Iraqi Canadians

Last updated
Iraqi Canadians
Total population
84,130 (by birth), 59,300 (by ancestry, 2021 Census ) [1]
Regions with significant populations
Toronto, Vancouver, Ottawa, Calgary, Montreal
Languages
Mesopotamian Arabic, Canadian English, and Canadian French
also Kurdish (Sorani, Feyli and Kurmanji dialects), Turkish (Iraqi Turkmen/Turkoman dialects), and Neo-Aramaic (Chaldean, Ashuri, and Mandaic)
Religion
Majority Islam (Shia and Sunni),
minority Christianity (Syriac Christianity and Catholic), Mandaeism and Judaism
Related ethnic groups
Arabs, Arab Canadians, Iraqis, Iraqi diaspora

Iraqi Canadians are Canadians of full or partial Iraqi descent, as well as people from the state of Iraq who are ethno-linguistic and religious minorities. According to the 2011 Census there were 49,680 Canadians of Iraqi ancestry, an increase compared to the 2006 Census. [1]

Contents

History

Emigration from Iraq to Canada has increased dramatically due to political and economic situations in Iraq. The Iraq-Iran War resulted in many immigrants. With the destroyed Iraqi economy and the oppression of the 13-year economic sanctions against Iraq that followed the Gulf War of 1990–91, there was all the more reason to emigrate. From 1945 until 1975, fewer than 200 Iraqis arrived in Canada. [2] Emigration substantially increased in 1979, the year Saddam Hussein became president of Iraq. Between 1975 and 1992, 6,472 Iraqis arrived in Canada, [2] establishing about 3.5 percent of all Arab immigrants in Canada. [2] About 65 percent of Iraqis settled in the province of Quebec, particularly in Montreal, and in the province of British Columbia, particularly in Vancouver on shores of the Pacific Ocean. Many Iraqis also live in the province of Ontario, particularly in the Canadian capital city of Ottawa, Windsor and Toronto, the most populated city in Canada.

The 1991 Canadian census recorded 4,790 Iraqis; 3,525 of wholly Iraqi ancestry, and 1,265 of partial Iraqi ancestry. [2] Iraqi immigrants through the period of 1981-1992 settled principally in a few cities in Canada: British Columbia (362), Alberta (268), Quebec (203), Ontario (176), and Manitoba (152). [2]

Employment

The main causes for the immigration of Iraqis were due to the Gulf War and the situation in Iraq which drove them out of their homeland.

In Canada, Iraqi immigrants seem to face three unexplainable problems, the first being unable to find jobs where they can apply their professional expertise. The second is discrimination, with a possibility that some employers associate them with the regime that they fled. The third is their lack of Canadian experience. Despite a high level of education and professional experience, 54 percent of 892 immigrants were unemployed. Of the 407 with jobs, 40 percent had professional positions; 24 percent, lower white-collar; 30 percent, blue-collar; 3 percent, service; and 3 percent, not stated. [2]

Community life

Iraqi Embassy in Ottawa Iraq, Ottawa.jpg
Iraqi Embassy in Ottawa

The patterns of formal association among Iraqis are new and voluntary, as revealed most notably in the Iraqi Community Center [3] based in Cote Des Neiges, Montreal. The center helps Iraqis adapt to Canada and develop ties with general society, and disseminates information about the ethnocultural heritage of Iraqi Canadians. Gender equity is the norm; the president of the Iraqi Canadian Society is a woman. [2]

Culture

Despite differences in dialect, many Iraqi Canadians see themselves as Arabs, Mandaeans, Assyrians or Chaldeans. Almost all Iraqi Arab immigrants wish to maintain the Arabic language in both oral and written forms. Because young children and Canadian-born ones cannot easily learn reading and writing skills, more emphasis is put on teaching oral skills. Many Canadian-born can understand spoken Arabic without being able to speak it.

Gender equity, which has expanded in Iraq itself, is encouraged in Canada. Marriage for both males and females remains principally endogamous.

There are a sizable number of Iraqi Christians in Canada. Christian denominations include Assyrian Church of the East, Chaldean Catholic Church, and Syriac Orthodox Church. The remaining 40 percent are Muslims, the majority being Shiite. There are also small numbers of Mandaeans and Jews, numbering in the hundreds or thousands.

Iraqi population in Canada by province and territory

Provinces and territories (2011) [4]
Flag of Ontario.svg  Ontario 35,220
Flag of British Columbia.svg  British Columbia 3,145
Flag of Alberta.svg  Alberta 4,465
Flag of Manitoba.svg  Manitoba 615
Flag of Saskatchewan.svg  Saskatchewan 810
Flag of Quebec.svg  Quebec 411

Notable Iraqi Canadians

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Demographics of Iraq</span>

The Iraqi people are people originating from the country of Iraq.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Christian emigration</span>

The phenomenon of large-scale migration of Christians is the main reason why Christians' share of the population has been declining in many countries. Many Muslim countries have witnessed disproportionately high emigration rates among their Christian minorities for several generations. Today, most Middle Eastern people in the United States are Christians, and the majority of Arabs living outside the Arab World are Arab Christians.

Lebanese Canadians are Canadians of Lebanese origin. According to the 2016 census there were 219,555 Canadians who claimed Lebanese ancestry, showing an increase compared to the 2006 census, making them by far the largest group of people with Arabic-speaking roots. As of the 2016 census, they are also one of the largest communities of Asian origin in the country.

Egyptian Americans are Americans of partial or full Egyptian ancestry. The 2016 US Census estimated the number of people with Egyptian ancestry at 256,000, most of whom are from Egypt's Christian Orthodox Coptic minority. Egyptian Americans may also include the Egyptian foreign-born population in the United States. The US Census Bureau estimated in 2016 that there were 181,677 foreign-born Egyptians in the United States. They represented around 0.4% of the total US foreign-born population as 42,194,354 first-generation immigrants in 2016. Egyptians are concentrated in New York City and Los Angeles. California has the largest Egyptian population by state.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Assyrian–Chaldean–Syriac diaspora</span> Assyrians living outside their ancestral homeland

The Assyrian diaspora refers to ethnic Assyrians living in communities outside their ancestral homeland. The Eastern Aramaic-speaking Assyrians claim descent from the ancient Assyrians and are one of the few ancient Semitic ethnicities in the Near East who resisted Arabization, Turkification, Persianization and Islamization during and after the Muslim conquest of Iraq, Iran, Syria and Turkey.

Minorities in Iraq include various ethnic and religious groups.

Assyrian Canadians are Canadians of Assyrian descent or Assyrians who have Canadian citizenship. According to the 2011 census, there were 10,810 Canadians who claimed Assyrian ancestry, an increase compared to the 8,650 in the 2006 Census.

Religion in Iraq dates back to Ancient Mesopotamia, particularly Sumer, Akkad, Assyria and Babylonia between circa 3500 BC and 400 AD, after which they largely gave way to Syriac Christianity and later to Islam.

Assyrian Americans refers to individuals of ethnic Assyrian ancestry born in or residing within the United States of America. Assyrians are an indigenous Middle-Eastern ethnic group native to Mesopotamia in West Asia who descend from their ancient counterparts, directly originating from the ancient indigenous Mesopotamians of Akkad and Sumer who first developed the independent civilisation in northern Mesopotamia that would become Assyria in 2600 BC. Modern Assyrians often culturally self-identify as Syriacs, Chaldeans, or Arameans for religious and tribal identification. The first significant wave of Assyrian immigration to the United States was due to the Sayfo genocide in the Assyrian homeland in 1914–1924.

Iraqi Americans are American citizens of Iraqi descent. As of 2015, the number of Iraqi Americans is around 145,279, according to the United States Census Bureau.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Asoristan</span> Sasanian province in Assyria and Babylonia (226–637 CE)

Asoristan was the name of the Sasanian province of Assyria and Babylonia from 226 to 637.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">British Assyrians</span>

British Assyrians are British people of Assyrian descent or Assyrians who have British citizenship.

Iraqi Australians are Australian citizens who identify themselves to be Iraqi descent. Since the 1991 Gulf War, thousands of Iraqis have found refuge in Australia. The total of population is estimated to be as high as 95,000. A Considerable part of Australia's Iraqi-born population doesn't claim Iraqi ancestry with most being Assyrian.

Iraqi New Zealanders constitute a small population immigrants from Iraq and New Zealand-born people of Iraqi heritage or descent.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Christianity in the Middle East</span>

Christianity, which originated in the Middle East during the 1st century AD, is a significant minority religion within the region, characterized by the diversity of its beliefs and traditions, compared to Christianity in other parts of the Old World. Christians now make up approximately 5% of the Middle Eastern population, down from 13% in the early 20th century. Cyprus is the only Christian majority country in the Middle East, with Christians forming between 76% and 78% of the country's total population, most of them adhering to Eastern Orthodox Christianity. Lebanon has the second highest proportion of Christians in the Middle East, around 40%, predominantly Maronites. Egypt has the next largest proportion of Christians, at around 10% of its total population. Copts, numbering around 10 million, constitute the single largest Christian community in the Middle East.

Iraqis are the second largest minority group living in Sweden, with 146,048 Iraqi-born people living in Sweden and 79,732 Swedes with at least one Iraqi-born parent. They are also one of the largest Asian communities in the country. The size of this group has doubled in the period of 2002 to 2009; the influx of Iraqi refugees increased dramatically from 2006 to 2009 as a result of the US-led invasion of Iraq.

Semaan is a Christian surname mainly found in the Levant area of the Middle East. It is derived from the Semitic root word/verb sema or shema, which means “to hear”; thus, the meaning of Semaan becomes “the one who hears or listens” in both Syriac Aramaic and Arabic. Its equivalent in Hebrew is שִׁמְעוֹן‎, which also has the same meaning. The Greek transliteration is Σιμων (Simon) or Συμεών (Symeon), and, when Latinized, it becomes Simon or Simeon.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of the Middle Eastern people in Metro Detroit</span>

In 2004, Metro Detroit had one of the largest settlements of Middle Eastern people, including Arabs and Chaldo-Assyrians in the United States. As of 2007 about 300,000 people in Southeast Michigan traced their descent from the Middle East. Dearborn's sizeable Arab community consists largely of Lebanese people who immigrated for jobs in the auto industry in the 1920s, and of more recent Yemenis and Iraqis. In 2010 the four Metro Detroit counties had at least 200,000 people of Middle Eastern origin. Bobby Ghosh of TIME said that some estimates gave much larger numbers. From 1990 to 2000 the percentage of people speaking Arabic in the home increased by 106% in Wayne County, 99.5% in Macomb County, and 41% in Oakland County.

Assyrians in New Zealand are New Zealanders of Assyrian descent or Assyrians who have New Zealand citizenship. The Assyrian community in New Zealand began in the 1990s when refugees from Iraq and Iran settled in the country.

References

  1. 1 2 Statistics Canada (3 June 2023). "2021 Census Profile" . Retrieved 3 June 2023.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Multicultural Canada". multiculturalcanada.ca. Archived from the original on 2007-09-28. Retrieved 2007-08-14.
  3. ↑ http://www.iraqicommunitycenter.com
  4. ↑ "2011 National Household Survey: Data tables". Statistics of Canada. Retrieved 19 January 2013.
  5. ↑ Iraqi released from Syrian jail
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.