Italian language in Canada: Difference between revisions

== History of Italian immigration to Canada ==

{{main|Italian Canadians}}

 

By the 1880s Canada was a booming country in need of major infrastructure works that could improve transportation and communication between the vast areas of its territory. Dating back to these years was the construction of major railroad and canal sections that generated a growing demand for labor. The number of Italians moved to Canada for the construction of the Canadian railway, the [[Canadian Pacific Railway]],<ref>{{Harvtxt|Scarfi|2011|ref=Scarfi 2011|p=46}}</ref> in the 1881 census amounted to 1,849 citizens.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Cameron|2004|ref=Cameron 2004|p=73}}</ref> Around the turn of the century, there was a further growth in the number of Italians in Canada, with a change in the migratory flows, consisting not only of adult men between the ages of twenty and forty-five, but also of women and children. From 1900 to 1913, although in smaller numbers than in the United States, Brazil and Argentina, Canada welcomed about 60,000 Italians, mostly from the south ([[Calabria]], [[Abruzzo]], [[Molise]] and [[Campania]]) and the northeast ([[Veneto]] and [[Friuli-Venezia Giulia]]) who went to settle not only in the industrial hubs in [[Ontario]], [[Toronto]] and [[Ottawa]], but also in small towns.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Troilo|2011|ref=Troilo 2011|pp=4-5}}</ref> Among them, the following cities have a significant presence of the Italian community even today: [[Hamilton, Ontario|Hamilton]], [[Guelph]], [[Windsor, Ontario|Windsor]] and [[Thunder Bay]].<ref name=1996cen/>