Hispanic Heritage Month to recognize the contribution of Hispanic and Latin Canadians

Hispanic Heritage Month in Canada is as a time to remember and celebrate the many contributions of the Hispanic and Latin community and the important role it plays in Canadian history.

Though Hispanics have been calling Canada home for decades, it wasn’t until 2018 that the federal government first proclaimed October as Hispanic Heritage Month.

The Hispanic Heritage Council’s Executive Director Oscar Vigil said this distinction has been a long time coming.

“Latino American immigrants have played a very important role in the construction of Canada but we were and still are invisible in the society,” said Vigil.

According to Statistics Canada, there are over 580,000 Latin Americans in Canada.

However, Vigil tells CityNews a request was made to have that number re-examined after the community argued the data does not accurately represent the demographic due to the complicity around how Latinos identify, which include race, country of origin and language spoken.

“The second generation, if you ask them how they identified themselves, they say Canadians mostly. Some say Peruvian, or Latin American, I’m Hispanic, I am Mayan. They are different identifications for the same culture, for the same group,” Vigil explained.

The Hispanic Heritage Council said they estimate there are over 1.1 million people from first to second generation identify as Hispanic or Latin American and that number continues to grow.

Vigil said more importantly the recognition of a month dedicated to celebrating people of Latin origin creates space for a large group of diverse people who are typically unrepresented in many sectors.

“How you identify yourself is very important. And I think since we start celebrating with a big celebration, our culture, more people are coming like [and saying] ‘Yes, I am from Latin America and I feel proud of my roots’,” said Vigil.

A common misconception is that the terms Latino and Hispanic are interchangeable when in fact there are not.

While October is seen as Hispanic Heritage Month in Ontario, scholars including University of Toronto Department of History P.H.D Candidate Valeria Mantilla Morales said there is a push to change that distinction to be more inclusive and to include all of Latin America.

“The difference there is in Hispanic Heritage Month you are excluding who would consider themselves and identify as Latin American. And hopefully in the future there is a move to have a Latin American heritage month or a Latin America Heritage month to be more inclusive to communities like Brazil for instance who may not feel identified with Hispanic Heritage Month but whose contributions to Toronto, Ontario and Canada have been quite important,” said Morales.

More information of Hispanic Heritage Month can see found on the Hispanic Heritage Council’s Website.