Assyrian-Canadians

Assyrians in Canada
Total population
10,810 (by ancestry, 2011 Census)[1]
Regions with significant populations
Mainly Toronto, Hamilton, Ottawa
Some in Vancouver and London, Ontario
Languages
English · Aramaic
Religion
Mainly Christianity
(majority: Syriac Christianity; minority: Protestantism)

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,[2] an increase compared to the 8,650 in the 2006 Census.[3]

They are the indigenous pre-Arab and pre-Turkic people of Northern Iraq, southeast Turkey, northeastern Syria, and northwest Iran, who speak dialects of Eastern Aramaic and are mainly Christian, although some are irreligious. Although most come from the aforementioned countries, many Assyrians have immigrated to Canada from Jordan, Georgia and Armenia as well.

History

Most Assyrians arrived in Canada due to both ethnic persecution and religious persecution, mainly from their ancient ancestral Assyrian homeland in northern Iraq, southeast Turkey, northeast Syria and northwest Iran. The migration to Canada may be broken up into a number of distinct periods: early settlement and the subsequent waves of migration sparked by the Assyrian genocide in present-day Turkey and Iran, the Iranian Revolution of 1979 and, more recently, the Iraq War and Syrian Civil War. The last 2006 Census Canada counted 8,650[4]

The first period of known mass-migration came just after the Assyrian Genocide in the dying days of the Turkish Ottoman Empire. The second and perhaps largest wave of migration into came during the Iran–Iraq War. Under the shadow of war, Saddam Hussein's al-Anfal Campaign constituted a major force for migration for Iraq's Assyrian population.

Assyrian population in Canada by province and territory

Provinces and territories (2011) [5]
 Ontario9,420
 British Columbia445
 Alberta380
 Manitoba260
 Saskatchewan175
Provinces and territories (2016) [6]
 Ontario12,075
 British Columbia545
 Alberta560
 Manitoba40
 Saskatchewan215

See also

References

  1. ↑ Statistics Canada. "2011 National Household Survey: Data tables". Retrieved 11 February 2014.
  2. ↑ Statistics Canada. "2011 National Household Survey: Data tables". Retrieved 11 February 2014.
  3. ↑ "Ethnic Origin (247), Single and Multiple Ethnic Origin Responses (3) and Sex (3) for the Population of Canada,". Statistics Canada. 2006. Retrieved 2010-06-17.
  4. ↑ "Ethnic Origin (247), Single and Multiple Ethnic Origin Responses (3) and Sex (3) for the Population of Canada,". Statistics Canada. 2006. Retrieved 2010-06-17.
  5. ↑ "2011 National Household Survey: Data tables". Statistics of Canada. Statistics of Canada. Retrieved 19 January 2013.
  6. ↑ "2016 National Household Survey: Data tables".
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