View source for Iraqi Canadians

{{Cleanup bare URLs|date=August 2022}}
{{Infobox ethnic group
| group            = Iraqi Canadians
| flag             = 
| image            = 
| pop              = '''84,130''' (by birth), '''59,300''' (by ancestry, <small>[[Canada 2021 Census|2021 Census]]</small>)<ref name="Statistics Canada">{{cite web |url=https://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2021/dp-pd/prof/details/page.cfm?LANG=E&GENDERlist=1&STATISTIClist=1,4&DGUIDlist=2021A000011124&HEADERlist=31,25&SearchText=Canada |title=2021 Census Profile |author=Statistics Canada |date=3 June 2023 |author-link=Statistics Canada |access-date=3 June 2023}}</ref>
| popplace         = [[Toronto]], [[Vancouver]], [[Ottawa]], [[Calgary]], [[Montreal]]
| languages        = [[Mesopotamian Arabic]], [[Canadian English]], and [[Canadian French]] <br /> also [[Kurdish language|Kurdish]] ([[Sorani]], [[Feyli (Kurdish dialect)|Feyli]] and [[Kurmanji]] dialects), [[Turkish language|Turkish]] ([[Iraqi Turkmens#Language|Iraqi Turkmen/Turkoman dialects]]), and  [[Neo-Aramaic]]  ([[Sureth language|Assyrian]] and [[Mandaic language|Mandaic]])<!-- DON'T REMOVE IRAQI MINORITY LANGUAGES -->
| rels             = Majority [[Islam]] ([[Shia Islam|Shia]] and [[Sunni Islam|Sunni]]) and [[Christianity]] ([[Syriac Christianity]] and [[Eastern Catholic Churches|Catholic]]) <br /> minority [[Irreligion]], [[Judaism]] and other
| related          = [[Arabs]], [[Arab Canadians]], [[Iraqis]], [[Iraqi diaspora]]
}}

'''Iraqi Canadians''' are [[Canadians]] of full or partial [[Iraq]]i descent, as well as people from the state of Iraq who are ethno-linguistic and religious minorities. According to the [[Canada 2011 Census|2011 Census]] there were 49,680 Canadians of Iraqi ancestry, an increase compared to the 2006 Census.<ref name="Statistics Canada"/>

==History==
Emigration from Iraq to Canada has increased dramatically due to political and economic situations in [[Iraq]]. The [[Iraq-Iran War]] resulted in many immigrants. With the destroyed Iraqi economy and the oppression of the 13-year [[economic sanctions]] against Iraq that followed the [[Gulf War]] of 1990–91, there was all the more reason to emigrate. From 1945 until 1975, fewer than 200 Iraqis arrived in Canada.<ref name=Multicultural>{{cite web|url=http://www.multiculturalcanada.ca/ecp/content/iraqis.html |title=Multicultural Canada |access-date=2007-08-14 |publisher=multiculturalcanada.ca |archive-url=https://archive.today/20070928072345/http://www.multiculturalcanada.ca/ecp/content/iraqis.html |archive-date=2007-09-28 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Emigration substantially increased in 1979, the year [[Saddam Hussein]] became president of Iraq. Between 1975 and 1992, 6,472 Iraqis arrived in Canada,<ref name =Multicultural/>  establishing about 3.5 percent of all Arab immigrants in Canada.<ref name =Multicultural/> About 65 percent of Iraqis settled in the province of [[Quebec]], particularly in [[Montreal]], and in the province of [[British Columbia]], particularly in [[Vancouver]] on shores of the [[Pacific Ocean]]. Many Iraqis also live in the province of [[Ontario]], particularly in the Canadian capital city of [[Ottawa]], [[Windsor, Ontario|Windsor]] and [[Toronto]], the most populated city in Canada.

The 1991 [[Canadian census]] recorded 4,790 Iraqis; 3,525 of wholly Iraqi ancestry, and 1,265 of partial Iraqi ancestry.<ref name =Multicultural/> Iraqi immigrants through the period of 1981-1992 settled principally in a few cities in Canada: British Columbia (362), Alberta (268), Quebec (203), Ontario (176), and Manitoba (152).<ref name =Multicultural/>

== Demography ==
=== Religion ===
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|+ Iraqi Canadian demography by religion
! rowspan="2" |Religious group
! colspan="2" |2021<ref name="religion2021">{{Cite web |last=Government of Canada |first=Statistics Canada |date=2023-05-10 |title= Religion by ethnic or cultural origins: Canada, provinces and territories and census metropolitan areas with parts |url=https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/cv.action?pid=9810034101 |access-date=2024-09-22 |website=www12.statcan.gc.ca}}</ref>{{efn|name=Religion2021|Religious breakdown proportions based on "Iraqi" ethnic or cultural origin response on the [[2021 Canadian census|2021 census]].<ref name="religion2021"/>}}
|-
![[Population|{{abbr|Pop.|Population}}]]
!{{Abbr|%|percentage}}
|-
| [[Islam]]
| 27,445
| {{Percentage | 27445 | 59300 | 2 }}
|-
| [[Christianity]]
| 24,270
| {{Percentage | 24270 | 59300 | 2 }}
|-
| [[Irreligion]]
| 4,625
| {{Percentage | 4625 | 59300 | 2 }}
|-
| [[Judaism]]
| 2,085
| {{Percentage | 2085 | 59300 | 2 }}
|-
| [[Buddhism]]
| 40
| {{Percentage | 40 | 59300 | 2 }}
|-
| [[Hinduism]]
| 10
| {{Percentage | 10 | 59300 | 2 }}
|-
| [[Major religious groups|Other]]
| 820
| {{Percentage | 820 | 59300 | 2 }}
|-
! Total Iraqi Canadian population
! 59,300
! {{Percentage | 59300 | 59300 | 2 }}
|}

==Geographical distribution==

{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
![[Provinces and territories of Canada|Provinces and territories]]
!(2011) <ref name="canada2011" >{{cite web|title=2011 National Household Survey: Data tables|url=http://www12.statcan.gc.ca/nhs-enm/2011/dp-pd/dt-td/Rp-eng.cfm?LANG=E&APATH=3&DETAIL=0&DIM=0&FL=A&FREE=0&GC=0&GID=0&GK=0&GRP=0&PID=105396&PRID=0&PTYPE=105277&S=0&SHOWALL=0&SUB=0&Temporal=2013&THEME=95&VID=0&VNAMEE=&VNAMEF|work=Statistics of Canada|access-date=19 January 2013}}</ref>
|-
|{{flag|Ontario}}||35,220
|-
|{{flag|British Columbia}}||3,145
|-
|{{flag|Alberta}}||4,465
|-
|{{flag|Manitoba}}||615
|-
|{{flag|Saskatchewan}}||810
|-
|{{flag|Quebec}}||411
|-
|}

==Employment==
The main causes for the immigration of Iraqis were due to the Gulf War and the situation in Iraq which drove them out of their homeland.

In Canada, Iraqi immigrants seem to face three unexplainable problems, the first being unable to find jobs where they can apply their professional expertise. The second is discrimination, with a possibility that some employers associate them with the regime that they fled. The third is their lack of Canadian experience. Despite a high level of education and professional experience, 54 percent of 892 immigrants were unemployed. Of the 407 with jobs, 40 percent had professional positions; 24 percent, lower [[White-collar worker|white-collar]]; 30 percent, [[blue-collar]]; 3 percent, service; and 3 percent, not stated.<ref name =Multicultural/>

==Community life==
[[File:Iraq, Ottawa.jpg|right|thumb|300px|Iraqi Embassy in Ottawa]]
The patterns of formal association among Iraqis are new and voluntary, as revealed most notably in the Iraqi Community Center<ref>http://www.iraqicommunitycenter.com</ref> based in Cote Des Neiges, Montreal. The center helps Iraqis adapt to Canada and develop ties with general society, and disseminates information about the ethnocultural heritage of Iraqi Canadians. Gender equity is the norm; the president of the Iraqi Canadian Society is a woman.<ref name =Multicultural/>

==Culture==
Despite differences in dialect, many Iraqi Canadians see themselves as Arabs, Mandaeans, Assyrians or Chaldeans. Almost all Iraqi Arab immigrants wish to maintain the Arabic language in both oral and written forms. Because young children and Canadian-born ones cannot easily learn reading and writing skills, more emphasis is put on teaching oral skills. Many Canadian-born can understand spoken Arabic without being able to speak it.

Gender equity, which has expanded in Iraq itself, is encouraged in Canada. Marriage for both males and females remains principally endogamous.

There are a sizable number of Iraqi Christians in Canada. Christian denominations include [[Assyrian Church of the East]], [[Chaldean Catholic Church]], and [[Syriac Orthodox Church]]. The remaining 40 percent are Muslims, the majority being [[Shiite]]. There are also small numbers of [[Mandaeism|Mandaeans]] and [[Jews in Iraq|Jews]], numbering in the hundreds or thousands.

==Notable Iraqi Canadians==
* [[Aliyah (wrestler)|Nhoopeh al-Areebi]], professional wrestler (half Iraqi)
* [[Fajer Al-Kaisi]], Iraqi-born Canadian actor and comedian from Montreal
* [[Joe Balass]], filmmaker
* [[Farouk Kaspaules]], Iraqi-born Canadian artist
* [[Naïm Kattan]], author, novelist and critic
* [[Anisa Mehdi]], Emmy Award-winning film director, journalist and director of ''[[Inside Mecca]]''
* [[Duraid Munajim]], filmmaker and freelance cinematographer
* [[Leilah Nadir]], writer
* [[Narcy (rapper)|Narcy]], rapper
* [[Farah Nosh]], photojournalist
* [[Muayyed Nureddin]], geologist<ref>[https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/canadian-released-from-syrian-jail-heads-for-home-1.496290 Iraqi released from Syrian jail]</ref>
* [[Awatef Rasheed]], women's rights activist, Femmy Award winner in Canada
* [[Anita Sarkeesian]], [[feminist]] [[media critic]] and public speaker. Her parents are [[Armenians in Iraq|Armenians from Iraq]] who emigrated to Canada in the 1970s
* [[Isho Shiba]], [[Assyrians in Iraq|Iraqi-Assyrian]] born in Iraq, and a five-time Canadian national boxing champion
* [[Isa Hasan al-Yasiri]], poet
* Bahaa Abdul Hadi, founder of [[Qi Card]]

==See also==
{{Portal|Canada|Iraq}} 
* [[Canada–Iraq relations]]
* [[Arab Canadians]]
* [[Assyrians in Canada]] 
* [[Iraqi Americans]]
* [[Kurds in Canada]]
* [[Middle Eastern Canadians]]
* [[West Asian Canadians]]

== Notes ==
{{notelist}}

==References==
{{Reflist|2}}

{{People of Canada}}
{{Arab Canadians}}
{{Iraqi diaspora}}
{{Portal bar|Iraq|Canada}}
[[Category:Canadian people of Iraqi descent| ]]
[[Category:Iraqi emigrants to Canada| ]]
[[Category:Middle Eastern diaspora in Canada| ]]