| Total population |
|---|
| 304,245[1] 0.97% of Canadian population |
| Regions with significant populations |
| Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, Calgary, Ottawa |
| Languages |
| Religion |
| Related ethnic groups |
|
Latin Americans, Spanish Canadians, Portuguese Canadians, Hispanic and Latino Americans |
A Latin American Canadian or Hispanic Canadian is a Canadian of Latin American descent or birth. Latin American is the term used by Statistics Canada. The Latin American Canadian population comprises 0.97% of the population as of 2006.[1]
Other terms used sometimes are "Latino Canadian"[2] and "Latin Canadian".[3] However, the latter, though conveniently short, may be subject to controversy on whether not only people of Latin American descent are included, but also "Latins" with direct origins in Latin Europe, such as Spanish Canadians, Italian Canadians, Portuguese Canadians, and French Canadians.
The majority of Latin American Canadians are recent immigrants who arrived in the late 20th century from El Salvador, Colombia, Mexico, Chile, and Guatemala, with smaller communities from the Dominican Republic, Cuba, Venezuela, Nicaragua, Ecuador and elsewhere, with all or nearly all the Latin American countries represented.[4] Reasons for immigrating include Canada's better economic opportunities and politics or civil war and political repression in their native countries, as in the case of Cubans fleeing from the Fidel Castro revolution, Chileans escaping from Augusto Pinochet's rule, Salvadorans fleeing from the Salvadoran Civil War and Peruvians escaping from the Juan Velasco Alvarado dictatorship and from the July 1979 constitution's compulsory voting requirement.
The largest Latin American Canadian communities are in the census metropolitan areas of Toronto (99,290), Montreal (75,400), Vancouver (22,695), Calgary (13,415), and Ottawa (10,630),[1] and there are rapidly growing ones in the provinces of Alberta, Manitoba, and Nova Scotia.
The majority of Latin American Canadians are bilingual or multilingual, usually speaking Spanish or Portuguese, on the one hand, and English or French on the other.
Most Latinos feel a sense of belonging to Canada In 2002, 82% of those who reported Latin American origin said they had a strong sense of belonging to Canada. At the same time, 57% said that they had a strong sense of belonging to their ethnic or cultural group. People with Latin American origins are also active in Canadian society. For example, 66% of Canadians of Latin American origin who were eligible to vote did so in the 2000 federal election. [5]
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The Latin American community of Quebec was brought into the spotlight when 18 year old Honduran immigrant Fredy Alberto Villanueva was shot and killed by police officers of the SPVM on 9 August 2008.[6] The following day, what started out as a peaceful protest against the officers' actions in the borough of Montréal-Nord, erupted into a riot in which neighborhood stores were looted, several cars and garbage cans were set on fire, one paramedic and two police officers were wounded and one female police officer shot.[7]
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