2011 National Household Survey: The Jewish Community of Montreal. Part 8: Immigration & Language. Part 9: Core FSU Jews

Among the highlights of this 2011 Statistics Canada survey are: more than half (53%) of the local Jewish population reported English as their native language. Less than one in five (17.8%) said French is their mother tongue. More than two-thirds (68.3%) of the Jewish community reported a conversational knowledge of both English and French. In terms of age cohorts, 80.2% of Montreal Jews between 15-24 years were bilingual, compared to 82.6% of those 25-34 years, 79.7% of those 35-44 years, 75.1% of those 45-54 years, and 74.8% of those 55-64 years. Only 56.8% of seniors 65+ years reported they were bilingual. In terms of immigration, about a third (33.9%) of the Montreal Jewish population were immigrants, that is, they were born outside Canada, whereas 66.1% were born in this country. Of a total of 129,680 Jewish immigrants residing in Canada, 23.7% lived in the Montreal metropolitan area, comprising 30,795 individuals. In the local Jewish population, there were 8,380 Jews who were born in North Africa / Middle East (excluding Israel) in 2011. There were also 4,465 Jews who were born in Israel, 4,365 born in the former Soviet Union, 3,965 in Western Europe, 3,965 in Eastern Europe, 3,880 in the United States, and 870 in South America. During the period 2000-2011, 6,420 Jewish immigrants settled in Montreal; of these, 3,885 arrived in 2005 or later. Between 2000 and 2011, the largest number of Jewish immigrants came from the former Soviet Union (1,915), followed by 1,300 from Israel and 1,105 from the United States. Many of the Jewish immigrants from the United States were likely Ultra-Orthodox Jews. The youngest median ages, of any immigrant group in the Montreal Jewish community, were those born in Mexico (34 years) and the United States (35.4 years). The oldest included Jews born in Poland (82.5 years), Czechoslovakia (79.2 years), Syria (77.9 years), Iraq (76 years), Hungary (74.2 years), and Rumania (74.2 years). Jewish immigrants who arrived between 2005 and 2011 had a 32.8% level of poverty, compared to 28.3% of those who arrived between 2000-2011. The level of economic disadvantage then dropped to 23.5% for those who arrived between 1990-1999, and 21.7% for those who came between 1980-1989. The highest level of poverty was found amongst Jewish immigrants from the former Soviet Union (28.8%) followed by individuals born in the United States (28.3%).

Montreal

Federation CJA and Jewish Federations of Canada-UIA

September 2015

viii-63p.

en