Italy, making them the third largest ethnic group to immigrate to Canada during that time period. The rapid growth of the metropolitan areas that had attracted Italian immigrants, created a strong demand for construction work, and by the 1960s, more than 15,000 Italian men worked in Toronto's construction industry, representing one third of all construction workers in the city at that time. Others started small businesses such as barber shops, grocery stores and bakeries that created Italian ethnic enclaves. Italian women who entered the workforce often worked in the garment and clothing industry. The importance of the family unit of Italian Canadians has provided a central role in the adaptation of newer socioeconomic realities. A mid-1960s study conducted in Montreal found that two in three Canadian-born Italians had their nearest relative living in the same building as them or within a five-minute walking distance, and that more than half of those sampled had chosen to buy a house in a given area due to familiarity and because relatives and other Italian Canadians lived in the vicinity. 75 percent of Italians that immigrated after World War II were employed in low-income occupations, but by the mid-1980s, the children of immigrants had achieved a level of higher education comparable to the national average. By the 1980s, 86 percent of Italian Canadians owned a home, compared to 70 percent of the general population. In 2010, the Government of Ontario passed Bill 103 with royal assent proclaiming the month of June as Italian Heritage Month. On May 17, 2017, the Minister of Canadian Heritage Mélanie Joly passed a unanimous motion, Motion 64, in the House of Commons to recognize the month of June as Italian Heritage Month across Canada — a time to recognize, celebrate and raise awareness of the Italian community in Canada, one of the largest outside of Italy. Demographics Ethnicity As of the 2021 census, 1,546,390 Canadian residents stated they had Italian ancestry, comprising 4.3 percent of Canada's population, marking a 2.6 percent decrease from the 1,587,970 population of the 2016 census. From the 1,587,970, 671,510 were single ethnic origin responses, while the remaining 874,880 were multiple ethnic origin responses. The majority live in Ontario, over 900,000, (seven percent of the population), while over 300,000 live in Quebec (four percent of the population) — constituting for almost 80 percent of the national population. Language and immigration As of 2021, of the