Israeli Canadians ( he, יִשְׂרְאֵלִים קָנָדִים, french: les Canadiens Israéliens) are

Canadian citizens Canadian nationality law details the conditions in which a person is a national of Canada. With few exceptions, almost all individuals born in the country are automatically citizens at birth. Foreign nationals may naturalize after living in C ...

of Israeli descent or

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

-born people who reside in

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 ...

. According to the 2011 Census there were 15,010 Canadians who claimed full or partial Israeli ancestry, although it is estimated that as many as 30,000 Israelis live in Canada,A History of the Canadian Jewish Community
/ref> making it home to one of the largest Israeli diaspora groups in the world. According to the 2016 Population Group Reference Guide published by Statistics Canada, those who trace their ancestry to present-day Israel or the greater Levant are classified as

West Asian Western Asia, West Asia, or Southwest Asia, is the westernmost subregion of the larger geographical region of Asia, as defined by some academics, UN bodies and other institutions. It is almost entirely a part of the Middle East, and includes An ...

origin and

visible minorities A visible minority () is defined by the Government of Canada as "persons, other than aboriginal peoples, who are non-Caucasian in race or non-white in colour". The term is used primarily as a demographic category by Statistics Canada, in connect ...

, provided they do not specify another European write-in response.Visible Minority and Population Group Reference Guide, Census of Population, 2016
/ref>

History

Many Israeli Jews emigrated to

throughout the period of the declaration of the state of Israel and until today. Today, the descendants of these people are known as Israeli Canadians. Israelis began migrating to Canada shortly after the founding of the state of Israel in 1948. Thus, during the 1950s and early 1960s, began the first wave of Israeli immigration to Canada when many Israelis emigrated to that country. A second wave of immigration began in the 1970s and has continued ever since. The number of Israeli immigrants in Canada is not known with certainty, as estimates vary between 20,000 and 30,000 Israeli settled in Canada during that decade. Therefore, the actual number of Israeli immigrants in Canada is an issue that has been hotly debated since 1980. Thus, many Israeli Canadians had previously established in other countries. During the 1980s and 1990s, Israeli immigration to Canada was increasing in large numbers for a couple of reasons. These include the ongoing

Arab–Israeli conflict The Arab–Israeli conflict is an ongoing intercommunal phenomenon involving political tension, military conflicts, and other disputes between Arab countries and Israel, which escalated during the 20th century, but had mostly faded out by the ...

, Israel's connection to North American culture, as well as new economic and educational opportunities in Canada.

Demographics

Israeli Canadians by province or territory

Israeli Canadians by city

Prominent Canadians of Israeli descent

References

{{Asian Canadians