DURING the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, Serbs living mainly in the territories under the dictates of Austro-Hungary left their villages and towns, driven by government oppression and the lack of economic opportunity, to seek a better life in the new world. Many chose Canada as their destination. Serbs from Serbia-proper emigrated much less often than Serbs from other jurisdictions. Able-bodied, single, young Serbian men first arrived in British Columbia, via California, during the 1850s. Serbs moved freely across western Canada or crossed over from Montana, Idaho and Washington to form ethnic enclaves in Lethbridge, Edmonton, and Calgary. Serbian farmers were also among the first settlers of the Canadian prairies.

At the turn of the century, Serbs shifted their settlement to central Canada, mainly Ontario. In 1903, a small group of Serbs settled in Toronto. By 1914 this community consisted of approximately two hundred settlers. Other Serbian settlements in Ontario prior to the outbreak of the First World War included Hamilton, Welland and Niagara Falls, where immigrants laboured in steel mills and helped build Ontario Hydro generating stations and the Welland Canal.

Serbian immigration to Canada virtually ended with the start of the Great War. In 1916 Bozidar Markovich, an early and prominent Serbian leader in Canada, was delegated to recruit Serbs for the war effort. Indeed, some recruits returned to defend their homeland against the advancing Austro-Hungarian and German armies. Little Serbia’s heroic defence against the Central Powers’ juggernaut won much sympathy from Canada and the world alike.

Both the Canadian establishment and the growing Serbian communities worked diligently to raise money for Canadian and Serbian war efforts. For instance, the Serbian National Shield Society of Canada, the first Canadian Serbian organization, established in 1916, collected humanitarian aid for Serbia. The Serbian Red Cross sent Helen Losanitch to North America to enlist help for her war-torn native Serbia. The first official reception at the Ontario Lieutenant Governor’s new residence, Toronto, was an appeal for Serbia.

During the interwar years, large waves of Serbs immigrated to Canada. They were primarily single men or married men who left their families in the Krajina region and other impoverished areas of Yugoslavia, with plans to bring them to Canada when their financial positions had improved. Serbs from this group settled in the indus-trial centres of Ontario and in the mining and mill towns of both northern Ontario and Quebec. By 1928 it was estimated that the Serbian community in Central Canada had reached one thousand in number.

A remarkable variety of Serbian immigrant enterprise began to emerge between the two world wars. Serbs applied their entrepreneurial skills by opening grocery stores, barbershops, shoe repair and tailor shops, restaurants, coffeehouses, small bars and taverns. At this time, Serbs also gained an initial foothold in Canada’s emerging hospitality and tourist industry, dominating the hotel and motel tourist business in Niagara Falls.

By 1934, the first Serbian newspaper in Canada, Glas Kanade, later named Voice of Canadian Serbs, was estab-lished and still continues under the auspices of the Serbian National Shield Society. Bozidar Markovich was its first editor. Today, the commercially-based Novine has a very wide readership among recent immigrants.

Post-World War II immigrants of the 1947-53 period came with a variety of occupations. Most were refugees victimized by an entrenched Communist regime and aggressive Croatian policies. Professionals, upon arriving in Canada, studied long hours for recertification in order to continue their professional careers. By the mid-60s, the reunification of divided families had become an important objective and many Serbs sponsored their families and new mates. This new wave of immigrants quickly achieved economic affluence and success. The sudden break up of Yugoslavia, 1991, and the subsequent civil wars, caused Canada’s Serbian community to grow dramatically. More than 25,000 Serbs arrived in Canada with most educated professionally and fluent in English.

The 1996 Canadian census recorded 40,200 Serbs in Canada. Community spokespersons, in turn, argue that the community remains underrepresented in official records and believe that there are at least 250,000 Serbs in Canada, since many Serbs arriving in the ’70s, ’80s, and ’90s identified themselves by their former citizenship, Yugoslav, and not by their ethnic heritage and/or roots.

Almost all Serbs belong to the Serbian Orthodox Church and as such have built a number of architecturally splendid churches in Canada since the first was built in Regina in 1916. Hamilton’s St. Nicholas Cathedral, the first in Ontario, was built in 1917. Other parishes were also established in Toronto, Windsor, London, Kitchener, Niagara Falls, Montreal, Vancouver, and other centres. Churches in Hamilton and Windsor and the Holy Transfiguration Monastery in Milton are enriched with magnificent frescoes on their interior walls.

In order to maintain and propagate their language and culture and to pursue recreational, political, athletic, and other interests, many community organizations were established, such as the Serb National Federation and Chetnik War Veterans.

Among them, music and folklore organizations in Canada perform Serbian national dances to appreciative audiences everywhere and host folklore festivals. The first was Toronto’s Strazilovo. Toronto’s Hajduk Veljko delighted visitors to the Montreal Olympics, 1976, and at Expo 86 in Vancouver. The Hamilton group, Kolo, garnered cheers for performances at the 1978 Commonwealth Games, Edmonton, and at New York’s Lincoln Centre. The Serbian Cultural Association ‘Oplenac’ dancers performed at Expo 86 in Vancouver and at Ottawa’s Canada Day 1997 festivities. Michael Pepa, who entered Canada at Pier 21, Halifax, 1953, as founding artistic director of the Toronto-based Les Amis Concerts since 1982, has promoted Canadian twentieth century reper-toire performances. The first Serbian orchestra was formed by the Yoksimovich brothers in Hamilton. The major annual community event for Canadian Serbs remains Serbian Day in Canada which has been continuously celebrated in Niagara Falls since 1946 under the auspices of the Serbian National Shield Society of Canada.

In sports, Canadian Serbs have represented this country in international chess, swimming, fencing, and rowing competitions and they have professionally played Canadian football, soccer, basketball, golf, and hockey.

Since 1981, the Serbian Heritage Academy has organized many academic lectures and conferences, but its most ambitious undertaking has been the formation of the Ontario Centre for Newcomers in Ontario, a service which assists new immigrants to integrate into Canadian life. As tensions and civil wars erupted in former

Yugoslavia in 1991 a wide cross-section of groups organized street demonstrations which helped the community remain strong in the face of negative stereotyping. The newest of these organizations is the Centre for Peace in the Balkans. The Serbian Brothers’ Help, formed in the 1950s, has been especially active, along with several other humanitarian groups, in sending aid overseas. The Association of Serbian Women has been represented at UN women’s conferences via membership in a Canadian NGO. “Radio Sumadija and Radio Ravna Gora”, broad-cast on CHIN-Radio, have both been instrumental in keeping the Serbian community informed over the past 30 years.

Many Serbs continue to contribute to Canada in a variety of ways. The late Nikola Budimir, a Windsor busi-nessman, was honoured when a branch of the Windsor Public Library was named after him. Nikola Pasic, grand-son of Serbian Prime Minister Nikola Pasic and a founder of the Serbian Heritage Academy, has delivered papers at numerous conferences conducted by Canadian learned societies. Today, Rad Simovic is the first Serbian manager of one of the largest thermoelectric generating stations in Canada. Author Dan Mrkich, who joined the Department of External Affairs, 1982, is Trade Commissioner for Poland, Hungary, Czech Republic, and Slovak Republic. Mila Mulroney, nee Pivnicki, wife of former Prime Minister Brian Mulroney, is the daughter of Dr. Dimitrije Pivnicki, a Montreal psychiatrist. Olga B. Markovich, daughter of Bozidar Markovich, is the first Canadian Serbian journalist and a long-time magazine editor with Southam News. Jasna Stefanovic is the first Canadian Serb nominated for a Gemini (1998). Bora Dragasevich was the first Serb appointed by Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau to the Canadian Consultative Council on Multiculturalism and was one of the co-founders of the Canadian Ethnocultural Council. Paul Pavlovich became the first Toronto school administrator with Serbian roots. Vida Radovanovic, author and publisher, is the founder of Coffee Culture Magazine. Lolita Davidovich from London is a successful film actress in the U.S. The list of doctors, lawyers, engineers, and other professionals goes on.

The evolving presence and positive contribution of Canadians of Serbian origin have greatly enriched the physical and cultural development of Canada, and they will continue to do so into the new millennium.

Draga Dragasevich