AMONG THE FIRST LITHUANIANS known to have settled in Canada were soldiers in the British army who fought in the War of 1812. Afterwards, these Lithuanian men took homesteads along the Canada-USA border and settled for good. However, it was only at the end of the nineteenth century that Lithuanians in growing numbers came to Canada. Some were men evading conscription into the Russian army (Lithuania was then part of the Czarist Empire), while others hoped to make money to buy land back in the homeland. Women came too, some with husbands, others lured by the promise of factory work. By the early twentieth century, there were Lithuanian communities in Sydney Mines, Nova Scotia, Montreal, and Toronto: the first Lithuanian mutual-benefit society appeared in Montreal in 1904 and the first parish, St. Casimir’s (most Lithuanians were Roman Catholic), was founded in this city in 1907.

Lithuanian immigrants to Canada in the first half of the twentieth century were highly mobile. A number returned to Lithuania while many, in some years up to half, moved to the U.S.A. when jobs dried up in Canada. The most substantial early immigration to Canada directly from Lithuania occurred in the 1920s when the United States closed its doors to Lithuanians. By the 1930s about 8,000-9,000 Lithuanians lived in Canada, many widely scattered in mines and lumber camps while others grouped together in Montreal, Toronto, Sudbury, and Winnipeg, as well as in the farming community of Brooks, Alberta. Idealogical differences from left to right existed, and Lithuanian leftists even published a newspaper, but most Lithuanians were practising Catholics or Lutherans though they were tolerant of socialist ideas. Living through the Depression these men and women had little chance to rise economically. To maintain their ethnic identity, they organized choirs and theatrical productions while in Montreal they even had city supported Lithuanian schools.

After World War II, a new and much larger wave of immigrants came from Displaced Persons camps in Europe. Among these were many professionals and artists and, in the post-war economic boom, once they had completed labour contracts or took re-qualification examinations, many succeeded in re-establishing themselves professionally. These Lithuanians saw themselves as political refugees rather than immigrants in the true sense: they were quick to set up an intricate network of cultural, religious, and education organizations in Canada, centred in urban communities like Montreal, Toronto, Hamilton, Winnipeg, and Vancouver. An umbrella organization, the Lithuanian-Canadian Community, founded in 1952, united these far-flung “colonies” and represented them in relations with Canadian governmental agencies as well as with other communities in the world Lithuanian diaspora. Nearly 20,000 Lithuanian men, women, and children had moved to Canada between 1947 and 1953. The 1996 census reported a total Lithuanian population of 35,835 in Canada, with nearly two-thirds living in Ontario.

Lithuanians did not find it difficult to adapt to life in Canada. Northern Europeans, they adjust easily to the climate and greatly enjoy activities like camping, boating, and cottage life. Social structures within the communities are democratic, with parishes – such as three in the Toronto area, two in Montreal, and others in Edmonton, Winnipeg, Ottawa, and London, Ontario – often serving as the common organizational centre for many communities. Intermarriage with non-Lithuanians has grown steadily over the years but the family and its traditions have still remained the main propagator of Lithuanian identity. Young second, third, fourth generation Lithuanian-Canadians are encouraged to explore their ethnic roots through summer camps, sports events, and Saturday schools, as well as membership in very popular choirs and folkloric dance ensembles.

Politically, Lithuanian-Canadians today cannot be assigned to any particular Canadian party. So long as their homeland remained under Soviet rule, Lithuanians kept up steady pressure on Canadian politicians to continue the policy of non-recognition of the Soviet take over. This lobbying involved very close cooperation with other Canadian ethnic groups, especially Estonians, Latvians, and East European groups. Since the re-establishment of Lithuanian state independence in 1990, Lithuanian Canadians have devoted a good deal of time, emotion, and funds to helping those in the homeland, though most have felt their ties to Canada are too complex to let them return to Lithuania.

The most recent wave of immigrants from Lithuania are mostly young professionals in search of better economic conditions. Their numbers are still too small for the creation of new ethnic organizations.

Milda Danys