Canadian Mexicans are Mexican citizens who have Canadian ancestry or are immigrants from

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. An important Canadian-descended group is the Plautdietsch-speaking "Russian" Mennonites and their descendants, who emigrated from Canada to Mexico starting in 1922.

History

Early immigration

Individuals born in what is now Canada have been present in Mexico since the early republic. For example, the

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

-born Michel Branamour Menard was a settler of

Mexican Texas Mexican Texas is the historiographical name used to refer to the era of Texan history between 1821 and 1836, when it was part of Mexico. Mexico gained independence in 1821 after winning its war against Spain, which began in 1810. Initially ...

and became a Mexican citizen. An important Canadian immigrant was engineer Carlos Henry Bosdet, who set up the first

telephone A telephone is a telecommunications device that permits two or more users to conduct a conversation when they are too far apart to be easily heard directly. A telephone converts sound, typically and most efficiently the human voice, into e ...

line in Mexico in 1878. Canadian immigrants were first tabulated in the 1900 census. A total of 140 individuals, 102 men and 38 women, were counted.

Mennonite immigration

The ancestors of the Mennonites living in Mexico arrived via Canada. Migration to Mexico took place mainly in the years 1922 to 1927, with smaller groups coming after

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

. The 1930 census counted 7,779 Canadian immigrants; 3,862 men and 3,917 women. Most, but not all, of these immigrants were Mennonites. The first settlers moved to the

State of Chihuahua Chihuahua (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Chihuahua ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Chihuahua), is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the 32 federal entities of Mexico. It is located in northwestern Mex ...

(near Cuauhtemoc) and Durango (near Nuevo Ideal). Later daughter-settlements in other states were established ( San Luis Potosí, Sinaloa, Sonora,

Zacatecas , image_map = Zacatecas in Mexico (location map scheme).svg , map_caption = State of Zacatecas within Mexico , coordinates = , coor_pinpoint = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type ...

, Campeche,

Quintana Roo Quintana Roo ( , ), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Quintana Roo ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Quintana Roo), is one of the 31 states which, with Mexico City, constitute the 32 federal entities of Mexico. It is divided into 11 mu ...

and

Tamaulipas Tamaulipas (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Tamaulipas ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Tamaulipas), is a state in the northeast region of Mexico; one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the 32 Federal Entiti ...

). Today, there are about 100,000 Mennonites in Mexico.

Recent immigration

Contemporary Canadian emigrants to Mexico consist mainly of working professionals that settle in larger cities and retired individuals living in smaller towns. According to Canada's

Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade Global Affairs Canada (GAC; french: Affaires mondiales Canada; AMC)''Global Affairs Canada'' is the applied title under the Federal Identity Program; the legal title is Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development (). is the department ...

, there are about 6,000 Canadians living in

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

, but only 3,000 are registered with the Canadian Embassy in

Mexico City Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital city, capital and primate city, largest city of Mexico, and the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North Amer ...

.Canadians Abroad: Canada's Global Asset
, ''Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada'', 26 July 2011.
, ''CBC News'', 13 January 2010. According to statistics from Mexico's

National Institute of Statistics and Geography The National Institute of Statistics and Geography (INEGI by its name in es, Instituto Nacional de Estadística, Geografía e Informática) is an autonomous agency of the Mexican Government dedicated to coordinate the National System of Stat ...

, in 2009 there were 10,869 Canadian-born persons living in Mexico. According to

INEGI The National Institute of Statistics and Geography (INEGI by its name in es, Instituto Nacional de Estadística, Geografía e Informática) is an autonomous agency of the Mexican Government dedicated to coordinate the National System of Sta ...

's 2020 census, there are 12,439 Canadian-born emigrants residing in Mexico.

Notable individuals

Notable Mexicans of Canadian origin include the artist

Arnold Belkin Arnold Belkin (December 9, 1930 – July 3, 1992) was a Canadian- Mexican painter credited for continuing the Mexican muralism tradition at a time when many Mexican painters were shifting away from it. Born and raised in western Canada, he ...

, cinematographer Alex Phillips, actress

Fannie Kauffman Fannie Kauffman (April 11, 1924 – February 21, 2009), who was often known by the stage name Vitola, was a Canadian-born Cuban actress and comedian. Biography Early life Kauffman was born on April 11, 1924, in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. She m ...

, and the wrestler Vampiro Canadiense.

References

{{Ethnic groups in Mexico Immigration to Mexico Ethnic groups in Mexico Canada–Mexico relations