Italians in Montreal

Little Italy

Montreal has an Italian Canadian community. As of 2007, 17.6% of the ethnic Italians in Canada live in Montreal.[1]

Montreal's Italian community is one of the largest in Canada, second only to Toronto. With 250,000 residents of Italian ancestry, Montreal has many Italian districts, such as Little Italy, Saint-Leonard (Città Italiana), R.D.P., and LaSalle. Italian is the 3rd most spoken language in Montreal and in the province of Quebec. There is such a large number of Italian Canadians in Montreal that when Italy won the 2006 FIFA World Cup, the number of Italian Montrealers taking to the streets to celebrate en masse resulted in the closure of many major streets, such as Saint Lawrence Boulevard.

History

In 1893 there were about 1,400 ethnic Italians in Montreal.[2] According to a 1906 edition of The Labour Gazette, Canada Department of Labour, Italian employment agencies that worked with Canadian steamship and railway companies attracted many Italian labourers to Montreal.[3] Additional growth in the Italian population took place in the 20th century.[2]

The Order of the Sons of Italy in Montreal dedicated a statue of John Cabot (Giovanni Caboto) in 1935. The order suggested that Cabot, and not Jacques Cartier, was in fact the first European to reach Canada.[4]

Demographics

In 1931, there were more Italians than people of British origins in St. Jean Ward. During that year, in 19 of Montreal's 35 wards, the Italians were the largest non-French and non-British ethnic group. This was also the case in five other cities and towns in Greater Montreal.[5]

Politics

The political unit of the Italian community split after Benito Mussolini became the leader of Italy in the 1920s. During World War II the Canadian government opposed pro-Mussolini elements in the Montreal Italian community.[2]

Religion

The first Catholic church for the Italians became Mount Carmel Parish in 1905. It was established by an Italian-speaking man, Canon Bruchési. In 1911 the second Italian parish opened.[2]

See also

References

Notes

  1. ↑ Harney, p. 179.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Linteau, Paul-André, René Durocher, and Jean-Claude Robert (translator into English: Robert Chodos). Quebec: A History 1867-1929 (Volume 1 of Quebec, a History, Paul André Linteau). James Lorimer Company, 1983. ISBN 0888626045, 9780888626042. p. 47.
  3. ↑ The Labour Gazette, Volume 6. Canada Department of Labour, 1906. p. 1348.
  4. ↑ Harney, p. 192.
  5. ↑ Rosenberg, Louis and Morton Weinfeld. Canada's Jews: A Social and Economic Study of Jews in Canada in the 1930s (Volume 16 of McGill-Queen's Studies in Ethnic History). McGill-Queen's Press (MQUP), Oct 12, 1993. ISBN 0773563946, 9780773563940. p. 33.

Further reading

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Monday, November 23, 2015. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.