Serbian Canadians
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| Total population | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 80,320 (2011)[1] | |||||||||||||||||
| Regions with significant populations | |||||||||||||||||
| Ontario, Alberta, British Columbia | |||||||||||||||||
| Languages | |||||||||||||||||
| Canadian English and Serbian | |||||||||||||||||
| Religion | |||||||||||||||||
| Mainly Serbian Orthodox Church | |||||||||||||||||
| Related ethnic groups | |||||||||||||||||
| Serbian American, Serbs | |||||||||||||||||
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A Serbian Canadian is a Canadian citizen of Serbian birth or descent, or a person born in Serbia who resides permanently in Canada. Serbs have migrated to Canada in various waves during the 20th century. The 2011 census recorded 80,320 Serbs living in Canada.[2]
Contents
History[edit]
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This section needs additional citations for verification. (July 2015) |
The first Serbs to arrive in Canada came to British Columbia between 1850 and 1870. Many were employed in mining or forestry near such towns as Phoenix, Golden, Prince Rupert and Kamloops. In Dawson City and Whitehorse names like Black Mike Winage and pioneer Milos "Big Mike" Tadich (1887-1960) became legendary. During the Great War, Tadich fought overseas with The Seaforth Highlanders of Canada along with other Serbian Canadians, most of whom were born in Montenegro and Serbia. Those who were born in Austria-Hungary were incarcerated in Ukrainian Canadian internment camps throughout the country.
By 1900, Serbs began to arrive in Alberta. Many of these early settlers had migrated north from the north-west region of the United States. Coal mining attracted them to Lethbridge, while road construction was a source of employment for those in Macleod and Cadomin. Many Serbs worked on the construction of railway lines that now extend from Edmonton to the Pacific coast. Others were interned in labor camps as "enemy aliens" simply because they were born under the scepter of Austria-Hungary, an empire at war with the United Kingdom and Serbia during World War I. Luigi von Kunits, who was living and working in Toronto at the time, was one of its victims having to identify himself regularly at the police station throughout the war years.
The period between the two World Wars witnessed a major increase in Serbian immigration to Canada, mostly after the breakup of the Habsburg Empire. More than 30,000 Yugoslavs came to Canada between 1919 and 1939, from the Balkans, Hungary and Romania, this included an estimated 10,000 Serbs. Many of these immigrants were single, working men who had left families in their home country to seek work in Canada. The vast majority of Serbs arriving between the wars settled in Ontario or British Columbia. During this time, ties to Europe were strong and pressure from Belgrade and Ottawa resulted in certain Serbian Canadian newspapers being banned.[3] The banned newspapers were promoting communist ideas and they were mostly written by pro-Russian Yugoslavs who were not necessarily of Serbian origin.
At the time, two Serbian Canadians of distinction made their mark, Luigi von Kunits, the founder of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, and James Trifunov, an Olympian athlete who earned medals for Canada.
Major changes occurred in Yugoslavia during World War II. The newly established independent communist government was opposed by many Yugoslavs. Many post war refugees refused to return to their homeland to live under a communist regime. The Serbs, emigrating to Canada at this time, came from a variety of occupational backgrounds, including military and academic professions and the skilled trades. Among them were intellectuals Adam Pribićević, Miloš Mladenović, Montreal surgeon Dr. Dragutin (Drago) Papich, Professor Sava Bosnitch of the University of New Brunswick and president of the Canadian Association of Slavists (in 1972 and 1973).
In the late 1980s, Yugoslavia's communist government was on the verge of collapse. Shortly after the breakup of Yugoslavia in 1991, a large group of Serbs moved to Canada, mostly to Southern Ontario, to cities including: Toronto, Kitchener, St. Catharines, Hamilton, Niagara Falls, London and Windsor. This was a major brain drain; with educated Serbs fleeing serious economic problems and an undemocratic government.[4]
Demographics[edit]
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Officially there were 80,320 persons who identified themselves as wholly or partly "Serbian", living in Canada in 2011.[5] However, this number may be much higher as there are some 65,505 people who identify as Yugoslavs living in Canada, many of whom may be Serbs. The major center of Serbian settlement in Canada is Toronto, which is home to the 3rd largest Serb diaspora population after Vienna and Chicago; the 2006 census showed that the total of ethnic origin responses for Serbian was 25,160 while together with Yugoslav it amounted to a combined total of around 38,000.[6] Other Serbian strongholds include Windsor, Kitchener, Vancouver, Edmonton and Calgary.
Notable people[edit]
- Alex Lifeson (b. 1953), rock guitarist, Serbian parentage
- Peter Zezel (1965–2009), ice hockey player, Serbian parentage
- Daniel Nestor (b. 1972), tennis player, born in Belgrade
- Stana Katic (b. 1978), actress, Croatian Serb parentage
- Neven Pajkić (b. 1977), heavyweight boxer, born in Sarajevo
- Milan Lucic (b. 1988), ice hockey player, Serbian parentage
- Black Mike Winage (1870-1977) miner, pioneer and adventurer
- Prvoslav Vujčić (b. 1960), writer, born in Požarevac
- Milan Borjan (b. 1987), football goalkeeper, born in Knin
- Boris Malagurski (b. 1988), documentary director and producer, born in Subotica
- Milos Raonic (b. 1990), tennis player, Serbian parentage
- Adam Pribićević (1880-1957), author and politician
- John Bosnitch (b. 1961), journalist and Serbian activist.
- Bob O'Billovich former football player now executive with the NFL
See also[edit]
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Canadians of Serbian descent. |
| Part of a series of articles on |
| Serbs |
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Related people
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References[edit]
- ^ StatCan ref
- ^ StatCan ref
- ^ Tomovic, Vladislav (Spring–Summer 1982). "Serbian press in Canada, 1916-82". Polyphony: The Bulletin of the Multicultural History Society of Ontario 4 (1): 87. Retrieved 2 August 2013.
- ^ Judah. The Serbs. Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0-300-15826-7.
- ^ StatCan ref
- ^ http://www.statcan.ca
Books[edit]
- Powell, John (2005). Encyclopedia of North American Immigration. Infobase Publishing. Retrieved 20 April 2013.
Further reading[edit]
- Canadian Serbs: a history of their social and cultural traditions (1856-2002)
- Community Life and Culture From: The Encyclopedia of Canada's Peoples/Serbs/Paul Pavlovich
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