Over 170,000 Canadians of Polish heritage live in Alberta, playing an important role in our country’s multicultural makeup for many generations.
In recognition, the Legislative Assembly of Alberta declared the second Sunday in June as Polish-Canadian Heritage Day to acknowledge “the impact and contributions that the Polish community has had on Alberta.”
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The legislative Assembly of Alberta
(BILL 217)
POLISH-CANADIAN HERITAGE DAY ACT
HER MAJESTY, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta, enacts as follows:
Purposes 1
The purposes of this Act are
(a) to recognize the impact and contributions that the Polish community has had on Alberta since the arrival of the first Polish immigrants in Medicine Hat in 1885, and
(b) to encourage all Albertans to recognize the contributions of Albertans of Polish-Canadian heritage to Alberta.
Polish-Canadian Heritage Day 2
The second Sunday in June of each year is to be known as Polish- Canadian Heritage Day.
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Beginning in 1772, Russia, Prussia and Austria began partitioning the territories of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. The first waves of Polish emigration were driven by the assimilation of Polish territories, religious persecution, difficult conditions in Polish villages due to overpopulation and lack of economic opportunities in the cities.
Polish immigrants began to arrive in Canada shortly after the First Partition of Poland in the late 1700s. According to the 2016 census, around one million Canadians claim full or partial Polish ancestry, and 191,775 Canadians speak Polish as a mother tongue language.
There were six significant waves of Polish immigration to Canada. Broadly speaking, they were from 1854-1901, 1902-15, 1916-39, 1944-56, 1957-79 and 1980-93.
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We in Alberta have been especially blessed to have the second-largest population of Polonia, the Polish community, on a per capita basis.
Polish immigration to Alberta began in the 1890s with “homesteaders” who populated and settled the wide-open prairies by building farms, businesses and churches. The first Polish community in the province was established at a parish in the village of Skaro about 80 kilometres northeast of Edmonton, Our Lady of Good Counsel parish, that was established there at the turn of the last century.
Most Poles have traditionally identified as Roman Catholic, but there are also Lutherans and United Church members. A separate Polish Catholic Church, which is not affiliated with the Roman Catholic Church, has parishes in various Canadian cities Parishes formed the first organizational units, providing a framework for community and social life. Lay organizations appeared in towns only shortly before the Second World War.
After World War II, a wave of Polish veterans who fought with the Western Allies came to Alberta, along with the many who were displaced by the Russian takeover of Poland. The next large wave came after martial law was imposed in 1981 by the Communist government in Poland. Bringing their talent and education with them, they came to realize their dreams in the freedom of Canada.
Once Poland regained its independence, immigration lessened but droves of young Poles continue to immigrate to Alberta to realize their dreams in a new country while remaining connected to their heritage.
Today, Canadians of Polish heritage have supported Poland’s openhearted acceptance and care for over three million Ukrainian refugees fleeing the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
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