On the Swiss-Italian border, to Liverpool, then through Montréal to the Canadian North-West.
ITALIAN MAGAZINES IN CANADA SERIES
In 1901, a series of articles appeared in a Milanese newspaper describing an unscrupulous system of recruitment from Chiasso, By 1901, almost 11,000 people of Italian origin lived in Canada, particularly Montréal and Toronto.Īlthough many Italians expected to achieve economic and social well-being by migrating to Canada, they were not always successful.
ITALIAN MAGAZINES IN CANADA PROFESSIONAL
Professional recruiters and the example of successful migrants who returned to Italy encouraged Italians to set out for NorthĪmerica, where work was available on the railways, in mining and in industry. In the late 19th century, millions of Italian peasants emigrated to South America, the US and Canada, as well as western Europe.
Some of the wandering street musicians eventually settled down to teach music or to organize bands and orchestras.
Wrote, had worn out five street pianos and earned an average of $15 daily in his first years in the city. In 1897, Mackenzie King, then working as a journalist, described the first street entertainer who lived in Toronto in the 1880s. (hurdy-gurdy men, street singers) were particularly noted by Canadians, and by 1881 almost 2,000 people of Italian origin lived in Canada, particularly in Montréal and Toronto. Throughout the century, Italian craftsmen, artists, musicians and teachers, primarily from northern Italy, immigrated to Canada. In the early 19th century, a sizable number of Italians, many in the hotel trade, resided in Montréal. The land in the late 17th century, some 200 of the mercenaries took up lots granted by Britain in the eastern townships of Québec and in southern Ontario. Following the example of Italian ex-soldiers in New France who settled on The de Meurons and de Watteville Swiss mercenary regiments in the British army during the War of 1812. Several hundred Italians also served with Military of New France (e.g., in the Carignan-Salières Regiment), in which several distinguished themselves as officers. Enrico di Tonti ( Henri de Tonty)Īcted as René-Robert Cavelier de La Salle's lieutenant in the first expedition to reach the mouth of the Mississippi River in 1682. Was part of the Jesuit missionary advance into Huron country and later published a sympathetic account of life in Iroquoian-speaking bands as part of the Jesuit Relations (or reports). Under the French regime in the 1640s, Francesco Giuseppe Bressani In 1524, another Italian, Giovanni Verrazzano, explored part of Atlantic Canada for France. The earliest Italian contact with Canada dates from 1497, when Giovanni Caboto ( John Cabot), an Italian navigator from Venice, explored and claimed the coasts of Newfoundland forĮngland. However, theĬommunity as a whole has thrived in Canada, and Italians have played a major role in developing and promoting multiculturalism. As a group, they were singled out as enemy aliens due to Canada's allegiances in the Second World War, and have been stereotyped as mafiosi due to widespread portrayals of organized crime as an Italian phenomenon. Italian Canadians have featured prominently in union organization and businessĪssociations. The steadiest waves of immigration, however, occurred in the 19th and 20th centuries.
Italian Canadians are amongst the earliest Europeans to have visited and settled the country. Many Italian men came to Canada through American ports and looked for jobs in railway construction (courtesy United Church Archives). En route to Ontario in the early 20th century.