Belgian Canadians
Appearance
Total population | |
---|---|
186,665 (by ancestry, German Canadians |
Belgian Canadians (
2011 census there were 176,615 Canadians who claimed full or partial Belgian ancestry.[1] It encompasses immigrants from both French and Dutch-speaking parts
of Belgium.
History
Year | Pop. | ±% |
---|---|---|
1901 | 2,994 | — |
1911 | 9,664 | +222.8% |
1921 | 20,234 | +109.4% |
1931 | 27,585 | +36.3% |
1941 | 29,711 | +7.7% |
1951 | 35,148 | +18.3% |
1961 | 61,382 | +74.6% |
1971 | 51,135 | −16.7% |
1981 | 42,270 | −17.3% |
1986 | 74,795 | +76.9% |
1991 | 90,910 | +21.5% |
1996 | 123,595 | +36.0% |
2001 | 129,780 | +5.0% |
2006 | 168,915 | +30.2% |
2011 | 176,615 | +4.6% |
2016 | 186,665 | +5.7% |
Source: Statistics Canada [2]: 17 [3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14] Note: 1981 Canadian census did not include multiple ethnic origin responses, thus population is an undercount. |
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/98/Eug%C3%A8ne_Laermans_-_Landverhuizers_%28KMSKA%29_%28center_panel_-_Laatste_blik%29.jpg/220px-Eug%C3%A8ne_Laermans_-_Landverhuizers_%28KMSKA%29_%28center_panel_-_Laatste_blik%29.jpg)
People from the
Catholic communities of Quebec and Manitoba. Édouard Simaeys became a part-time paid Canadian agent in Belgium to publicize opportunities in Canada and facilitate immigration. The steamship companies prepared their own brochures and offered package deals to farm families. By 1898 there was a full-time Canadian office in Antwerp which provided pamphlets, lectures and specific travel advice. By 1906 some 2,000 Belgians a year were arriving, most with skills in agriculture. A third wave of immigration took place after 1945, with urban areas the destination. The 1961 census counted 61,000 Canadians of Belgian ancestry.[15]
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f6/Belgian_Club_002.jpg/220px-Belgian_Club_002.jpg)
Belgian immigration to
Saint Boniface, Manitoba, but most became farmers who specialized in dairy farming, sugar beets and market gardening. After 1920 there was a move to western Alberta, with an economy based on ranching, horse breeding, and sugar beets.[16]
During the Second World War, Belgian émigrés from Canada and elsewhere in the Americas were formed into the 2nd Fusilier Battalion of the
Free Belgian Forces, which was based in Canada.[17]
Demographics
Belgian Canadians by Canadian province or territory (2016)
Province | Population | Percentage | Source |
---|---|---|---|
![]() |
57,890 | 0.4% | [18] |
![]() |
51,340 | 0.7% | [19] |
![]() |
21,515 | 1.7% | [20] |
![]() |
21,210 | 0.5% | [21] |
![]() |
19,980 | 0.4% | [22] |
![]() |
9,655 | 0.9% | [23] |
![]() |
2,620 | 0.3% | [24] |
![]() |
1,465 | 0.2% | [25] |
![]() |
440 | 0.3% | [26] |
![]() |
200 | 0.0% | [27] |
![]() |
170 | 0.5% | [28] |
![]() |
145 | 0.4% | [29] |
![]() |
30 | 0.1% | [30] |
![]() |
186,665 | 0.5% | [31] |
Notable people
- Johan Beetz (1874–1949), Belgian-born naturalist and namesake of Baie-Johan-Beetz, Quebec
- Gustave Francq (1871–1952), Belgian-born printer and trade unionist
- Maurice Baudoux (1902–1988), Belgian-born Catholic priest and Archbishop of Saint Boniface, Manitoba
- Alexis Nihon (1902–1980), Belgian-born industrialist
- Speaker of the House of Commons of Canada
- Michael DeGroote (1933–2022), businessman and philanthropist
- Émilie Heymans (1981–), Belgian-born Olympic diver
- Lance Stroll (1998–), Formula One driver
See also
- European Canadians
- Belgian Americans
- Gazette van Detroit (1914–2018)
- Belgium–Canada relations
- Red Star Line
References
- ^ a b Statistics Canada. "Immigration and Ethnocultural Diversity Highlight Tables". Retrieved 11 February 2014.
- ^ Government of Canada, Statistics Canada (1999-07-29). "Historical statistics of Canada, section A: Population and migration - ARCHIVED". www12.statcan.gc.ca. Retrieved 2022-09-28.
- ^ Government of Canada, Statistics Canada (2013-04-03). "Ninth census of Canada, 1951 = Neuvième recensement du Canada Vol. 1. Population: general characteristics". www12.statcan.gc.ca. Retrieved 2022-09-28.
- ^ Government of Canada, Statistics Canada (2013-04-03). "1961 Census of Canada : population : vol. I - part 2 = 1961 Recensement du Canada : population : vol. I - partie 2. Ethnic groups". www12.statcan.gc.ca. Retrieved 2022-09-28.
- ^ Government of Canada, Statistics Canada (2013-04-03). "1971 Census of Canada : population : vol. I - part 3 = Recensement du Canada 1971 : population : vol. I - partie 3. Ethnic groups". www12.statcan.gc.ca. Retrieved 2022-09-28.
- ^ Government of Canada, Statistics Canada (2013-04-03). "1981 Census of Canada : volume 1 - national series : population = Recensement du Canada de 1981 : volume 1 - série nationale : population. Ethnic origin". www12.statcan.gc.ca. Retrieved 2022-09-28.
- ^ Government of Canada, Statistics Canada (2013-04-03). "Census Canada 1986 Profile of ethnic groups". www12.statcan.gc.ca. Retrieved 2022-09-28.
- ^ Government of Canada, Statistics Canada (2013-04-03). "1986 Census of Canada: Ethnic Diversity In Canada". www12.statcan.gc.ca. Retrieved 2022-09-28.
- ^ Government of Canada, Statistics Canada (2013-04-03). "1991 Census: The nation. Ethnic origin". www12.statcan.gc.ca. Retrieved 2022-09-28.
- ^ Government of Canada, Statistics Canada (2019-06-04). "Data tables, 1996 Census Population by Ethnic Origin (188) and Sex (3), Showing Single and Multiple Responses (3), for Canada, Provinces, Territories and Census Metropolitan Areas, 1996 Census (20% Sample Data)". www12.statcan.gc.ca. Retrieved 2022-09-28.
- ^ Government of Canada, Statistics Canada (2013-12-23). "Ethnic Origin (232), Sex (3) and Single and Multiple Responses (3) for Population, for Canada, Provinces, Territories, Census Metropolitan Areas and Census Agglomerations, 2001 Census - 20% Sample Data". www12.statcan.gc.ca. Retrieved 2022-09-28.
- ^ Government of Canada, Statistics Canada (2020-05-01). "Ethnic Origin (247), Single and Multiple Ethnic Origin Responses (3) and Sex (3) for the Population of Canada, Provinces, Territories, Census Metropolitan Areas and Census Agglomerations, 2006 Census - 20% Sample Data". www12.statcan.gc.ca. Retrieved 2022-09-28.
- ^ Government of Canada, Statistics Canada (2019-01-23). "Ethnic Origin (264), Single and Multiple Ethnic Origin Responses (3), Generation Status (4), Age Groups (10) and Sex (3) for the Population in Private Households of Canada, Provinces, Territories, Census Metropolitan Areas and Census Agglomerations, 2011 National Household Survey". www12.statcan.gc.ca. Retrieved 2022-09-28.
- ^ Government of Canada, Statistics Canada (2019-06-17). "Ethnic Origin (279), Single and Multiple Ethnic Origin Responses (3), Generation Status (4), Age (12) and Sex (3) for the Population in Private Households of Canada, Provinces and Territories, Census Metropolitan Areas and Census Agglomerations, 2016 Census - 25% Sample Data". www12.statcan.gc.ca. Retrieved 2022-09-28.
- ^ Paul R. Magocsi, Encyclopedia of Canada's peoples (1999) pp 257-69
- ^ Cornelius J. Jaenen, Promoters, Planters, and Pioneers: The Course and Context of Belgian Settlement in Western Canada (University of Calgary Press, 2011)
- ISBN 978-1-85532-136-6.
- Canada 2016 Census. Statistics Canada. 25 October 2017. Retrieved 30 January 2020.
- Canada 2016 Census. Statistics Canada. 25 October 2017. Retrieved 30 January 2020.
- Canada 2016 Census. Statistics Canada. 25 October 2017. Retrieved 30 January 2020.
- Canada 2016 Census. Statistics Canada. 25 October 2017. Retrieved 30 January 2020.
- Canada 2016 Census. Statistics Canada. 25 October 2017. Retrieved 30 January 2020.
- Canada 2016 Census. Statistics Canada. 25 October 2017. Retrieved 30 January 2020.
- Canada 2016 Census. Statistics Canada. 25 October 2017. Retrieved 30 January 2020.
- Canada 2016 Census. Statistics Canada. 25 October 2017. Retrieved 30 January 2020.
- Canada 2016 Census. Statistics Canada. 25 October 2017. Retrieved 30 January 2020.
- Canada 2016 Census. Statistics Canada. 25 October 2017. Retrieved 30 January 2020.
- Canada 2016 Census. Statistics Canada. 25 October 2017. Retrieved 30 January 2020.
- Canada 2016 Census. Statistics Canada. 25 October 2017. Retrieved 30 January 2020.
- Canada 2016 Census. Statistics Canada. 25 October 2017. Retrieved 30 January 2020.
- ^ "Immigration and Ethnocultural Diversity Highlight Tables". statcan.gc.ca. 25 October 2017.
Further reading
- Jaenen, Cornelius J. (1998). "The Belgian Presence in Canada". In d’Haenens, Leen (ed.). Images of Canadianness: Visions on Canada's Politics, Culture, Economics. Ottawa: University of Ottawa Press. pp. 67–90. ISBN 9780776627090.
- Jaenen, Cornelius J. (1999). "Belgians". In Magocsi, Paul R. (ed.). The Encyclopedia of Canada's Peoples. pp. 257–69.
- Jaenen, Cornelius J. (2011). Promoters, Planters, and Pioneers: The Course and Context of Belgian Settlement in Western Canada. Calgary, Alberta, Canada: University of Calgary Press. ISBN 978-1-55238-570-8.
- Magee, Joan (1987). The Belgians in Ontario: A History. Toronto: Dundurn Press. ISBN 978-1-55002-014-4.
- Stynen, Andreas, ed. (2014). Boer vindt land : Vlaamse migranten en Noord-Amerika. Leuven: Davidsfonds. ISBN 9789059085497.
- Vermeirre, André (2001). L'immigration des Belges au Québec. Sillery: Septentrion. ISBN 9782894483015.