Eastern European Canadians


Eastern European Canadians are Canadians of Eastern European ancestry. Eastern European Canadian people can usually trace back full or partial heritage to Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Moldova and other nations in, bordering with, or otherwise culturally connected to Eastern Europe.
As of 2016, 3,431,245 Canadians had Eastern European geographical origins, constituting 10.0% of the Canadian population. Along with Northwestern European Canadians and Southern European Canadians, they are a subgrouping of European Canadians.

Background

Eastern European Canadians are considered a pan-ethnic group which is based on full or partial ancestry to the region of Eastern Europe. The group can be broken down into further subgroups such as Ukrainian Canadians and Moldovan Canadians.
Although Central European in location, countries such as Hungary and the Czech Republic have sometimes been included within ancestry parameters when identifying or describing Eastern European Canadian people. Similarly, due to a cultural or Slavic connection, Yugoslav Canadians have at times been included in the designation.

History

The 1914 War Measures Act, which authorized the Canadian government to designate "aliens of enemy nationality", included many Eastern European Canadians born or resident in Canada, which caused conflicts with perceptions of dual loyalty. In the 1920s, Eastern European Canadians were sometimes scapegoated, alongside African Canadians, during economic recession and post-war unrest.
During World War II, Eastern European Canadians were trained at Camp X, later serving in the Special Operations Executive. After the war, Canadian diplomacy had to balance respect and support for the contributions of its war-time ally the Soviet Union, against the sensitivities of Eastern European Canadians, in regions such as Alberta.
In 1961, census statistics revealed that while they were participating in low-skilled occupations at the national average, Eastern European Canadians were underrepresented in professional occupations, while over-represented in the personal service sector. Professor Marc Shell has outlined how, during the 1960s, it was not unusual for voluntary surname changes, as well as the Canadian government enforcing the anglicisation of names by an Order of Council, in the process of assimilation of Eastern European communities. In 1971, other than Ukrainian Canadians, who tended to live more rurally, most Eastern European Canadians lived in the country's main urban centers.
In Kim Richard Nossal's co-edited 2002 Diplomatic Departures, Dr Roy Norton proposed that by 1980, the pan-ethnic group were more integrated into Canadian society and generally viewed Canada's role in the U.S. Helsinki Commission positively, as well as the country's persistent condemnation of human rights abuses in both Eastern and Central Europe.

Demography

Province / territoryPopulationPercentage
Ontario1,339,610
Alberta685,270
British Columbia569,260
Manitoba287,695
Quebec249,940
Saskatchewan243,055
Nova Scotia29,685
New Brunswick11,590
Yukon4,495
Newfoundland and Labrador4,230
Prince Edward Island3,030
Northwest Territories2,865
Nunavut515
Canada3,431,245

Language

The top five eastern European languages spoken in Canada include Russian, Polish, Ukrainian, Romanian and Hungarian.

Academic research

Research has been conducted involving both Eastern Europeans immigrating to Canada, as well as the characteristics, norms and statistics of Canadian citizens of Eastern European heritage.
Based on research in North America, a 2019 book from Purdue University Northwest professor of sociology, Cezara O. Crisan, has projected that Eastern European Canadians are often likely, as an immigrant or immigrant-descended group, to be economically, politically and socially involved both with their resident country and ancestral nation or region.