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CANADA - The official beginning of Hungarian immigration to Canada, according to government records, is 1886. The first settlement is connected with the name of Paul Eszterházy. He organized Hungarians in Pennsylvania who were unaccustomed to the dirty work of factories and mines and they desired the more peaceful agricultural life. The promise of 160 acres of free land was also an enticing factor in their coming to Canada. The first group of 35 Hungarian families were taken 25 miles north of Whitewood, Saskatchewan. Remembering their homeland, they named it Kaposvár.

At the turn of the Century there was a continuous debate in Hungary about the harms and benefit of emigration. Many felt that if workers depart from the country, those staying at home will have greater opportunities to find work, so the departure of people to work outside of Hungary on a short term basis was considered beneficial. But it was also realized that if the temporary emigration becomes permanent, then it becomes a national tragedy. It became a tragedy. Some of the villages in north-eastern Hungary became almost empty. It was mainly the 20-45 year old age group that left for North America. Seventy-five percent of the immigrants never returned from Canada or the USA.

From October 28, 1956 to February 28, 1957 there were 178,351 Hungarians escaped into Austria after the 1956 revolution. More than half of these refugees were skilled workers, many of them between 20 and 30 years of age. Out of 7,241 students who escaped from Hungary 1,869 went to the USA and 958 to Canada. After receiving full scholarship many of them became integrated into the western culture. The refugees of 1956 were not interested in religion and churches, but interestingly enough, now their contribution has become vital to our Canadian Hungarian congregations.

The first generation of immigrants to Canada lasted for decades, but began later than in America. The peak was in the late twenties and later after 1956. According to the Canadian Statistical Yearbook of 1968 in 1931 there were 40,562 Hungarians in Canada; in 1941 there were 54,598, in 1951 there were 60,460, and in 1961 there were 126,220 out of which 72,900 were born in the old country. The majority of our present membership was born in Europe. They immigrated to Canada.


Immigrants on their way to North America