Irish Canadians
Irish Canadians (Irish: Gael-Cheanadaigh) are Canadian citizens who have full or partial Irish heritage including descendants who trace their ancestry to immigrants who originated in Ireland. 1.2 million Irish immigrants arrived from 1825 to 1970, and at least half of those in the period from 1831 to 1850. By 1867, they were the second largest ethnic group (after the French), and comprised 24% of Canada's population. The 1931 national census counted 1,230,000 Canadians of Irish descent, half of whom lived in Ontario. About one-third were Catholic in 1931 and two-thirds Protestant.
Irish Canadians as percent of population by province/territory | |
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| 4,627,000 13.4% of the Canadian population (2016) | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| Ontario | 2,095,460 |
| British Columbia | 675,135 |
| Alberta | 596,750 |
| Quebec | 446,215 |
| Nova Scotia | 201,655 |
| New Brunswick | 135,835 |
| Newfoundland and Labrador | 106,225 |
| Languages | |
| English · French · Irish (historically) | |
| Religion | |
| |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Irish, Ulster-Scots, English Canadians, Scottish Canadians, Welsh Canadians, Irish Americans, Scotch-Irish Canadians | |
The Irish immigrants were majority Protestant before the Irish famine years of the late 1840s, when far more Catholics than Protestants arrived. Even larger numbers of Catholics headed to the United States; others went to Great Britain and Australia.
Irish Canadians comprise a subgroup of European Canadians. According to the 2021 census, in terms of religion, 2,437,810 (55%) of Irish Canadians identified as Christian at the census compared to 1,905,155 identifying as secular or non-religious (43%). 1,228,640 (28%) identified as Roman Catholic and 1,190,000 (27%) identified as belonging to a Protestant denomination.