June 5. 2025 Paul
To All Members of WSAC Genealogy Group
Re: Genealogy Meeting – June 4. 2025
Polish Settlement in Alberta and Western Canada
At our June 4. 25 meeting we welcomed John Szumlas, Honorary Polish Consul for Northern Alberta, who spoke on the settlement of Polish immigrants in Alberta and the Canadian Prairies.
Poland of course is located in Eastern Europe and has been ‘wedged’ between some of Europe’s major powers through its history. As a nation, it ceased to exist in the late 1700s when it was amalgamated into the Russian, Prussian (Germany) and Austrian Empires. As a result of the disappearance of Poland as a country, the Polish people have lived through several years of struggle and hardship in their efforts to retain their culture and heritage. Immigration was seen as on means to achieve that goal. There has been five major waves of Polish immigration to Canada:
Phase 1: Pre-1890 Polish immigration was in Eastern Canada and the United States.
Phase 2: 1890s to 1939 with the promotion of Western settlement by the Canadian Government and the post World War I years when Poland became an independent nation, but struggled during the Depression years.
Phase 3: 1939 to 1956 with the invasion of Poland by Germany and Russia and the onslaught of Communism following the end of World War II.
Phase 4: 1956 – 1990s during the Communist regime in Poland and the exit of many Poles seeking freedom and opportunity in the West.
Phase 5: Today and into the Future with a democratic Poland enjoying strong economic growth under the shadow of neighbouring Russia.
In the early stages, most Polish immigrants came to Canada as poor peasants with dreams of building a better life for themselves and their families. For the cost of $10.00, they could obtain 160 acres of land while retaining their culture, language and religion. Next to Winnipeg, Strathcona (now southern Edmonton) was the second largest immigration distribution center for new arrivals. Twenty-two Polish families were the first to come to Alberta. The men would leave their families at the distribution center and travel to their allotted homestead of bush, rocks and hard work. Their families would then follow and faced the hardship of working alongside their men building a self-sufficient life on their homestead. They integrated well with their Ukrainian counterparts who shared similar origins, culture and language, and together they created a life for themselves. They shared three common elements – Faith, Hope and Opportunity.
In addition, many Poles worked in the mining industry in southern Alberta. Coal was needed to fuel the growing railway network throughout the province, and several Polish immigrants had worked as miners in their homeland and it was only logical that they continue working as miners in Canada.
With the onslaught of the Depression, the German-Russian invasion of Poland in 1939 and then the Communist rule of Poland in the post-World War II years, Polish immigration continued. Many Poles simply ‘escaped’ the hardships in their homeland and made their way to western Canada to find a better life for themselves and their families. These were troubled times for Poland when the country was brutalized by German invaders, then Communist Russian rule. It was a period when many thousands of Poles were distributed around the world where their descendents live today.
John enhanced his presentation with several personal experiences of his own family immigration to Alberta which added to a better understanding of the challenges Polish immigrants faced, the hardships they overcame, and the ultimate success they achieved in their new homeland.
Polish immigrants have contributed significantly to Canadian culture and heritage. The Poles fought valiantly during the Second World War alongside other Canadian troops, and have played prominent roles in the governing, the economy and the culture of Canada. Today there is a estimated three million Canadians with Polish ancestry. Next to Toronto-Mississauga in Ontario, Alberta claims the second largest Polish group in our country. There are approximately 173,000 citizens in Alberta who can claim Polish heritage, 134,000 of whom live north of Red Deer. Today many of these are in their third and fourth generation and continue to contribute to the success of Canada in a wide variety of sectors.
The presentation was well received by those members who attended, and has contributed to our understanding of another facet of Alberta’s heritage.