Individuals from the Middle East first arrived in Canada in 1882, when a group of Syrian and Lebanese immigrants settled in Montreal.

As a result, early Arabic immigrants from these countries were referred to as either Turks or Syrians by Canadian authorities.

During World War I, Middle Eastern Canadians of Turkish origin were placed in "enemy alien" internment camps.

[4] The Middle Eastern Canadian population grew rapidly during the latter half of the 20th century; the 1979 Iranian Revolution resulted in a spike of immigration to Canada from the West Asian country.

The top five Middle Eastern languages spoken in Canada include Arabic, Farsi, Armenian, Turkish, and Hebrew.