Latin American Canadians (; ; ) are Canadians who are descendants of people from countries of Latin America. The majority of Latin American Canadians are multilingual, primarily speaking Spanish, Portuguese, French and English. Most are fluent in one or both of Canada's two official languages, English and French. Spanish and Portuguese are Romance languages and share similarities in morphology and syntax with French. Latin American Canadians have made distinguished contributions to Canada in all major fields, including politics, the military, music, philosophy, sports, business and economy, and science. The largest Latin American immigrant groups in Canada are Mexican Canadians, Colombian Canadians, and Salvadoran Canadians. History The majority of Latin American Canadians are recent immigrants who arrived in the late 20th century from Mexico, Colombia, El Salvador, Puerto Rico, Peru with smaller communities from Chile, Venezuela, Brazil, Cuba, Guatemala, and elsewhere, with nearly all Latin American countries represented. Reasons for immigrating include Canada's better economic opportunities and politics or civil war and political repression in their native countries, as in the case of Cubans fleeing from the Fidel Castro revolution, Chileans escaping from Augusto Pinochet's rule, Salvadorans fleeing from the Salvadoran Civil War, Peruvians escaping from the Internal conflict in Peru, Dominicans opposed to the regimes of Rafael Trujillo and Joaquin Balaguer, Mexicans escaping from the Mexican Drug War, Colombians from the violence in their country and Venezuelans opposed to the rule of the Socialist Unity Party. Demographics As of the 2021 Canadian Census, the largest Latin American Canadian communities are in the census metropolitan areas of Toronto (156,455; 2.5%), Montreal (137,850; 3.2%), Vancouver (51,500; 2.0%), Calgary (34,395; 2.3%), Edmonton (21,960; 1.6%), Ottawa (20,620; 1.4%), and Hamilton (14,605; 1.9%). The fastest growing are in the provinces of Alberta, Manitoba, and Nova Scotia. Latin American population of Canada by census year Latin American Canadian population in Canada by province or territory according to the Census Immigration List of Canadian census subdivisions with Latin American populations higher than the national average Source: Canada 2016 CensusNational average: 1.3% Alberta Brooks () Calgary () Edmonton () Red Deer () Lethbridge () British Columbia Greater Vancouver A () Burnaby () New Westminster () Vancouver () Port Moody () Coquitlam () Manitoba Brandon () Ontario Bradford () Leamington () Toronto () Kitchener () Brampton () London () Milton () Vaughan () Mississauga () Oakville () St. Catharines () Hamilton (city) () Quebec Brossard () Montreal () Dorval