Afghan Canadian

Afghan Canadian

Afghan Canadians are Canadians with ancestry from Afghanistan. In the Canada 2001 Census about 25,230 Canadians were from Afghanistan. The former Minister of Foreign Affairs Bill Graham has recently (2003) said there are about 80,000 people from Afghanistan in Canada. The Canada 2006 Census counted 48,090 Canadians with ancestry from Afghanistan. Due to the political borders at earlier times, some of these Afghan immigrants may have been ethnic Pashtuns from British India (present-day Pakistan) or Afghanistan.

They are mostly concentrated in the southwestern region of Ontario and the Greater Toronto Area, with significant communities in Vancouver, Ottawa, and Montreal. They form a very tightly knit community. Afghan Canadians are from various ethnic groups from Afghanistan and are able to fluently speak one or both of Afghanistan's official languages, Dari Persian and Pashto.

In the Canadian Census, Canadians with descent from Afghanistan are classified as West Asian.