Portuguese Canadians () are Canadian citizens of full or partial Portuguese heritage or people who migrated from

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

and reside 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 2021 Census, there were 448,310 or 1.21% of Canadians claimed full or partial Portuguese ancestry, a decrease compared to 482,110 in 2016 (1.40% of the nation's total population). Most Portuguese Canadians live in

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 ...

- 300,600 (67.05%), followed by

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, ...

64,385 (14.36%) and

British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...

39,755 (8.87%).

History of the Portuguese in Canada

First contacts during the
Age of Discovery The Age of Discovery (), also known as the Age of Exploration, was part of the early modern period and overlapped with the Age of Sail. It was a period from approximately the 15th to the 17th century, during which Seamanship, seafarers fro ...
(Possibly 1473-1526)

Portugal played a pioneering role in the explorations of the

New World The term "New World" is used to describe the majority of lands of Earth's Western Hemisphere, particularly the Americas, and sometimes Oceania."America." ''The Oxford Companion to the English Language'' (). McArthur, Tom, ed., 1992. New York: ...

in the 15th and 16th centuries. In the 15th century,

Prince Henry of Portugal A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. The fem ...

, better known as Henry the Navigator, established a school of navigation in Sagres, in the

Algarve region The Algarve (, , ) is the southernmost NUTS II region of continental Portugal. It has an area of with 467,495 permanent inhabitants and incorporates 16 municipalities ( ''concelhos'' or ''municípios'' in Portuguese). The region has its admin ...

of Portugal. From this school emerged explorers who found their way to the Indies, South America, North America and Africa, including the Portuguese

João Fernandes Lavrador João Fernandes Lavrador (1453–1501) () was a Portuguese explorer of the late 15th century. He was one of the first modern explorers of the Northeast coasts of North America, including the large Labrador peninsula, which was named after him ...

, who was the first explorer of

Labrador Labrador () is a geographic and cultural region within the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. It is the primarily continental portion of the province and constitutes 71% of the province's area but is home to only 6% of its populatio ...

, and

Gaspar Corte-Real Gaspar Corte-Real (1450–1501) was a Portuguese people, Portuguese Exploration, explorer who, alongside his father João Vaz Corte-Real and brother Miguel Corte-Real, Miguel, participated in various exploratory voyages sponsored by the Portuguese ...

, who was also one of the earliest European explorers of Canada. Corte-Real explored the northeast coast of " Terra Nova", naming

Conception Bay Conception Bay (CB) is a bay on the southeast coast of Newfoundland, Canada. The population (in 2011) of people living in municipalities (or unincorporated census subdivisions) located along the coast of Conception Bay was 90,490 making it ...

, Portugal Cove, and Labrador, named after Fernandes Lavrador. Recent historiography suggests Corte Real May have reached Canadian coasts in 1473, before Columbus officially "discovered" America. It is nonetheless worth noting that historical evidence from the early Age of Discovery is lacking. Around 1521,

João Álvares Fagundes João Álvares Fagundes (born c. 1460, Kingdom of Portugal – died 1522, Kingdom of Portugal) was an explorer and ship owner from Viana do Castelo in Northern Portugal. He organized several expeditions to Newfoundland and Nova Scotia around 152 ...

was granted donatary rights to the inner islands of the Gulf of St. Lawrence and also created a settlement on

Cape Breton Island Cape Breton Island (, formerly '; or '; ) is a rugged and irregularly shaped island on the Atlantic coast of North America and part of the province of Nova Scotia, Canada. The island accounts for 18.7% of Nova Scotia's total area. Although ...

to serve as a base for cod fishing. In 1524 the cartographer

Estêvão Gomes Estêvão Gomes (– 1538), also known by the Spanish version of his name Esteban Gómez, was a Portuguese explorer. He sailed in the service of Castile (Spain) in the fleet of Ferdinand Magellan, but deserted the expedition when they had rea ...

traveled along the coasts of northeastern North America. During his journey, he possibly reached the

Cabot Strait Cabot Strait (; , ) is in Atlantic Canada between Cape Ray, Newfoundland, and Cape North, Cape Breton Island. The strait, approximately 110 kilometres wide, is the widest of the three outlets for the Gulf of Saint Lawrence into the Atlant ...

and

Cape Breton Cape Breton Island (, formerly '; or '; ) is a rugged and irregularly shaped island on the Atlantic coast of North America and part of the province of Nova Scotia, Canada. The island accounts for 18.7% of Nova Scotia's total area. Although ...

, in the present-day Nova Scotia. Pressure from natives and competing European fisheries prevented a permanent establishment and was abandoned five years later. Several attempts to establish settlements in Newfoundland over the next half-century also failed.

16th–19th centuries

In the early 1600s Mathieu Da Costa was probably the first black person setting foot in modern-day Canadian territory. In 1705, the Portuguese Pedro da Silva became the first post courier in the French territory of North America,

New France New France (, ) was the territory colonized by Kingdom of France, France in North America, beginning with the exploration of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence by Jacques Cartier in 1534 and ending with the cession of New France to Kingdom of Great Br ...

. He settled in the Canadian part of the territory. In addition, Esther Brandeau, of

Sephardic Sephardic Jews, also known as Sephardi Jews or Sephardim, and rarely as Iberian Peninsular Jews, are a Jewish diaspora population associated with the historic Jewish communities of the Iberian Peninsula (Spain and Portugal) and their descendant ...

descent is notable in the history of the

Jews in Canada The history of the Jews in Canada goes back to the 1700s. Canadian Jews, whether by culture, ethnicity, or religion, form the fourth largest Jewish community in the world, exceeded only by those in Israel, the United States and France. In the ...

as the first Jew to set foot in the country, travelling from

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

to New France. Portuguese and Spanish Sephardic Jews also contributed founding the oldest Jewish congregation in Canada, establishing Montréal synagogue in 1778.

20th century: large-scale emigration

During the 1950s, a large number of immigrants from the

Azores The Azores ( , , ; , ), officially the Autonomous Region of the Azores (), is one of the two autonomous regions of Portugal (along with Madeira). It is an archipelago composed of nine volcanic islands in the Macaronesia region of the North Atl ...

and

Madeira Madeira ( ; ), officially the Autonomous Region of Madeira (), is an autonomous Regions of Portugal, autonomous region of Portugal. It is an archipelago situated in the North Atlantic Ocean, in the region of Macaronesia, just under north of ...

, fleeing political conflict with the regime of

António de Oliveira Salazar António de Oliveira Salazar (28 April 1889 – 27 July 1970) was a Portuguese statesman, academic, and economist who served as Portugal's President of the Council of Ministers of Portugal, President of the Council of Ministers from 1932 to 1 ...

, moved into the downtown core of Canada's major cities such as the area of Portugal Village in

Toronto, Ontario 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 ...

and further west along

Dundas Street Dundas Street () is a major historic arterial road in Ontario, Canada. The road connects the city of Toronto with its western Greater Toronto Area, suburbs and several cities in southwestern Ontario. Three provincial highways—Ontario Highway 2 ...

Brockton Village Brockton is a former village, and now a neighbourhood in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The neighbourhood comprises part of the historic Village of Brockton, which was Amalgamation of Toronto, annexed by the City of Toronto in 1884. The Village of B ...

. The stretch of Dundas Street passing through Brockton Village is also known as "Rua Açores". Many other Portuguese have immigrated to

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 ...

since the 1960s. As well, Portuguese

emigrants Emigration is the act of leaving a resident country or place of residence with the intent to settle elsewhere (to permanently leave a country). Conversely, immigration describes the movement of people into one country from another (to permanentl ...

settled in areas of

from the mid 1950s onwards, including

Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

and

Kitimat Kitimat is a district municipality in the North Coast region of British Columbia, Canada. It is a member municipality of the Regional District of Kitimat–Stikine regional government. The Kitimat Valley is part of the most populous urban dist ...

where they worked in the lumber and smelting industries, and the

Okanagan Valley The Okanagan ( ), also called the Okanagan Valley and sometimes the Okanagan Country, is a region in the Canadian province of British Columbia defined by the basin of Okanagan Lake and the Canadian portion of the Okanagan River. It is part of t ...

in the interior of the province, where many became orchard farmers. From the 1970s, increasing numbers of Brazilians moved into the Portugal Village, Toronto. Recently, a number of Canadians of

Goan Goans ( Romi Konkani: , ) is the demonym used to describe the people native to Goa, India, formerly part of Portuguese India (''Estado Português da Índia''). They form an ethno-linguistic group resulting from the assimilation of Indo-Aryan, ...

heritage have opted to pursue Portuguese citizenship they are entitled to through their heritage as a result of Goa being an overseas province of Portugal until 1961, thus adding to the Portuguese Canadian population in Canada.

Demographics

Most Portuguese families in

Brampton Brampton is a city in the Canadian Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Ontario, and the regional seat of the Regional Municipality of Peel. It is part of the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) and is a List of municipalities in Ontario#L ...

live along Main Street, with concentrations in Downtown Brampton, Peel Village, Main St & Vodden as well as the Edenbrook Hill Drive corridor. Our Lady of Fatima Portuguese Church is located in Brampton.

has the second most populous number of Portuguese immigrants with an estimated 47,000. Most started immigrating in the 1960s and settled in the

Le Plateau-Mont-Royal Le Plateau-Mont-Royal () is a borough (''arrondissement'') of the city of Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The borough takes its name from its location on a plateau, on the eastern side of Mount Royal and overlooking downtown Montreal, across its south ...

mainly around

Saint Laurent Boulevard Saint Laurent Boulevard, also known as Saint Lawrence Boulevard (officially in ), is a major street in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. A commercial artery and cultural heritage site, the street runs north west–south east through the near-centre of ...

and Rachel Street. Many Portuguese stores and restaurants are located in Little Portugal. St Marys Pro-Cathedral Hamilton

Hamilton, Ontario Hamilton is a port city in the Canadian Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Ontario. Hamilton has a 2021 Canadian census, population of 569,353 (2021), and its Census Metropolitan Area, census metropolitan area, which encompasses ...

also has a solid Portuguese community concentrated in the downtown core around Barton and James Street and nearby the St. Mary's Roman Catholic church. This area in Hamilton is known as "Jamesville" and is shared with a neighbouring Italian population.

London, Ontario London is a city in southwestern Ontario, Canada, along the Quebec City–Windsor Corridor. The city had a population of 422,324 according to the 2021 Canadian census. London is at the confluence of the Thames River (Ontario), Thames River and N ...

's significant Portuguese community is concentrated in the east end and south end of the city, with Portuguese restaurants and shops situated on Hamilton Road.

The Portuguese in British Columbia

The first recorded Portuguese individual to immigrate to British Columbia was "Portuguese Joe" Silvie, from

Pico Island Pico Island (''Ilha do Pico,'' ) is an island in the Central Group, Azores, Central Group of the Portugal, Portuguese Azores. The landscape features an eponymous volcano, Mount Pico, Ponta do Pico, which is the highest mountain in Portugal, the A ...

. He arrived in BC around 1858 via California, after years in the American whaling industry. He married Khaltinaht a daughter of Grand Chief Kiapilano, and their daughter was the first child born in Vancouver of European origin, Elizabeth Walker (née Silvey). They lived in a cabin built in what is now

Stanley Park Stanley Park is a public park in British Columbia, Canada, that makes up the northwestern half of Vancouver's Downtown Vancouver, Downtown peninsula, surrounded by waters of Burrard Inlet and English Bay, Vancouver, English Bay. The park bor ...

and he ran Vancouver's second saloon, and was a fisherman as well. However his wife died in 1871, and in years later married a shíshálh woman named Kwaham Kwatleematt (Lucy). They later moved to Reid Island where their family grew to 10 children. Portuguese Joe died in 1902, and has approximately 500 descendant. A statue in his memory now stands in

, meters away from the

totem pole Totem poles () are monumental carvings found in western Canada and the northwestern United States. They are a type of Northwest Coast art, consisting of poles, posts or pillars, carved with symbols or figures. They are usually made from large t ...

display.

has around 35 000 Portuguese-Canadians, concentrated in the Lower Mainland (

, Surrey, Richmond, Burnaby, Delta, Coquitlam) with around 20 000 Portuguese Canadians. Other centres for Portuguese immigrants and their descendants are

Prince Rupert Prince Rupert of the Rhine, Duke of Cumberland, (17 December 1619 ( O.S.) 7 December 1619 (N.S.)– 29 November 1682 (O.S.) December 1682 (N.S) was an English-German army officer, admiral, scientist, and colonial governor. He first rose to ...

, Victoria, and the

Okanagan The Okanagan ( ), also called the Okanagan Valley and sometimes the Okanagan Country, is a region in the Canadian province of British Columbia defined by the basin of Okanagan Lake and the Canadian portion of the Okanagan River. It is part of ...

region where many are fruit farmers. Many are of Azorean heritage. In Vancouver there is a Portuguese Catholic Church, Portuguese Canadian Senior's Society, Portuguese Brotherhood of the Divine Holy Spirit with members originally from Flores Island, Azores and

São Miguel Island São Miguel Island (; ), nicknamed "The Green Island" (), is the largest and most populous island in the Portugal, Portuguese archipelago of the Azores. The island covers and has around 140,000 inhabitants, with 45,000 people residing in Ponta D ...

, Tradition of

Terceira Terceira () is a volcanic island in the Azores archipelago, about a third of the way across the North Atlantic Ocean at a similar latitude to Portugal's capital Lisbon, with the island group forming an insular part of Portugal. It is one of the ...

(Tradição da Terceira), Friends of

Pico Pico may refer to: Places The Moon * Mons Pico, a lunar mountain in the northern part of the Mare Imbrium basin Portugal * Pico, a civil parish in the municipality of Vila Verde * Pico da Pedra, a civil parish in the municipality of Ribe ...

(Amigos do Pico), and several folk dance groups, including. Cruz de Cristo (regions of Mainland Portugal), Pico,

Sao Miguel Island SAO or Sao may refer to: Places * Sao civilisation, in Middle Africa from 6th century BC to 16th century AD * Sao, a town in Boussé Department, Burkina Faso * Serb Autonomous Regions (''Srpska autonomna oblast'', SAO), during the breakup of ...

and

Portuguese Canadians by Canadian province or territory (
2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...
)

Cultural Impact

2003 Celebrations

The Portuguese Canadian community chose 2003 as the year to celebrate the 50th anniversary of their officially sponsored

immigration Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not usual residents or where they do not possess nationality in order to settle as Permanent residency, permanent residents. Commuting, Commuter ...

to Canada. The Honourable David Collenette, Minister of Transport and Minister Responsible for

Canada Post Canada Post Corporation (, trading as Canada Post (), is a Canadian Crown corporation that functions as the primary postal operator in Canada. Originally known as Royal Mail Canada (the operating name of the Post Office Department of the Can ...

, said that "the Portuguese Canadian community is a vibrant group that enriches the Canadian mosaic with its history, language, culture and work ethic." He added that Canada Post was proud to be issuing a stamp honouring Portuguese Canadians during the month of June, when cultural celebrations honouring the life of 16th-century poet

Luís de Camões Luís Vaz de Camões (; or 1525 – 10 June 1580), sometimes rendered in English as Camoens or Camoëns ( ), is considered Portugal's and the Portuguese language's greatest poet. His mastery of verse has been compared to that of William Shakes ...

, considered Portugal's greatest poet, were taking place in many communities across the country.

Portuguese language

In addition, the Portuguese brought with them their

language Language is a structured system of communication that consists of grammar and vocabulary. It is the primary means by which humans convey meaning, both in spoken and signed language, signed forms, and may also be conveyed through writing syste ...

. Despite the geographical distance between the two countries, interest towards the language remains vivid and has recently experienced a renewed interest. According to recent

statistics Statistics (from German language, German: ', "description of a State (polity), state, a country") is the discipline that concerns the collection, organization, analysis, interpretation, and presentation of data. In applying statistics to a s ...

, more than 330,000

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 ...

can speak Portuguese, accounting to approximately 1% of the country's

population Population is a set of humans or other organisms in a given region or area. Governments conduct a census to quantify the resident population size within a given jurisdiction. The term is also applied to non-human animals, microorganisms, and pl ...

. Portuguese language is amongst the most notable cultural contributions Portuguese have brought to Canada, contributing to the enrichment and adding to the diversity of the country.

Holy Spirit Societies (Irmandades do Divino Espirito Santo)

As Azoreans came to Canada from 1953 into the 1970s, numerous Holy Spirit Societies, reminiscent of the spiritual celebration of the Holy Spirit and cultural tradition present in each village in the Azores Islands, were set up by individuals from the community coming together. They participate in the International Conference of the Festivals of the Holy Spirit, which united Azorean communities around the world yearly.

Notable Portuguese Canadians

Organizations

Some Portuguese-Canadians adopt the name "Luso-Canadians" for their local social and business clubs, in reference to

Lusitania Lusitania (; ) was an ancient Iberian Roman province encompassing most of modern-day Portugal (south of the Douro River) and a large portion of western Spain (the present Extremadura and Province of Salamanca). Romans named the region after th ...

, the ancient name associated with Portugal under the Roman Empire (and nowadays used in the

Portuguese language Portuguese ( or ) is a Western Romance language of the Indo-European language family originating from the Iberian Peninsula of Europe. It is the official language of Angola, Brazil, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique, Portugal and São Tom� ...

as a synonym for "Portuguese". The attendance growth of organizations indicate the growth in small business and universities throughout the community. They have also established a Portuguese-language TV channel serving the community. The sense of community is strong and the Portuguese have established many cultural societies in Canadian soil Leading as a national voice, one can find the "Congresso", the Luso-Canadiano National Congress.

Club associations

* Alliance of Portuguese Clubs & Associations of Ontario (ACAPO) *Portuguese Cultural Centre of BC, formally Vancouver Portuguese Seniors Society, located in Burnaby, BC.

Clubs

* First Portuguese Canadian Cultural Centre * Associação Cultural do Minho de Toronto (ACMT) * Canadian Madeira Club - Toronto, Ontario * Northern Portugal Cultural Centre - Oshawa, Ontario * Banda do Sagrado Coração de Jesus - Toronto, Ontario * Portuguese Cultural Centre of British Columbia * Portuguese Cultural Centre of Mississauga *Luso-Can Tuna

Portuguese-Canadian Religious organizations

* Our Lady of Fatima Portuguese Parish, Vancouver, BC * Irmandade Portuguesa do Divino Espirito Santo Cultural Society of BC, founded in 1968 in New Westminster by Azorean immigrants.

Sports

* The Portuguese Canadian Golfers Association - Toronto, Ontario *

SC Toronto SC Toronto is a Canadian soccer team, founded in 1994. The team was a member of the Canadian Soccer League, and played its final home games at Lamport Stadium in the city of Toronto, Ontario. The club found success early on since its incepti ...

Portuguese-Canadian business groups

* Federation of Portuguese-Canadian Business and Professionals

Portuguese-Canadian educational groups

* University of Toronto Portuguese Association (UTPA) * York University Portuguese Association (YUPA)

Portuguese-Canadian ethnic cultural parks

* Madeira Park - Georgina, Ontario

Portuguese publications

* ''Luso Life'' – Quarterly lifestyle magazine published in Toronto. *'' Milénio Stadium''– Weekly Portuguese newspaper published in Toronto * ''Portugal News'' – news from Portugal, in English and Portuguese

References

External links

Distinguished Americans & Canadians of Portuguese Descent
{{Portal bar, Canada, Portugal * European diaspora in Canada Canada–Portugal relations