EGYPTIAN IMMIGRATION to Canada did not begin until the 1950s. A unique combination of many people and cultures, it reflected the human variety that was Egypt for much of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The vast majority of the early immigrants were members of Egypt’s minority communities: Jews, Armenians, Lebanese, Syrians, Greeks, and Italians. Many of these groups first became interested in Canada when the government of Gamal Abdel Nasser passed a new series of nationalization laws that cut into their dominance of Egypt’s industry and commerce, banking, the service sector, even the administration and operation of the Suez Canal. (This led to a war with Great Britain, France, and Israel in late 1956.) Large scale emigration of native Egyptians took place after 1970 as university and college graduates began to yearn for a better way of life. This continued throughout the eighties as both Muslims (mainly Sunnis) and Christian Copts, who shared a common language and history, complained of conditions at home including the growing secularization and pro-Soviet thrust of the government. The introduction of the immigrant investor program attracted a particularly high component of wealthy native Egyptians after 1985.

In 1996, Statistics Canada recorded the presence of 35,570 persons of Egyptian origin (single and multiple responses combined). The largest concentration of Egyptian Canadians was found in Ontario with 16,120, followed by Quebec with 14,740. The next largest Egyptian populations were found in Alberta (1,865) and British Columbia (1,735). The largest single centre of Egyptian population was Montreal (13,980), followed by Toronto (5,450). Egyptians have also been attracted to Ottawa-Hull with 925.

The large urban and economic centres were the most popular areas for settlement; within these metropolitan areas, however, Egyptians are widely dispersed. The majority have a university education or a high degree of technical training. This fact, as well as knowledge of English and/or French that has enabled them to garner many types of employment in the white collar sector as professionals, administrators, teachers, clerical workers, and salespeople, has helped to ensure a comfortable lifestyle and considerable geographical mobility.

Egyptian Canadians exhibit a distinctive variety of religions, sects, and rites. Within the community are Muslims (Sunni and Shiite), Coptic Christians (Orthodox and Catholic), Maronites, Melchites, Antiochian Orthodox, Protestants, Syrian Catholics, Armenians, Roman Catholics, and others. And each of these groups has its own houses of worship in Canada along with the requisite social and religious organizations. Members of the Coptic Orthodox Rite, for example, founded their first church in Montreal in 1967 (St. Mark’s Church). Today, Montreal is home to three such churches. In Ontario, Coptic Orthodox churches can be found in Toronto, Ottawa, Kitchener, and Mississauga. Alberta, Saskatchewan, and British Columbia also have one each. As well, during the late sixties and early seventies, the Canadian Coptic Association and its sister organization, the Egyptian-Canadian Association, supplemented the work of the church by publishing a host of magazines and other reading materials for this group and providing a number of services and social activities. Egyptian Muslims, in turn, participate in a number of established Islamic centres and mosques that serve many nationalities in Canada. Additionally, a large number of non-religious, non-political organizations have been established by the ethnocommunity with varying degrees of success. They aspire to promote Egyptian culture and socio-economic development in the homelands, to strengthen ties between Canada and Egypt, to conduct Arabic heritage language classes, and to increase social cohesion between various segments of the ethnocommunity such as Egyptian-Canadian business people. While many Egyptian Canadians have been able to reach a high level of success in Canadian cultural and professional circles, it can also be said that the growing number of professionals, skilled technicians, business leaders, and administrators is another indication of their ready desire to contribute to Canadian society and business.