Middle Eastern Canadians are

Canadians Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

who were either born in or can trace their ancestry to the

Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Province), East Thrace (Europ ...

, which includes

Western Asia 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 Ana ...

and

North Africa North Africa, or Northern Africa is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region, and it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of Mauritania in ...

History

Initial settlement

Individuals from the Middle East first arrived in Canada in 1882, when a group of Syrian and Lebanese immigrants settled in Montreal. Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and Palestine were ruled by the Ottoman Empire at that time. As a result, early Arabic immigrants from these countries were referred to as either Turks or Syrians by Canadian authorities.

20th century

During World War I, Middle Eastern Canadians of Turkish origin were placed in “enemy alien" internment camps. The Middle Eastern Canadian population grew rapidly during the latter half of the 20th century; the 1979

Iranian Revolution The Iranian Revolution ( fa, انقلاب ایران, Enqelâb-e Irân, ), also known as the Islamic Revolution ( fa, انقلاب اسلامی, Enqelâb-e Eslâmī), was a series of events that culminated in the overthrow of the Pahlavi dyna ...

resulted in a spike of immigration to Canada from the West Asian country.

21st century

The Syrian refugee crisis during the 2010s fueled further growth to the already existing Syrian population; increased immigration from the West Asian country resulted in Syria becoming the third highest source country of

immigration to Canada According to the 2021 Canadian census, immigrants in Canada number 8.3 million persons and make up approximately 23 percent of Canada's total population. This represents the eighth-largest immigrant population in the world, while the proport ...

adding 35,000 Syrians becoming permanent residents in 2016.

Demography

Ethnic and national origins

Language

The vast majority of Middle Eastern Canadians speak West Asian and North African languages as a mother tongue or second language. The top five middle eastern languages spoken in Canada include Arabic, Farsi, Armenian, Turkish and Hebrew.

Religion

Islam, Christianity and Judaism are the dominant religions among the middle eastern Canadian population.

References

{{Reflist Ethnic groups in Canada