West Asian Canadians
West Asian Canadians, officially known as West Central Asian and Middle Eastern Canadians are Canadians with ancestry, origins, or citizenship from West and Central Asia. The term West Asian Canadian is a subgroup of Asian Canadians and Middle Eastern Canadians. According to statistics Canada, West Asian Canadians are considered visible minorities and can be further divided by nationality, such as Iranian Canadian or Lebanese Canadian.
As of 2016, 1,011,145 Canadians had West Asian geographical origins, constituting 2.9% of the Canadian population and 17% of Canada's Asian Canadian population.
Terminology
In the Canadian Census, people with origins or ancestry in West Asia and Central Asia are classified as West Asian.History
In 1882, the first individuals of West Asian origin settled in Canada, when a group of Lebanese and Syrian immigrants arrived in Montreal.Demography
Province / territory | Population | Percentage |
Ontario | 523,340 | |
Quebec | 240,795 | |
British Columbia | 99,560 | |
Alberta | 97,355 | |
Nova Scotia | 17,205 | |
Manitoba | 11,850 | |
Saskatchewan | 9,415 | |
New Brunswick | 6,835 | |
Newfoundland and Labrador | 2,660 | |
Prince Edward Island | 1,625 | |
Northwest Territories | 215 | |
Yukon | 195 | |
Nunavut | 100 | |
Canada | 1,011,145 |