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Azerbaijani Canadians (Azerbaijani: Kanadalı azərbaycanlılar), or Azeri Canadians, are Canadian citizens and permanent residents of ethnic Azerbaijani background, or those who were born in Azerbaijan. Most Azerbaijani-Canadians have immigrated to Canada from the Republic of Azerbaijan, Iran, Russia or Turkey.
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Demographics
According to the Canada 2011 Census, 4,580 Canadians claimed ethnic Azerbaijani background. Official National Household Survey 2011 results also mapped the following distribution of Azerbaijani Canadians by province:
2,695 Canadians reported speaking Azerbaijani either as a first or second language, with 115 of those being second-generation immigrants.
Unofficial estimates exceed the reported numbers. According to the member of Ontario Provincial Parliament, Reza Moridi, there were a total of 80,000 ethnic Azerbaijanis living in the province of Ontario in 2010.
History
The first Azerbaijanis in Canada were Iranian Azeris, who began to settle there in 1930. The second wave of immigration occurred in 1950, when the Soviet Union was under Nikita Khrushchev. The third wave came during the Cold War, when many immigrants came to Canada from the Soviet Union, including Azeris. The fourth wave took place after 1979, at the time of the Iranian Revolution. Many Iranians, including ethnic Azerbaijanis, settled in Canada. Finally, the fifth wave of emigration came during the Nagorno-Karabakh War in 1988–1992.