Title   De Little Portugal aos subúrbios: Os portugueses de Toronto, uma comunidade em mudança? (Original)
          From Little Portugal to the Suburbs: Toronto's Portuguese, a Changing Community? (EN)
Author  Andreia Raquel Henriques Serra
Advisor  Dulce Pimentel and Alina Esteves
Year  2023
Institution  Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities,  Universidade Nova de Lisboa
Degree  Masters
Area  Migration, Inter-ethinicities and Transnationalism
Keywords  Portuguese emigration, Little Portugal, Ethnic enclave, Residential mobility
URI http://hdl.handle.net/10362/167304

Abstract

Portuguese immigration to Canada, specifically Toronto, saw a significant increase in numbers from the 1960s until around 1980 and since then there has been a steady flow of entries, albeit with figures below 900 per year. Thus, one of the largest and most important Portuguese communities in North America was born in Toronto, and one of the most vibrant ethnic enclaves, Little Portugal, was formed. In more recent years, however, the Portuguese and community institutions have been relocating to other areas of the city and neighbouring cities. The main objectives of this dissertation are to analyse changes in Portuguese residence patterns in the Greater Toronto Area, the reasons behind these changes, and to understand the current importance and significance, if any, of Little Portugal to this community. To do so, we will first analyse data from the Canadian Censuses for the years of 2001 and 2021 regarding the residence of Portuguese individuals, and subsequently we will complement these with the analysis of interviews conducted with 20 Portuguese immigrants in Toronto. We came then to the conclusion that while there is no longer a significant suburbanization of the community, there is still an ongoing residential dispersion. Additionally, we can understand that Little Portugal, despite no longer having the institutional weight of the past, remains an area that Portuguese people attribute great symbolic importance to.