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7 Nissan 5763 - April 9, 2003 | Mordecai Plaut, director Published Weekly
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NEWS
The Canadian Jewish Population -- 2001
by Yated Ne'eman Staff

Canada recently released the results of the 2001 census on Canadians' ethnic origins. The census revealed a drop in the number of people who declared themselves Jewish by ethnicity or culture.

348,605 respondents across Canada claimed to have Jewish ethnic origins -- a drop of about one per cent (3,000 people) over the 1996 mini-census and more than five per cent compared to the 1991 census.

In May, Statistics Canada is scheduled to release data on religion. The 1996 mini-census did not ask about religion.

The 2001 census showed that "Jewish" was the 17th most numerous choice of ethnic origin, between Welsh and Russian. Respondents were allowed to choose up to four ethnic origins, including "Canadian."

A total of 186,475 Canadians listed Jewish as their sole ethnic origin (down five per cent from 1996), while 162,130 included Jewish among multiple responses (up five per cent over 1996).

Canadian was, in fact, the most common ethnic category across the country, followed by English, French and Scottish. Rounding out the top ten ethnicities were Irish, German, Italian, Chinese, Ukrainian and North American Indian.

Statistics Canada and Jewish officials have long regarded Judaism as both a religion and an ethnic or cultural marker. (No other faith or ethnicity falls into both categories.)

Community planners use the numbers to gauge many social trends, such as intermarriage, immigration, education, mobility and family status, and to help earmark communal spending. UIA Federations Canada (UIAFC) and federations across the country, are closely studying the 2001 census numbers for the National Jewish Demographic Study.

The 1991 census found that 318,070 Canadians said their religion was Jewish. Community planners using both religion figures and ethnicity figures and excluding only those who professed another religion, found 356,315 Jews in Canada as of 1991.

Demographers say that identifying with Judaism as an ethnicity tends to occur among those who are less religiously observant. Thus, planners expect there will be higher levels of "ethnic" Jews in British Columbia than in Quebec, where "religious" Jews will show up in stronger numbers than ethnic ones.

One thing is certain. Muslims in Canada far outnumber Jews.

Despite the decline in Jewish numbers nationally, Ontario and Toronto continue to see increases. The 2001 census figures show 196,260 Jews by ethnic origin in Ontario, up from the 191,000 who said the same thing in 1996, an increase of three per cent. The 1991 census showed 175,000 Jews in Ontario by religion.

Toronto and environs continue to be Canada's Jewish hub: The 2001 tally found 161,215 Jews by ethnicity in and around the city. By comparison, the 1991 census found 156,000 Jews by ethnic origin in Toronto and 151,000 Jews by religion.

In Montreal, 80,390 cited Jewish ethnic origins in 2001, a drop of 11 per cent from 1996, when the figure was 89,905. Jews are now the city's 7th largest ethnic group.

In Vancouver, 22,130 said they were ethnically Jewish in 2001, a very slight drop from 22,225 in 1996. Jews there ranked as that city's 24th largest ethnic community.

 

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