The Olympics - The Jewish Community of Canada By Lauren Gruzd Grade 4F King David Victory Park

Canada and where the Jewish people live Canada is the world’s largest country. Approximately 375,000 Jews live in Canada today, making up about 1% of the population. It has the 4th largest Jewish community in the world, after Israel, the USA and France. Most of the Jews live in the cities of Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa, Vancouver and Winnipeg.

Cities with large Jewish Communities

A Brief History of Canadian Jewry Esther Brandeau was the first recorded Jew in Canada. She arrived in 1738 disguised as a boy. Several Jews were in the British Army in 1760 that won Canada from the French. Others were fur traders. The oldest shul in Canada is the Spanish and Portuguese Synagogue of Montreal, Shearith Israel, built in By 1850, there were only about 450 Jews in Canada, mostly in Montreal. Many Jews emigrated to Canada because of antisemitism and pogroms in Russia, and the population rose to 155,000 by 1930, with communities in all major cities. About 40,000 Jewish Holocaust survivors came to Canada after 1945.

Canadian Shuls Montreal's Bagg Street Shul Glace Bay Shul Toronto Synagogue

Customs and interesting facts Most Canadian Jews speak English, some speak French and Hebrew, and some still speak Yiddish. There are about 12 Jewish day schools in Toronto (where about 12% of Jewish students attend Jewish High Schools) and Montreal (where about 30% do). Other smaller cities also have Jewish schools. As people began to settle in Western Canada, Jews helped establish the west coast fishing industry, while others worked on building telegraph lines.

Special tunes and songs Canada has many Jewish folk music groups, and there is a strong interest in Yiddish songs and music since the 1990s. The Sephardi community (about 1,000 families) from Morocco, Turkey, Greece, Bulgaria, and Yugoslavia sing romances (or ballads) based on early Spanish poetry. Modern Sephardic/Middle Eastern music is popular at Jewish functions. The small Jewish communities from Ethiopia, India and Yemen keep their music alive.