<CANADA, country in northern half of
North America and a member of the British Commonwealth.
<The 1961 census showed a Jewish population of 254,368
out of a total population of 18,238,247. The estimate for
1969 was 280,000 out of an estimated total of
21,061,000.> (col. 102)
Table. Jews
in Canada 1831-1969
|
Year
|
total
population
|
number
of
Jews
|
%
|
comment
|
Source
|
1831
|
|
107xx |
|
|
Encyclopaedia
Judaica:
Canada, vol. 5, col. 104 |
1851
|
|
248xx |
|
|
Encyclopaedia
Judaica:
Canada, vol. 5, col. 104 |
1861
|
|
572xx |
|
|
Encyclopaedia
Judaica:
Canada, vol. 5, col. 104 |
1871
|
|
1,115xx |
|
549 in Quebec
province
518 in Ontario province
|
Encyclopaedia
Judaica:
Canada, vol. 5, col. 104 |
1881
|
|
2,393xx |
|
Quebec province:
989
Ontario province: 1,193
other: 211
|
Encyclopaedia
Judaica:
Canada, vol. 5, col. 104 |
1891
|
|
6,414xx |
|
|
Encyclopaedia
Judaica:
Canada, vol. 5, col. 104 |
1900
|
|
16,000xx |
|
|
Encyclopaedia
Judaica:
Canada, vol. 5, col. 104 |
1901
|
|
16,493xx |
|
|
Encyclopaedia
Judaica:
Canada, vol. 5, col. 104 |
1920
|
|
over
125,000xx
|
|
|
Encyclopaedia
Judaica:
Canada, vol. 5, col. 104 |
1961
|
18,238,247
|
254,368xx |
1.4%
|
|
Encyclopaedia
Judaica:
Canada, vol. 5, col. 102
|
1969
|
21,061,000
|
280,000xx |
1.3%
|
estimation
|
Encyclopaedia
Judaica:
Canada, vol. 5, col. 102 |
Table by Michael Palomino; from: Canada; In:
Encyclopaedia Judaica, vol. 5
|
[[The discrimination, expulsion and the extermination of the
natives is never mentioned in the Encyclopaedia Judaica]].
<Early Settlement.
[Jews since French rule in
1759 - shipowner family Gradis - settlements in Halifax]
The Jewish community of Canada dates from the British
conquest of New France in 1759. Before that Jews, like
Huguenots, were forbidden admission to the colony, and
certainly, there was no permanent settlement of Jews. In the
latter years of the French regime the *Gradis family, who
were shipowners in Bordeaux, played a vital role in
maintaining the lifeline to the French colony.
No evidence exists, however, that any of this family visited
or settled in the colony. It was recently found that there
were Jews living in *Halifax in the 1750s under British rule
(B. Ferguson, in:
Canadian
Jewish Directory and Reference Book, 1963). A
permanent Jewish settlement in Canada, however, dates from
1759.
The most prominent among the settlers was Aaron *Hart, a
British-born Jew, who arrived as a commissary officer in the
army of General Amherst. The *Hart, *Joseph, and *Judah
families were active in the leadership of the Jewish
community and served in lkocal government, the military, and
the professions. (col. 102)
[Jewish center Montreal -
Jews from the "13 colonies"]
The Jews were concentrated in the city of
*Montreal, most of the
newcomers being merchants or associated with the fur trade
and arriving
from the
Thirteen Colonies.
[1763: British Rule - 1768:
first synagogue in Canada according to the New York
synagogue - merchant life]
After the Treaty of Paris in 1763, which ended New France
and established British rule, the Jews of Canada and those
of New York and Boston were able to resume old family
business, and social ties.
In 1768 the first congregation, She'arith Israel, commonly
called the Spanish and Portuguese Synagogue, was founded; it
engaged as its rabbi Jacob Raphael Cohen of London, in 1778.
The members were all Ashkenazi Jews of British, Dutch, and
German origins, who adopted the name and rite of the New
York synagogue. They thus became Sephardim by association.
None of the members of She'arith Israel in its earliest days
ever bore Spanish or Portuguese names. Sephardi Jews in
Canada for the most part were in transit, and returned
either to the colonies to the south or to the West Indies.
Others married Christian women and were never associated
with the Jewish community. The Sephardi rite and
administrative structure became more embedded under the
leadership of Abraham *de Sola, who was engaged as rabbi in
1847, and of his son, Meldola de Sola, who succeeded him.
[1775-81: Founding of the
Free Mason "USA" - Jewish center Montreal with branches]
In the American Revolution (1775-81), despite family ties
with relatives in the Thirteen Colonies, the majority of the
Jews in Quebec sided with the British. Some, however,
expressed sympathy with the rebels, notably David Salesby
Franks, who later engaged in diplomatic missions for the new
American republic.
Canadian Jewry until the 1850s was to a great extent the
small Jewish community in Montreal with its various
affiliates in Trois Rivières and *Quebec City.
[Voting rights with
Christian oath hinders Jews in parliament - emancipation
since 1832]
Ezekiel *Hart, son of Aaron Hart, was elected to the
legislature of Lower Canada in 1807 and again in 1808 but
could not take his seat because he would not be sworn "on
the true faith of a Christian".
[[...]]
[1812: Jews in the Canadian
troops against Free Mason "US" troops]
In the War of 1812 Jews were in the forces that beat off the
invaders from the United States. Benjamin *Hart, though he
earlier refused a commission, enlisted as a private in the
volunteer regiment to help repel General Dearborn's army.
[[...]]
In 1832 legislation was enacted in Lower Canada giving full
civil rights to Jews, including the right to sit in
Parliament and hold public office. The change of climate in
the legislature can be gauged by the fact that the person
who introduced this act was Louis Joseph Papineau, who later
led the French-Canadian insurrectionists in the 1837
rebellion.
[[...]]
[1837: Rebellion and Jewish
positions]
In the rebellion of 1837 opinion among the Jews of Lower
Canada was divided. Although Ezekiel Hart might have been
considered part of the Lower Canada "establishment", he was
on a friendly basis with the Papineau group and threw his
home in Trois Rivières open to them to celebrate the
Ninety-two Resolutions. In the main, however, the Jews of
the colony took a loyalist position.
[since 1840s: Jewish influx
from Europe - expansion to other towns - Nordheimer pianos
- foundation of congregations and synagogues]
By the 1840s immigration on a small scale to the cities of
Kingston, *Toronto, and *Hamilton in Upper Canada began.
Congregations were established in these cities. The
newcomers came in the main from Western and Central Europe
and a few from Eastern Europe.
The Nordheimer family, which settled in Kingston, where they
were music teachers to the governor's family, later moved to
Toronto, where in 1849 they became piano manufacturers.
In 1856 Lewis Samuel, an English Jew from York, moved from
Montreal to Toronto, where he helped found the Sons of
Israel Congregation, which in 1858 merged with the Toronto
Hebrew Congregation, founded in 1849; the unified
congregation later became the Toronto Hebrew Congregation
Holy Blossom Temple. In Hamilton in 1863 the Anshe Sholom
Congregation was incorporated.
Montreal's second synagogue was established in 1846. It was
known (col. 103)
first as the Synagogue of English, German and Polish Jews
and later was called Shaar Hashomayim, its permanent name.
[[The discrimination, expulsion and the extermination of the
natives is never mentioned in the Encyclopaedia Judaica]].
[1850s-1870s: Jewish
immigration from Lithuania and Poland]
From the 1850s to the 1870s there was an immigration from
Lithuania and Suvalk [[from Suwalki, northeast Poland]] to
southeastern Ontario. The Friedman, Jacob, Vineberg,
Kellert, Levinson, and other families settled in such places
as Lancaster, Alexandria, and Cornwall. Many of these later
moved to Montreal, where they took a prominent part in the
affairs of the community.
[since 1881: Jewish
immigration from Russia - foundation of many synagogues in
Canada - Rumanian / Romanian Jews]
The watershed years, 1881-82, the years of the assassination
of Czar Alexander II and the Russian pogroms, marked the
beginning of Canada's Jewry in its present day composition
and numbers, as was the case in other Western countries. The
decade from 1882 to 1892 marks the establishment of a string
of synagogues in the cities of eastern Canada and even in
the west. In Toronto the Goel Tzedec Congregation was
established in 1883, and four years later, the Beth
Hamidrash Hagadol Chevrah T'hillim, composed mainly of
Russian Jews, was founded. In Hamilton, Ontario, Chevrah
Beth Jacob was organized in 1887. In *Winnipeg congregations
founded in 1882 and 1885 merged in 1889 to form Shaarey
Tzedek.
The episode of the Rumanian [[Romanian]]
fussgeyers, who in 1899
traveled by foot across Europe to Hamburg and set sail from
there, had its repercussions in Canada. In that year almost
3,000 Jews entered Canada, of whom 2,202 were from Rumania
[[Romania]].
The 1891 census had shown a total of only 6,414 Jews in
Canada. Most of the Rumanian immigrants stayed in Montreal.
Adath Israel Anshe Rumania Congregation was founded in
Toronto in 1902.
[Jewish] Population Growth.
Jewish population growth in Canada, whether by natural
increase or by immigration, was extremely slow. In 1831
there were 107 Jews in Lower Canada (which was in effect the
number for all of Canada at the time). Twenty years later
there were 248, and in 1861 there were 572 in Canada East.
After 100 years of settlement Canada had less than 700 Jews.
In 1871, the first census year after Confederation, there
were 1,115 Jews in Canada, of whom 549 lived in the province
of Quebec and 518 in Ontario. In 1881 there were 2,393 Jews,
of whom 989 were in Quebec, 1,193 in Ontario, and the
remaining 211 in the other provinces. By 1891, the first
census year after the mass migration had begun, the Jewish
population rose to 6,414, an increase of 240 per cent. From
1900 to 1920 the Jewish population increased almost
eightfold from 16,000 to over 125,000. By 1901 it was
16,493, an increase of 232 percent. Figures for the next six
decades are as below.
Table.
Increase of Jewish population [in Canada],
1901-1961
|
Decade
|
Net immigration
|
Natural increase
|
Total
|
1901-11
|
52,484xxxxxxxxxxxxx
|
5,783xxxxxxxxxxxxx |
58,267
|
1911-21
|
32,635xxxxxxxxxxxxx |
18,050xxxxxxxxxxxxx |
50,685
|
1921-31
|
15,800xxxxxxxxxxxxx |
14,521xxxxxxxxxxxxx |
30,321
|
1931-41
|
1,480xxxxxxxxxxxxx |
11,339xxxxxxxxxxxxx |
12,819
|
1941-51
|
16,275xxxxxxxxxxxxx |
19,976xxxxxxxxxxxxx |
36,251
|
1951-61
|
28,326xxxxxxxxxxxxx |
21,206xxxxxxxxxxxxx |
49,532
|
from: Canada; In: Encyclopaedia Judaica
1971, vol. 5, col. 104
|
[[The discrimination,
expulsion and the extermination of the natives is never
mentioned in the Encyclopaedia Judaica]].
[1914-1918: Jews in the
Canadian army]
In World War I incomplete records indicate about 100
Jewish officers and 4,600 other ranks served in the
Canadian armed forces. At least 100 Jews lost their lives
and 84 were given decorations.
[since 1921: quota system
in the "USA" - increasing immigration to Canada -
restrictions since 1929 - 1930-1940: 11,005 Jewish
immigrants]
The Jewish influx to Canada after the war increased with
the introduction of the quota system limiting immigration
to the United States. The Depression of the 1930s brought
a tightening of restrictions and very small immigration.
The story of Jewish
immigration in this (col. 104)
period, especially with the advent of Nazism in 1933, is one
of constant effort by Jewish leadership, particularly the
*Jewish Immigrant Aid Society and the *Canadian Jewish
Congress, to open the doors for both individuals and groups.
However, the government's insistence that farmers were the
only desirable kind of immigrant and anti-immigrant (as well
as anti-Jewish) sentiment conspired to keep the Jewish
immigration figure low. In the decade of 1930 to 1940,
11,005 Jewish immigrants entered Canada, although (col. 105)
how many of them were refugees from Nazism is unknown. Two
hundred families (about 900 persons), most of whom were
refugees, were settled on farms throughout the country.
[[It can be admitted that many Jews managed to emigrate
under other national quota as non-Jews. This is not
mentioned in the Encyclopaedia Judaica]].
[1940-1945: Canadian
internment camps for Germans and Austrians from GB]
In 1940 Canada received 2,000 "enemy aliens", mostly from
Germany and Austria, who had been interned in Great Britain
at the beginning of the war. They were interned in Canada
but eventually released under various conditions, and most
stayed in Canada. Among this group were many who became
noted authors, rabbis, professors, musicians, and artists.
[1940-1945: Jews in the
Canadian Army]
In World War II at least 16,880 Jews served in the armed
forces, of whom 10,440 were in the army, 5,870 in the air
force and 570 in the navy. This figure exceeded one fifth of
the entire Jewish male population of all ages in Canada.
Four hundred and twenty-one lost their lives and 1,971
received military awards.
Table. Jews
in the Canadian Army 1940-1945
|
|
number
|
remarks |
| Jews in Canadian
armed forcesxxxxx |
at
least 16,880xxxxx
|
|
Jews in the
Canadian Army
|
10,440xxxxx |
xxxxxin the air
force: 5,870
xxxxxin
the navy: 570
|
Jewish dead victims
|
421xxxxx |
|
Jews with military
award
|
1,971xxxxx |
|
Table by Michael Palomino; from: Canada; In:
Encyclopaedia Judaica 1971, vol. 5, col. 106
|
[[The number of awarded Jews is higher than the number of
dead victims. This is absolutely atypical and seems to be
because of the high percentage of Jews in the air force
which almost had no enemy by German fighters. It seems that
the Supreme Command of the Canadian army has combined the
Jewish energy against Germany with the satisfaction to burn
German towns and German civilians]].
[Jewish immigration since
1945]
[[...]]
The Canadian Jewish Congress cooperated with the clothing
industry and clothing workers unions in recruiting and
bringing to Canada individuals from the *Displaced Persons
camps to work in the clothing millinery, and fur trades. The
tailors' project brought 2,136 persons and the furriers'
projects, 500; about 60 per cent of these individuals were
Jewish.
An estimated 40,000 Jews immigrated to Canada between 1945
and 1960.
[[It can be admitted that also here many Jews managed to
emigrate under other national quota as non-Jews. This is not
mentioned in the Encyclopaedia Judaica. Add to this there
were criminal Nazis from Eastern Europe with changed names
and changed identity papers who pretended to be pursued
Jewish Displaced Persons. They were shipped to Canada and
evaded to be sentenced by communist courts so. Some cases
come out in the 1990s]].
[[...]]
The year 1947 ushered in a new era of Jewish immigration to
Canada. Permits for 2,000 orphans had been received during
the war, but the German occupation of Vichy France had cut
off this opportunity, and after the war only 1,000 arrived.
[[...]]
[Jewish immigration since
1956]
Other recent immigration includes 4,500 Hungarian Jews among
the 38,000 refugees who were admitted without prior
examination or clearance after the 1956 uprising in Hungary.
In the late 1950s an immigration from Morocco and other
North African and some Middle East countries brought a
totally new element into Canadian Jewry.> (col. 106)
Table.
Population of major Jewish Communities in Canada
|
[Province and]
Cities
|
1871
|
1901
|
1931
|
1961
|
1969
|
Quebec [Province]
|
|
|
|
|
|
Montreal
|
409
|
6,975
|
58,032
|
102,724
|
113,000
|
Quebec [City]
|
81
|
302
|
452
|
495
|
500
|
Sherbrooke
|
|
66
|
152
|
181
|
190
|
Ontario [Province]
|
|
|
|
|
|
Toronto
|
157
|
3,103
|
46,751
|
88,648
|
97,500
|
Ottawa
|
|
418
|
3,455
|
5,533
|
6,000
|
Hamilton
|
131
|
550
|
2,694
|
3,858
|
3,900
|
Windsor
|
|
174
|
2,517
|
2,419
|
2,500
|
London
|
35
|
220
|
732
|
1,315
|
1,500
|
Kitchener-Waterloo
|
|
10
|
430
|
768
|
768
|
St. Catharines
|
|
30
|
314
|
591
|
600
|
Oshawa-Whitby
|
|
9
|
260
|
486
|
378
|
Kingston
|
12
|
133
|
268
|
482
|
500
|
Brantford
|
1
|
5
|
208
|
346
|
303
|
Peterborough
|
|
3
|
139
|
334
|
243
|
Fort William-Port
Arthur
|
|
16
|
367
|
301
|
250
|
Guelph
|
|
13
|
147
|
258
|
250
|
Sudbury
|
|
73
|
194
|
228
|
240
|
Sarnia
|
|
2
|
106
|
221
|
230
|
Cornwall
|
|
70
|
210
|
220
|
220
|
Timmins
|
|
|
208
|
172
|
180
|
Belleville
|
|
6
|
90
|
156
|
128
|
Sault Ste Marie
|
|
8
|
88
|
142
|
150
|
Chatham
|
|
8
|
91
|
131
|
130
|
Welland
|
|
|
77
|
129
|
130
|
North Bay
|
|
|
154
|
119
|
125
|
Kirkland Lake
|
|
|
134
|
96
|
125
|
Manitoba [Province]
|
|
|
|
|
|
Winnipeg
|
|
1,164
|
17,666
|
19,376
|
21,000
|
Brandon
|
|
73
|
186
|
101
|
105
|
Selkirk
|
|
13
|
114
|
84
|
|
British Columbia [Province]
|
|
|
|
|
|
Vancouver
|
|
224
|
2,481
|
7,301
|
8,000
|
Victoria
|
|
168
|
128
|
180
|
190
|
Alberta [Province]
|
|
|
|
|
|
Calgary
|
|
1
|
1,622
|
2,881
|
3,570
|
Edmonton
|
|
6
|
1,062
|
2,495
|
2,700
|
Lethbridge
|
|
|
111
|
206
|
210
|
Medicine Hat
|
|
|
104
|
135
|
140
|
Nova Scotia [Province]
|
|
|
|
|
|
Halifax
|
|
120
|
611
|
1,186
|
1,500
|
Sydney
|
|
32
|
§446
|
415
|
430
|
Glace Bay
|
|
140
|
488
|
313
|
320
|
Yarmouth
|
|
20
|
167
|
125
|
125
|
Saskatchewan [Province]
|
|
|
|
|
|
Regina
|
|
|
1,010
|
817
|
1,200
|
Saskatoon
|
|
|
691
|
793
|
780
|
Moose Jaw
|
|
|
96
|
146
|
150
|
Prince Albert
|
|
|
114
|
98
|
|
Melville
|
|
|
135
|
62
|
|
Yorkton
|
|
|
101
|
43
|
|
Kamsack
|
|
|
114
|
24
|
|
New Brunswick [Province]
|
|
|
|
|
|
St. John
|
40
|
295
|
709
|
514
|
520
|
Moncton
|
|
4
|
164
|
290
|
300
|
Fredericton
|
|
13
|
125
|
224
|
230
|
Newfoundland [Province]
|
|
|
|
|
|
St. Johns
|
|
|
|
128
|
130
|
from: Canada; In: Encyclopaedia Judaica
1971, vol. 5, col. 105
|
[[The indications of the years 1941 and 1951 which would be
very important to see the Jewish immigration movement from
NS Europe are missing]].
[[The discrimination, expulsion and the extermination of the
natives is never mentioned in the Encyclopaedia Judaica]].
