How many Arabs live in Toronto?

The 2021 census counted about 146,000 people of Arab origin in the Toronto area. In the City of Toronto itself, Arabs were about 1.5% of the population.

Does HeyArab work in Toronto?

Yes. HeyArab works across Canada and the US, and you can set how far away people can be, from your own neighborhood to the whole GTA.

Can I use HeyArab in French or Arabic?

Yes. The app comes in English, Arabic and French, and you can list every language you speak on your profile.

Arab singles in Toronto, from Mississauga to Scarborough

Q: Is Mississauga a big Arab city?

It has one of the largest Arab communities in the GTA. In the 2021 census Arabic was the third most common mother tongue in Mississauga, with about 33,000 speakers.

HeyArab, Editorial teamUpdated Nov 11, 20262 min read

A folded winter scarf with a pair of mittens on top and two paper cups of hot tea beside it

There are a lot of Arab singles in Toronto. The trouble is the distance. Someone perfect for you might live in Mississauga while you're in Scarborough, and in January that's basically another country.

Where Arab singles in Mississauga and Toronto actually live

The Greater Toronto Area isn't one Arab neighborhood. It's dozens of small ones.

Mississauga has the biggest concentration. In the 2021 census Arabic was the third most common mother tongue there, after English and Urdu, with about 33,000 speakers. Families spread into Brampton, Oakville and Milton as they need bigger houses. Inside the city of Toronto, the community is smaller as a share, about 1.5% of residents, and scattered from North York to Scarborough.

So two people with everything in common can live an hour and a half apart and never cross paths. Their families don't shop at the same places or go to the same weddings.

Arab dating in Toronto is a mix of everyone

Toronto's community is one of the most mixed in North America. Lebanese and Egyptian families who have been here for decades. Iraqis who came in the 90s and 2000s. Thousands of Syrian families who arrived after 2015. Palestinians, Jordanians, Yemenis, Sudanese and a growing North African crowd, some of them more comfortable in French than in English.

On a first date you might compare three dialects before the food comes. It also means you can't assume much. Ask how they grew up, what their family expects and what they want, before you guess.

Dating across the GTA

A few things locals figure out the hard way:

Meet in the middle. If one of you is in Mississauga and the other is in Markham, pick somewhere central. A first date shouldn't start with an hour on the 401.
Plan for winter. From December to March, outdoor plans fall apart. Coffee, a long dinner or a walk through a mall in February is a normal first date here.
Use the distance setting honestly. If you won't drive across the city for someone, set your range smaller. If you would, open it up and see who's out there.

Meeting someone who gets it

Most people still meet through friends, family and community events, and the GTA has plenty of those. An app helps when your circle runs out, or when you're new to the city.

On HeyArab your profile shows where your family is from and the languages you speak, so a Syrian in Etobicoke can find another Syrian, or not, depending on what they want. Religion is optional. You can block your phone contacts so people you know don't see you, and you say how involved your family is from the start.

For numbers across the whole country, read Arab singles in Canada, city by city. If you're from the Levant, see Syrian singles or Lebanese singles.