History of The Jews in Canada - Canadian Jews Today

Canadian Jews Today

Today the Jewish culture in Canada is maintained by both practising Jews and those who choose not to practise the religion. Nearly all Jews in Canada speak one of the two official languages, although most speak English over French. However, there seems to be a sharp division between the Ashkenazi and the Sephardi community in Quebec. The Ashkenazi overwhelmingly speak English while the Sephardi mostly speak French. There is also an increasing large number who speak Hebrew, other than for religious ceremonies, while a few keep the Yiddish language alive.

Recent surveys of the national Jewish population are unavailable. According to population studies of Montreal and Vancouver, 14% and 22% are Orthodox, 37% and 30% are Conservative and 19% and 5% are Reform. The Reform movement is weaker in Canada, especially in Quebec, compared to the United States. This may explain the higher proportion of Canadian Jews who identify as unaffiliated - 30% in Montreal and 28% in Vancouver - than is the case in the United States. As in the United States, regular synagogue attendance is rather low - with less than one-quarter attending synagogue once a month or more. However, Canadian Jews also seem to have lower intermarriage rates than the American Jewish community. Canadian census data should be reviewed with care, because it contains separate categories for religion and for ethnicity. Some Canadians identify themselves as ethnically but not religiously Jewish.

Most of Canada's Jews live in Ontario and Quebec, followed by British Columbia, Manitoba and Alberta. While Toronto is the largest Jewish population centre, Montreal played this role until many English-speaking Jewish Canadians left for Toronto, fearing that Quebec might leave the federation following the rise during the 1970s of nationalist political parties in Quebec, as well as a result of Québec's Language Law. According to the 2001 census, 164,510 Jews lived in Toronto, 105,765 in Montreal, 17,270 in Vancouver, 12,760 in Winnipeg, 11,325 in Ottawa, 6,530 in Calgary, 3,980 in Edmonton, and 3,855 in Hamilton.

• A vintage Manitoba license plate with shalom written at the bottom in both English and Hebrew

• Ben's Deli was a Montreal icon during the 20th century

• Saint John Jewish Historical Museum in Saint John, New Brunswick

• A sign at Siegel's Bagels, Granville Island, Vancouver

• Association of Jewish Seniors/Canadian Jewish Political Affairs Committee hosting a Toronto Mayoral candidates' debate, 2010

• Schwartz's Charcuterie Hebraïque, a popular deli in Montreal

• Jewish members of Toronto Pride 2009 Parade for LGBT pride

The Jewish population is growing rather slowly due to aging and low birth rates. The population of Canadian Jews increased by just 3.5% between 1991 and 2001, despite much immigration from the Former Soviet Union, Israel and other countries. Recently, anti-Semitism has become a growing concern, with reports of anti-semitic incidents increasing sharply over the past two years. This includes the well publicized anti-Semitic comments by David Ahenakew and Ernst Zundel. In 2009, the Canadian Parliamentary Coalition to Combat Antisemitism was established by all four major federal political parties to investigate and combat antisemitism, namely new antisemitism. However, anti-semitism is less of a concern in Canada than it is in most countries with significant Jewish populations. The League for Human Rights of B'nai Brith monitors the incidents and prepares an annual audit of these events.

Politically, the major Jewish Canadian organizations are the membership-based B'nai Brith Canada and the Canadian Jewish Congress (funded through the United Jewish Appeal, the largest Jewish charity campaign in Canada) which both claim to be the voice of the Jewish community. A small anti-Zionist outfit with no connection to the organized Jewish community known as Independent Jewish Voices (Canada) argues that the CJC and B'nai Brith do not speak for most Canadian Jews. Also, many Canadian Jews simply have no connections to any of these organizations.Differing views in the Jewish community are reflected in the periodicals Jewish Tribune, the largest weekly Jewish newspaper published by B'nai Brith Canada, Canadian Jewish News, a moderate weekly generally reflective of the views of the Canadian Jewish Congress, and the left-leaning Outlook, published six times a year. Western Canadian Jewish views are reflected in the Winnipeg-based weekly The Jewish Post & News.

The birth rate for Jews in Canada is much higher than that in the United States, with a TFR of 1.87 according to the 2001 Census. This is due to the presence of large numbers of orthodox Jews in Canada. According to the census, the Jewish birth rate and TFR is higher than that of the Protestant, Catholic, Orthodox (1.35), Buddhist (1.34) and Non-Religious (1.41) populations, but slightly lower than that of Hindus (2.05), Muslims (2.01) and Sikhs (1.9).