Middle Eastern Canadians are Canadians who were either born in or can trace their ancestry to the Middle East, which includes West Asia and North Africa.

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.^[2] 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.^[3]

The Middle Eastern Canadian population grew rapidly during the latter half of the 20th century; the 1979 Iranian Revolution resulted in a spike of immigration to Canada from the West Asian country.^[4]

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 adding 35,000 Syrians becoming permanent residents in 2016.^[5]

Demography

Ethnic and national origins

Middle Eastern Canadians Demography by Ethnic/National Origins

Ethnic/National Origin	2016[1]
	Pop.	%
– West Asian	1,011,145	74%
Lebanese	219,555	16.1%
Iranian	210,405	15.4%
– Arab, n.o.s.[a]	111,400	8.2%
Afghan	83,995	6.1%
Syrian	77,045	5.6%
Iraqi	70,925	5.2%
Turkish	63,955	4.7%
Armenian	63,810	4.7%
Palestinian	44,820	3.3%
Israeli	28,735	2.1%
– West Central Asian and Middle Eastern origins, n.i.e.[b]	28,735	2.1%
– Kurd	16,315	1.2%
Jordanian	14,250	1%
– Assyrian	13,835	1%
– Other	51,850	3.8%
– North African	355,045	26%
Moroccan	103,940	7.6%
Egyptian	99,140	7.3%
Algerian	67,335	4.9%
– Berber	37,060	2.7%
Tunisian	25,645	1.9%
Sudanese	19,960	1.5%
– Other	19,480	1.4%
Total population	1,366,190	100%

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.

Geographical distribution

Middle Eastern population by province or territory (2016)

Province / territory	Population	Percentage
Ontario[6]	610,005	4.6%
Quebec[7]	465,920	5.8%
Alberta[8]	120,590	3%
British Columbia[9]	109,400	2.4%
Nova Scotia[10]	19,235	2.1%
Manitoba[11]	15,540	1.3%
Saskatchewan[12]	11,605	1.1%
New Brunswick[13]	8,035	1.1%
Newfoundland and Labrador[14]	3,290	0.6%
Prince Edward Island[15]	1,830	1.3%
Northwest Territories[16]	390	0.9%
Yukon[17]	230	0.7%
Nunavut[18]	130	0.4%
Canada[1]	1,366,190	4%