-
Period: to
First Romanian immigrants arrive in Canada
These few immigrants mainly consisted of "Jews from Austrian-occupied Bukovina, Russian-controlled Bessarabia, or Romanian Moldavia" who came to Canada "to escape poverty and religious prejudice and persecution" (Patterson, 1999). Other early Romanian settlers in Canada were "individual priests from Bucharest sent to early Canadian settlements" (Patterson, 2019). -
Dominion Land Act established
According to this act, "agricultural immigrants were offered 160 acres of land in exchange for building a home, breaking thirty acres of land, and cultivating crops, while residing on the homestead" (Culic, 2019, p. 76). -
Kingdom of Romania formed
Before this time, individuals did identify as Romanian and spoke the Romanian language, but may have lived in regions that were historically part of other nations like Austria-Hungary and Russia (Patterson, 1999). Romania's borders also transformed due to the World Wars (Patterson, 1999). Both of these factors make tracking exact Romanian immigration numbers difficult, as immigrants may have been recorded on official documents based on the nations they lived in (Culic, 2019). -
Settlement established in Vegreville, Alberta
(Gagnon, 2020) -
Period: to
First wave of Romanian immigrants - "Sifton Immigrants"
Agricultural immigrants settled in what are now the Prairie provinces, particularly Alberta and Saskatchewan, motivated by the free or cheap land they could receive to farm under the Dominion Land Act of 1872 (Culic, 2019, p. 76). This was especially enticing due to the overpopulation and underemployment in Romania (Gagnon, 2020). The majority were men aged 18 to 45 from Bukovina and Transylvania whose wives and children remained in Romania (Patterson, 1999). -
Period: to
Sir Clifford Sifton as Minister of the Interior
Sifton specifically promoted the immigration of non-traditional immigrants to Canada. He saw Eastern European immigrants as very suitable to settle the Prairies because of their "familiarity with agriculture, rural lifestyles, and harsh climates" (Gagnon, 2020). -
Sir Clifford Sifton visits Romanian provinces
Clifton visited the Romanian provinces of Bukovina and Galicia to encourage suitable immigrants to settle the Prairie provinces (Culic, 2019, p. 76) -
Romanian family settles in Alberta
Elie Ravliuk, his wife and four-year-old child, and Ichin Yurko settle in Alberta near present day Andrew. Their settlement is named Boian after their hometown in Romania (Romanian Pioneer Museum of Boian, "Arrival"). -
More immigration to Boian, Alberta
Following in the footsteps of other immigrants, by 1901 approximately 100 Romanian families were settled in the area (Canadian Romanian Society of Alberta). -
Period: to
Jewish Romanian settlement founded near Lipton, Saskatchewan
Approximately 200 settlers established forty homesteads in the area (The Encyclopedia of Saskatchewan, 2006). -
Romanian Orthodox church opens in Regina
St. Nicholas Roman Orthodox Church opened in Regina, Saskatchewan to serve the Romanian population in the area (Patterson, 1985, p. 439). Approximately 85% of initial immigrants were Romanian Orthodox (p. 439). Another Romanian Orthodox church opened in Boian region, Alberta in 1905 and continues to be used to this day (Heritage Resources Management Information System). -
Period: to
Families join initial wave of immigrants
The initial male immigrants often arrived in Canada with the plan to remain for a few years and save their income, then return to Romania and fund a business. Most remained in Canada instead of returning (Patterson, 1985, p. 494). As such, the majority of immigration after 1900 consisted of women and children reuniting with fathers and husbands (Patterson, 1999). -
1906 Immigration Act established
This act introduced a selective immigration policy that favoured immigrants who were seen to be able to best assimilate to Anglo-Saxon norms and values (Culic, 2019, p. 77) The act did not specifically restrict immigration from certain countries, but allowed for more government discretion in who was allowed to enter Canada (Van Dyk, 2020). -
Period: to
Frank Oliver as Minister of the Interior
As Minister of the Interior, Oliver changed immigration policy to accept fewer immigrants from Central and Eastern Europe due to concerns "relating to the increasing levels of 'racial degeneration' in Canada" (Rollings-Magnusson, 2014, p. 165). -
Canadian National Railway built through Vegreville, Alberta
With the expansion of the Canadian National Railway into areas near Romanian-Canadian settlements, immigrants began to build more structures in their towns (Romanian Pioneer Museum of Boian, "The Typical Romanian Pioneer House"). -
One room schoolhouse is built in Boian Marea, Alberta
With the increase in children in the Romanian-settled area of Boian region, there was significant interest in building a school for the community. In 1910 a community board paid a local builder, Frank Mikota, $117.00 to build the school (Romanian Pioneer Museum of Boian, "Boian Marea") -
Over 8000 Romanians in Canada
(Patterson, 1985, p. 439) -
Period: to
Low Romanian Immigration
Post World War One there was a lull in immigration. This was especially true for Romanians who were not seen as "preferred immigrants", meaning that "only agriculture workers, farm labourers, domestics, and sponsored family members could be admitted from 'non-preferred' countries" including Romania (Canadian Council for Refugees). -
Period: to
First Romanian newspaper in Canada
The "Tribuna Romana", or "Romanian Tribune" was released in Toronto. The exact years of its first and final editions are unclear, but it was in production between the 1920's and 1930's (Patterson, 1999). -
Period: to
Second-generation Romanian Canadians move from rural to urban communities
Many settled in Edmonton, Regina, Calgary, and other urban centres in Canada. While some moved to Romanian communities, the majority did not, resulting in fewer ties to their church and club communities that helped maintain the presence of Romanian culture in Canada (Patterson, 1999). -
Over 29 000 Canadians identify as Romanian
(Patterson, 1985, p. 439) -
Bok-O-Ria Romanian Restaurant and Social Club founded in Regina
This Romanian cultural club helped connect the Romanian community, with its name representing the phonetic spelling of "bucurie" or "pleasure" in Romanian (Patterson, 1999). The club continues to run to this day. -
Period: to
Mass out-migration from Lipton, Saskatchewan
The former Jewish-Romanian settlement had a large number of the descendants of settlers migrate to urban areas in North America during this time (Patterson, 1999). -
Boian Ladies Church Club established
The group was focused on assisting in the "spiritual upbringing of the future generation." The Romanian language was used for the meetings. The club still exists in Boian today (Romanian Pioneer Museum of Boian, "Boian Ladies Church Club"). -
Period: to
Second wave of immigration
Many Romanians immigrated to Canada after World War II. Early immigrants, were displaced by the war and came from refugee camps in Western Europe (Patterson, 1985, p. 495). They mainly settled in urban areas in Ontario and Quebec, especially Montreal, Toronto, Hamilton, London, and Windsor (Patterson, 1999). -
Forty-Eighters immigrate to Canada
Another group of immigrants, known as "Forty-Eighters", immigrated to Canada in order to flee the new communist regime in Romania (Culic, 2019, p. 80). Most were industrial workers and professionals, in contrast to early agricultural immigrants. The majority of these immigrants then settled in urban areas in Ontario and Quebec (Patterson, 1999). -
Period: to
Low Romanian immigration
Romanian immigration was limited by the restrictive nature of the communist regime which made exiting the nation very difficult (Culic, 2019, p. 80). -
Eminescu Roumanian Dance Group formed in Regina
The group mainly consists of second-generation Romanian Canadians who professionally perform Romanian folk dancing, including tours throughout North America. As of 1999, the group had approximately 60 members (Patterson, 1999). -
Reduction in Romanian language use in Canada
By the 1970's, "only 6% of people claiming Romanian origin in Saskatchewan were still speaking Romanian as the primary language in their home." This can be attributed to descendants marrying non-Romanian partners and a general assimilation into Canadian culture (The Encyclopedia of Saskatchewan, 2006). -
East European Self-Exiled Persons immigration class created
This class allowed for many Romanians fleeing their home country's communist regime to immigrate to Canada (Culic, 2019, p. 80). -
Period: to
Third wave of Romanian immigration
Eastern Europeans, including Romanians, immigrated to Canada due to "political changes in communist bloc countries, including the fall of the Berlin Wall and the breakup of the Soviet Union" (Statistics Canada, 2016). About 13 000 Romanians immigrated to Canada between 1980 and 1990, with approximately half admitted as refugees (Culic, 2019, p. 82). -
Fall of communist regime in Romania
This allowed citizens more freedom in migration and immigration, leading in an increase in individuals immigrating to nations like Canada (Patterson, 1999). -
East European Self-Exiled Persons class discontinued
(Culic, 2019, p. 83) -
Period: to
Romanian immigrants sought to settle in Quebec
By the mid-2000's, Quebec authorities held information sessions in Bucharest to encourage skilled immigrants to move to Quebec under the "Certificat de Sélection du Québec" (Culic, 2019, p. 84). As Romanians often spoke French as a second language, they were seen to acculture well to Quebec (p. 84). Between 2000 and 2008, over 43 000 Romanians immigrated to Canada, with an average of 4500 immigrants per year, mainly motivated by potential economic gain (p. 85). -
235 050 Canadians identify as Romanian origin
(Patterson, 2019)