FOR GENERATIONS, the Maltese commuted to neighbouring North African states and the eastern Mediterranean to work as traders, crafts people, and labourers. Only in the last decades of the nineteenth century did the people of Malta look beyond the limits of their traditional migratory orbit. Over population, unemployment, under employment intertwined with rising expectations, and the limited resources and small size of the country resulted in emigration. (The chief island of Malta and the islands belonging to it measure only 122 square miles in area.) The first Maltese, few in number, are believed to have arrived in Canada in the middle of the nineteenth century. During this period, pioneer settler Louis Shickluna, who had come to St.Catharines, Ontario, in 1838, built a ship yard on the Welland Canal. Decades later, thousands of disillusioned naval trades people and dockyard workers who had suffered job layoffs after the completion of a major maritime construction project in 1907 and the Armistice in 1918 spear headed the first major immigration to Canada of several hundred settlers of Maltese origin. Apart from these early arrivals, most of the Maltese population in Canada came as a result of the effects of the Second World War: limited work in the dockyards, the exodus of the British military presence (Malta had been headquarters of the British Mediterranean Fleet), and the closing down of military facilities.

The census statistics of 1996 recorded the presence of nearly 30,000 Maltese in Canada (single and multiple origins). Today, there are more people of Maltese origin in Ontario than in any other single province (26,250 in 1996). Most congregated in Toronto’s west end, settling in “The Junction”– formerly the Town of West Toronto Junction. As well, several families chose to settle in a number of other Ontario centres including London, Oshawa, Whitby, Windsor, Hamilton, St. Catharines, Ottawa-Hull, and Kitchener. They also settled widely across Canada in such cities as Halifax, Montreal, Winnipeg, Calgary, Edmonton, Vancouver, and Victoria.

Maltese work gangs were initially drawn into the labour-intensive meat packing industry. Maltese mechanics and trades people who arrived later brought their skills to bear in car assembly plants, in the construction industry, or on the railway. Additionally, a variety of immigrant enterprises also emerged. The first successful businesses were grocery and variety stores. Maltese bakeries played an additional role as informal gathering places. The subsequent growth of Maltese urban settlements encouraged the proliferation of Maltese real estate firms and travel agencies. Today, Canadians of Maltese origin participate in the larger economy as lawyers, health care professionals, managers, bankers, public servants, and administrators.

Maltese-Canadians developed a number of self-help organizations and mutual benefit societies. The Maltese residents of Winnipeg established the Maltese Protective Society in 1913. The Maltese-Canadian Society of Toronto, founded in 1922, helped newcomers to understand Canadian society and to take care of one another. In 1931, it supported the building of the community’s first church, St. Paul the Apostle, which organized social events and the celebration of such traditional Maltese holidays as Malta’s National Day (September 8), the conversion of St. Paul (January 25), and the shipwreck of this Apostle (February 10) on the shores of Malta in 60 A.D. Other organizations in the city include the Grand Priory of Canada of the Sovereign Order of St. John of Jerusalem (Knights of Malta), the Maltese Veterans Association, and a number of sports and soccer clubs. A member of the Windsor community founded the Malta Service Bureau in 1951 to serve the new arrivals and act as a community information and cultural centre. In 1974, through the Maltese-Canadian Society of Toronto, these and other community organizations came together to create an important umbrella organization, the Federation of Maltese Organizations (now the Maltese-Canadian Federation).

These organizations, the mainstays of many multicultural celebrations and ethnic festivals, vigorously sought opportunities to promote Maltese traditions and culture to Canadian society at large. The Malta Band Club of Toronto, founded in 1971, sponsored the Valletta Pavilion as part of the city’s popular International Caravan celebrations. Maltese residents of Windsor participate in that city’s International Freedom Festival and the Carousel of Nations. Members and supporters of the Maltese-Canadian Club of London and the Maltese-Canadian Centre join in the celebrations of Cavalcade, London’s ethnic festival. Members of the Malta Social Club in Durham Region set up a Malta Pavilion featuring traditional food stuffs, crafts, music, and dance as part of the city of Oshawa’s Fiesta Week.

The Maltese-Canadian print and broadcast media play an important social and cultural role. A number of quarterly magazines and newspapers – past and present – keep readers informed of events in Malta and around the diaspora.The first Maltese-Canadian radio program began broadcasting in Leamington, Ontario, in 1954 and served a faithful audience in Windsor and Detroit. Today, members of the Toronto community enjoy a community television program.

Since the Roman Catholic Church was the state church of their homeland, most Maltese immigrants naturally celebrate that faith in Canada. The community church, St. Paul the Apostle, flourished and grew by tending to the spiritual needs of the group; it moved into a spacious new building in 1956 and then acquired a rectory and auditorium in 1960. Ever generous with their time and energy, Maltese-Canadian parishioners became active in a number of Catholic agencies and social service organizations including the St. Vincent de Paul Society, the Catholic Women’s League, and the Holy Name Society. In many ways, the Maltese immigrants have made major contributions to Canadian life.