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. 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.[2] When Italians arrived in Toronto in large numbers during the early 20th century, most first settled in The Ward.[2] 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.[2][3] 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.[3] 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.[4]
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.[4] 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.[4] 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.[5] 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.[6] In the late 1960s, the Italian economy experienced a
period of growth and recovery, removing one of the primary incentives for emigration.[4]
The presence of new immigrants had already started changing Little Italy by 1961.[7] That year, 15,000 Italians, 12,000 being immigrants, lived in Little Italy (35 per cent of the population), declining to 8,000 in 1971, and further to 3,600 in 1991 (13 per cent of the population).[7] Since the 1970s, Italian immigrants from Little Italy moved northward to Corso Italia on St. Clair Avenue West.[7] 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.[8] In 1981, about 35,000 Italians lived in this area, however, by 1991, had dropped to 20,000.[7] Much of the Italian population subsequently moved to the northwestern part of
Metropolitan Toronto, and by 2001 the
North York neighbourhoods of
Maple Leaf,[9]Pelmo Park-Humberlea,[10] and
Humber Summit[11] 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.[12][13] Although the character of Toronto's two Italian enclaves (which later also included
Palmerston-Little Italy and
Corso Italia-Davenport) 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.[12] By 2001, 79,835 Italian Canadians lived in Vaughan, accounting for 44.0 per cent of the population.[14] 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.[15] 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.[16] In 2021, the concentration of Italian Canadians in Woodbridge decreased to 46.7 per cent,[17] while the concentration increased slightly in the rural community of Nobleton in King (3,120; 47.6 per cent), 15 km (9.3 mi) north of Woodbridge, as the community with the largest concentration of Italian Canadians.[18]
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.[1] The majority live in Toronto, with 167,460, (six percent of the population), while 145,695 live in York (12 percent of the population) — constituting for almost 70 percent of the GTA's population.
Canadians of Italian ethnicity in the Greater Toronto Area by
census division (1991–2006)
Italian newspapers, television, and radio have existed throughout Toronto's history.[5] 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.[48][49]
^Includes pre-amalgamated
Metropolitan Toronto:
North York (83,710, 14.9% of total population),
Old Toronto (38,960, 6.1% of total population),
Etobicoke (36,660, 11.8% of total population),
Scarborough (26,160, 5.0% of total population),
York (22,795, 16.3% of total population),
East York (4,380, 4.3% of total population)
^Includes pre-amalgamated
Metropolitan Toronto:
North York (79,745, 13.5% of total population),
Old Toronto (37,295, 5.7% of total population),
Etobicoke (35,660, 10.9% of total population),
Scarborough (25,045, 4.5% of total population),
York (20,365, 13.9% of total population),
East York (5,115, 4.7% of total population)
^Includes
Oshawa (5,060, 3.9% of total population),
Whitby (2,960, 4.8% of total population), and
Clarington (1,750, 3.5% of total population).
^Includes
Oshawa (5,335, 4.0% of total population),
Whitby (4,175, 5.7% of total population), and
Clarington (2,165, 3.6% of total population).
^Includes
Oshawa (6,050, 4.3% of total population),
Whitby (5,350, 6.2% of total population), and
Clarington (2,590, 3.8% of total population).
^Includes
Oshawa (6,850, 4.9% of total population),
Whitby (7,515, 6.8% of total population), and
Clarington (3,850, 5.0% of total population).
^A location to note within Vaughan, is the community of
Woodbridge, which has the single largest concentration of Italian Canadians in Canada (55,960, 53.5% of total population).[16]
^A location to note within Vaughan, is the community of
Woodbridge (49,660, 46.7% of total population).[17]
^Includes
Whitby (9,405, 7.5% of total population),
Oshawa (7,400, 5.0% of total population), and
Clarington (3,825, 4.6% of total population).
^Includes
Whitby (9,385, 7.4% of total population),
Oshawa (8,705, 5.5% of total population), and
Clarington (4,775, 5.2% of total population).
^Includes
Whitby (8,790, 6.4% of total population),
Oshawa (8,635, 5.0% of total population), and
Clarington (5,320, 5.3% of total population).
^A location to note within Caledon, is the population centre of
Bolton (11,900, 45.5% of total population).[29]
^A location to note within Caledon, is the population centre of
Bolton (11,480; 43.4% of total population).[30]
^Two locations to note within King, is the population centre of
Nobleton (2,170, 46.8% of total population)[31] and the population centre of
Schomberg (1,085; 39.5%).[32]
^Two locations to note within King, is the population centre of
Nobleton, which has the single largest concentration of Italian Canadians in Canada (3,120; 47.6% of total population)[18] and the population centre of
Schomberg (810; 31.2%).[33]
^159,225 (12.9%) in 1986;[45] 154,670 (10.5%) in 1991;[45] 146,515 (8.3%) in 1996;[45] 138,995 (6.8%) in 2001;[46] 130,685 (5.6%) in 2006[47]
^Perin, Roberto (
York University). "Staying Italian: Urban Change and Ethnic Life in Post-war Toronto and Philadelphia." Urban History, 12/2010, Volume 37, Issue 3. Cited: p. 493. "[...]whereas in Toronto, Little Italy became a jumping-off point: houses were later purchased in the northwestern part of the city and beyond, notably in the famous or infamous ‘ethnoburb’ of Vaughan."
^"Media legend Johnny Lombardi dies at 86".
CTV News. 19 March 2002. Archived from
the original on 2005-12-04. Retrieved 2010-04-11. Prime Minister Jean Chretien praised Lombardi's accomplishments upon hearing of his death. "I think he's done a lot to establish multiculturalism in Toronto and he will be missed by a lot of people," Chretien said.
Harney, Nicholas DeMaria. "Ethnicity, Social Organization, and Urban Space: A Comparison of Italians in Toronto and Montreal" (Chapter 6). In: Sloan, Joanne (editor). Urban Enigmas: Montreal, Toronto, and the Problem of Comparing Cities (Volume 2 of Culture of Cities).
McGill-Queen's Press (MQUP), January 1, 2007.
ISBN0773577076, 9780773577077. Start p.
178.
Zucchi, John E. Italians in Toronto: Development of a National Identity, 1875-1935 (Volume 3 of McGill-Queen's studies in ethnic history, ISSN 0846-8869).
McGill-Queen's Press, 1990.
ISBN0773507825, 9780773507821.