Lebanese-Canadian
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| 190,275 (by ancestry, 2011 Census)250,000 (estimate) | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| Quebec, Ontario, British Columbia, Nova Scotia, Alberta | |
| Languages | |
| Canadian English, Canadian French, Lebanese Arabic | |
| Religion | |
| Christianity, Sunni and Shia Islam | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Lebanese, Arab Canadians, Arabs, Arab Americans, Lebanese Americans, Lebanese Brazilians, Lebanese Australians, Arab Argentines, Arab Brazilians, Arab Mexicans, Arabs in Europe, Lebanese Jamaicans |
Lebanese Canadians are Canadian nationals of Lebanese origin. According to the 2011 Census there were 190,275 Canadians who claimed Lebanese ancestry, having an increase compared to those in the 2006 Census, making them by far the largest group of people with Arabic-speaking roots.
Lebanese immigration began in 1882.The first Lebanese immigrant to Canada was a guy named Abraham Bounadere (Ibrahim Abu Nadir) from Zahley in Lebanon. He came and setteled in Montreal. Because of situations within Lebanon and restrictive Canadian laws these immigrants were 90% Christian. These immigrants were mostly economic migrants seeking greater prosperity in the New World.
In more recent years this pattern has changed, and large numbers of Lebanese Muslims and Druze have come to Canada. Immigration laws were liberalized after the Second World War, and immigration steadily increased in the 1950s and 1960s.
The greatest influx of Lebanese was during the Lebanese Civil War, and this period saw a number of Lebanon's wealthiest and best educated move to Canada to flee the violence in their homeland. Canada was the only western country (besides Australia) to set up special programs to enable Lebanese to more easily come to Canada and it set up an office in Cyprus to process Lebanese refugees.
Many Lebanese speak French and unlike most other immigrant groups preferred to settle in francophone Montreal than anglophone Toronto and Vancouver. About half the Lebanese-Canadian community is located in and around Montreal, and most Lebanese-Canadian organizations, especially religious ones, are based in that city.
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