Venezuelan community in Bois de Boulogne, Quebec (taken in 2017)
Latin American Canadians (French: Canadiens d'Amérique latine; Portuguese: Canadenses de América Latina; Spanish: Canadienses de América Latina), are Canadians who are descendants of people from countries of Latin America. The majority of Latin American Canadians are multilingual, primarily speaking Spanish, Portuguese, French and English. Most are fluent in one or both of Canada's two official languages, English and French. Spanish and Portuguese are Romance languages and share similarities in morphology and syntax with French.
The largest Latin American groups represented in Canada are Mexican Canadians, Colombian Canadians and Salvadoran Canadians. The Latino population is mostly concentrated in the provinces of Ontario and Quebec. Ontario holds the largest Latin American population with Toronto having the largest concentration (including the suburbs of Mississauga and Brampton), as well as other cities such as London, Leamington, Ottawa and Kitchener-Waterloo. Quebec has the second-largest Latin American population with Montreal having the largest concentration.
Latin American Canadians make up one of the major groups designated as a visible minority according to Statistics Canada. However, the census acknowledges the fact that Latin Americans can be white, as is the case of many Latin Americans in Canada, since Latin Americans are not a homogenous race and can have their origins in European, African, Indigenous, Asian people, or any mix of those groups.
Over 1.1 million (3.3% of Canadians) are of Latin American or Hispanic descent, according to Statistics Canada. However, only 580 thousand Canadians self-identified as Latin Americans or of Hispanic descent according to the 2021 Canadian Census.
The majority of Latin American Canadians are recent immigrants who arrived in the late 20th century from Mexico, Colombia, El Salvador, Puerto Rico, Peru with smaller communities from Chile, Venezuela, Brazil, Cuba, Guatemala, and elsewhere, with nearly all Latin American countries represented.
As of 2021 Census reports; the Latin American community increased in the late 2010s and early 2020s in BC, especially in New Westminster and Vancouver proper:
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