Middle Eastern Canadians


Middle Eastern Canadians are Canadians with ancestry, origins, or citizenship from the Middle East, which includes Western Asia and North Africa.

Terminology

History

Individuals from the Middle East first arrived in Canada in 1882, when a group of Lebanese immigrants settled in Montreal.
During the first world war, 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 Islamic revolution in Iran resulted in a spike of immigration to Canada from the West Asian country
The Syrian refugee crisis during the 2010s fueled further growth in the middle eastern Canadian population.

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.