,205 1.41% 5,680 1.17%
Jordanian 14,250 1.41% 9,425 1.21% 6,905 1.06% 3,760 0.78%
Assyrian 13,830 1.37% 10,810 1.39% 8,650 1.33% 6,980 1.44%
Saudi Arabian 6,810 0.67% 7,955 1.02% 2,730 0.42% 1,080 0.22%
Yemeni 6,645 0.66% 3,945 0.51% 2,300 0.35% 1,445 0.3%
Azerbaijani 6,425 0.64% 4,580 0.59% 3,465 0.53% 1,445 0.3%
Tatar 4,825 0.48% 2,850 0.37% 2,300 0.35% 875 0.18%
Pashtun 4,810 0.48% 3,315 0.43% 1,690 0.26% 1,040 0.22%
Georgian 4,775 0.47% 3,155 0.41% 2,200 0.34% 970 0.2%
Uzbek 3,920 0.39% 2,725 0.35% N/A N/A N/A N/A
Kazakh 3,330 0.33% 2,270 0.29% N/A N/A N/A N/A
Tajik 2,905 0.29% 2,400 0.31% N/A N/A N/A N/A
Kuwaiti 2,240 0.22% 2,240 0.29% 1,575 0.24% 855 0.18%
Uighur 1,555 0.15% 1,155 0.15% N/A N/A N/A N/A
Hazara 1,520 0.15% N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A
Kyrgyz 1,055 0.1% N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A
Turkmen 1,040 0.1% N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A
  • Other
  • Arab
 111,405 11.02% 94,640 12.16% 86,135 13.2% 71,705 14.83%
  • Other
  • West & Central Asian
 25,280 2.5% 16,540 2.12% 12,075 1.85% 8,805 1.82%
  • Total West & Central
  • Asian Canadian Population
 1,011,150 100% 778,465 100% 652,645 100% 483,415 100%

Religion

Religious background of West Asian Canadians (2001)

  Islam (53%)
  Orthodox (11%)
  Mainline Protestant (9%)
  Catholic (8%)
  Irreligion (6%)
  Others (13%)

Geographical distribution

Provinces & territories

West Asian population by province or territory (2016)
Province / territory Population Percentage
Ontario[31] 523,340 4%
Quebec[32] 240,795 3%
British Columbia[33] 99,560 2.2%
Alberta[34] 97,355 2.4%
Nova Scotia[35] 17,205 1.9%
Manitoba[36] 11,850 1%
Saskatchewan[37] 9,415 0.9%
New Brunswick[38] 6,835 0.9%
Newfoundland and Labrador[39] 2,660 0.5%
Prince Edward Island[40] 1,625 1.2%
Northwest Territories[41] 215 0.5%
Yukon[42] 195 0.6%
Nunavut[43] 100 0.3%
Canada[1] 1,011,145 2.9%

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "Census Profile, 2016 Census Canada [Country] and Canada [Country]". Statistics Canada. Retrieved May 3, 2020.
  2. ↑ "The Lebanese Community in Canada". Statistics Canada. 28 August 2007.
  3. ↑ Chief Statistician of Canada. "2021 Census: 2A-L — Instructions and question overview". Statistics Canada.
  4. 1 2 Government of Canada, Statistics Canada (2019-06-17). "Ethnic Origin (279), Single and Multiple Ethnic Origin Responses (3), Generation Status (4), Age (12) and Sex (3) for the Population in Private Households of Canada, Provinces and Territories, Census Metropolitan Areas and Census Agglomerations, 2016 Census - 25% Sample Data". www12.statcan.gc.ca. Retrieved 2022-08-31.
  5. 1 2 Government of Canada, Statistics Canada (2019-01-23). "Ethnic Origin (264), Single and Multiple Ethnic Origin Responses (3), Generation Status (4), Age Groups (10) and Sex (3) for the Population in Private Households of Canada, Provinces, Territories, Census Metropolitan Areas and Census Agglomerations, 2011 National Household Survey". www12.statcan.gc.ca. Retrieved 2022-08-31.
  6. 1 2 Government of Canada, Statistics Canada (2020-05-01). "Ethnic Origin (247), Single and Multiple Ethnic Origin Responses (3) and Sex (3) for the Population of Canada, Provinces, Territories, Census Metropolitan Areas and Census Agglomerations, 2006 Census - 20% Sample Data". www12.statcan.gc.ca. Retrieved 2022-08-31.
  7. 1 2 Government of Canada, Statistics Canada (2013-12-23). "Ethnic Origin (232), Sex (3) and Single and Multiple Responses (3) for Population, for Canada, Provinces, Territories, Census Metropolitan Areas and Census Agglomerations, 2001 Census - 20% Sample Data". www12.statcan.gc.ca. Retrieved 2022-08-31.
  8. ↑ "History of Recent Arab Immigration to Canada".
  9. ↑ "History of Recent Arab Immigration to Canada". www.canadianarabcommunity.com. Retrieved 2021-05-18.
  10. ↑ "About us". www.saintgeorgemontreal.org. Archived from the original on 3 September 2018. Retrieved 20 August 2017.
  11. 1 2 Ouzounian 2003, p. 331.
  12. 1 2 3 4 Vartanian, Hrag (June 2000). "Armenians in Ontario and Quebec: The Long Road to Canada". AGBU Magazine. Armenian General Benevolent Union. Archived from the original on 13 August 2019.
  13. ↑ Abu-Laban 1983, 76.
  14. ↑ "Lebanese Community". esask.uregina.ca. Retrieved 2022-09-15. People of Lebanese/ Syrian origin began immigrating to Saskatchewan in the early 1900s (some immigrants were born in what was western Syria prior to the border between Lebanon and Syria being redrawn after WORLD WAR I—those towns are now part of Lebanon—whereas the designation "Lebanese" is typically used by current families when referring to their heritage). A number of families settled in the southeast, in or near communities such as RADVILLE, CEYLON, LAMPMAN, and North Portal. Over forty individuals and families homesteaded or started businesses in small towns in the SWIFT CURRENT district. Some only remained for a year or two before moving to larger centres, but many stayed and became part of the mosaic of life in rural Saskatchewan.
  15. ↑ "Salloum's Arab Cooking a delicious look at little-known Sask. history". leaderpost.com. Retrieved 2022-09-15.
  16. ↑ "Old Stock Canadians: Arab Settlers in Western Canada". activehistory.ca. Retrieved 2022-09-15. The southern Saskatchewan plains where Ganam was born, and that he dashed across, were home to many Arab settlers. Most referred to themselves and were known as Syrians, meaning that they came from an area encompassing present-day Syria and Lebanon. Arab settlers from Syria/Lebanon arrived in Western Canada starting well over one hundred years ago. They settled throughout the West but there was a significant cluster of Arabs in southern Saskatchewan on arid marginal land in the heart of Captain John Palliser's infamous triangle that he identified as an extension of the Great American Desert. Most were from eastern Lebanon and they included Muslims and Christians. They were generally single men, arriving on the Canadian prairies through the United States. Others arrived as families. Some filed on homesteads of 160 acres, and "proved up", receiving title to their land and persisted for decades. Others, like thousands of would-be homesteaders, deserted or abandoned their land. Some purchased land that they farmed. Aside from farming, Arab settlers operated general stores, bakeries and cafes in towns throughout the West and some were traveling merchants, visiting the isolated farms on foot or by horse and wagon in summer, and sleigh in winter.
  17. ↑ "Regional Cultures: Lebanese". laclabichemuseum.com. Retrieved 2022-09-15. Lac La Biche is the site of one of the first permanent Lebanese settlements in Alberta and has the highest percentage of Lebanese people per capita (14%) in the province. Most of the Lebanese community today have roots in either Lala or Kherbet Rouha, both located in the Beqaa Valley. The first Lebanese immigrants in Alberta, Ali Abouchadi (Alexander Hamilton) and his uncle Sine Abouchadi, came to Canada in 1905 intending to work the gold rush. Unfortunately, they arrived too late. By 1906, they were peddling goods between Edmonton and Lac La Biche; eventually, Sine opened a general store in Lac La Biche, which his nephew took over in 1913.
  18. ↑ "Multicultural Canada". multiculturalcanada.ca. Archived from the original on 2007-09-28. Retrieved 2007-05-14.
  19. 1 2 Aksan 1999, 1276.
  20. ↑ Matas, David (1 December 1985). "Racism in Canadian Immigration Policy". Refuge: Canada's Journal on Refugees. 5 (2): 8–9. doi:10.25071/1920-7336.21485. Retrieved 2020-06-25.
  21. ↑ "First World War Timeline". The Canadian Encyclopedia. Retrieved May 3, 2020.
  22. ↑ Haber7. "Esir kamplarına götürülen 205 Türk'ün sırrı". Haber7 (in Turkish). Retrieved 2022-02-05.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  23. ↑ "Canadian Homefront | Queen's University Archives". archives.queensu.ca. Retrieved 2022-02-05.
  24. ↑ "Armenian diaspora and the memory of 205 Ottoman Turks in Canada". Hürriyet Daily News. Retrieved 2022-02-05.
  25. ↑ Kaprielian-Churchill, Isabel (December 14, 2008). "Armenian Canadians". The Canadian Encyclopedia. Archived from the original on 29 August 2019.
  26. ↑ Weekly Staff (8 July 2010). "Georgetown Boys Farmhouse Designated Historic Site". Armenian Weekly. Archived from the original on 29 August 2019.
  27. ↑ Ouzounian 2003, p. 332.
  28. ↑ "Iranians". The Canadian Encyclopedia. Retrieved May 28, 2020.
  29. ↑ Daha, Maryam (September 2011). "Contextual Factors Contributing to Ethnic Identity Development of Second-Generation Iranian American Adolescents". Journal of Adolescent Research. 26 (5): 543–569. doi:10.1177/0743558411402335. S2CID 146592244. ... the majority of the participants self-identified themselves as Persian instead of Iranian, due to the stereotypes and negative portrayals of Iranians in the media and politics. Adolescents from Jewish and Baha'i faiths asserted their religious identity more than their ethnic identity. The fact Iranians use Persian interchangeably is nothing to do with current Iranian government because the name Iran was used before this period as well. Linguistically modern Persian is a branch of Old Persian in the family of Indo-European languages and that includes all the minorities as well more inclusively.
  30. ↑ Bozorgmehr, Mehdi (2009). "Iran". In Mary C. Waters; Reed Ueda; Helen B. Marrow (eds.). The New Americans: A Guide to Immigration since 1965. Harvard University Press. p. 469. ISBN 978-0-674-04493-7.
  31. ↑ "Census Profile, 2016 Census Ontario [Province] and Canada [Country]". Statistics Canada. Retrieved May 3, 2020.
  32. ↑ "Census Profile, 2016 Census Quebec [Province] and Canada [Country]". Statistics Canada. Retrieved May 3, 2020.
  33. ↑ "Census Profile, 2016 Census British Columbia [Province] and Canada [Country]". Statistics Canada. Retrieved May 3, 2020.
  34. ↑ "Census Profile, 2016 Census Alberta [Province] and Canada [Country]". Statistics Canada. Retrieved May 3, 2020.
  35. ↑ "Census Profile, 2016 Census Nova Scotia [Province] and Canada [Country]". Statistics Canada. Retrieved May 3, 2020.
  36. ↑ "Census Profile, 2016 Census Manitoba [Province] and Canada [Country]". Statistics Canada. Retrieved May 3, 2020.
  37. ↑ "Census Profile, 2016 Census Saskatchewan [Province] and Canada [Country]". Statistics Canada. Retrieved May 3, 2020.
  38. ↑ "Census Profile, 2016 Census New Brunswick [Province] and Canada [Country]". Statistics Canada. Retrieved May 3, 2020.
  39. ↑ "Census Profile, 2016 Census Newfoundland and Labrador [Province] and Canada [Country]". Statistics Canada. Retrieved May 3, 2020.
  40. ↑ "Census Profile, 2016 Census Prince Edward Island [Province] and Canada [Country]". Statistics Canada. Retrieved May 3, 2020.
  41. ↑ "Census Profile, 2016 Census Northwest Territories [Territory] and Canada [Country]". Statistics Canada. Retrieved May 3, 2020.
  42. ↑ "Census Profile, 2016 Census Yukon [Territory] and Canada [Country]". Statistics Canada. Retrieved May 3, 2020.
  43. ↑ "Census Profile, 2016 Census Nunavut [Territory] and Canada [Country]". Statistics Canada. Retrieved May 3, 2020.
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