Iranian Canadians

Iranian Canadians or Persian Canadians^[3][4] are Canadians of Iranian origin.^[5] From the 2016 Canadian census, the main communities can be found in Southern Ontario, British Columbia, and Quebec. As of 2016^[update] a total of 97,110 Iranians reside in the Greater Toronto Area,^[6] 46,255 in the Greater Vancouver Area,^[7] and 23,410 in the Greater Montreal Area,^[8] with the remainder spread out in the other major cities of Canada, based on the 2016 Canadian Census. These numbers represent the people who stated "Iranian" as their single or joint ethnic origin in the census survey.

Iranian Canadians
ایرانیان کانادایی

Total population
280,805 (2021 census)[1][a] 0.8% of the total Canadian population (2021) 262,625 (Persian-speaking Canadians)[2] 0.7% of the total Canadian population (2021)
Regions with significant populations
Richmond Hill, Toronto, North Vancouver, Montreal, Ottawa
Languages
Persian, Canadian English, Canadian French Azerbaijani, Armenian, Kurdish, Mandaic, and other languages of Iran.
Religion
Predominantly Shia Islam and Irreligion Minorities include Agnosticism, Baháʼí Faith, Christianity (Protestantism and Catholicism), Judaism, Sunni Islam, Zoroastrianism and Mandaeism
Related ethnic groups
Iranian diaspora (Iranians of UAE • Ajam of Bahrain • Ajam of Qatar • Ajam of Iraq • 'Ajam of Kuwait • Iranians of Canada • Iranians of America • Iranians of UK • Iranians of Germany • Iranians of Israel • Iranians in Turkey) Iranian Peoples (Lurs, Achomis, Baluchs, Kurds, Iranian Azeris), Turkic peoples (Qashqai, Azerbaijanis), Huwala

Terminology

Iranian-Canadian is used interchangeably with Persian-Canadian,^{[9][10][11][12]} partly due to the fact^[13] that, in the Western world, Iran was known as "Persia". On the Nowruz of 1935, Reza Shah Pahlavi asked foreign delegates to use the term Iran, the endonym of the country used since the Sasanian Empire, in formal correspondence. Since then the use of the word "Iran" has become more common in the Western countries. This also changed the usage of the terms for Iranian nationality, and the common adjective for citizens of Iran changed from "Persian" to "Iranian". In 1959, the government of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, Reza Shah Pahlavi's son, announced that both "Persia" and "Iran" could officially be used interchangeably.^[14] However the issue is still debated today.^[15][16]

While the majority of Iranian-Canadians come from Persian backgrounds, there is a significant number of non-Persian Iranians such as Azeris^[17][18][19] and Kurds within the Iranian-Canadian community,^[20][21] leading some scholars to believe that the label "Iranian" is more inclusive, since the label "Persian" excludes non-Persian minorities.^[20] The Collins English Dictionary uses a variety of similar and overlapping definitions for the terms "Persian" and "Iranian".^[22][23]

Demography

Population

Iranian-Canadian
Population History

Year	Pop.	±%
1981	5,600	—
1986	15,745	+181.2%
1991	43,210	+174.4%
1996	64,405	+49.1%
2001	88,220	+37.0%
2006	121,505	+37.7%
2011	163,290	+34.4%
2016	210,405	+28.9%
2021	280,805[a]	+33.5%
Source: Statistics Canada [24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][1]

Immigration

In 2021, there were 213,160 individuals in Canada who had been born in Iran, of which 70,395 had immigrated to Canada since 2011.

Religion

Among all Iranian-Canadians, 103,560 (49%) identified as Muslim. Among immigrants since 2011, about 39,860 (57%) identified as Muslim while most of the rest did not identify with any religion.^[33]

Iranian Canadian demography by religion

Religious group	2021[34][b]
	Pop.	%
Islam	123,045	43.82%
Irreligion	120,250	42.82%
Christianity	18,270	6.51%
Judaism	1,235	0.44%
Hinduism	240	0.09%
Buddhism	220	0.08%
Sikhism	150	0.05%
Indigenous spirituality	35	0.01%
Other (primarily Zoroastrianism)	17,350	6.18%
Total Iranian Canadian population	280,805[a]	100%

Religious demography of Canadian immigrants[c] born in Iran[34] Period of immigration Total Islam Irreligion Christianity Pop. % Pop. % Pop. % Before 1980 2,320 505 22% 915 39% 350 15% 1980 to 1990 16,670 4,915 29% 7,010 42% 1,755 11% 1991 to 2000 41,215 16,120 39% 20,440 50% 1,990 5% 2001 to 2010 52,340 26,000 50% 22,135 42% 1,560 3% 2011 to 2015 44,740 24,985 56% 17,020 38% 1,265 3% 2016 to 2021 25,655 14,875 58% 8,765 34% 1,500 6% Total 182,935 87,410 76,290 8,420

Iranian Canadian demography by religion and gender (2021 census)[34][b] Religious group Men Women Pop. % Pop. % Islam 59,920 42.14% 63,120 45.54% Irreligion 63,745 44.83% 56,505 40.77% Christianity 8,950 6.29% 9,325 6.73% Total 142,205[a] 50.64% 138,610[a] 49.36%

Geographical distribution

Provinces & territories

Iranian Canadians by province and territory (2001−2021)

Province/Territory	2021[1][a]		2016[32]		2011[31]		2006[30]		2001[29]
	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%
Ontario	155,855	1.11%	117,065	0.88%	92,635	0.73%	70,595	0.59%	51,775	0.46%
British Columbia	68,545	1.39%	47,985	1.05%	39,285	0.91%	29,265	0.72%	21,910	0.57%
Quebec	34,010	0.41%	25,530	0.32%	17,825	0.23%	12,370	0.17%	9,535	0.13%
Alberta	15,185	0.36%	13,925	0.35%	9,215	0.26%	5,835	0.18%	3,130	0.11%
Manitoba	2,010	0.15%	1,885	0.15%	1,265	0.11%	1,485	0.13%	630	0.06%
Saskatchewan	1,825	0.17%	1,340	0.13%	795	0.08%	630	0.07%	525	0.05%
Nova Scotia	1,640	0.17%	1,405	0.15%	1,240	0.14%	805	0.09%	390	0.04%
New Brunswick	845	0.11%	670	0.09%	445	0.06%	380	0.05%	185	0.03%
Newfoundland and Labrador	535	0.11%	215	0.04%	180	0.04%	60	0.01%	35	0.01%
Prince Edward Island	270	0.18%	295	0.21%	335	0.24%	15	0.01%	25	0.02%
Northwest Territories	45	0.11%	60	0.15%	55	0.13%	45	0.11%	20	0.05%
Nunavut	20	0.05%	20	0.06%	0	0%	10	0.03%	10	0.04%
Yukon	20	0.05%	15	0.04%	20	0.06%	10	0.03%	45	0.16%
Canada	280,805	0.77%	210,405	0.61%	163,290	0.5%	121,505	0.39%	88,220	0.3%

British Columbia

• North Vancouver (District)
• North Vancouver (City)
• West Vancouver
• Burnaby
• Coquitlam

Ontario

• Richmond Hill
• Vaughan
• Markham
• Thornhill

Islamic republic politicians/sympathizers

Canada in 2022 banned ten thousand IRGC seniors and officers from entry.^[35] Iranian celebrities and government former ministers and officials are often mentioned in the news residing or traveling in Canada as well.^{[36][37][38][39]}

Notable Canadians of Iranian descent

Editorial team of Shahrvand weekly in Toronto, the largest Persian newspaper in Canada

Academia

Little Persia on Yonge Street at North York, 2014

• Payam Akhavan, pioneer in international criminal law and leading human rights advocate; McGill University^[40]
• Kaveh Farrokh, historian
• Ramin Jahanbegloo, philosopher and university professor
• Ali Khademhosseini, Associate Professor of Medicine; Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology^[41]
• Shahrzad Mojab, Professor of Leadership, Higher and Adult Education; University of Toronto
• Reza Zadeh, computer scientist; Stanford University

Art and literature

• Hossein Amanat, architect, urban designer
• Reza Baraheni, novelist, poet, critic, and political activist
• Ila Firouzabadi, artist and screenwriter
• Jian Ghomeshi, member of Moxy Früvous; former host of CBC's play; former host of Q on CBC Radio 1
• Siamak Hariri, architect
• Nazanine Hozar, writer
• Ramin Karimloo, West End performer, playing the lead role in Andrew Lloyd Webber's The Phantom of the Opera and the sequel Love Never Dies
• Navid Khonsari, video game, film and graphic novel creator, writer, director and producer
• Fariborz Lachini, music composer
• Nima Mazhari [fr], painter, photographer and husband of ex-Olympic biathlete Myriam Bédard, convicted and sentenced in June 2007 for stealing paintings from the late painter Ghitta Caiserman
• Sanaz Mazinani, photographer and curator
• Kaveh Nabatian, musician and filmmaker
• Marina Nemat, author
• Ghazal Omid, nonfiction political writer, nonfiction children's book writer, speaker, NGO executive
• Fariborz Sahba, architect
• Bardia Sinaee, poet
• Marjan Farsad, Animator, illustrator, singer, and songwriter
• Parviz Tanavoli, Sculptor and painter
• Sirak Melkonian, Painter
• Mostafa Keshvari, Director and writer^[42]
• Anahita Akhavan, painter

Beauty pageants

• Nazanin Afshin-Jam, Miss Canada 2003, first runner-up of Miss World 2003, actress, singer-songwriter, human rights activist; wife of former Canadian Defence Minister Peter MacKay
• Ramona Amiri, Miss World Canada 2005, semifinalist of Miss World 2005
• Samantha Tajik, Miss Universe Canada 2008

Business

The Ghermezians, an Iranian-Canadian family, own the West Edmonton Mall.

• Ghermezian family, billionaire shopping mall developers
• Hassan Khosrowshahi, founder of Future Shop
• Karim Hakimi, founder of Hakim Optical
• Michael Latifi, founder of Sofina Foods Ltd and owner of Nidala (BVI) Limited which holds a share in the McLaren Group.
• Shahrzad Rafati, founder of BroadbandTV Corp
• Sam Mizrahi, real estate developer
• Shahin Assayesh, publisher

Crime

• Omid Tahvili, kingpin and international fugitive

Entertainment

• Pirouz Nemati, actor and screenwriter (Universal Language)
• Mehdi Sadaghdar, YouTube personality, electrical engineer
• Mani Soleymanlou, actor and playwright

Journalism

ITC TV, one of the Persian-language TV stations in Toronto

Various Persian-language media (including TV and newspapers) are active in Canada, including Shahrvand and Salam Toronto, which cover local events as well.^[43]

• Maziar Bahari, journalist
• Farid Haerinejad, CBC former producer, documentary maker, and editor-in-chief of Radio Zamaneh
• Shaya Goldoust, journalist, podcaster, radio host^[44]
• Zahra Kazemi, photojournalist
• Nikahang Kowsar, cartoonist
• Touka Neyestani, cartoonist

Politicians

• Ali Ehsassi, Federal Liberal MP for Willowdale, lawyer
• Majid Jowhari, Federal Liberal MP for Richmond Hill, engineer
• Amir Khadir, Québec solidaire Former MNA for Mercier, microbiologist
• Reza Moridi, Ontario Liberal Former MPP for Richmond Hill, physicist, engineer

Sport

• Nicholas Latifi, Formula One driver for Williams Grand Prix Engineering
• Khashayar Farzam, Powerlifter and Physician

Technology

• Behdad Esfahbod, programmer and creator of the HarfBuzz text shaping engine

See also

• Canada portal
• Iran portal

• Azerbaijani Canadians
• Armenian Canadians
• Canadian Society of Iranian Engineers and Architects-Ottawa
• Iranian diaspora
• Kurds in Canada
• Middle Eastern Canadians
• West Asian Canadians

Notes

1. Total population with "Iranian" (200,465 persons) and "Persian" (80,340 persons) ethnic or cultural origin responses on the 2021 census.^[1]
2. Religious breakdown proportions based on "Iranian" and "Persian" ethnic or cultural origin responses on the 2021 census.^[34]
3. Does not those who don't have permanent residency (e.g study permit holder)