Ethiopian Canadians are a

hyphenated ethnicity A hyphenated ethnicity (or rarely hyphenated identity) is a reference to an ethnicity, pan-ethnicity, national origin, or national identity combined with the demonym of a country of citizenship-nationality, another national identity, or in some ca ...

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 ...

who are of full or partial

Ethiopian Ethiopians are the native inhabitants of Ethiopia, as well as the global diaspora of Ethiopia. Ethiopians constitute several component ethnic groups, many of which are closely related to ethnic groups in neighboring Eritrea and other parts of ...

national origin, heritage and/or ancestry, Canadian citizens of

descent, or an

Ethiopia Ethiopia, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country located in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the north, Djibouti to the northeast, Somalia to the east, Ken ...

-born person who resides in

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 ...

. According to the 2016 Canadian Census, 44,065 people reported Ethiopian ancestry.

History

Ethiopians began to immigrate to Canada in small numbers following new immigration regulations in 1962, which allowed skilled immigrants into the country regardless of ethnicity or country of origin. However, significant immigration did not occur until the mid-1980s.

Demographics

According to the 2011 Canadian Census, approximately 30,810 people reported Ethiopian ancestry. This number increased to 44,065 by 2016. In addition, a number of people reported other Ethiopian ethnicity: 1,530 people had Amhara ancestry, 660 had Harari ancestry, 3,350 had

Oromo Oromo may refer to: * Oromo people, an ethnic group of Ethiopia and Kenya * Oromo language, an Afroasiatic language See also * *Orma (clan), Oromo tribe *Oromia Oromia (, ) is a Regions of Ethiopia, regional state in Ethiopia and the homelan ...

ancestry. A further 2,155 reported

Tigrayan The Tigrayan people (, ''Təgaru'') are a Semitic-speaking ethnic group indigenous to the Tigray Region of northern Ethiopia. They speak the Tigrinya language, an Afroasiatic language belonging to the Ethiopian Semitic branch. The daily life ...

ancestry, although some of these might be

Eritrea Eritrea, officially the State of Eritrea, is a country in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa, with its capital and largest city being Asmara. It is bordered by Ethiopia in the Eritrea–Ethiopia border, south, Sudan in the west, and Dj ...

n. Canada's censuses list four major ethnic identities considered to be Ethiopian ethnic groups: Amhara, Harari, Oromo, and Tigrayan. These numbers cannot be added to people reporting Ethiopian ancestry as this may lead to double counting. Of the people reporting Ethiopian ancestry, 32,790 were Canadian residents born in

and 7,510 were recent immigrants.

Geographic distribution

The following table lists Canadian provinces by Ethiopian population.

Toronto

The largest group of Ethiopians in Canada is that of

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

. In the 2016 census, there were 17,730 people who reported their ethnic origin as Ethiopian (15,990), Amhara (500), Oromo (830) and/or Tigrinya (410) in the Toronto CMA. In the 2021 census, the number of people who reported their ethnic origin as Ethiopian (13,515), Amhara (2,165), Oromo (2,000) and/or Tigrinya (2,570) was 20,250. Toronto is home to community organizations such as the Ethiopian Association Toronto, which was founded in 1980. There is a concentration of Ethiopian restaurants and businesses along Danforth Avenue East; the area is unofficially referred to as "Little Ethiopia".

Calgary

As of 2016, approximately 6,355 people of Ethiopian descent live in

Calgary Calgary () is a major city in the Canadian province of Alberta. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806 making it the third-largest city and fifth-largest metropolitan area in C ...

Edmonton

As of 2016, approximately 5,210 people of Ethiopian descent live 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 ...

Ottawa

As of 2016, approximately 2,850 people of Ethiopian descent live in

Ottawa Ottawa is the capital city of Canada. It is located in the southern Ontario, southern portion of the province of Ontario, at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the cor ...

. The Dawit family, who were among the first Ethiopians to settle in Canada in the 1960s, lived in Ottawa.

Winnipeg

As of 2016, approximately 2,520 people of Ethiopian descent live in

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Manitoba. It is centred on the confluence of the Red River of the North, Red and Assiniboine River, Assiniboine rivers. , Winnipeg h ...

Vancouver

As of 2016, approximately 2,020 people of Ethiopian descent live in the Vancouver CMA.

Other places

Approximately 1,575 people of Ethiopian descent live in the province of

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, ...

, the majority (1,020) of whom live in

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

Notable individuals

References

{{Black Canadians

Ethiopian emigrants to Canada African diaspora in Canada