Demographics of Montreal
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 |
This article does not cite any references or sources. (May 2007) Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed. |
Demographics of the city of Montreal, Quebec.
Contents |
[edit] General overview
According to StatsCan, in 2001,[1] the city of Montreal had 1,583,590 inhabitants. However, 3,635,700 live in the metropolitan area as of 2005 up from 3,426,350, reflecting an annual growth of 1.1 percent. Montreal has been growing more slowly than many other Canadian cities. In the 2001 census, children under 14 years of age (618,855) constituted 18.06 percent, while inhabitants over 65 years of age (442,720) numbered 12.92 percent of the total population. Some 13.55 percent of the population are member of a visible minority (non-white) group. Blacks contribute to the largest minority group, numbering some 140,000 (4.12% of Montreal inhabitants), which is the second largest community of Blacks in Canada, after Toronto. Other groups, such as Arabs (now estimated at 100,000 people), Latin American, South Asian, and Chinese are also large in number. (Chart on ethnicity on the left includes multiple responses.[2]
[edit] Controversy around the census
The 2001 Census was criticized in several different ways. It offered to respondents, for the first time, the choice of "Canadian" in addition to the traditional "ethnic" divisions (such as "French" and "British"). As a consequence, many citizens, not only those of "French" or "English" descent, but also those from different immigrant communities, selected "Canadian". It also offered respondents a blank in which they could add responses of their own, and a significant percentage of people selected "Québécois". These changes made it difficult to estimate with precision the exact ancestry of respondents, the news census rules make it almost impossible to make simple comparisons with any past census. It should also be noted that in French, the word 'Canadien" had the traditional meaning of French-speaking Québécois, a meaning that it retains amongst older segments of the population, thus further complicating the understanding of responses to the census.
[edit] Visible Minorities
A visible minority is someone who identifies as not being Caucasian or North American Indian.
| Visible Minority | City of Montreal | Montreal Island | Montreal CMA |
|---|---|---|---|
| Visible Minority | 26% | 25% | 16.5% |
| Black | 7.7% | 7.1% | 4.7% |
| Arab | 4.3% | 4.1% | 2.8% |
| Latin Americans | 3.4% | 3.1% | 2.1% |
| South Asian | 3.2% | 3.3% | 2% |
| Chinese | 3% | 3% | 2% |
| Southeast Asian | 1.9% | 1.8% | 1.3% |
| Filipino | 1.1% | 1.1% | 0.7% |
| West Asian | 0.5% | 0.6% | 0.4% |
| Multiple visible minoirties | 0.4% | 0.4% | 0.3% |
| Korean | 0.2% | 0.2% | 0.1% |
| Not included elsewhere | 0.2% | 0.1% | 0.1% |
| Japanese | 0.1% | 0.1% | 0.1% |
[edit] Ethnicities
| Ethnic origin | Population |
|---|---|
| Canadian | 1,670,655 |
| French | 936,990 |
| Italian | 260,345 |
| Irish | 216,410 |
| English | 148,095 |
| Scottish | 119,365 |
| Haitian | 85,785 |
| Chinese | 82,665 |
| German | 78,315 |
| North American Indian | 74,565 |
| Québécois | 72,445 |
| Jewish | 68,485 |
| Greek | 61,770 |
| Spanish | 56,770 |
| Lebanese | 53,455 |
| Polish | 51,920 |
| Portuguese | 46,535 |
| East Indian | 39,305 |
| Romanian | 36,275 |
| Russian | 35,800 |
| Moroccan | 33,270 |
| Vietnamese | 30,505 |
[edit] French
Montreal is the cultural centre of Québec, French-speaking Canada and French-speaking North America as a whole, and an important city in the Francophonie. The majority of the population is francophone. Montreal is the largest French-speaking city in North America, and second in the world after Paris when counting the number of native-language Francophones (third after Paris and Kinshasa when counting second-language speakers). The city is a hub for French language television productions, radio, theatre, circuses, performing arts, film, multimedia and print publishing.
Unlike other North American cities, most of which mainly serve their regions, Montreal plays a national role in the development of French-Canadian and Québécois culture. Its contribution to culture is therefore more of a society-building endeavour rather than limited to civic influence. The best talents from French Canada and even the French-speaking areas of the United States converge in Montreal and often perceive the city as their cultural capital. Montreal is also the most important stop in the Americas for Francophone artists from Europe, Africa and Asia.
The degree to which Montrealers and Quebec residents support local output is impressive, considering the influence of nearby American and English Canadian culture. The cultural divide between Canada's Francophone and Anglophone culture is strong and was famously referred to as the "Two Solitudes" by Canadian writer Hugh MacLennan. Reflecting their deep-seated colonial roots, the Solitudes were historically strongly entrenched in Montreal, splitting the city geographically at Saint Laurent Boulevard. This split however has become less and less apparent in the past decades.
[edit] English
Montreal is also the cultural capital for English Quebec. The Montreal Gazette newspaper, McGill University, and the Centaur Theatre are traditional hubs of Anglo culture. Notable English-speaking Montrealers such as Leonard Cohen, Oscar Peterson, Nick Auf der Maur, Melissa Auf der Maur and Mordecai Richler have been influential. Anglophones from the Eastern Townships, Ottawa Valley and Northern Quebec enjoy radio and television that is produced in English in Montreal.
English is well-represented and widely understood on the island of Montreal. Though Anglophones only account for approximately 18% of the population, the majority of non-native English speakers are bilingual : some 57% of Francophones and 70% of allophones claim to be able to carry a conversation in English.
Anglophones are concentrated and sometimes even form a majority in the Montreal boroughs (or demergered cities) of Hampstead, Montreal West, Westmount, Côte-Saint-Luc, Dollard-des-Ormeaux, Pointe-Claire, Beaconsfield, Baie-d'Urfé, Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue, Dorval, Kirkland, Senneville, Pierrefonds, Notre-Dame-de-Grâce and Town of Mount Royal.
Some 30 years after the adoption of the Charter of the French Language, French is more widely spoken by Montreal's various communities. 66% of Quebec Anglophones claim to be able to carry a conversation in French. It is now common to hear the children of Vietnamese, Italian, Haitian and Arab immigrants speaking French with a distinct Québécois accent, as well as English and their own mother tongues.
While tensions can occur between Anglophones and Francophones, contemporary Montreal is home to a diverse collection of cultures and peoples who generally live together amicably.
[edit] Italian
Montreal's Italian community is one of the largest in Canada, second only to Toronto. With 250,000 Montrealers with Italian ancestry, Montreal has many Italian districts, such as Little Italy, Saint-Leonard (Citta Italiana), R.D.P., and LaSalle. Italian is the 3rd most spoken language in Montreal and in the province of Québec. There is such a large number of Italian Canadians in Montreal, that when Italy won the 2006 FIFA World Cup, Italian Montrealers took to the streets a celebrated en masse, resulting in many major streets such as Saint Lawrence Boulevard to be closed down.
[edit] Arab
In an attempt to boost the prospect of sovereignty, the formerly separatist provincial government initiated an aggressive campaign to bring predominantly french speaking Arabs to Montreal. According to CH (Montreal's multicultural channel) there are now 150 000 Arabs in Montreal. Arabic is the fourth language in importance, with many of Lebanese, Syrian, Palestinian, Egyptian and Algerian origin having a special French connection. The Arab district is St. Laurent, they are well appreciated for their Middle Eastern cuisine and art, and in the view of most they enrich the whole city with their presence. The Arab presence is so large that it is clearly fragmented into multiple "subcultures:" an anglophone with no knowledge of Arab history or culture can distinguish some distinct "Arab" cuisines in restaurants observed during a 30-minute walk along Saint Catherine's street.
[edit] Greek
Greek is the fifth language in importance, formerly the fourth before ceding that position to the Arab-speaking community. Nevertheless, the Greek community remains vibrant: several neighborhoods contain a number of Greek-owned businesses and local festivals and churches add the to the multicultural character of the city. The neighbouring city of Laval also has a sizable Greek community, predominantly residing in the borough of Chomedey.
[edit] Chinese
Montreal has Canada's third largest ethnic Chinese population at 72,000 members. The South Shore suburb of Brossard in particular has a high ethnic Chinese population, at 11% of its population.
[edit] Jewish
Montreal's Jewish community is historically one of the oldest and in Canada and one of the most populous in the country, formerly first but now second to Toronto and numbering about 93,000 according to the 2001 census. The community is quite diverse, and is composed of many different Jewish ethnic divisions that arrived in Canada at different periods of time and under differing circumstances. Included among Montreal's diverse Jewish community are the European Jews (Ashkenazim) who arrived mostly prior to and following World War II ; the Middle Eastern and North African Jews (Mizrahim) who were already French-speaking having come mostly from former French colonies; and Spanish Jews (Sephardim) and again Ashkenazim who had previously settled in Britain and from there moved to Canada as far back as the 18th century. More recent arrivals include significant numbers of Russian, Argentinian, and French Jews as well as some individual Indian Jews, Ethiopian Jews and others. Close to 25% of Montreal's Jewish population have French as their mother tongue.
Demographically smaller as a result of the exodus that came with the threat of separatism than other ethnic groups, Montreal's Jewish community has nevertheless been a leading contributor to Montreal's cultural landscape and is renowned for its level of charitable giving and its plethora of cultural and social service community institutions. Among these are the world renowned Jewish Public Library of Montreal, Saidye Bronfman Centre for the Arts, and Montreal Holocaust Memorial Centre.
Jewish culinary contributions have also been a source of pride for Montrealers; two world-renowned contributions are Montreal's smoked meat sandwiches and Montreal style bagels. There are many private Jewish schools in Montreal, partly funded by the Québec government (like most denominational schools in Québec). Approximately 7,000 children attend Jewish day schools, over 50% of the total Jewish school age population, an extremely high percentage for North American cities.
The Montreal Jewish community has experienced a significant population decline since the election of a separatist provincial government in 1976.
[edit] Languages
| Language | Greater Montreal | Quebec | Canada |
|---|---|---|---|
| French | 66.5% | 80.1% | 22.3% |
| English | 13.2% | 8.6% | 58.4% |
| Italian | 3.5% | 1.8% | 1.5% |
| Arabic | 3.1% | 1.6% | 0.9% |
| Spanish | 2.6% | 1.5% | 1.2% |
| Creole | 1.4% | 0.7% | 0.2% |
| Chinese | 1.2% | 0.6% | 1.5% |
| Greek | 1.2% | 0.6% | 0.4% |
| Portuguese | 0.9% | 0.5% | 0.7% |
| Romanian | 0.7% | 0.4% | 0.3% |
| Vietnamese | 0.7% | 0.4% | 0.5% |
| Russian | 0.5% | 0.3% | 0.4% |
| Armenian | 0.4% | 0.2% | 0.1% |
| Polish | 0.4% | 0.2% | 0.7% |
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ Statistics Canada (2002). Community Highlights for Montréal. Retrieved on 2007-02-22.
- ^ Statistics Canada (2002). Selected Ethnic Origins, for Census Subdivisions. Retrieved on 2007-02-22.
- ^ Ethnocultural Portrait of Canada, Highlight Tables, 2006 Census: Montreal (CMA). Statistics Canada. Retrieved on 2008-04-02.
- ^ Montreal (CMA) - Detailed Mother Tongue. Canada 2006 Census. Statistics Canada (April 1, 2008). Retrieved on 2008-05-18.
