Iraqi Canadian
Encyclopedia
Iraqi Canadians come from a country of great ethno-linguistic and religious diversity. An estimated 36,000 Iraqi expatriates reside in Canada
. Several thousand Canadians are of Iraqi descent.
. The Iraq-Iran War resulted in many immigrants, while destroying the Iraqi economy and being oppressed by the 13 year economic sanctions
against Iraq that have followed the Gulf War
of 1990–91; there was all the more reason to emigrate abroad.
From 1945 until 1975 fewer than 200 Iraqis arrived in Canada emigration had substaintially increased in 1979, the year Saddam Hussein
became president of Iraq. Between 1975 and 1992, 6,472 Iraqis arrived in Canada establishing about 3.5 percent of all Arab immigrants in Canada. About 65 percent of Iraqis have settled in Quebec
,and most of the remainder in Montreal
; and British Columbia
, particularly in Vancouver, adjacent to Seattle, Washington in the USA. Many Iraqis also live in the Detroit area with Windsor, Ontario
and the Toronto
areas. There are equal numbers from both males and females.
The 1991 Canadian census recorded 4,790 Iraqis; 3,525 of wholly Iraqi ancestry, and 1,265 of partial Iraqi ancestry. Iraqi immigrants through the period of 1981-1992 settled principally in a few cities in Canada: British Columbia (362), Alberta (268), Quebec (203), Ontario (176), and Manitoba (152).
In Canada, Iraqi immigrants seem to face three unexplainable problems, the first being unable to find jobs where they can apply their professional expertise. The second being discrimination, with a possibility that some employers associate them with the regime that they fled and the third being the lack of Canadian experience. Despite a high level of education and professional experience, 54 percent of 892 immigrants were unemployed, and, of the 407 with jobs, 40 percent had professional positions; 24 percent, lower white-collar
; 30 percent, blue-collar; 3 percent, service; and 3 percent, not stated.
The patterns of formal association among Iraqis are new and voluntary, as revealed most notably in the Iraqi Community Center link title based in Cote Des Neiges, Montreal. They help Iraqis adapt to Canada and develop ties with the general society, and they disseminate information about the ethnocultural heritage of Iraqi Canadians. Gender equity is the norm; the president of the Iraqi Canadian Society is a woman.
Iraqi Canadians have their own community newsletters, and almost all Iraqi-born read magazines, books, and newspapers written in Arabic and published outside Canada. Cultural products imported from Iraq or other parts of the Arab world
are an essential component of family life, including videotapes of Arabic films, plays, and songs and cassette tapes of Arabic music. Visits by well-known popular singers from Iraq and other Arab countries are very common.
Children of both Christian and Muslim Iraqi Canadians are taught to respect and be proud of their cultural heritage. While they are sensitized to the problems of the old country, they are admonished to adjust to the new land and to address the opportunities and problems faced here. The longer the residence in Canada, the less the role of the family in fostering ethnic identity. Canadian-born children are keenly responsive to the pressure of acculturation, as facilitated particularly by public schools, the peer group, and the mass media. Therefore ancestral ties and the old country become secondary.
In Iraq, adult literacy in 1980 was 70 percent, and the excellent, secular education system was open to both sexes. Most Iraqi immigrants to Canada are highly educated professionals, and their children will almost certainly place a great value on educational achievement.
There is a sizable number of Iraqi Christians in Canada.Christian denominations include Eastern Orthodox, Protestant, Nestorian, and several rites of Catholicism
. The remaining 40 percent are Muslims, either Shiite or Sunni. In contrast to Iraq, where just over half the country’s Muslims are Shiite, among Iraqis in Canada as in the Arab world as a whole, Sunni are by far the majority.
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
. Several thousand Canadians are of Iraqi descent.
History
Emigration from Iraq to Canada has increased dramatically due to political and economic situations in IraqIraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
. The Iraq-Iran War resulted in many immigrants, while destroying the Iraqi economy and being oppressed by the 13 year economic sanctions
Economic sanctions
Economic sanctions are domestic penalties applied by one country on another for a variety of reasons. Economic sanctions include, but are not limited to, tariffs, trade barriers, import duties, and import or export quotas...
against Iraq that have followed the Gulf War
Gulf War
The Persian Gulf War , commonly referred to as simply the Gulf War, was a war waged by a U.N.-authorized coalition force from 34 nations led by the United States, against Iraq in response to Iraq's invasion and annexation of Kuwait.The war is also known under other names, such as the First Gulf...
of 1990–91; there was all the more reason to emigrate abroad.
From 1945 until 1975 fewer than 200 Iraqis arrived in Canada emigration had substaintially increased in 1979, the year Saddam Hussein
Saddam Hussein
Saddam Hussein Abd al-Majid al-Tikriti was the fifth President of Iraq, serving in this capacity from 16 July 1979 until 9 April 2003...
became president of Iraq. Between 1975 and 1992, 6,472 Iraqis arrived in Canada establishing about 3.5 percent of all Arab immigrants in Canada. About 65 percent of Iraqis have settled in Quebec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
,and most of the remainder in Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
; and British Columbia
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
, particularly in Vancouver, adjacent to Seattle, Washington in the USA. Many Iraqis also live in the Detroit area with Windsor, Ontario
Windsor, Ontario
Windsor is the southernmost city in Canada and is located in Southwestern Ontario at the western end of the heavily populated Quebec City – Windsor Corridor. It is within Essex County, Ontario, although administratively separated from the county government. Separated by the Detroit River, Windsor...
and the Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
areas. There are equal numbers from both males and females.
The 1991 Canadian census recorded 4,790 Iraqis; 3,525 of wholly Iraqi ancestry, and 1,265 of partial Iraqi ancestry. Iraqi immigrants through the period of 1981-1992 settled principally in a few cities in Canada: British Columbia (362), Alberta (268), Quebec (203), Ontario (176), and Manitoba (152).
Employment
The main factor for the immigration of Iraqis was due to the Gulf War and the situation in Iraq which drove them out of their homeland.In Canada, Iraqi immigrants seem to face three unexplainable problems, the first being unable to find jobs where they can apply their professional expertise. The second being discrimination, with a possibility that some employers associate them with the regime that they fled and the third being the lack of Canadian experience. Despite a high level of education and professional experience, 54 percent of 892 immigrants were unemployed, and, of the 407 with jobs, 40 percent had professional positions; 24 percent, lower white-collar
White-collar worker
The term white-collar worker refers to a person who performs professional, managerial, or administrative work, in contrast with a blue-collar worker, whose job requires manual labor...
; 30 percent, blue-collar; 3 percent, service; and 3 percent, not stated.
Community life
Culture
Despite differences in dialect, Iraqi Canadians see themselves as Arabs. Almost all Iraqi immigrants wish to maintain the Arabic language in both oral and written forms. Because young children and Canadian-born ones cannot easily learn reading and writing skills, more emphasis is put on teaching oral skills. Many Canadian-born can understand spoken Arabic without being able to speak it. Gender equity, which has expanded in Iraq itself, is encouraged in Canada. Marriage for both males and females remains principally endogamous.Iraqi Canadians have their own community newsletters, and almost all Iraqi-born read magazines, books, and newspapers written in Arabic and published outside Canada. Cultural products imported from Iraq or other parts of the Arab world
Arab world
The Arab world refers to Arabic-speaking states, territories and populations in North Africa, Western Asia and elsewhere.The standard definition of the Arab world comprises the 22 states and territories of the Arab League stretching from the Atlantic Ocean in the west to the Arabian Sea in the...
are an essential component of family life, including videotapes of Arabic films, plays, and songs and cassette tapes of Arabic music. Visits by well-known popular singers from Iraq and other Arab countries are very common.
Children of both Christian and Muslim Iraqi Canadians are taught to respect and be proud of their cultural heritage. While they are sensitized to the problems of the old country, they are admonished to adjust to the new land and to address the opportunities and problems faced here. The longer the residence in Canada, the less the role of the family in fostering ethnic identity. Canadian-born children are keenly responsive to the pressure of acculturation, as facilitated particularly by public schools, the peer group, and the mass media. Therefore ancestral ties and the old country become secondary.
In Iraq, adult literacy in 1980 was 70 percent, and the excellent, secular education system was open to both sexes. Most Iraqi immigrants to Canada are highly educated professionals, and their children will almost certainly place a great value on educational achievement.
There is a sizable number of Iraqi Christians in Canada.Christian denominations include Eastern Orthodox, Protestant, Nestorian, and several rites of Catholicism
Catholicism
Catholicism is a broad term for the body of the Catholic faith, its theologies and doctrines, its liturgical, ethical, spiritual, and behavioral characteristics, as well as a religious people as a whole....
. The remaining 40 percent are Muslims, either Shiite or Sunni. In contrast to Iraq, where just over half the country’s Muslims are Shiite, among Iraqis in Canada as in the Arab world as a whole, Sunni are by far the majority.
Prominent Iraqis in Canada and Canadians of Iraqi descent
- The NarcicystThe NarcicystYassin Alsalman, better known by his stage name The Narcicyst , is an Iraqi journalist and Hip Hop MC[1][2]. Originally from Basra, he was born and raised in Dubai.[2] Now settled in Montreal, Canada....
, rapper - Baz ShamounBaz ShamounBaz Shamoun is an Iraq independent filmmaker who has lived in Canada since 1996. He was exiled from his homeland in 1978 to Prague. He graduated from Charles University in 1988...
, film director and maker of short documentary Where is Iraq? - Rifat Mohammed RifatRifat Mohammed RifatRifat Mohammed Rifat was an Iraqi born Canadian citizen who was last seen in Iraq on April 8, 2004, and confirmed by the Canadian government to have been taken hostage there.-Life:...
- Naïm KattanNaïm KattanNaïm Kattan, is a Canadian novelist, essayist and critic of Iraqi Jewish origin.Born in Baghdad, Iraq, he studied at the University of Baghdad from 1945 until 1947 and at the Sorbonne from 1947 until 1951. He emigrated to Montreal in 1954...
, author/novelist and critic - Anisa MehdiAnisa MehdiAnisa Marie Mehdi is an Emmy Award winning film director and journalist. She is of half Iraqi and half Canadian descent.Her main focus when producing documentaries or programmes lie within religion, as her most notable documentary was Inside Mecca, which was produced by National Geographic. Many of...
, Emmy Award winning film director, journalist and director of Inside MeccaInside MeccaInside Mecca is a 2003 National Geographic documentary film that offers an intimate documentation of the annual pilgrimage to Mecca. Aside from providing insight regarding the universal principles of Islam, this production emphasizes the historical significance of Mecca to both the Muslim and... - Muayyed NureddinMuayyed NureddinAn Iraqi-born Canadian geologist, Muayyed Nureddin was imprisoned in similar circumstances to Maher Arar in Syria. He claims to have been beaten and interrogated about his connection to a Toronto Islamic school; and has called for a public inquiry into the role of Canadian officials in his...
, geologist - Joe BalassJoe BalassJoe Balass is an Iraqi Canadian film maker.Of Jewish heritage, Balass is most known for Nana, George and Me, which is an autobiographical video by a young, gay Iraqi Jewish filmmaker who takes a charmingly unconventional look at three Iraqi Jewish lives; that of the filmmaker, his 92-year-old Nana...
, film maker - Leilah NadirLeilah NadirLeilah Nadir is an Iraqi Canadian novelist and writer. Born to an ethnic Assyrian Iraqi Christian father and an English mother, she was raised in Britain and Canada....
, writer - Farah NoshFarah NoshFarah Nosh is an Iraqi Canadian photojournalist who was born and grew up in Canada.Nosh attended the University of British Columbia in 1998 to study geography for her BA, and then in 2002 she undertook a diploma in photojournalism at the Western Academy of Photography in Victoria, she also holds...
, photojournalist - Ali Al-Rumaih, filmmaker, Freelance Director, DP and Editor
- Abu Abdul RahmanAbu Abdul RahmanAbu Abdul Rahman is an Iraqi Canadian alleged to have led insurgent forces in "the most disciplined, intense attacks from insurgency forces" in the November 2006 Battle of Turki.Rahman moved to Turki in 1995, after marrying a woman from the city....
, suspected terrorist - Duraid MunajimDuraid MunajimDuraid Munajim is a Toronto-based film director and a freelance cinematographer.- Career :Born in Kuwait in 1972 to an Iraqi father and Iranian mother, Duraid was 17 years of age when his family immigrated to Canada...
, filmmaker and freelance cinematographer - Farouk KaspaulesFarouk KaspaulesFarouk Kaspaules is an Iraqi-born Canadian artist of Assyrian and Arab origin.Born in Baghdad, Kaspaules left Iraq in the mid-1970s for political reasons. After a brief stay in the United States, he chose Canada as his country of exile...
, Iraqi-born Canadian artist - Fajer Al-KaisiFajer Al-Kaisi- Early life :Born in Iraq, Al-Kaisi spent much time of his childhood being raised in Kuwait and later settled in Montreal, Canada. He soon moved to the United States, where he had completed his Masters in Acting from the University of Texas at Austin....
, Iraqi-born Canadian actor and comedian from Montreal. - Sabah N A Hussain, James McGill Professor of Medicine, McGill University
- Awatef RasheedAwatef RasheedAwatef Rasheed Arabic: عواطف تركي رشيد is an Iraqi Canadian writer, secular women’s rights activist, and the first Iraqi female recipient of Femmy Award. She is a recipient of the Iraqi Women’s Initiative Award in from the Iraqi Women’s Network in 2010...
, Women's Rights Activist, Femmy's Award winner in Canada