Arab Canadians () come from all of the countries of the

Arab world The Arab world ( '), formally the Arab homeland ( '), also known as the Arab nation ( '), the Arabsphere, or the Arab states, comprises a large group of countries, mainly located in West Asia and North Africa. While the majority of people in ...

. According to the 2021 Census, there were 690,000 Canadians, or 1.9%, who claimed Arab ancestry. According to the 2011 census there were 380,620 Canadians who claimed full or partial ancestry from an Arabic-speaking country. The large majority of the

Canadians Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

of Arab origin population live in either

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

Demographics

The distribution of the Arab population of Canada according to the

2001 The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

, and

2016 Canadian census The 2016 Canadian census was an enumeration of Canadian residents, which counted a population of 35,151,728, a change from its 2011 population of 33,476,688. The census, conducted by Statistics Canada, was Canada's seventh quinquennial census. ...

es was as follows:

By Arabic-speaking country

Religion

The

2011 Canadian census The 2011 Canadian census was a detailed enumeration of the Canadian population on May 10, 2011. Statistics Canada, an agency of the Canadian government, conducts a nationwide census every five years. In 2011, it consisted of a mandatory short form ...

shows that 55% from Arab Canadians reported belonging to a

Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

faith and 34% reported belonging to a

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

faith. These number differ measurably from the numbers reported in the

2001 Canadian census The 2001 Canadian census was a detailed enumeration of the Canadian population. Census day was May 15, 2001. On that day, Statistics Canada attempted to count every person in Canada. The total population count of Canada was 30,007,094. This w ...

, which showed an even split in the Arab Canadian community between those who practiced the Muslim faith with 44% and those who practiced the Christian faith 44%, (where 28% as

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

, 11% as

Eastern Orthodox Church The Eastern Orthodox Church, officially the Orthodox Catholic Church, and also called the Greek Orthodox Church or simply the Orthodox Church, is List of Christian denominations by number of members, one of the three major doctrinal and ...

and 5% as Other Christian). In 2011, about 3% of Arab Canadians are

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

. The largest Arab Jewish communities in Canada are Moroccan and Iraqi. Other Arabs Jews are of

Egyptian ''Egyptian'' describes something of, from, or related to Egypt. Egyptian or Egyptians may refer to: Nations and ethnic groups * Egyptians, a national group in North Africa ** Egyptian culture, a complex and stable culture with thousands of year ...

Syrian Syrians () are the majority inhabitants of Syria, indigenous to the Levant, most of whom have Arabic, especially its Levantine and Mesopotamian dialects, as a mother tongue. The cultural and linguistic heritage of the Syrian people is a blend ...

, Algerian, and Lebanese descent. The percentage of Arab Canadians were not affiliated with any religions only marginally increased from 6% in 2001 to 8% in 2011. The greatest percentage of Arab Christians in Canada come from

Lebanon Lebanon, officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in the Levant region of West Asia. Situated at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian Peninsula, it is bordered by Syria to the north and east, Israel to the south ...

Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

and

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

, where the highest rates of Muslims come from

Algeria Algeria, officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered to Algeria–Tunisia border, the northeast by Tunisia; to Algeria–Libya border, the east by Libya; to Alger ...

and

Morocco Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...

History

Raja G. Khouri, who has served as President of the Canadian Arab Federation, in 2003 described the interconnected perceptions of a Canadian national identity and Arab identity. In 2009,

University of Alberta The University of Alberta (also known as U of A or UAlberta, ) is a public research university located in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It was founded in 1908 by Alexander Cameron Rutherford, the first premier of Alberta, and Henry Marshall Tory, t ...

professor Wisam Kh. Abdul-Jabbar described the " double consciousness" of Arab Canadians, variously struggling with their Arab Canadian identity versus a sense of "being Canadian". Abdul-Jabbar has proposed that citizens or residents of Arab descent have come to consider a cautious dual-identity approach as essential to

social integration Social integration is the process during which newcomers or minorities are incorporated into the social structure of the host society. Social integration, together with economic integration and identity integration, are three main dimensions o ...

in the country. Presented at the 2009 annual

American Sociological Association The American Sociological Association (ASA) is a non-profit organization dedicated to advancing the discipline and profession of sociology. Founded in December 1905 as the American Sociological Society at Johns Hopkins University by a group of fi ...

meeting, research from Madona Mokbel detailed the "

Dichotomous A dichotomy () is a partition of a set, partition of a whole (or a set) into two parts (subsets). In other words, this couple of parts must be * jointly exhaustive: everything must belong to one part or the other, and * mutually exclusive: nothi ...

Perceptions of the Arab Canadian Identity in Canada", particularly since the 2001 9/11 attacks. Shortly after the attacks,

Canadian Museum of Civilization The Canadian Museum of History () is a national museum on anthropology, Canadian history, cultural studies, and ethnology in Gatineau, Quebec, Canada. The purpose of the museum is to promote the heritage of Canada, as well as support related res ...

postponed an exhibit, ''The Lands within Me'', displaying the diasporic-based works of thirty Arab-Canadian artists. Moral outrage at the short notice of the postponement, suspicion of its connection to the attacks and subsequent protest at the decision, has been described as an early centralizing medium for Arab Canadian identity. Dr Christina Civantos of

Miami University Miami University (informally Miami of Ohio or simply Miami) is a public university, public research university in Oxford, Ohio, United States. Founded in 1809, it is the second-oldest List of colleges and universities in Ohio, university in Ohi ...

, writing in ''Food for Our Grandmothers'', has detailed the broad and sometimes conflicting elements that constitute the

and which, therefore, do not always simply amalgamate into a coherent Arab Canadian identity. The collection of writing by Arab-American and Arab-Canadian

feminists Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideology, ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social gender equality, equality of the sexes. Feminism holds the position that modern soci ...

, in analysis by Amaney Jamal, has been described as shifting the definition of Arab Canadian identity onwards from "essentializing categories" while still explicitly confronting the racial and cultural realities of Arabs in North America. In 2013, academic Paul Eid, a researcher at Commission des droits de la personne et des droits de la jeunesse, has remarked that Canadians of a Coptic Egyptian background are the most likely to explicitly embrace an Arab-Canadian self-identification, due to the fact

Copts Copts (; ) are a Christians, Christian ethnoreligious group, ethnoreligious group native to Northeast Africa who have primarily inhabited the area of modern Egypt since antiquity. They are, like the broader Egyptians, Egyptian population, des ...

were some of the earliest Arabic immigrants to Canada since the 1960s.

Identity

Arab Canadian identity is the objective or subjective state of perceiving oneself as an Arab Canadian and as relating to being Arab Canadian. The expression of the identity has been widely analyzed and observed by academics as a culturally challenging self-identification in the context of elements of

Western culture Western culture, also known as Western civilization, European civilization, Occidental culture, Western society, or simply the West, refers to the Cultural heritage, internally diverse culture of the Western world. The term "Western" encompas ...

in the 21st-century. A survey conducted in

Edmonton Edmonton is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Alberta. It is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Central Alberta ...

, Alberta in the pre-2000, showed females 3 in 10, and 1 in 10 males, "tried to hide their Arab-Canadian identity". The research also significantly contrasted along lines of faith, with 44 percent of Arab Christians and 13 percent

Arab Muslims Arab Muslims () are the Arabs who adhere to Islam. They are the largest subdivision of the Arab people and the largest ethnic group among Muslims globally, followed by Bengalis and Punjabis. Likewise, they comprise the majority of the population ...

also suppressing the identity. Research by academics Caitlin McDonald and Barbara Sellers-Young has also suggested that anti-Arabism and prejudice in North America can create a hostile environment for the expression of Arab Canadian identity.

Notable individuals

Business

* Feras Antoon - co-founder and CEO of MindGeek (of Syrian descent) * Wafic Saïd - billionaire businessman (Syrian) * Kevin O'Leary - entrepreneur and reality television personality ('' Dragons' Den'', ''

Shark Tank ''Shark Tank'' is an American business Reality television#Investments, reality television series that premiered on August 9, 2009, on American Broadcasting Company, ABC.Hibberd, James (May 10, 2012)Dancing,' 'Bachelor,' and a bigger 'Shark Tank ...

'') (of Lebanese and Irish descent) *Ablan Leon - founder of Leon's furniture company in 1901 in Welland, Ontario (born in Lebanon) * Dov Charney - founder of American Apparel and Los Angeles Apparel (of Syrian descent from his mother’s side) * Ayah Bdeir – founder of LittleBits (of Syrian descent)

Politicians

* Mohammad Al Zaibak - current Senator * Omar Alghabra - current Liberal MP in the federal riding of Mississauga Centre in

, Canada (of Syrian descent, born in Saudi Arabia) * Pierre de Bané - former Liberal MP (1968–1984), Cabinet Minister and former Senator (of Palestinian descent) * Sam Hamad - he held various cabinet posts during his 14 years in the National Assembly of Quebec (of Syrian descent) * Michael Basha - former member of the

Senate of Canada The Senate of Canada () is the upper house of the Parliament of Canada. Together with the Monarchy of Canada#Parliament (King-in-Parliament), Crown and the House of Commons of Canada, House of Commons, they compose the Bicameralism, bicameral le ...

(of Lebanese descent) * Tarik Brahmi - former NDP member of House of Commons for Saint-Jean (of Algerian descent) * Ramez Ayoub - former Member of Parliament for Thérèse-De Blainville, former mayor of

Lorraine Lorraine, also , ; ; Lorrain: ''Louréne''; Lorraine Franconian: ''Lottringe''; ; ; is a cultural and historical region in Eastern France, now located in the administrative region of Grand Est. Its name stems from the medieval kingdom of ...

(of

descent) * Fonse Faour - former NDP MP and leader of Newfoundland NDP (of Lebanese descent) * Eddie Francis - Mayor of

Windsor, Ontario Windsor ( ) is a city in southwestern Ontario, Canada. It is situated on the south bank of the Detroit River directly across from the U.S city of Detroit, Detroit, Michigan. Geographically located within but administratively independent of Esse ...

(of Lebanese descent) * Joe Ghiz - former Premier of

Prince Edward Island Prince Edward Island is an island Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. While it is the smallest province by land area and population, it is the most densely populated. The island has several nicknames: "Garden of the Gulf", ...

(of Lebanese descent) * Tony Clement - served as an Ontario cabinet minister, including as Minister of Health and Industry (of Syrian descent from his mother's side) * Robert Ghiz - Premier of Prince Edward Island (of Lebanese descent) * Sadia Groguhé - former NDP member of House of Commons for Saint-Lambert (of Algerian descent) *

Mac Harb Mac Harb (born November 10, 1953) is a former Canadian politician, who served successively in local Ottawa positions, as a Member of the House of Commons, and as a Senator for Ontario.J. Patrick Boyer. ''Our Scandalous Senate'' Volume 1 of Poin ...

- Senator, former Liberal MP (1988–2004) and former

Ottawa City Council Ottawa City Council () is the governing body of the City of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It is composed of 24 city councillors and the mayor. The mayor is elected at large, while each councillor represents wards throughout the city. Council member ...

or (of Lebanese descent) * Sana Hassainia - former NDP member of House of Commons for Verchères—Les Patriotes riding (of Tunisian descent) * Lorraine Michael - former Nun, leader of New Democratic Party of Newfoundland and Labrador (of Lebanese descent) * Maria Mourani - former Bloc Québécois (2006–2013) and independent MP (2013–2015) in federal riding of Ahuntsic in

, Canada (of Lebanese descent) * * Khalil Ramal -

MPP (of Lebanese descent) * Djaouida Sellah - former NDP member of House of Commons for Saint-Bruno—Saint-Hubert (of Algerian descent) * * Paul Zed - lawyer, professor, former Member of Parliament (of Lebanese descent) * Sam Elkas - former representative of the electoral district of Robert-Baldwin in the

National Assembly of Quebec The National Assembly of Quebec (, ) is the Legislature, legislative body of the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec in Canada. Legislators are called MNAs (Members of the National Assembly; ). The lieutenant governor of Que ...

. (of Syrian descent) *

Political activists

Maher Arar Maher Arar () (born 1970) is a telecommunications engineer with dual Syrian and Canadian citizenship who has resided in Canada since 1987. Arar was detained during a layover at John F. Kennedy International Airport in September 2002 on his way ...

- human rights activist; deportation and tortured victim in Syrian jail (of Syrian descent) * Monia Mazigh - human rights activist and

New Democratic Party The New Democratic Party (NDP; , ) is a federal political party in Canada. Widely described as social democratic,The party is widely described as social democratic: * * * * * * * * * * * * * The Editors of ''Encyclopædia Britann ...

candidate (of Tunisian descent) * Samah Sabawi - Palestinian rights activist and playwright * Rahaf Mohammed - Refugee and activist from Saudi Arabia

Filmmakers and writers

* Rawi Hage (Author: De Niro's Game, Beirut Hellfire Society, Cockroach; Lebanese) * Ruba Nadda - film director who won the Best Canadian Feature Film award in 2009 (of Syrian and Palestinian descent) * Anisa Mehdi - Emmy Award-winning film director, journalist and director of '' Inside Mecca'' (of Iraqi descent) * Wajdi Mouawad (Writer: Incendies, Lebanese) * Trish Salah - Lambda Award-winning poet and writer, author of Wanting in Arabic and Lyric Sexology, Vol. 1 * Habeeb Salloum (1924-2019) - prominent author and freelance writer *

Donald Shebib Donald Everett Shebib (27 January 1938 – 5 November 2023) was a Canadian film and television director. Shebib was a central figure in the development of English Canadian cinema who made several short documentaries for the National Film Board ...

- documentary filmmaker (of Lebanese descent) * Ameer Idreis - writer, playwright, and urbanist (of Palestinian descent)

Singers

* Ali Gatie - singer (of Iraqi descent) *

Paul Anka Paul Albert Anka (born July 30, 1941) is a Canadian and American singer, songwriter and actor. His songs include " Diana", “ You Are My Destiny", “Lonely Boy", " Put Your Head on My Shoulder", and " (You're) Having My Baby". Anka also wr ...

- singer (of Syrian-Lebanese descent) * Belly - rap/hip hop artist (of Palestinian descent) *

Andy Kim Andrew Kim (born July12, 1982) is an American politician and former diplomat serving as the Seniority in the United States Senate, junior United States senator from New Jersey since 2024. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democ ...

- pop singer/songwriter (of Lebanese descent) * K.Maro - rapper (of Lebanese descent) * Kristina Maria - singer/songwriter (of Lebanese descent) * Massari - pop and hip-hop singer (of Lebanese descent) * Narcy - rapper (of Iraqi descent) * Nasri - reggae and pop singer (of Palestinian descent) *

Raffi Raffi Cavoukian (, born July 8, 1948), known professionally by the mononym Raffi, is an Armenian-Canadian singer-lyricist and author born in Egypt best known for his children's music. In 1992, ''The Washington Post'' called him "the most p ...

- children musician and composer (of Egyptian descent), famous for '' Baby Beluga'' * Vaï - rapper, hip hop singer (of Moroccan descent) * Karl Wolf - singer (of Lebanese descent) * Zaho - singer (of Algerian descent) * Nemah Hasan (Nemahsis) - singer-songwriter (of Palestinian descent)

Athletes

* Jamal Murray - professional

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

player (of Syrian descent from his mother's side) * Sami Zayn - professional WWE wrestler (of Syrian descent) * Ramzi Abid - professional hockey player (of Tunisian descent) * David Azzi - professional player in Canadian Football League (of Lebanese descent) * John Hanna - professional hockey player (of Lebanese descent) * Ed Hatoum - professional hockey player (of Lebanese descent) * Fabian Joseph - former professional hockey player (

Canada men's national ice hockey team The Canada men's national ice hockey team (popularly known as Team Canada; ) is the ice hockey team representing Canada internationally. The team ...

) (of Lebanese descent) * Nazem Kadri - professional hockey player (of Lebanese descent) *

Aliyah ''Aliyah'' (, ; ''ʿălīyyā'', ) is the immigration of Jews from Jewish diaspora, the diaspora to, historically, the geographical Land of Israel or the Palestine (region), Palestine region, which is today chiefly represented by the Israel ...

- professional WWE wrestler (of Syrian-Iraqi descent) * John Makdessi - professional mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter (of Lebanese descent) * Alain Nasreddine - professional hockey player (of Lebanese descent) * Jean Sayegh - water polo player (of Lebanese descent) * * * Yassine Bounou - professional soccer player (

Morocco national football team The Morocco national football team (Arabic: المنتخب المغربي لكرة القدم) represents Morocco in men's international Association football, football, and is controlled by the Royal Moroccan Football Federation, the governing ...

) (of Moroccan descent)

Others

* Reema Abdo - former backstroke swimmer (of Yemeni descent) * René Angélil - manager and husband of

Céline Dion Céline Marie Claudette Dion (born 30 March 1968) is a Canadian singer. Referred to as the " Queen of Power Ballads", Dion's powerful, technically skilled vocals and commercially successful works have had a significant impact on popular musi ...

, (of Syrian descent) * Nahlah Ayed - journalist (of Palestinian descent) * Rachid Badouri - comedian (of Moroccan descent) * Hoda ElMaraghy - first woman to serve as dean of engineering at a Canadian university. Appointed as Canada Research Chair (CRC) in manufacturing systems in 2002. (of Egyptian descent) *

Mohamed Fahmy Mohamed Fadel Fahmy ( ; born April 27, 1974) is an Egyptian-born Canadian journalist, war correspondent and author. He has worked extensively in the Middle East, North Africa, for CNN, BBC and Al Jazeera English. Fahmy covered the Iraq Wa ...

- journalist and reporter * Ghassan Halazon - entrepreneur (of Jordanian-Palestinian descent) * Jade Hassouné - known for his role as Meliorn in the US television series "Shadowhunters" and for that of Prince Ahmed Al Saeed in the Canadian series '"Heartland" (of Lebanese descent) * Jesse Hutch - actor, model, director and musician (of Syrian descent) * Mena Massoud - an actor best known for starring as Aladdin in the 2019 live-action adaptation (of Egyptian descent) * Habeeb Salloum - author, cookbook author, writer, travel writer (of Syrian descent) * Inanna Sarkis - internet personality, actress and director (of Syrian descent) * Mamdouh Shoukri - former president of

York University York University (), also known as YorkU or simply YU), is a public university, public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's third-largest university, and it has approximately 53,500 students, 7,000 faculty and staff, ...

(of Egyptian descent) * Ty Wood - an actor and model. Grand nephew of Miss Universe 1971 Georgina Rizk (of Palestinian-Lebanese Hungarian descent.)

References

External links

Canadian Arab Institute
(CAI)
Canadian Arab Federation official websiteNational Council on Canada-Arab Relations official websiteCanada Arab ForumThe Arab Students' Association in Canada
{{People of Canada

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...