Kurdish Canadians
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| 50,000 (stimate)[1] 23,130 (2021 census)[1] 16,315 (2016 census)[2] | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Ottawa | |
| Languages | |
| Kurdish Turkish language, Canadian English, Canadian French | |
| Religion | |
| Majority Islam with minorities of Kurdish Alevism, Yazidism, Yarsanism, Zoroastrianism, Judaism, Christianity | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Kurdish diaspora |
| Part of a series on |
| Kurds |
|---|
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| List of Kurds |
Kurdish Canadians refers to people of Kurdish origin who are born in or living in Canada.
The Kurdish community in Canada is 16,315[2] based on the 2016 Canadian Census, among which the Iraqi Kurds make up the largest group of Kurds in Canada, exceeding the numbers of Kurds from Turkey, Iran and Syria.
In Canada, Kurdish immigration was largely the result of the Iran–Iraq War, the Gulf War and Syrian Civil War. Thus, many Iraqi Kurds immigrated to Canada due to the constant wars and suppression of Kurds and Shiites by the Iraqi government.[3] Many Kurds arrived in Canada in the 1980s and the 1990s, most of whom were refugees resettled by the Government of Canada. However, smaller numbers of them also immigrated to Canada in the 1960s and 1970s.
Like all Canadians with origins in West Asia, Kurdish Canadians are legally defined as a visible minority, irrespective of their appearance.[4][5]
2011 census
[edit]| Provinces and territories | Kurdish as mother tongue[6] |
|---|---|
 Ontario |
6,830 |
 Alberta |
1,465 |
 British Columbia |
1,435 |
 Quebec |
1,415 |
 Manitoba |
260 |
 Saskatchewan |
110 |
 Nova Scotia |
55 |
 New Brunswick |
40 |
 Prince Edward Island |
30 |
2016 census
[edit]| Province or territory | Number of Kurdish speakers[7] |
|---|---|
| Ontario |
8,095 |
| British Columbia |
1,915 |
| Alberta |
1,680 |
| Quebec |
1,040 |
| Manitoba |
440 |
| Saskatchewan |
155 |
| Nova Scotia |
125 |
| New Brunswick |
55 |
 Newfoundland and Labrador |
10 |
 Nunavut |
5 |
 Northwest Territories |
– |
| Prince Edward Island |
– |
 Yukon |
– |
Notable people
[edit]- Jalal Barzanji, contemporary Kurdish poet, writer and activist
- Zaynê Akyol, film producer
- Azad Bonni, Canadian/American neuroscientist
- Amir Hassanpour, Kurdish scholar and researcher
- Ebrahim Karimi (physicist)
- Michael Haykin, Professor of Church History and Biblical Spirituality and Director of The Andrew Fuller Center for Baptist Studies at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.
- Madeh Piryonesi, Kurdish-Canadian writer and engineer
See also
[edit]
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- Middle Eastern Canadians
- West Asian Canadians
- Kurdish population
- Kurdish Americans
- Iranian Canadians
- Iraqi Canadians
- Syrian Canadians
- Turkish Canadians
- Canada–Kurdistan Region relations
References
[edit]- ^ a b "Kurdish Canadians". thecanadianencyclopedia.ca. The Canadian Encyclopedia. 10 July 2025. Retrieved 1 June 2026.
- ^ a b "Ethnic origin population". www12.statcan.gc.ca/. Statistics Canada. Retrieved 22 September 2019.
- ^ Powell, John (2005). Encyclopedia of North American Immigration. Infobase Publishing. p. 152. ISBN 0-8160-4658-1.
- ^ "Classification of visible minority". Archived from the original on 2016-07-18. Retrieved 2016-07-13.
- ^ "Immigration and Ethnocultural Diversity in Canada". 12.statcan.gc.ca. Retrieved 27 May 2018.
- ^ "2011 National Household Survey: Data tables". Statistics of Canada. Statistics of Canada. Retrieved 19 January 2013.
- ^ "Proportion of mother tongue responses for various regions in Canada, 2016 Census". Statistics of Canada. Retrieved 8 August 2017.
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