Religious Life

Italian ethnicity in Canada is closely connected to Roman Catholicism, the faith of 95 per cent of Italian Canadians. Historically, the Catholic Church has sought to minister to Italians through religious orders, especially the Servites in Montréal, the Franciscans in Toronto and the Oblates in the West Coast. Scalabrinian priests specializing in work with immigrants became active in major cities after the Second World War, and great expansion occurred in the 1960s when many national parishes and Italian-language services were established across the country. By 1970, Montréal's Italians were being served by eight churches, while in Toronto (where they accounted for one-third of the city's Catholics) they were served by three times this number, and by 65 Italian-speaking priests.

As well as addressing the spiritual needs of its members, the church has been involved in immigrant aid, education and recreation, and contributed toward the preservation of the Italian Canadian community’s language and culture. A distinctive Italian-Canadian Catholicism has been preserved by two major practices — the honouring of the saints' days throughout feste and the celebration of the sacraments (especially marriage) through banquets. These practices are both religious and social and often bring together several hundred relatives and paesani.

In daily life, the influence of Catholicism can be seen in the strong family values of Italian Canadians, which give the group higher rates of marriage and fertility, and lower rates of divorce and separation, compared to the overall Canadian average. The majority are opposed to divorce, abortion and even artificial contraception. Most Italian Canadians believe they have a responsibility to care for aged parents, a conviction reflected in living arrangements showing almost half in multi-family households.

Politics

The first successes of Italians in politics occurred in northern Ontario and the West Coast rather than major cities. Through the 1930s, Italian Canadians were elected to local councils and mayoral offices in Fort William (now Thunder Bay), ON, Mayerthorpe and Coleman, AB, and Trail and Revelstoke, BC. One of these, Mayor Hubert Badanai of Fort William, in the 1950s was elected as one of the first Italian federal members of Parliament for the Liberal Party. In 1952, Philip Gaglardi of Mission City, BC, was elected to the provincial legislature for Social Credit and became the first cabinet minister of Italian origin in postwar Canadian politics. However, it was not until 1981 that Charles Caccia — initially elected as a Toronto MP in 1968 — was appointed the first federal Italian-Canadian cabinet minister by Prime Minister Trudeau. Moreover, a former St. Catharines councillor, Laura Sabia, became chairperson of the Ontario Council on the Status of Women in 1973 and a leading activist in the women’s movement.

Federally, the Italian vote has generally supported the Liberals, partly because they were perceived as being more open toward immigration and more committed to multiculturalism. Like other Canadians, Italians have tended to vote differently at the provincial level. In both Ontario and British Columbia, for example, many have supported the New Democratic Party. In the 1984 federal election, however, the Progressive Conservative Party made gains among the group, especially in Québec where two Montréal candidates of Italian background were elected. By the mid-1980s, Italian Canadians had attained a level of political representation commensurate with their numbers. In 1993, 15 Italian Canadians were elected to Ottawa. This comprised five per cent of House of Commons seats, which compares favourably with their standing at about four per cent (multiple origins) of the Canadian population. As of 2012, 14 members of Parliament had been born in Italy.

Cultural Conservation

While group cohesion among Italian Canadians has been provided by a sense of shared history, community institutions, and distinctive cultural and religious traits, cultural conservation rests upon the bedrock of the family. The most significant social institution among Italian Canadians has been the family, both nuclear and extended. Commonly, in the traditional family in Italy the roles were clearly defined, mirroring similar patterns around the world. The husband was considered family head and provider; the wife was expected to be a good homemaker and mother. Children were to show obedience and respect towards their parents. Each member was to act for the betterment of the whole family rather than for his or her individual interest. Many Italian immigrants have attempted to maintain such family patterns, but change was inevitable.

Because traditional ways differed markedly from what was expected in the wider Canadian society, the resulting conflict was often at the root of many social problems. At times the children of immigrants have found that their aspirations for upward mobility and individual expression conflicted with the family's insistence on solidarity and the fulfilment of traditional roles. The second-generation ItalianCanadian family, however, has changed considerably. While usually maintaining an emphasis on family cohesion, respect and loyalty, it has increasingly moved toward a greater equalization of roles between husband and wife. The family still provides its members with important support, and the extended family (relatives to third cousin) is frequently reunited at weddings, baptisms and similar events. Often friends are drawn from the extended family and economic favours are exchanged among family members. Related to this, local loyalties among Italian Canadians from the same village often link extended families into a much larger group (paesani) connected by personal bonds.

This is not to suggest, however, that Italians have wished to live as an ethnic enclave. Prewar Italian-Canadians, by 1941, had a higher rate of intermarriage (45 per cent) than most other major ethnic groups and in the postwar period a similar rate was again reached by the mid-1980s. In Québec, Italian Canadians integrated more easily into the francophone society than do many other cultural communities. The 2006 census recorded 476,905 Canadians who reported Italian as their mother tongue (first language learned). This number fell to 437,725 in the 2011 census, and then again to 407,455 in the 2016 census.

The expansion and consolidation of the Italian-Canadian community since the Second World War has been due to a strong degree of commitment on the part of immigrants and their children. The resulting high level of institutional completeness provides Italian Canadians with the possibility of expressing their ethno-cultural identity through a wide spectrum of activities, ranging from Italian-language television to sports leagues.