Originally Posted by New Brisavoine
Some interesting stat that I found today. The English authorities have released the results of the 2021 England and Wales census by country of birth. I was looking at the number of French people living in London, and then I had the curiosity to look at figures for Montréal (2021 census by country of birth, also now released). I also looked at Belgian figures for Brussels (these ones are based on population registers, i.e. administrative registration, as censuses do not exist in Belgium anymore).
Well the striking finding is... there are now more French people living in Montréal than in either London or Brussels! This despite the fact Montréal is considerably more distant from France than London and Brussels.
The 2021 England and Wales census found 90,780 natives of France living in the London LUZ (Greater London + 44 districts around it). As for Brussels, in 2021 there were 94,570 people with French citizenship at birth who were registered in the population registers of Brussels-Capital + Flemish Brabant + Walloon Brabant (which corresponds to the metro area of Brussels).
In the census metropolitan area of Montréal, the 2021 census found... 96,655 natives of France living there! Their numbers went from 59,250 at the 2011 census to 96,655 at the 2021 census. In comparison, the number of natives of France living in the London LUZ went from 77,940 at the 2011 census to 90,780 at the 2021 census.
The natives of France went from being the 2nd largest foreign-born group in the Montréal census metro area in 2011 (behind the natives of Haiti) to being the largest foreign-born group in 2021.
The largest foreign-born groups in the Montréal census metro area in 2021 were the following:
1- France: 96,655
2- Haiti: 90,025
3- Algeria: 73,475
4- China (HK & Macao included): 67,330
5- Morocco: 65,590
6- India: 46,250
7- Italy: 43,435
8- Lebanon: 41,800
9- Philippines: 30,540
10- Vietnam: 25,775
It's some pretty stunning data I find, considering how Québec is located quite far from France, and the prevalent urban myth in France is that London is the largest French city abroad, which was already wrong before (Brussels had more French people), but now even Montréal has more French people than London.
In the Québec City census metro area the largest foreign-born groups in 2021 were the following:
1- France: 16,360
2- Colombia: 4,045
3- Morocco: 3,775
4- Tunisia: 3,660
5- Côte d'ivoire: 3,340
6- Cameroon: 3,170
7- Algeria: 2,575
8- Brazil: 2,370
9- China (HK & Macao included): 2,320
10- USA: 1,995
In the Québec part of the Ottawa-Gatineau census metro area:
1- France: 2,885
2- Haiti: 2,820
3- Lebanon: 2,695
4- Congo-Kinshasa: 2,580
5- Morocco: 2,285
6- China (HK & Macao included): 2,210
7- Cameroon: 1,980
8- Colombia: 1,975
9- Côte d'Ivoire: 1,770
10- Burundi: 1,760
Gatineau has an odd Belgian air with its numerous Congolese, Burundian, and also Rwandan immigrants. I wonder why.
The Ontario part of the Ottawa-Gatineau census metro area couldn't be any more different: over there the natives of China, India, the UK, and the US dominate.
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