Polish Canadians are Canadians of Polish ancestry. According to the 2001 census by
Statistics Canada, 984,585 Canadians claim full or partial Polish ancestry.
[Statistics Canada, , 2001 Census, last modified: 2005-01-25. Accessed 2008-01-03.]History
The earliest Polish immigrants to Canada were members of the Watt and De Meuron military regiments from Saxony and Switzerland sent overseas to help the British Army in North America. Several were émigrés from Poland who took part in the
November Uprising of 1830 and the
1863 insurrection against the
Russian occupation of their own homeland.
The first Polish immigrant on record, Dominik Barcz, is known to have come to Canada in 1752. He was a fur merchant from
Gdańsk who settled in
Montreal. He was followed in 1757 by
Charles Blaskowicz, who worked as deputy surveyor-general of lands. In 1776 arrived army surgeon,
August Franz Globensky. His grandson,
Charles Auguste Maximilien Globensky was elected to the House of Commons in Ottawa in 1875.
Sir Casimir S. Gzowski from Historic Sites of
Ontario.
Canada provinces 1867-1870.
In 1841,
Casimir Stanislaus Gzowski arrived in Canada from the
partitioned Poland via U.S.A. and for 50 years worked in engineering, military and community sectors in
Toronto and
Southern Ontario, for which he was knighted by Queen Victoria.
Charles Horecki immigrated in 1872. He was an engineer with the cross-Canada railway construction from
Edmonton to the Pacific Ocean through the Peace River Valley. Today, a mountain and a body of water in
British Columbia are named after him.
Group-settlers
The first significant group of Polish group-settlers were
Kashubians from Northern Poland, who were escaping Prussian oppression resulting from the
occupation. They arrived in
Renfrew County of
Ontario in
1858, where they founded the settlements of
Wilno,
Barry’s Bay, and
Round Lake (Ontario). By
1890 there were about 270 Kashubian families working in the
Madawaska Valley of Renfrew County, mostly in the
lumber industry of the
Ottawa Valley.
The consecutive waves of Polish immigrants in periods from 1890-1914, 1920-1939, and 1941 to this day, settled across Canada from
Cape Breton to
Vancouver, and made numerous and significant contributions to the agricultural, manufacturing, engineering, teaching, publishing, religious, mining, cultural, professional, sports, military, research, business, governmental and political life in Canada.
Religious services
All Polish Canadians including their descendants are encouraged by organizations such as the Congress, to preserve their background and retain some ties with Poland and its people. In the past, the most significant role in the preservation of various aspects of Polish traditions and customs among the Polish communities in Canada fell for the Polish urban parishes, which retain the use of Polish language during services.
The first Polish Catholic priest visited Polish immigrants in 1862 in Kitchener. The first church serving Polish immigrants was built in 1875 in Wilno, Ontario. In Winnipeg, the Holy Ghost Church was built in 1899.
The first Polish-Canadian Roman Catholic bishop is Reverend Mathew Ustrzycki, consecrated in June 1985, auxiliary bishop of the Hamilton Diocese. There are Polish-Canadian priests in many congregations and orders, such as the Franciscans, Jesuits, Redemptorists, Saletinians, Resurrectionists, Oblates, Michaelites, and the Society of Christ. In addition, 80 priests are serving in 120 parishes.
Toronto Memorial to
Katyn Victims
Largest Polish Canadian communities
The Victoria Cross
Numerous Polish-Canadians have been recognized with awards and appointments by the Queen and the Canadian governments as well as universities and various organizations. One of the most notable receipient being
Andrew Mynarski, pilot-gunner from Winnipeg, awarded the
Victoria Cross posthumously for extreme valor in
World War II.
Polish Canadian recipients of the Order of Canada
*B. Dubienski of Winnipeg, lawyer
*Jan Drygala of Oshawa, WWII staff-sergeant of the Polish Army.
*Captain Andrew Garlicki of Ottawa
*Rt. Rev. Monsignor Anthony Gocki of Regina
*Rev. Anthony Hylla, Oblate priest
*Rev. Michael Smith, missionary Oblate priest
*Casimir Stanczykowski of Montreal, multilingual radio station founder and broadcaster
*Stefan Sznuk, Group Captain
*Peter Taraska of Winnipeg, Knight of St. Gregory, alderman and citizenship judge
*Dr. Henry Wojcicki, Edmonton, distinguished psychiatrist, Univ. of Alberta senator
Polish Canadian Queen’s Counsels and lawyers appointed as judges
Their Honors
*Judge Paul Staniszewski, of Toronto, Montreal and the County Court of Windsor
*Judge P. Swiecicki, of the Superior Court of BC in Vancouver
*Judge Allan H. J. Wachowich, of the Court of Queen’s Bench in Edmonton
*Judge E.F. Wrzeszczinski-Wren, of the County Court of Toronto.
Notable Polish Canadians
Science and Engineering
- Dr. Tadeusz Blachut of Ottawa, member of the National Research Council, a photogram metric expert
- Zbigniew Krupski, the Executive Vice-Chairman of the Bell Telephone company of Canada
- J. Norton-Spychalski, a co-founder of the Computing Devices of Canada in 1949
- P. Wyszkowski, Chief Structural Engineer of Toronto’s Bloor Street subway
- Janusz Żurakowski Battle of Britain fighter pilot, Test pilot of the Avro Arrow plane of the Avro Aircraft Company in Malton, awarded Canada’s top Aviation Award, the McKee Trophy in 1959
Education
Politics
- Jesse Flis - Liberal MP Parkdale—High Park 1979-1984; 1988-1997
- Stanley Haidasz - Liberal MP: for Trinity: 1957-1958, for Parkdale: 1962-1978, Minister of State, Senator
- Ken Kowalski, former Deputy Premier of Alberta, Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta
- Gary Malkowski - former Ontario NDP MPP, Canada's first deaf parliamentarian
- Fred Rose - Labour Progressive (Communist) MP Cartier 1943-1947; his capture as a Soviet spy helped to start the Cold War
Public Service
- Frank Glogowski - Vice-Chairman of the Immigration Appeal Board
- Irene Ungar of Toronto - Citizenship Court Judge
- Stan Zybala - a Deputy-Director of the Multicultural Directorate
Music
- Marek Jablonski - pianist-virtuoso, born in Cracow
Culture and Media
- Bogumil Pacak-Gamalski - poet, essayist, publisher of 'Strumien'
- Mark Starowicz - head of CBC Television Documentary Programming unit, journalist and TV producer
Actors
Military
Sports
- Larry Trader - played for Detroit, St. Louis, Montreal, 1982-1988
Fictional Characters
See also
