Copts in Canada are Canadian citizens of Coptic descent or people of Coptic descent residing in Canada.
Population and distribution
According to the 2011 census, there were 3,570 Canadians who reported Coptic ancestry (this figure combines single and multiple ethnic origin responses). Of this number, 755 Canadians reported Coptic as their only ancestry, whereas 2,810 reported Coptic as one of multiple ancestries.[4]
In the same survey, around 17,000 Canadians said they belonged to the Coptic Orthodox Church. Of this number, 12,645 were immigrants and 3,365 were born in Canada.[1]
The Canadian Coptic Association estimates that there are 35,000 Copts living in Canada; according to CBC News, "if other sects with strong ties to the Coptic community are included, the figure is possibly higher still."[5] (Note: There is likely a typo in the CBC article where an extra zero was added, thereby erroneous stating that there are 350,000 Copts in Canada).
St. George & St. Rueiss Coptic Orthodox Church in Toronto, Ontario.St. Mina and St. Kyrillos Coptic Orthodox Church in Mississauga, Ontario.
The immigration of the Copts to Canada might have started as early as the late 1950s with most immigrants arriving in throughout the 1970s, from Egypt to Canada being mostly Christians who mostly left due to poverty in their home country and job opportunities.[1]
^Saad Michael Saad, "Coptic Civilization in the Diaspora" in Coptic Civilization: Two Thousand Years of Christianity in Egypt (ed. Gawdat Gabra: American University in Cairo Press, 2014), p. 291.
^Charles D. Smith, "The Egyptian Copts: Nationalism, Ethnicity, and Definition of Identity for a Religious Minority" in Nationalism and Minority Identities in Islamic Societies (ed. Maya Shatzmiller: McGill-Queen's University Press, 2005), p. 60.
