Latin American Canadians

Latin American Canadians
Total population
(544,380
(by ancestry, 2011 Census)[1]
381,280
(by birth)[2]
1.2% of Canadian population)
Regions with significant populations
Montreal, Toronto, Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Ottawa, Leamington, London, Kitchener, Hamilton, Brandon, St. Catharines, Wood Buffalo, Sherbrooke, Red Deer
Languages
Spanish, Canadian English, Canadian French, Indigenous languages, Portuguese
Religion
Roman Catholic · Protestants · Indigenous beliefs · Nonreligious
Related ethnic groups
Latin Americans, Spanish Canadians, Native Americans, Portuguese Canadians, Hispanic and Latino Americans

Latin American Canadians are Canadian citizens of Latin American descent or persons of Latin American descent residing in Canada. Latin American is the term used by Statistics Canada. Other terms used sometimes are "Latino Canadian"[3] and "Latin Canadian".[4] Latin Canadians comprised 1.2% of the population in 2011.[2]

The majority of Latin American Canadians are multilingual, primarily speaking Spanish or Portuguese. Most are fluent in one or both of Canada's two official languages, English and French. Spanish, Portuguese and French are Romance languages and share some similarities in morphology and syntax.

Latin Canadians have made distinguished contributions to Canada in all major fields, including politics, the military, music, philosophy, sports, business and economy, and science.

The largest Latin American immigrant groups in Canada are Mexican Canadians, Colombian Canadians and Salvadoran Canadians.

History

The majority of Latin American Canadians are recent immigrants who arrived in the late 20th century from El Salvador, Colombia, Mexico, Chile, and Guatemala, with smaller communities from the Dominican Republic, Cuba, Venezuela, Nicaragua, Ecuador, and elsewhere, with nearly all Latin American countries represented.[5] Reasons for immigrating include Canada's better economic opportunities and politics or civil war and political repression in their native countries, as in the case of Cubans fleeing from the Fidel Castro revolution, Chileans escaping from Augusto Pinochet's rule, Salvadorans fleeing from the Salvadoran Civil War, Peruvians escaping from the Juan Velasco Alvarado dictatorship, Dominicans opposed to the regimes of Rafael Trujillo and Joaquin Balaguer, Mexicans escaping from the Mexican Drug War, Colombians from the violence in their country and Venezuelans opposed to the rule of the Socialist Unity Party.

Demographics

The largest Latin American Canadian communities are in the census metropolitan areas of Toronto (99,290), Montreal (75,400), Vancouver (22,695), Calgary (13,415), and Ottawa (10,630),[6] and there are rapidly growing ones in the provinces of Alberta, Manitoba, and Nova Scotia.

Latin American population of Canada by census year

Census Latin American population Change from previous census Total Canadian population Change from previous census Latin American population (%)
1996[7] 176,970 N/A 28,528,125 N/A 0.6%
2001[8] 216,980 22.6% 29,639,030 3.9% 0.7%
2006[6] 304,245 40.2% 31,241,030 5.4% 1%
2011[2] 381,280 25.3% 32,852,325 5.2% 1.2%

Latin American Canadian population in Canada by province or territory according to the 2011 NHS

Province Latin Americans 2001 % 2001 Latin Americans 2011 % 2011
Ontario 106,835 0.9% 172,560 1.4%
Quebec 59,520 0.8% 116,380 1.5%
Alberta 18,745 0.6% 41,305 1.2%
British Columbia 23,885 0.6% 35,465 0.8%
Manitoba 4,775 0.4% 9,140 0.8%
Saskatchewan 2,010 0.2% 3,255 0.3%
Nova Scotia 520 0.0% 1,360 0.2%
New Brunswick 425 0.0% 1,160 0.2%
Prince Edward Island 75 0.1% 235 0.2%
Newfoundland and Labrador 80 0.0% 185 0.0%
Yukon 45 0.1% 105 0.3%
Northwest Territories 60 0.2% 105 0.3%
Nunavut 10 0.0% 30 0.1%
Canada 216,980 0.8% 381,280 1.2%

Immigration

Latin American immigrants to Canada by country of birth (2011)[9]
Country Number of immigrants % of Latin American immigrants % of total immigrant population
 Mexico 69,695 18.6% 1%
 Colombia 60,555 16.2% 0.9%
 El Salvador 43,655 11.7% 0.6%
 Peru 26,715 7.1% 0.4%
 Chile 25,195 6.7% 0.4%
 Brazil 22,920 6.1% 0.3%
 Argentina 18,870 5% 0.3%
 Venezuela 16,005 4.3% 0.2%
 Guatemala 15,285 4.1% 0.2%
 Ecuador 13,635 3.6% 0.2%
 Cuba 13,340 3.6% 0.2%
 Nicaragua 8,945 2.4% 0.1%
 Dominican Republic[a] 8,450 2.3% 0.1%
 Paraguay 7,110 1.9% 0.1%
 Uruguay 6,600 1.8% 0.1%
 Honduras 5,805 1.6% 0.1%
 Bolivia 4,605 1.2% 0.1%
 Costa Rica 4,095 1.1% 0.1%
 Panama 2,445 0.7% 0%
 Puerto Rico 380 0.1% 0%
Total Latin American immigrant population 374,305 100% 5.5%
Total immigrant population 6,775,765 N/A 100%

List of Canadian census subdivisions with Latin American populations higher than the national average

Source: Canada 2011 Census[10]
National average: 1.2%

Alberta

British Columbia

Manitoba

Ontario

Quebec

List of notable Latin American Canadians

Music

Writers

Entertainment

Photography

Politics

Science and technology

Sport

Cultural adjustment

In 2002, 82% of those who reported Latin American origin said they had a strong sense of belonging to Canada. At the same time, 57% said that they had a strong sense of belonging to their ethnic or cultural group.

People with Latin American origins are also active in Canadian society. For example, 66% of Canadians of Latin American origin who were eligible to vote did so in the 2000 federal election.[11]

2008 Montreal riots

The Latin American community of Quebec was brought into the spotlight when 18-year-old Honduran immigrant Fredy Alberto Villanueva was shot and killed by police officers of the SPVM on 9 August 2008.[12] The following day, what started out as a peaceful protest against the officers' actions in the borough of Montréal-Nord erupted into a riot in which neighborhood stores were looted, several cars and garbage cans were set on fire, one paramedic and two police officers were wounded and one female police officer was shot.[13]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Statistics Canada. "2011 National Household Survey: Data tables". Retrieved 9 March 2014.
  2. 1 2 3 , National Household Survey (NHS) Profile, 2011
  3. ↑ ""Latino Canadians" -Wikipedia - Google Search". Retrieved 2008-10-14.
  4. ↑ ""Latin Canadians" -Wikipedia - Google Search". Retrieved 2008-10-14.
  5. ↑ Statistics canada: "Ethnic origins, 2006 counts, for Canada, provinces and territories
  6. 1 2 , Community Profiles from the 2006 Census, Statistics Canada - Province/Territory
  7. ↑ , Total Population by Visible Minority Population(1), for Canada, Provinces and Territories, 1996
  8. ↑ , 2001 Community Profiles
  9. ↑ , 2011 National Household Survey: Data tables | Citizenship (5), Place of Birth (236), Immigrant Status and Period of Immigration (11), Age Groups (10) and Sex (3) for the Population in Private Households of Canada, Provinces, Territories, Census Metropolitan Areas and Census Agglomerations, 2011 National Household Survey
  10. ↑ , National Household Survey (NHS) Profile, 2011
  11. ↑ http://www.myfriendfernando.ca/latin-calgary.php
  12. ↑ "Family 'destroyed' by death of Montreal man shot by police". CBC News. 2008-08-15.
  13. ↑ http://www.canada.com/calgaryherald/news/story.html?id=9ec92305-9cb6-493a-9271-dd569f0c50bd
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