Digital Literacy: Exploring Russian and Ukrainian History in Canada

Ukrainian Canadian History and Settlement

1894

7 September 1891 F irst Ukrainian Immigrants Arrive in Halifax There was likely sporadic

First Ukrainian Block Settlement Founded in Edna/ Star, Alberta In 1892, a small group of immigrants organized by Ivan Pylypow arrived in Winnipeg from Nebyliw, Ukraine. Two years later, the families of Mykola Tychkowsky and Antin Paish left the group to settle east of Edmonton at Edna (now Star). It was Canada’s first and soon largest Ukrainian block settlement. The fertile land with sufficient streams made it perfect for farming, while an abundance of trees provided building material for homes and barns. Pylypow moved to Edna a year later. The settlement grew as more people arrived from Galicia and Bukovyna.

immigration of Ukrainians to Canada as early as 1812. But the first recorded Ukrainian immigrants to Canada were Ivan Pylypow and Wasyl Eleniak, farmers from Galicia. Encouraged by German friends who had settled in Canada, they came in September 1891 seeking a suitable area for settlement.

Russian Canadian History and Settlement

Bronfman Family Arrives in Canada

1889

1874 Russians Immigrate to Canada Throughout much of the 19th century, Canadian and Russian policies restricted immigration to Canada. The first large group of immigrants to come from Russia weren’t ethnically Russian at all, but German Mennonites. Approximately 7,000 emigrated to Canada, settling in Manitoba over the course of the 1870s.

1882 Jews Immigrate from Russia

One of the most influential Canadian families from Russia, the Bronfmans , fled anti- Jewish pogroms in late 19th-century Imperial Russia. Though the family was from modern-day Moldova, Samuel Bronfman was born as the family fled Russia. Initially establishing themselves in the Prairies, the Bronfman family emerged from poverty to become successful hotel owners and operators. Samuel Bronfman later moved to Montreal and started his distillery empire, Seagram’s.

Jews were persecuted in Russia. They were regularly subjected to pogroms and harsh treatment. Jewish communities first established themselves mainly in urban areas of Canada, namely in Montreal and Toronto. One of the earliest waves of Russian Jewish immigration to Canada occurred in the 1880s.