Italian Canadians in the Greater Toronto Area


Toronto has a large Italian Canadian community, with 30.3 per cent of the ethnic Italians in Canada living in the Greater Toronto Area as of 2021. Toronto is home to the fourth largest population of people of Italian descent after Buenos Aires, São Paulo and York City, respectively. As of the Canada 2021 Census, there were 468,970 Italian Canadians located in the Greater Toronto Area, with 444,755 located within the Toronto CMA.
Italian immigration to Toronto started as early as the mid 19th century. By 1860, over a dozen "Soldiers of fortune" and "men of letters" lived in Toronto. Italians arrived in Toronto in large numbers during the early 20th century, first settling in an area then known as The Ward, centred on University Avenue and College Street. By the 1920s, most Italians had moved west of Bathurst Street and the College-Clinton area had emerged as the city's major [Little Italy national football team|Italy, Toronto|Little Italy]. Italian immigration continued into the post-World War II era, where approximately 20,000 to 30,000 Italians immigrated to Canada each year between the early 1950s and the mid-1960s, many of the men working in the construction industry upon settling. In the late 1960s, the Italian economy experienced a period of growth and recovery, removing one of the primary incentives for emigration.
As early as 1961, the presence of new immigrants had already started changing Little Italy. Since the 1970s, Italian immigrants from Little Italy moved northward to Corso Italia on St. Clair Avenue West. Later in the 1970s and 80s, Italian immigrants moved to northwestern parts of the city such as Maple Leaf, Pelmo Park-Humberlea and Humber Summit. Subsequent migration followed the pattern of moving further northwest, to suburbs of Toronto, in particular, the York Region communities of Woodbridge in Vaughan and Nobleton in King, and the Peel Region community of Bolton in Caledon.

History

The aforementioned "soldiers of fortune" and "men of letters" from Italy immigrated to Toronto prior to the 1850s. Toronto absorbed peddlers and craftspeople from northern Italy until the 1880s. By 1860, 17 Italians lived in Toronto. Additional tradespeople arrived by 1870. After the 1880s many came from northern Italy, with most being from Genoa. The occupations tended to be craftspeople, service tradespeople, and peddlers. When Italians arrived in Toronto in large numbers during the early 20th century, most first settled in The Ward. By the 1920s, most Italians had moved west of Bathurst Street and the College-Clinton area had emerged as the city's major Little Italy. They mainly immigrated to Toronto—increasing from 4,900 Italians in 1911, to 9,000 in 1921, constituting almost two per cent of Toronto's population. Approximately 40,000 Italians came to Canada during the interwar period, predominantly from southern Italy where an economic depression and overpopulation had left many families in poverty.
Italian immigration continued into the post-World War II era, where approximately 20,000 to 30,000 Italians immigrated to Canada each year between the early 1950s and the mid-1960s. By the 1960s, more than 15,000 Italian men worked in Toronto's construction industry, representing one third of all construction workers in the city at that time. 90 per cent of the Italians who immigrated to Canada after World War II remained in Canada, and decades after that period, the community still had fluency in the Italian language. During the 1950s and 1960s, the Italian community shaped Canada's Italian culinary culture as Italian restaurants began to emerge, as well as storefront supermarkets that expanded over time, such as Longo's. In the late 1960s, the Italian economy experienced a period of growth and recovery, removing one of the primary incentives for emigration.
The presence of new immigrants had already started changing Little Italy by 1961. That year, 15,000 Italians, 12,000 being immigrants, lived in Little Italy, declining to 8,000 in 1971, and further to 3,600 in 1991. Since the 1970s, Italian immigrants from Little Italy moved northward to Corso Italia on St. Clair Avenue West. One of the largest celebrations on St. Clair Avenue West was when Italy won the 1982 FIFA World Cup, which involved an estimated 300,000 fans, shutting the street down for nearly 20 blocks between Caledonia Road and Oakwood Avenue. In 1981, about 35,000 Italians lived in this area, however, by 1991, had dropped to 20,000. Much of the Italian population subsequently moved to the northwestern part of Metropolitan Toronto, and by 2001 the North York neighbourhoods of Maple Leaf, Pelmo Park-Humberlea, and Humber Summit had the highest concentrations of Italian Canadians in the city, with 41.6 per cent, 40.4 per cent and 39.5 per cent respectively, but have been in decline since then. Although the character of Toronto's two Italian enclaves have several Italian restaurants and bakeries, the demographics of these neighbourhoods have changed drastically with a smaller Italian population than it had originally.
Later migration followed the aforementioned pattern of moving further northwest to the suburbs and semi-rural areas of Greater Toronto, in particular Woodbridge in Vaughan, Nobleton in King, and Bolton in Caledon. By 2001, 79,835 Italian Canadians lived in Vaughan, accounting for 44.0 per cent of the population. As the presence of new immigrants significantly bolstered the population, the concentration of Italian Canadians has steadily declined, with 85,030 Italian Canadians accounting for 26.5 per cent of the population in 2021. In 2016, the Woodbridge district of Vaughan was home to 55,960 of these Italian Canadians, accounting for 53.5 per cent of the population—the largest ever recorded of a Canadian community. In 2021, the concentration of Italian Canadians in Woodbridge decreased to 46.7 per cent, while the concentration increased slightly in the rural community of Nobleton in King, north of Woodbridge, as the community with the largest concentration of Italian Canadians.

Demographics

Ethnicity

As of the 2021 census, 468,970 GTA residents stated they had Italian ancestry, comprising 7.1 percent of the area's population, marking a 8.3 percent decrease from the 511,680 population of the 2016 census. The majority live in Toronto, with 167,460,, while 145,695 live in York — constituting for almost 70 percent of the GTA's population.
Census divisionPopulation % of ethnic population Population % of ethnic population Population % of ethnic population Population % of ethnic population
Toronto212,6659.4%203,2208.5%185,2307.5%180,6607.3%
York86,75517.2%103,93517.5%126,74017.4%150,24516.9%
Peel67,5859.2%78,7659.2%85,0208.6%93,2008.1%
Halton17,4405.6%22,9006.7%26,3457.1%35,5258.2%
Durham16,6104.1%21,2504.6%25,2355.0%31,2005.6%
Greater Toronto Area 401,0559.1%430,0709.3%448,5708.9%490,8308.9%
Toronto CMA387,65510.1%414,3109.8%429,3809.2%466,1559.2%

Census divisionPopulation % of ethnic population Population % of ethnic population Population % of ethnic population
Toronto177,0656.9%182,4956.8%167,4606.1%
York159,95015.6%159,46514.5%145,69512.5%
Peel89,6657.0%88,1106.4%76,2405.3%
Halton40,4958.2%44,6958.3%43,9707.5%
Durham33,4155.6%36,9155.8%35,6055.2%
Greater Toronto Area 500,5908.4%511,6808.1%468,9707.1%
Toronto CMA475,0908.6%484,3608.3%444,7557.2%

Census subdivisionPopulation % of ethnic population Population % of ethnic population Population % of ethnic population Population % of ethnic population
Vaughan51,60546.3%60,12545.4%79,83544.0%91,32538.4%
Mississauga42,6309.2%47,3658.7%48,0357.9%49,0257.4%
Brampton20,6108.8%24,3459.1%25,7758.0%28,8506.7%
Richmond Hill12,70515.9%15,76515.5%16,36012.4%20,83012.9%
Markham11,3957.4%12,1607.0%11,8305.7%14,1105.4%
Oshawa CMA9,7704.1%11,6754.4%13,9904.8%18,2255.6%
Oakville7,7756.8%10,6158.3%12,2808.6%15,1959.2%
Burlington6,3254.9%7,7155.6%9,5206.4%11,4307.0%
Caledon4,34512.4%7,05517.7%11,21522.3%15,33027.0%
Pickering3,6155.3%4,9706.3%5,8206.7%6,1007.0%
King3,32018.3%3,88021.3%4,17522.6%5,10526.3%
Newmarket2,5055.5%4,2507.4%5,8259.0%6,7059.1%
Ajax2,3804.2%3,3705.2%3,9905.4%4,8055.4%
Milton2,0856.5%2,4707.7%2,3557.6%4,7308.9%
Aurora1,9156.5%3,60510.3%4,03010.1%5,45511.6%
Whitchurch-Stouffville1,3207.2%1,4407.3%1,5006.9%2,88012.0%
Halton Hills1,2553.4%2,0954.9%2,1954.6%4,1657.5%
Georgina1,0753.6%1,6104.6%2,1055.4%2,2005.3%
East Gwillimbury8754.8%1,0905.5%1,0855.4%1,6057.8%
Uxbridge4052.9%5253.3%6603.8%1,1005.8%
Scugog3602.0%5102.7%6303.2%6753.2%
Brock700.6%3002.6%1551.3%3002.6%

Census subdivisionPopulation % of ethnic population Population % of ethnic population Population % of ethnic population
Vaughan94,97033.2%94,72531.1%85,03026.5%
Mississauga46,1016.5%44,8406.3%38,0755.3%
Brampton27,7805.3%25,1854.3%20,5353.2%
Richmond Hill21,57011.7%19,2109.9%16,1258.0%
Oshawa CMA20,2655.8%22,8706.1%22,7455.5%
Oakville16,9709.4%16,9008.8%15,3157.2%
Caledon15,87526.9%18,09527.3%17,63023.2%
Markham13,1304.4%12,0603.7%9,5152.8%
Burlington12,7557.4%14,2357.9%15,5458.5%
Newmarket7,88010.0%8,0459.7%7,4058.6%
Aurora6,79513.0%6,83512.5%6,31510.3%
Milton6,5307.8%8,3457.7%7,6205.8%
King6,34032.1%8,40534.5%9,55535.1%
Pickering6,0656.9%5,9406.5%5,5705.7%
Ajax5,4055.0%5,3904.5%4,3203.4%
Whitchurch-Stouffville4,68012.6%5,32511.7%5,00510.1%
Halton Hills4,2457.3%5,2158.7%5,4908.8%
Georgina2,8806.7%2,8156.3%3,4657.4%
East Gwillimbury1,6957.7%2,0458.7%3,2709.6%
Uxbridge8454.1%1,2055.7%1,6207.6%
Scugog6202.9%1,0354.9%9154.3%
Brock2151.9%4704.1%4253.5%

RidingPopulation % of ethnic population Population % of ethnic population
Vaughan—Woodbridge55,96053.5%49,66046.7%
King—Vaughan40,95531.2%39,04026.5%
Dufferin—Caledon22,02017.3%22,11015.6%
Etobicoke Centre17,54515.1%16,51514.1%
York South—Weston14,71012.8%12,68011.0%
Aurora—Oak Ridges—Richmond Hill14,16012.4%11,74010.0%
York Centre13,88013.4%12,61011.8%
Humber River—Black Creek13,80012.8%11,33510.2%
Oakville North—Burlington12,2609.6%12,2058.3%
Newmarket—Aurora11,95510.3%11,1208.9%
Davenport11,87511.1%N/AN/A
Etobicoke—Lakeshore11,5459.1%12,2308.7%
Mississauga—Lakeshore10,5659.1%N/AN/A
York—Simcoe10,0859.9%13,00010.6%

Language and immigration

As of 2021, of the 468,970 Italians in the GTA, 89,380 are Italian born immigrants, with 128,420 claiming Italian as their mother tongue.
Census divisionPopulation % of non-official language
mother tongue speakers 		Population % of non-official language
mother tongue speakers 		Population % of non-official language
mother tongue speakers 		Population % of non-official language
mother tongue speakers
Toronto115,66015.4%114,09511.5%99,2309.0%85,0557.3%
York40,91532.7%49,04025.5%57,53520.9%60,80015.6%
Peel26,87514.9%31,46511.4%30,9958.4%30,9206.1%
Halton4,60012.5%5,83512.5%6,05011.0%7,1208.8%
Durham4,68512.8%6,11012.8%6,38511.9%6,8259.7%
Greater Toronto Area 192,73517.7%206,54514.7%200,19512.2%190,7209.5%
Toronto CMA218,12017.3%202,44013.3%195,96010.8%N/AN/A

Census divisionPopulation % of non-official language
mother tongue speakers 		Population % of non-official language
mother tongue speakers 		Population % of non-official language
mother tongue speakers
Toronto71,7256.2%62,6405.3%50,9954.4%
York58,30512.6%54,68510.3%46,2708.3%
Peel27,0154.7%24,4203.9%19,7953.0%
Halton7,2156.9%7,0605.2%6,1503.7%
Durham6,2658.2%6,1406.2%5,2104.2%
Greater Toronto Area 183,2007.7%154,9456.2%128,4204.8%
Toronto CMA166,4157.2%151,4156.0%125,8954.8%

Census divisionPopulation % of immigrants Population % of immigrants Population % of immigrants
Toronto53,4854.3%45,5153.6%37,7052.9%
York38,1008.2%36,0407.0%31,3055.6%
Peel17,7802.7%16,5752.3%13,5251.8%
Durham3,9552.6%3,8602.6%3,2951.8%
Halton3,7802.9%3,7852.4%3,5501.8%
Greater Toronto Area 117,1004.5%105,7753.8%89,3803.0%
Toronto CMA115,0604.5%103,6203.8%87,8753.1%

Media

Italian newspapers, television, and radio have existed throughout Toronto's history. Son to Italian immigrants, Johnny Lombardi was born in The Ward in 1915, and went on to found one of the first multilingual radio stations in Canada, CHIN in 1966, in Palmerston-Little Italy.

Notable residents

The Italian Walk of Fame acknowledges ethnic Italians. It is located in Little Italy.