Канадски Срби Kanadski Srbi | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Total population | |
| 93,360 (2021)[1] | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| Ontario,British Columbia,Alberta,Quebec | |
| Languages | |
| Canadian English andSerbian | |
| Religion | |
| PredominatelyEastern Orthodoxy (Serbian Orthodox Church), minorityProtestantism andCatholicism | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Serbian Americans,Montenegrin Canadians,Croatian Canadians,Bosnian Canadians,Macedonian Canadians,Yugoslav Canadians |
| Part of a series on |
| Serbs |
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Native Titular nation
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Related nations OtherSouth Slavs |
Serbian Canadians orSerb Canadians[a] areCanadians of ethnicSerb ancestry. In 2021, there were 93,360 Serbian Canadians, according to the Canadian census.[2]
The first Serbs to arrive inCanada came toBritish Columbia in the 1850s.[3] Many of them came from the state ofCalifornia in theUnited States, while others directly emigrated from theBalkans.[4] They primarily originated from theBay of Kotor and theDalmatia which had similar climates as their destinations.[5][6][7]
A second wave of Serb emigration occurred from 1900 to 1914.[6] In both instances, the majority of these migrants came from territories controlled byAustria-Hungary for political and economic reasons, and only a small number came directly from theKingdom of Serbia.[6] Those who settled were typically young single men and employed inmining orforestry near such towns asPhoenix,GoldenPrince Rupert, andKamloops.[8] Fishing and the search for gold were also among the primary occupations of these early settlers.[9] In 1898,Black Mike Winage arrived inYukon from Serbia near the end of theKlondike Gold Rush and became a pioneer.[10][11]
During the second wave of emigration, Serbs arrived in theprairies. InSaskatchewan, they took upfarming.[6] 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.[12] Serb communities emerged inRegina,Lethbridge,Edmonton, andCalgary, while significant populations formed inAtlin, British Columbia andDawson, Yukon.[13] InOntario andQuebec, Serbs were drawn to work in the industry sector. By 1914, the Serbian community inHamilton numbered around 1,000.[14] Further Serb settlement was established inNiagara Falls,London, andWindsor.[3] The first Serb immigrants to the city ofToronto arrived in 1903; by 1914 there were more than 200 Serbs.[3]
The first Serbian Orthodox Church built in Canada, theHoly Trinity Serbian Orthodox Church inRegina, Saskatchewan was built in 1916, while the first parish committee was formed in 1913 in Hamilton.
During theWorld War I, military-aged Serb males who hailed from Serbia orMontenegro 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.[14] Several hundred were interned inprison camps throughout the country under terrible conditions.[15] PhysicistMihajlo Pupin, Serbian 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 the Serbian National League of Canada (Srpska Narodna Odbrana u Kanadi) which resulted in exemption, compensation, and the release of many ethnic Serbs.[16] 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.[17]
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. After 1921, all immigrants from Yugoslavia, including Serbs, were designated as "Yugoslavs".[7] Theinterwar period saw a major increase in Serbimmigration to Canada.[5] 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.[3] During this time, ties to Europe were strong and pressure fromBelgrade andOttawa resulted in certain Serbian Canadian newspapers being banned due to their communist ideas. They were mostly written by pro-Russian Yugoslavs who were not necessarily of Serb origin.[18]
After theWorld War II, Serbian political émigrés who were opposed to the newly established Yugoslav communist government sought refuge in Canada.[5] 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.[3] Between 1957 and 1971, some 23,000 Yugoslavs arrived in Canada, of whom 10-15% were Serbs. They established organizations, newspapers and cultural events.[3]
TheSerbian Orthodox Eparchy of Canada was established in 1983 as part of reorganization of the Serbian Orthodox eparchies (dioceses) in North America.[19]
In the late 1980s, Yugoslavia's communist government was on the verge of collapse. Shortly after thebreakup of Yugoslavia in 1991, a new wave of Serb immigration occurred, concentrating mostly to Southern Ontario. This was a majorbrain drain, with highly-skilled Serb professionls fleeing economic problems and an undemocratic government in Serbia.[20] Other Serbs who came during the 1990s were refugees fromBosnia and Herzegovina andCroatia, who fled the variousYugoslav Wars.[5]
Serbian Canadians held demonstrations and protests throughout theNATO bombing of Yugoslavia in 1999.[21] The protests onUniversity Avenue in Toronto lasted all 78 days of the bombing campaign.[22]
According to data from the2021 census 93,360 people stated that they had Serb ancestry (whether alone or in combination with another ancestry). However, this number may be higher as there are some 30,565 people who identify asYugoslavs in Canada, many of whom are of ethnic Serb origin.[23] Serbian Canadians comprise 0.25% of total Canadian population.
Statistics Canada allows the provision of multiple ancestries in a multi-response question. In the 2021 census, 52% of Serbian Canadians declared full Serb ancestry, while some 42% declared Serb ancestry as one of two/multiple ancestries.[24]
The Serbian Canadian community is heavily concentrated (about two-thirds) inOntario, with major hub inGreater Toronto Area where a third of all Serbian Canadians reside, whileNiagara Falls has the highest share (1.5% of total population) of Serbian population of any Canadian city.[25]
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Serbian Canadians predominantly (54.8%) belong to theEastern Orthodoxy with theSerbian Orthodox Church (through itsSerbian Orthodox Eparchy of Canada) as the traditional church. Some 9.8% adhere toProtestantism or various Christian denominations, 8% to theCatholicism, while the rest are mainlyirreligious.[26][b]
Language retention is relatively high: some 40% (i.e. 37,790) of Serbian Canadians declared Serbian as their mother tongue (including both single and multiple responses) while 60% declaredEnglish, although over 90% are proficient in English.[27]
In 1954, the Serb Youth Club in Toronto was founded and its folk-dance groupStražilovo became one of the first folk dance groups in Canada.
Toronto's folk-dance groupHajduk Veljko (founded in 1964) danced at the1976 Montreal Olympics and at theExpo 86 inVancouver.[28]
From the early 1950s to 1984 the Serbian Cultural Club "Saint Sava" was active in Toronto, publishing eight volumes about Serb history.
In 1968, theSaint Michael the Archangel Serbian Orthodox Church hosted the "Belgrade" pavilion of the Toronto Caravan cultural festival, which displayed many Serbian cultural artifacts, showcasedkolo dancing and other performance arts, and presented Toronto residents Serbian delicacies. The annual festival ran for over 30 years, winning, in 2001, the Zena Kossar "Best Pavilion Award".
The Serbian Heritage Academy of Canada, founded in Toronto in 1981, has organized academic conferences, exhibits, and lectures. In 1984 it installed a bronze plaque at theUniversity of Toronto's Medical Sciences Building honouring Canadian doctors and nurses who had worked as volunteers in Serbia during theWorld War I.
TheSerbian Cultural Association Oplenac was founded in 1987 in Mississauga. Serbian folk dancing has been a major activity in SCA Oplenac since its inception and itvis claimed to be the biggest Serbian folklore group in North America. All proceeds from its events go to the preservation and presentation of Serbian culture and traditions in Canada. In 2012, the company consisted of 8 large ensembles, a choir, an orchestra as well as a large recreational ensemble. It established a drama school for children that performs theatre plays in Serbian, as well as a Serbian-language school.[29]
Serbian Theatre Toronto was established in 2004 and is the oldest Serbian theatre in Canada and North America. In more than two decades of activity, the theatre has produced more than twenty plays by Serbian writers and has performed in many cities in Canada and the United States.[30]
Established in 2008, Toronto's Puls teatar ("Pulse Theatre") is the biggest drama club and theatre for children in Serbian in Canada.[31]
There are severial Serbian media in Canada such as theSerbian Toronto Television, a weekly 30-minute current affairs Serbian television show that is filmed throughout various locations across Canada and airs on multicultural channelOmni Television, andNovine Toronto, a newspaper.[32][33]
Serbian White Eagles FC is a Canadian semi-professional soccer team, a member of theCanadian Soccer League.
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In 1991, a non-profit senior citizens apartment building inWindsor, Ontario, was namedGeneral Mihailovich Place in commemoration ofsaving the lives of hundreds ofMIA airmen (including Canadians) who were forced to parachute after theirbombers sustained damage fromNazi groundfire over Serbia.[34]
In 2004, at an unveiling byToronto City CouncillorsJoe Mihevc andHoward Moscoe, a street in Toronto, located north ofEglinton Avenue and west ofMarlee Avenue, was renamed Beograd Gardens to honour Serbian capital Belgrade.[35]
Mount Putnik inPeter Lougheed Provincial Park inAlberta, was named after theWorld War I Serbian GeneralRadomir Putnik. In 2012, the Ravna Gora Serbian Heritage Society of Calgary unveiled on the mountain a plaque to commemorate him.
In 2016, a boulevard in Hamilton was named after Serb inventorNikola Tesla.[36]
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