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Yugoslav Canadians areCanadians of full or partialYugoslav ancestry. At the2021 Census, the total number of Canadians whose origins lie in formerYugoslavia, majority of whom indicated specific ethnic origin, was 369,305 or about 1% of the total population.

On the same census, there were 30,565 people who specifically indicatedYugoslav orYugoslav Canadian as their ethnic origin;^[1] a 37% decrease from the2011 Census when their number was 48,320.^[2]

The firstSerbs to arrive inCanada came toBritish Columbia in the 1850s.^[15] Many of them came from the state ofCalifornia in theUnited States, while others directly emigrated from the Balkans.^[16] They primarily originated from theBay of Kotor and theDalmatian coast which had similar climates as their destinations.^[17][18][19] The majority of these migrants came from territories controlled byAustria-Hungary for political and economic reasons, and only a small number came directly from Independent Serbia.^[18] Those who settled were typically young single men and employed inmining orforestry near such towns asPhoenix,GoldenPrince Rupert andKamloops.^[20]

The history of Bosnian arrivals to Canada dates back to as far as the 19th century.^[21]

Many thousands ofAegean Macedonians emigrated to Canada in the 1890s. They settled primarily inOntario, especiallyToronto. Many early Aegean Macedonian immigrants found industrial work in Toronto. Later migrants found work as factory in abattoirs and foundries.Chatham andWindsor attracted many Macedonian immigrants who worked along the railroads. Many later settled inDetroit, Michigan.

In the first half of the 20th century, most of the Macedonians were largely classified asBulgarians orMacedono-Bulgarians.^[22][23][24]

During the second wave of emigration, Serbs arrived in theprairies. InSaskatchewan, they took upfarming.^[18] In Alberta, coal mining and road construction was a source of employment. Many Serbs worked on the construction of railway lines that now extend from Edmonton to thePacific coast.^[25] Communities of Serbs emerged inRegina,Lethbridge, Edmonton andCalgary while significant populations formed inAtlin, British Columbia andDawson, Yukon.^[26] InOntario andQuebec, Serbs were drawn to work in the industry sector. By 1914, the Serbian community of the city ofHamilton, Ontario numbered around 1,000.^[27] Further Serb settlement was established inNiagara Falls,London, andWindsor.^[15] The first Serbian immigrants to the city ofToronto arrived in 1903; by 1914 there were more than 200 Serbs.^[15]

Many Macedonians emigrated to Canada as "pečalbari" (seasonal workers) in the early 20th century.^[28] Thousands of Macedonians emigrated to Canada after the failure of theIlinden Uprising.^[28] Many early Macedonian immigrants found industrial work inToronto, either as factory hands or labourers in abattoirs, or in iron and steel foundries. Many ended up running and owning restaurants, butchers and groceries. Macedonian entrepreneurs and their descendants eventually employed their numerical strength within the food service industry as a catapult into a variety of larger and more sophisticated ventures.^[29]

An internal 1910 census counted 1090 Macedonians in Toronto, who were principally fromFlorina (Lerin) andKastoria (Kostur) then inOttoman Empire.^[28] During the same year, they established the Sts. Cyril and Methody Macedono-Bulgarian Orthodox Church in Toronto.^[28] and that church publishedThe First Bulgarian-English Pocket Dictionary in 1913.^[30]Prior to World War I, many arriving Serbs were variously categorized under related Balkan groups, making the exact number of Serb immigrants difficult to determine.

UntilWorld War II, most people who today identify themselves as Macedonian Canadians claimed a Bulgarian ethnic identity and were recorded as part of the Bulgarian ethnic group.^{[31][32][22][33]} The termMacedonian was used as a geographic/regional term rather than an ethnic one.^[33] At that time the political organization by the Slavic immigrants from theregion of Macedonia, theMacedonian Patriotic Organization, also promoted the idea of Macedonian Slavs beingBulgarians.^[34]

During theGreat War, military-aged Serb males who hailed from Serbia or Montenegro were considered allies but those who were born in Austro-Hungarian territories were deemed enemy aliens by Canadian law, even though their sympathies tended to lie with the allied cause. The latter were restricted in their freedom of movements, had to wear special identity cards and had to identify themselves regularly at the police station.^[27] Several hundred were interned inprison camps throughout the country under terrible conditions.^[35] PhysicistMihajlo Pupin, Serbia's consul inNew York during the war, and Antun Seferović, the honorary consul of Serbia inMontreal, advocated for the rights of the classified aliens and internees through diplomacy via theSrpska Narodna Odbrana u Kanadi (Serbian National League of Canada) which resulted in exemption, compensation and the release of many ethnic Serbs.^[36] Another advocate for the rights of Serbs of Austro-Hungarian origin was Serbian-born court interpreter Bud Protich, who enlisted in the Canadian Army and was wounded in action in 1917.^[37]

After 1921, all immigrants from Yugoslavia, including Serbs, were designated as "Yugoslavs".^[19] Theinterwar period saw a major increase in Serbianimmigration to Canada.^[17] More than 30,000 Yugoslavs came to Canada between 1919 and 1939, including an estimated 10,000 Serbs. Many of these immigrants were single, working men who settled in the northern region of the province of Ontario.^[15]

After theSecond World War, Serbian political émigrés who were opposed to the newly established Yugoslav communist government sought refuge in Canada.^[17] Many of these werePOWs and laborers from Austria and Germany who refused to return to their homeland. They settled in cities such as Toronto, Sudbury and Hamilton.^[15]

In Canada, the first ethnic Croatian parish was established in Windsor in 1950. Soon, parishes were established in Toronto (1951), Hamilton (1958), Vancouver (1967), Winnipeg (1968). Today there are ethnic Croatian parishes and missions in seventeen cities in Canada. One of the most prominent Croatian Catholic parishes is the Queen of Peace Catholic Church inNorval, Ontario. The establishment of the parish began in 1976 when community members, under the guidance of the Franciscan Friars, gathered for one evening to discuss the necessity and logistics of creating a place of gathering and cultural and faith building and preservation for the large Croatian immigrant population. In May 1977, 160 acres of property were purchased by the organizing committee with the specific dedication to Croatian Catholics.^[38]

Between 1957 and 1971, some 23,000 Yugoslavs arrived in Canada, of whom 10-15% were Serbs. They established organizations, newspapers and cultural events.^[15]

In the late 1980s, Yugoslavia's communist government was on the verge of collapse. Shortly after thebreakup of Yugoslavia in 1991, a large group of Serbs moved to Canada, mostly to Southern Ontario. This was a majorbrain drain, with educated Serbs fleeing serious economic problems and an undemocratic government.^[39] Other Serbs who came during the 1990s were refugees who fled the variouscivil wars in Yugoslavia.^[17]

The traditional centers of residence and culture for Bosnian Canadians are located inToronto,Montreal,Edmonton andCalgary. The majority of Bosnian Canadians emigrated toCanada asrefugees during and after theBosnian War, which lasted from 1992 to 1995.

Serbian Canadians protested theNATO bombing of Yugoslavia which lasted from March 24 to June 10, 1999.^[40]

In 2021, the total number of Canadians whose origins lie in formerYugoslavia, majority of whom indicated specific ethnic origin was 369,305.

Ethnic group	2021[1]		2016[14]		2011[2]		2006[13]		2001[12]		1996[11]
	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%
Croatian Canadians	130,820	35.4%	133,970	34.7%	114,880	33.2%	110,880	32%	97,050	32.8%	84,495	34%
Serbian Canadians	93,355	25.3%	96,535	25%	80,320	23.2%	72,690	21%	55,540	18.7%	40,200	16.2%
Slovene Canadians	38,595	10.5%	40,475	10.5%	37,170	10.7%	35,940	10.4%	28,910	9.8%	25,875	10.4%
Macedonian Canadians	39,440	10.7%	43,105	11.2%	36,985	10.7%	37,050	10.7%	31,265	10.6%	30,915	12.4%
Yugoslav Canadians	30,565	8.28%	38,480	10%	48,320	14%	65,305	18.8%	65,505	22.1%	66,940	26.9%
Bosnian Canadians	28,490	7.71%	26,740	6.92%	22,920	6.62%	21,040	6.07%	15,720	5.31%	8,975	3.61%
Montenegrin Canadians	4,310	1.17%	4,165	1.08%	2,970	0.86%	2,370	0.68%	1,055	0.36%	N/A	N/A
Kosovar Canadians[a]	3,730	1.01%	2,870	0.74%	2,760	0.8%	1,530	0.44%	1,200	0.41%	N/A	N/A
Total population	369,305	100%	386,340	100%	346,325	100%	346,805	100%	296,245	100%	248,425	100%

• Canada–Yugoslavia relations
• Bosnian Canadians
• Croatian Canadians
• Macedonian Canadians
• Montenegrin Canadians
• Serbian Canadians
• Slovene Canadians

• Mandres, Marinel (2020). "An Unprecedented Dichotomy: Impacts and Consequences of Serbian Internment in Canada during the Great War". In Hinther, Rhonda L.; Mochoruk, Jim (eds.).Civilian Internment in Canada: Histories and Legacies. University of Manitoba Press. pp. 99–114.ISBN 978-0-88755-845-0.
• Powell, John (2005).Encyclopedia of North American Immigration. Infobase Publishing.ISBN 9781438110127. Retrieved20 April 2013.
• Tomović, Vladislav A. (2002).Canadian Serbs: A History of Their Social and Cultural Traditions (1856-2002). Batlik.ISBN 978-0-92064-240-5.
• Vuković, Sava (1998).History of the Serbian Orthodox Church in America and Canada 1891–1941. Kragujevac: Kalenić.

• Canadian people of Yugoslav descent

• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Articles containing French-language text
• Articles containing Serbo-Croatian-language text
• Articles containing Slovene-language text
• Articles containing Macedonian-language text
• "Related ethnic groups" needing confirmation
• Articles using infobox ethnic group with image parameters