History of Czechs in Canada (Part I) / Historie Cechu v Kanade (cast 1.)

Prior to the first major immigration wave (1880) the majority of Czechs settled in the US. From there some of them moved to western Canada which was known for its vast and cheap land. ” The Canadian government, in conjunction with the Canadian Pacific Railway, sponsored a number of similar colonization schemes, promising that upon arrival the immigrant could begin ploughing on a selected piece of land. These colonization schemes usually involved partial payment for transport overseas and by rail across the continent, and offered attractive, but not obligatory, land-purchase plans. These did not always work out, and many immigrants had to work on others’ farms or in the railway and mining industries before they received their own land. As a result, many never became farmers but stayed in their first jobs. In many cases, these migrants adapted to their new life and decided to stay in Canada instead of returning home. Many then arranged for their wives and children to join them” .

Czech immigration to Canada can be devided into 4 phases:

1. 1880-1914

2. 1919-1939

– these 2 phases were driven mostly by a want of having a better, more prosperous life. The Czech pioneers were farmers who settled in the praries such as Esterhazy (Saskatchewan) where they developed several Czech communities such as Kolin (1884) or Prague (Viching) in Alberta in 1900. The urban communities could be found particularly in the town of Edmonton. As the western Canada became quite crowded, Czechs began to move toward the east. In 1910 a couple of colonies of Czech Babtists settled down at Murden in the Swan River valley, Manitoba, and Winnipeg. Winnipeg ended up being the central Czech community in Canada before W.W.I. together with some other Czech communities in Ontario such as Haileybury, Kirkland lake and Fort William. Overall, the number of Czechs who moved to Canada before W.W.I was quite small – about 1,800 Czechs.

3. 1945- 1989

– these immigrants were mostly political refugees who left the Czech Republic to escape the Nazi regime (W.W.II) and later also the claws of evil Communism.

4. After 1989

– CONTINUATION NEXT TIME!

Source: http://www.multiculturalcanada.ca/ecp/content/czechs.html