LATVIANS in Canada can trace their heritage to a country in northern Europe that sits on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea and is bordered by Estonia on the north and Lithuania on the south. There were few Latvians in Canada until the late 1940s. Small Latvian settlements in Manitoba were established near Dauphin and around Lac-du-Bonnet on the Bird River by groups of prewar immigrant farmers escaping Russian rule and Baltic-German baronial power. Like other Baltic-German groups, the great majority of Latvians arrived after 1946, making their way from displaced persons’ camps in Germany. The new arrivals, many holding degrees in engineering, medicine, law, and other professions, initially made their way to the agricultural, forestry, and mining areas of Canada in order to fulfill the work contracts required by immigration authorities.

Within a few years of completing their contracts, the skilled workers, technicians, and professionals moved to the rapidly growing metropolitan areas.

In 1996, Statistics Canada tallied the presence of 24,120 persons of Latvian origin in Canada. Ontario was the biggest magnet with 15,535 Latvian Canadians. There were 4,470 Toronto residents of Latvian origin. Latvian communities were also found in other Ontario centres including St. Catharines, Hamilton, London, Kitchener, Waterloo, Guelph, and Oshawa. Outside of Ontario, Latvians were also found in Vancouver, Winnipeg, Montreal, and Halifax.

The postwar community was remarkable for its entrepreneurial spirit and for the creative energy of its professional class who founded a number of firms specializing in architecture, construction, landscaping, printing, auto retail sales and repairs, insurance, realty, financing, and retail sales. And out of these ranks, the Benjamin Film Laboratories, founded by George Benjamin, has attained considerable visibility and renown. It should also surprise no one that an increasing number of Latvians have quickly risen through the ranks to become senior executives and bonefide members of Canada’s corporate elite. O. Allan Kupcis, former President, Ontario Hydro, E.N. Legzdins, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, First Canadian Funds Inc., wholly owned subsidiary of the Bank of Montreal, and Bruno Rubess, former President, Volkswagen Canada are good examples of this select group. Latvian women, in turn, have come into prominence, especially in the fields of teaching, medicine, health care, and politics. In the latter category, it would be difficult to exceed the achievement of Dr. Vaira Vike-Freiberga, Professor of Psychology at McGill University who came to Canada in 1954 as a Latvian immigrant from Germany. After 45 years in Canada, she returned to Latvia to become, in 1999, Latvia’s first female President.

Latvians in Canada have founded several organizations to provide educational, social, cultural, and youth services and activities. The Latvian written literary tradition also continues. A plethora of weeklies and bulletins,journals and yearbooks are published by local Latvian societies, Lutheran church congregations, schools, and professional and special interest groups. Latvians in Canada also continue to publish a wealth of plays, poetry, short stories, and essays. Author and playwright Banuta Rubess, the second woman in Canada to win a Rhodes Scholarship (1978), is but one community talent. The community has also vigorously maintained its support of Latvian-Canadian choir and theatre groups, folk dance ensembles, and visual and performing artists. In turn, Latvian Canadians contribute much to the development of Canadian arts and culture: opera singer Maris Vetra, who came to Halifax in 1947, was a founder of the Nova Scotia Opera Association; Alfred Strombergs conducted the Atlantic Symphony Orchestra; composer Janis Kalnins, who conducts the New Brunswick Symphony Orchestra, founded the Fredericton Civic Orchestra; and Imant Raminsh of British Columbia, is a much respected composer/conductor for the Vancouver Symphony, the Vancouver Chamber Choir, and the Vancouver Bach Choir, among others. Finally, Toronto pianist Arthur Ozolins continues to delight audiences the world over with his mastery of the keyboard.