Romanian Canadians

Romanians moved to Canada in several periods. The first period was at the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century. Romanians had discovered Canada towards the end of the 19th century, after Clifford Sifton – Minister of Home Affairs representing a Liberal government that had promised to populate the West – had visited Bukovina. From 1896 to 1900, a group of Romanians established themselves in Assiniboia (now Saskatchewan), at Clifford Sifton's advice. The first two Romanian families that migrated to Canada from the Bukovina village of Boian stopped in Alberta in 1898. Other 100 Bucovina families took their example and followed them and they gave the settlement the name of their home village.

At the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century, many Romanians from the former Austro-Hungarian Empire (Transylvania, Bukovina, Banat, Crişana, and Maramureş) migrated to the Prairie provinces of Canada to work as farmers. The Dominion Lands Act encouraged homesteaders to come to the area. The migrants from the Romanian Old Kingdom were mostly Romanian Jews. Many Romanians moved to Canada and the United States between 1895 and 1920.[2]

St Nicholas's Romanian Orthodox Church (established in 1902[3] in Regina) is the oldest Romanian Orthodox parish in North America;[4] St George's Cathedral (founded in 1914[5] though the present building dates from the early 1960s), is the episcopal seat of the Romanian Orthodox Bishop of Regina. Today, the Romanian school from Boian, Alberta is a museum showcasing Romanian immigration, photos of the first Romanian settlers in the area and the typical Romanian farmer's life in rural Canada.

During the interwar period the number of ethnic Romanians who migrated to Canada decreased as a consequence of the economic development in Romania, but the number of Romanian Jews who migrated to Canada increased, mostly after the rise of the Iron Guard.

According to Canada 1911 Census, in Canada lived 15,000 Romanians and in 1941: 25,000.

The second period was between 1945 and 1955, when Romanians moved after World War II, during Communist Romania, at a time when Romania was in a difficult period in its history. In this period, 1,460,000 Romanian citizens left their country. Many of them were political refugees. Many of them left for Canada.

Another wave of Romanian emigration to Canada occurred after 1989 following the Romanian Revolution of 1989, when people obtained the right to leave Romania subsequent to the fall of Communism in Central and Eastern Europe. The wave intensified after the Mineriad of 13–15 June 1990. After 1998, for the fourth time, a large number of Romanians were leaving Europe to come to Canada.

In 2001, there were 131,830 Canadian residents who identified themselves of Romanian origin, of which 53,320 were single-origin Romanians and 78,505 were of mixed Romanian and other origins.[6] The largest concentrations of Romanian-Canadians are in the Greater Toronto Area (approx. 75,000) and in the Greater Montreal Area (approx. 40,000). According to the Canada 2001 Census, the number of people of Romanian mother tongue in Canada was 50,895 and 61,330 Canadians claimed to speak Romanian. The number of people born in Romania was 61,330 and 2,380 were born in Moldova.

According to the 2016 Census, there were 238,050 Canadian residents who identified themselves of Romanian origin, of which 96,910 were single-origin Romanians and 141,145 were of mixed Romanian and other origins.[7] Almost 100,000 Romanian Canadians live in Ontario.[8]

According to the 2021 Census, there were 215,885 Canadian residents declaring themselves of Romanian origin;[9] Romanian was the mother tongue of 93,160 of Canadian residents.[1] There were 86,770 Canadian residents who were born in Romania.[9]

Immigration from Romania reached a high in the early 2000s. Figures from Citizenship and Immigration Canada show that the annual number of new permanent residents from Romania increased from an average of over 3,700 per year in the late 1990s to an average of over 5,500 per year since 2001, peaking in 2004 at 5,658. After 2004, the immigration from Romania constantly decreased.

Map of North America highlighting the OCA Romanian Episcopate

Source: Citizenship and Immigration Canada, 2014:,[10] 2015:[11] Facts and Figures 2016:[12]

• 1896-1900 – A group of Romanians established themselves to the Saskatchewan, at Clifford Sifton's advice.
• 1898 – The first two Romanian families that migrated to Canada from the Bukovina village of Boian stopped in Alberta. They gave the settlement the name Boian, Alberta.
• 1939 – On Iberville Street, in Montreal, was built "Casa Romana", where was set up a Romanian school.
• 1952 – The Romanian Association of Canada (A.R.C.) founded in Montreal by Gheorghe Loghiade ( -1986), Gheorghe Stanciu, Petre Sultana, Miron Georgescu, Nichita Tomescu, Florin Marghescu, Ion Ţăranu (1921–2009), Alexandru Fonta (1922–2004) and Mihai Pop. The association was incorporated in 1953.
• 1965 – The Romanian Association of Canada launches fund raising events in order to build the Romanian Orthodox Church "Buna Vestire", situated on Cristoph Colomb Street in Montreal.
• 1970 – launches fund raising events to help flood victims in Romania.
• 1970 – Alexandru Fonta (1922–2004), Vasile Posteucă (1912–1972) and Jean Ţăranu (1921–2009) donate a piece of land known today as "The Romanian Camp" in Val-David, Quebec. In 1980 in Val-David are inaugurated two Romanian landmarks, the Predeal-Trudeau Street and the Romanians Bridge.
• 1971 – A.R.C. launches the first Romanian Radio Show called "Ora de radio". Since 1999 the show airs with a different name, under the supervision of the Federation of Romanian Associations of Canada (F.A.R.).
• 1973 – A.R.C. participates at The Folk Festival in Baie-Saint-Paul, Quebec, taking 1st place in the competition.
• 1974 – A.R.C. joins other Romanian community associations to form the Federation of Romanian Associations of Canada (F.A.R.).
• 1981 – Together with other organizations - Buna Vestire Parish, Women's Society, Constantin Brancoveanu Society, Romanian Radio Show and F.A.R. Canada - A.R.C. launches a series of fundraising events to build The Romanian Cultural Center. F.A.R. obtains a grant of $100.000 from the Quebec Government for the construction of the center. The money were given to F.A.R. in the name of the Romanian Community of Montreal and all its members.
• 1988 – A.R.C. creates the first Romanian TV Show called "Tele-Roumanie".
• 1997 - new lyrics for the Canadian song "Maple Leaf Forever" by the Romanian Canadian Vladimir Radian: "CBC Radio's Metro Morning show in Toronto ran a contest to find new lyrics for the song in 1997. The contest was won by Romanian immigrant, mathematician, and now a songwriter, actor and poet, Vladimir Radian, who moved to Canada in the 1980s. This version received its first full orchestral treatment on June 27, 1997, at a concert by the Toronto Symphony Orchestra."
• 2000 – A.R.C. resigns from F.A.R. Canada after illegal elections are held by this Association on October 5, 1999.
• 2001 – A.R.C. and Nova.TR (The Young Romanians Association) launch a pilot project to help new immigrants upon their arrival. The project helped about 40 families of newcomers, offering them a low cost housing for a period of two weeks. The project came to an end a year later, due to lack of funds. In 2002, A.R.C. accepts the assimilation request of Nova.TR
• 2001 – In March, the first issue of the Romanian newspaper Pagini Romanesti (Romanian Pages) at Montréal. The newspaper was printed after the closing of an older magazine, Luceafarul. Pagini Romanesti is still printed being today the oldest newspaper of the Romanian community in Québec.
• 2003 – A.R.C. celebrates 50 years of existence with a series of cultural and social events.
• 2003 – On June 11, 2006, a bust of Mihai Eminescu was unveiled at Saint George Church, Windsor, Ontario.