October is Latin American Heritage Month! From music and literature to technology and science, the Hispanic and Latin American communities have made tremendous contributions to Canadian society.
This month, we acknowledge and celebrate these contributions and accomplishments.
Latin American Heritage Month was proclaimed in 2018 by the Parliament of Canada, stating that “Latin American communities across Canada would be mobilized by a Latin American Heritage Month to jointly celebrate, share and promote their unique culture and traditions with all Canadians.”
According to the Canadian Encyclopedia, in the early 70s about 68,000 Latin Americans came to Canada due to its open-door immigration policy and demand for labourers.
With the growth of the Latin American community in the mid- to late 1980s, many entered occupations in insurance, real estate, travel and the restaurant industry.
Though Latin Americans are some of the most recent cultural groups to come to Canada, the Latin American community is growing quickly with the majority of Latin American Canadians born outside of Canada.
Today, over 1 million (3% of the Canadian population) are of Latin American or Hispanic descent.
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