Portuguese Canadians (Portuguese:luso-canadianos) areCanadian citizens of full or partialPortuguese heritage or people who migrated fromPortugal and reside inCanada. According to the2021 Census, there were 448,310 or 1.21% of Canadians claimed full or partial Portuguese ancestry, a decrease compared to 482,110 in 2016 (1.40% of the nation's total population).
Most Portuguese Canadians live inOntario - 300,600 (67.05%), followed byQuebec 64,385 (14.36%) andBritish Columbia 39,755 (8.87%).[3]
Portugal played a pioneering role in the explorations of theNew World in the 15th and 16th centuries.[4] In the 15th century,Prince Henry of Portugal, better known as Henry the Navigator, established a school of navigation inSagres, in theAlgarve region of Portugal. From this school emerged explorers who found their way to the Indies, South America, North America and Africa, including the PortugueseJoão Fernandes Lavrador, who was the first explorer ofLabrador, andGaspar Corte-Real, who was also one of the earliest European explorers of Canada. Corte-Real explored the northeast coast of "Terra Nova", namingConception Bay,Portugal Cove, and Labrador, named after Fernandes Lavrador. Recent historiography suggests Corte Real May have reached Canadian coasts in 1473, before Columbus officially "discovered" America.[5] It is nonetheless worth noting that historical evidence from the early Age of Discovery is lacking.
Pressure from natives and competing European fisheries prevented a permanent establishment and was abandoned five years later. Several attempts to establish settlements in Newfoundland over the next half-century also failed.[7]
In the early 1600sMathieu Da Costa was probably the first black person setting foot in modern-day Canadian territory.[8][9]
In 1705, the PortuguesePedro da Silva became the first post courier in the French territory of North America,New France. He settled in the Canadian part of the territory.
In addition,Esther Brandeau, ofSephardic descent is notable in the history of theJews in Canada as the first Jew to set foot in the country, travelling fromFrance to New France.[10][11] Portuguese and Spanish Sephardic Jews also contributed founding the oldest Jewish congregation in Canada, establishing Montréal synagogue in 1778.[12]
During the 1950s, a large number of immigrants from theAzores andMadeira, fleeing political conflict with the regime ofAntónio de Oliveira Salazar, moved into the downtown core of Canada's major cities such as the area ofPortugal Village inToronto, Ontario and further west alongDundas Street toBrockton Village. The stretch of Dundas Street passing through Brockton Village is also known as "Rua Açores". Many other Portuguese have immigrated toMontreal since the 1960s. As well, Portugueseemigrants settled in areas ofBritish Columbia from the mid 1950s onwards, includingVancouver andKitimat where they worked in the lumber and smelting industries, and theOkanagan Valley in the interior of the province, where many became orchard farmers. From the 1970s, increasing numbers ofBrazilians moved into the Portugal Village, Toronto.
Recently, a number of Canadians ofGoan heritage have opted to pursue Portuguese citizenship they are entitled to through their heritage as a result of Goa being an overseas province of Portugal until 1961, thus adding to the Portuguese Canadian population in Canada.
Most Portuguese families inBrampton live along Main Street, with concentrations in Downtown Brampton, Peel Village, Main St & Vodden as well as the Edenbrook Hill Drive corridor. Our Lady of Fatima Portuguese Church is located in Brampton.
Montreal has the second most populous number of Portuguese immigrants with an estimated 47,000. Most started immigrating in the 1960s and settled in theLe Plateau-Mont-Royal mainly aroundSaint Laurent Boulevard and Rachel Street. Many Portuguese stores and restaurants are located inLittle Portugal.
St Mary's Pro-Cathedral Hamilton
Hamilton, Ontario also has a solid Portuguese community concentrated in the downtown core aroundBarton andJames Street and nearby the St. Mary's Roman Catholic church. This area in Hamilton is known as "Jamesville" and is shared with a neighbouring Italian population.London, Ontario's significant Portuguese community[13] is concentrated in the east end and south end of the city, with Portuguese restaurants and shops situated on Hamilton Road.
The first recorded Portuguese individual to immigrate to British Columbia was "Portuguese Joe" Silvie, fromPico Island.[14] He arrived in BC around 1858 via California, after years in the American whaling industry. He married Khaltinaht a daughter of Grand Chief Kiapilano, and their daughter was the first child born in Vancouver of European origin, Elizabeth Walker (née Silvey). They lived in a cabin built in what is nowStanley Park and he ran Vancouver's second saloon, and was a fisherman as well. However his wife died in 1871, and in years later married ashíshálh woman named Kwaham Kwatleematt (Lucy). They later moved to Reid Island where their family grew to 10 children. Portuguese Joe died in 1902, and has approximately 500 descendant. A statue in his memory now stands inStanley Park, meters away from thetotem pole display.
British Columbia has around 35 000 Portuguese-Canadians, concentrated in the Lower Mainland (Vancouver, Surrey, Richmond, Burnaby, Delta, Coquitlam) with around 20 000 Portuguese Canadians. Other centres for Portuguese immigrants and their descendants areKitimat,Prince Rupert,Victoria, and theOkanagan region where many are fruit farmers. Many are of Azorean heritage.
In Vancouver there is a Portuguese Catholic Church, Portuguese Canadian Senior's Society, Portuguese Brotherhood of the Divine Holy Spirit with members originally fromFlores Island, Azores andSão Miguel Island, Tradition ofTerceira (Tradição da Terceira), Friends ofPico (Amigos do Pico), and several folk dance groups, including. Cruz de Cristo (regions of Mainland Portugal), Pico,Sao Miguel Island andMadeira.
Portuguese Canadians by Canadian province or territory (2021)
The Portuguese Canadian community chose 2003 as the year to celebrate the 50th anniversary of their officially sponsoredimmigration to Canada. The HonourableDavid Collenette,Minister of Transport and Minister Responsible forCanada Post, said that "the Portuguese Canadian community is a vibrant group that enriches the Canadian mosaic with its history, language, culture and work ethic." He added that Canada Post was proud to be issuing a stamp honouring Portuguese Canadians during the month of June, when cultural celebrations honouring the life of 16th-century poetLuís de Camões, considered Portugal's greatest poet, were taking place in many communities across the country.
According to recentstatistics, more than 330,000Canadians can speak Portuguese, accounting to approximately 1% of the country'spopulation.[22] Portuguese language is amongst the most notable cultural contributions Portuguese have brought to Canada, contributing to the enrichment and adding to the diversity of the country.[23]
Holy Spirit Societies (Irmandades do Divino Espirito Santo)
As Azoreans came to Canada from 1953 into the 1970s, numerousHoly Spirit Societies, reminiscent of the spiritual celebration of the Holy Spirit and cultural tradition present in each village in the Azores Islands, were set up by individuals from the community coming together. They participate in the International Conference of the Festivals of the Holy Spirit, which united Azorean communities around the world yearly.
Some Portuguese-Canadians adopt the name "Luso-Canadians" for their local social and business clubs, in reference toLusitania, the ancient name associated with Portugal under the Roman Empire (and nowadays used in thePortuguese language as a synonym for "Portuguese". The attendance growth of organizations indicate the growth in small business and universities throughout the community. They have also established a Portuguese-language TV channel serving the community.[46] The sense of community is strong[47][48] and the Portuguese have established many cultural societies in Canadian soil[49][50]
Leading as a national voice, one can find the "Congresso", the Luso-Canadiano National Congress.[51]
^W. F. Ganong (1964).Crucial Maps in the Early cartography and Place-Nomenclature of the Atlantic Coast of Canada. University of Toronto Press. p. 135.
^Disney 2009a, p. 116 harvnb error: no target: CITEREFDisney2009a (help)
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