THE POPULATION of modern Canada includes immigrants with Indo-Portuguese history and culture. Goan settlement in Canada is relatively recent, the founding generation of Canadian pioneers coming in the 1960s from several parts of South Asia and East Africa.

All trace their origins to the small territory of Goa situated on the western Malabar coast of India, south of Bombay. Ruled by various Hindu dynasties and subsequently by the Muslim rulers of Mogul India, Goa was established as a Portuguese colony when it was seized by Alfonso de Albuquerque in 1510. Becoming an important commercial and trading hub between Europe and all other Portuguese colonies in Southeast Asia, Goa was returned to India in 1961. The demise of the Muslim ruling elite in the 1500s saw the local Hindu population convert to Roman Catholicism. Some four and a half centuries later, the colony became a separate Indian state with its own government in 1987.

Against this historical backdrop, Goan Christians, unlike their Hindu compatriots, began to seek opportunities for a better life in cities such as Bombay and Karachi during the mid-nineteenth century.

As Christians proficient in English, which prevails in both the community at home and abroad, they were at ease with Western culture and armed with vocational training and clerical skills. Consequently, Goans were recruited by the British to work in the colonies of East Africa and a number of out ports in the Persian Gulf. In the aftermath of Portugal’s surrender of the colony, Canada, Australia, England, and the United States became targets of Goan migration.

The 1996 Canadian Census records the presence of 4,415 Goans in Canada (single and multiple responses); the sum total of individuals in Ontario is 3,565. However, it is estimated by community spokespersons that there are approximately 15,000 Goans in Ontario and approximately 5,000 in the rest of Canada.

Goans made a quantum leap into the professional world and the higher levels of commerce and industry. The Goan professional world includes lawyers, provincial court judges, senior corporate executives, educators, architects, physicians, and performing artists. Goans are also such semi-skilled workers as mechanics, machine-tool operators, and service industry employees.

Established settlers and new immigrants created village associations through which senior Goans could reminisce and enjoy camaraderie and socialize with other Goans. They came together during the course of religious celebrations and feasts held in honour of the village unions’ patron saints.

The community also sought to nurture ethnic persistence and encourage a Goan national identity by teaching its youth in Canada to speak Konkani, an Indo-Aryan language which became the official language of Goa in 1989. Today Konkani performances are enjoyed by Canada's senior Goans.

Founded in Toronto in 1970, the Goan Overseas Association (GOA) now stands at the head of the ethno-community’s cultural and social life in the Greater Toronto Area. Each year, the Association organizes and orchestrates a full calendar of events including horseback riding, field hockey tournaments, track and field events, soccer matches, ballroom dances, symposia, and musical productions. Moreover, Goans in Montreal, Winnipeg, Calgary, and Vancouver can participate in the life of similar Goan organizations that together form a loose confederation.

Goans have found many opportunities to use their love of sports and field hockey expertise in service to their new homeland: they have represented Canada in many international matches. The sisters Michelle and Nicole Colaco played for Canada's Field Hockey Team at the 1994 World Cup.

Goans are noteworthy for their remarkably easy transition into mainstream Canadian society while retaining a deep affection for their Indo-Portuguese history and culture and their ties to the South Asian community at large.