CHILE is a unique and beautiful country in South America. Unfortunately, Chileans have been divided across deeply rooted political lines. Political polarization came to a crisis in 1969 as the country democratically elected a Marxist government led by Salvador Allende, and furthermore with the military coup that over-threw the Allende regime in 1973. A group of generals led by Augusto Pinochet took the government in 1973 and was in power until 1990. These two major events triggered the immigration of Chileans into Canada. The first group of Chileans left their country during the Allende regime due to the socialistic policies being implemented, methodical loss of private property and ultimately the economic chaos that followed. Those first settlers left Chile on their own, unable to claim refugee status because the crimes they suffered during the Marxist government were never reported by the media.

The second, much larger group, came to Canada after the coup. While many Chileans were forced by the military to leave their country, others left of their free will because they felt far from safe under the imposition of military rule. Arrests, disappearances and political repression marked a new reign of terror as the regime of the military junta was unwilling to tolerate any political opposition or to forgive those that had either participated in paramilitary operations or worked with the ousted Allende government.

Reacting to human rights abuses in Chile, several countries opened their borders to fleeing Chileans. Many political refugees went to neighboring Latin American countries, and also made their way to Cuba, to Eastern European countries and to Soviet bloc member states. Initially, desperate Chilean refugees came to Canada in two small groups that had sought political asylum in the Canadian embassy in Santiago; they were the first victims of the military war on communism. Responding to a vocal lobby led by Canadian church groups and many non-governmental organizations, Ottawa implemented a special immigration program for the significant number of Chileans who faced humanitarian abuses. This program would later help to recognize refugees as a distinct class of immigrants entitled to Canadian asylum in a new Immigration Act that came into effect in 1978. In the end, almost 7,000 Chileans finally made their way into Canada.

After General Pinochet relinquished power to a new democratically elected government in 1990, three subsequent democratic governments have been formed by a coalition of centre-left parties including Christian Democrats and Socialists. Since the eighties Chile has reached a leading economic position in South America. With GDP per capita at US $ 5,000, the Chilean economy has generated more than twice the wealth that existed in the early seventies.

From 1980, Chileans have continued to immigrate to Canada, even though some have in fact returned to their country to rebuild their lives in their homeland. Many have emigrated because of severe economic adjustment that has resulted from the return of the companies previously confiscated from a massive free market transformation of the Chilean economy and the privatization of most public services. These are the new economic immigrants in search of good employment opportunities and a better future for their families. According to the 1996 census data, a total of 33,835 Canadians claim Chilean ancestry. The same census indicates that a total of 11690 Chilean immigrants reside in Quebec; 10875 in Ontario; 5315 and 3860, respectively in Alberta and British Columbia.

Chilean settlers have moved between Ontario and the West depending on economic conditions. A booming western economy attracted many to Alberta and Manitoba in the seventies whereas, in the late eighties economic opportunity in Ontario and British Columbia made these provinces favorite targets of Chilean migration. The urban and industrial centres of Canada have attracted most of the immigrants: Chileans are concentrated in Montreal, Toronto, Calgary, Edmonton and Vancouver.

Many immigrants who came from the middle and upper class have high levels of skills and education. Chileans in the field of the natural sciences, engineering, teaching, and health care have had their Chilean professional degrees and work experience accepted, or have returned to university to obtain new degrees and secure jobs in their areas of expertise. Many have made contributions in the engineering, manufacturing, construction and transportation sectors, as well as in health care, arts and sports. Others have successfully entered the clerical and service related sectors in Canada. They have successfully established their families and focused on rebuilding their lives as Canadians, leaving their past behind.

Emerging Chilean entrepreneurs have opened their own businesses and stores, created consulting firms, and published a number of Spanish language magazines and newspapers. Chileans also have made important contributions to the Canadian Hispanic community at large. Canadians of Chilean origin have created a variety of organizations for women, politics and culture as well as finance and social welfare. Like most refugees, Chileans began working towards the welfare of their homeland. In the seventies some sent money and food to help support their relatives. Later, many worked for the democratization of Chile until the end of the military regime in the late eighties.

The community also has an increasing involvement and commitment to life in Canada. Members of the group are active at different levels in the political process. Over the last few years there have been political candidates of Chilean origin in national, provincial and municipal elections. Most notably, Osvaldo Nunez of the Bloc Quebecois was elected to the House of Commons in 1993.