Macedonian Canadians

{{Infobox ethnic group | group = Macedonian Canadians | native_name = Македонци во Канада | native_name_lang = mk | image = St. Clement of Ohrid Macedonian Orthodox Cathedral, Toronto.png | caption = The Saint Clement of Ohrid Macedonian Orthodox Cathedral in Toronto | pop = '''39,440'''<br />(by ancestry, <small>2021 census</small>)<ref name="statcan1">{{cite web |url=https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=9810035501|title=Ethnic or cultural origin by gender and age: Canada, provinces and territories, 2021|date=26 October 2022 |publisher=statcan.gc.ca}}</ref> | popplace = Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal, Vancouver | langs = Macedonian, Canadian English | rels = Eastern Orthodox Church | related-c = Macedonian Americans, Bulgarian Canadians,<ref name=MacedonianBulgarian>''Macedonian immigrants have also been subsumed under the heading of Bulgarian immigrants, especially as regards the first wave, because in that period the history and population of the two countries was not as distinct as it is today. Until World War II, most people who today identify themselves as Macedonian Canadians claimed a Bulgarian ethnic identity and were recorded as part of the Bulgarian ethnic group (Magocsi, p. 287). Hence the Bulgarian community in Canada is deeply linked to the Macedonian Canadians.'' The Bulgarian Diaspora in Canada: Stories of Immigration, Glavanakova, Alexandra; Andreev, Andrey, 2010, CEACS, Brno, Czech Republic; Migrating Memories: Central Europe in Canada, Volume 2 – Oral Histories. (ed.) Rodica Albu, 2010; {{ISBN|978-86-7746-255-0}}.</ref> Yugoslav Canadians }} {{Ethnic Macedonians}}

'''Macedonian Canadians''' ({{langx|mk|Канадски Македонци}}) are Canadian citizens of ethnic Macedonian descent, who reside in Canada. According to the 2021 census there were 39,440 Canadians who claimed full or partial Macedonian ancestry.<ref>https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=9810035501 Ethnic or cultural origin by gender and age: Canada, provinces and territories, 2021</ref>

==History==

=== Ethnicity and origins === [[File:St. St. Cyril and Methodius church 1910 Toronto.jpg|thumb|left|Macedono-Bulgarian Eastern Orthodox Cathedral Sts. Cyril and Methodius in Toronto, 1911<ref>History of the Macedono-Bulgarian Eastern Orthodox Cathedral Sts. Cyril and Methodius in Toronto. [http://www.scmcathedral.com/history_E.html Official website.]</ref>]] In the first half of the 20th century, most of the Macedonians were largely classified as Bulgarians or Macedono-Bulgarians.<ref name=":0">South Slavic immigration in America, Twayne Publishers. A division of G. K. Hall & Co., Boston, George Prpic, John Carroll University, 1976, Chapter 18, The Bulgarians and Macedonians. p. 212 ..."The smallest of the South Slavic ethnic groups in America are the Bulgarians. One branch of them are the Macedonians."...</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dbUuX0mnvQMC&pg=PA1280 |title=Encyclopedia of Canada's peoples – Paul R. Magocsi, Multicultural History, pp. 287–292, University of Toronto Press, 1999, ISBN 0-8020-2938-8 |via=Google Books|access-date=2011-05-11|isbn=9780802029386 |last1=Magocsi |first1=Paul R. |year=1999 |publisher=University of Toronto Press }}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZmesOn_HhfEC&dq=MPO++Bulgarian+Macedonian&pg=PA88 |title=The Macedonian Conflict: Ethnic Nationalism in a Transnational World, Page 88, by Loring M. Danforth |via=Google Books|date= 1997-04-06|access-date=2011-05-11|isbn=0691043566 |last1=Danforth |first1=Loring M. |publisher=Princeton University Press }}</ref> Until World War II, most people who today identify themselves as Macedonian Canadians claimed a Bulgarian ethnic identity and were recorded as part of the Bulgarian ethnic group.<ref name=MacedonianBulgarian /><ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1">{{Cite journal |last=Raska |first=Jan |date=2014 |title=Contested Ethnic Identity: The Case of Macedonian Immigrants in Toronto, 1900–1996 by Chris Kostov (review) |url= |journal=Canadian Ethnic Studies |volume=46 |issue=3 |pages=140–142 |doi=10.1353/ces.2014.0037 |issn=1913-8253}}</ref> The term Macedonian was used as a geographic/regional term rather than an ethnic one.<ref name=":1" /> At that time the political organization by the Slavic immigrants from the region of Macedonia, the Macedonian Patriotic Organization, also promoted the idea of Macedonian Slavs being Bulgarians.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZmesOn_HhfEC&dq=MPO++Bulgarian+Macedonian&pg=PA87 |title=The Macedonian Conflict: Ethnic Nationalism in a Transnational World, Page 87 by Loring M. Danforth |via=Google Books|date= 1997-04-06|access-date=2011-05-11|isbn=0691043566 |last1=Danforth |first1=Loring M. |publisher=Princeton University Press }}</ref> In 1911 they established the first Macedono-Bulgarian Orthodox Church Sts. Cyril and Methody in Toronto.<ref name="thecanadianencyclopedia1"/> The church was consecrated on May 24, 1911 by the Bulgarian hieromonk Theophylact Malincheff, who issued ''The First Bulgarian-English Pocket Dictionary'' in 1913.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Petroff|first=Lillian|title=An Everyday Book: The First Bulgarian-English Pocket Dictionary|journal=Polyphony|date=Winter 1981|volume=3|issue=1|page=20|url=http://epe.lac-bac.gc.ca/100/205/301/ic/cdc/polyphony/guide_art2.html|access-date=12 August 2013}}</ref> Their Macedono-Bulgarian Orthodox Churches established by immigrants from Macedonia and Bulgaria, primarily served as community centers for social gatherings and often acted as hubs for the Macedonian Patriotic Organization. The churches represented their shared Bulgarian cultural and religious identity.<ref>Chris Kostov, Contested Ethnic Identity: The Case of Macedonian Immigrants in Toronto, 1900–1996, Peter Lang, 2010, {{ISBN|3034301960}}, pp. 137-138.</ref> A Macedono-Bulgarian school, funded in Toronto as early as 1914 was also the first Bulgarian school in the Americas.<ref>Chris Kostov, “The Shifting Identities of the Bulgarian-Canadian Diaspora, 1900-2015.” In Vassányi, Miklós, Nagy, Judit, et al., eds. Minorities in Canada-Intercultural Investigations. Budapest & Paris: L’Harmattan Publishing, {{ISBN|978-2343219301}}; 2020, pp. 55-69.</ref> The first immigrant waves which identified themselves as ethnic Macedonians arrived in the late 1950s and early 1960s from Yugoslavia. The statistics in Canada included for the first time the entries Macedonian language and Ethnic Macedonian in its census questionnaires much later and this led Macedonians to declare themselves as Yugoslavs till the 1980s.<ref>Chris Kostov, Contested Ethnic Identity: The Case of Macedonian Immigrants in Toronto, 1900–1996, Peter Lang, 2010, {{ISBN|3034301960}}, pp. 189.</ref>

=== History of immigration === Many Macedonians emigrated to Canada as "pečalbari" (migrant workers) in the early 20th century.<ref name="thecanadianencyclopedia1">{{cite web|author=Lillian Petroff|url=https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/macedonians|title=Macedonian Canadians|publisher=The Canadian Encyclopedia|date=December 15, 2013|access-date=August 24, 2019}}</ref> Thousands of Macedonians emigrated to Canada after the failure of the Ilinden Uprising.<ref name="thecanadianencyclopedia1"/>

The first Macedonian organizations were the Zhelevo Benevolence Brotherhood and the Oschima Benefit Society St. Nicholas, both established in 1907 in Toronto by emigrants from Zhelevo (Antartiko) and Oschnima (Trigonon) in Aegean Macedonia.<ref name="google1">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7BDcb0uvR7EC&dq=macedonian+canadians&pg=PA172 |title=Sojourners and settlers: the ... – Google Books |via=Google Books|date= January 1995|access-date=2011-05-11|isbn=9780802072405 |last1=Petroff |first1=Lillian |publisher=University of Toronto Press }}</ref> Other Macedonian organizations were soon established by emigrants from Zagorichani (Vassiliada), Oshtima (Trigonon), Smardesh (Krystallopigi), Gabresh (Gavros), Banitsa (Vevi), Buf (Akritas) and Tarsie (Trivuno), all villages in Aegean Macedonia.<ref name="google1"/><ref name="thecanadianencyclopedia1"/>

An internal 1910 census counted 1090 Macedonians in Toronto, who were principally from Florina (Lerin) and Kastoria (Kostur) then in Ottoman Empire.<ref name="thecanadianencyclopedia1"/> By 1940 there were claims that over 1200 Macedonian families were in Canada. Post-World War II and Greek Civil War migration cause the numbers of Macedonians in Canada to swell.{{Citation needed|date=October 2008}}

Many early Macedonian immigrants found industrial work in Toronto, either as factory hands or labourers in abattoirs, or in iron and steel foundries. Many ended up running and owning restaurants, butchers and groceries. Macedonian entrepreneurs and their descendants eventually employed their numerical strength within the food service industry as a catapult into a variety of larger and more sophisticated ventures.<ref name=autogenerated1>{{cite web|url=http://www.macedonianhistory.ca/ |title=Macedonian History – Canadian Macedonian Historical Society |publisher=Macedonianhistory.ca |date=2008-05-19 |access-date=2011-05-11}}</ref>

Today, most Macedonian Canadians have moved out of cities and into the suburbs, and are employed in the professional, clerical, and service sector of the economy.

The 2001 census recorded 31,265 Macedonians,<ref name=autogenerated1 /> while the 2006 census recorded 37,705 people of Macedonian ancestry. However, community spokespersons claim they number over 100,000. The Institute for Macedonians Abroad claims that there are 120,000 Macedonians in Canada.<ref>Nasevski, Boško; Angelova, Dora. Gerovska, Dragica (1995). Македонски Иселенички Алманах '95. Skopje: Матица на Иселениците на Македонија, 48,49</ref> The Macedonian government estimates that there are 150,000 Macedonians in Canada.

===Aegean Macedonians===

Many thousands of Aegean Macedonians emigrated to Canada in the 1890s.{{Citation needed|date=October 2008}} They settled primarily in Ontario, especially Toronto. Many early Aegean Macedonian immigrants found industrial work in Toronto. Later migrants found work as factory in abattoirs and foundries. Chatham and Windsor attracted many Macedonian immigrants who worked along the railroads. Many later settled in Detroit, Michigan.

Many Aegean Macedonians are parishioners of the Macedonian Orthodox Church.{{Citation needed|date=October 2008}}

They set up many organizations, such as the Lerin Region Macedonian Cultural Association of Canada. In 1979 The Association of Refugee Children from Aegean Macedonia (ARCAM) was set up in order to unite the former child refugees from all over the world. It was reported that chapters had been set up in Toronto, Melbourne, Perth, the Republic of North Macedonia, Slovakia, Czech Republic and Poland.<ref>Human Rights Violations Against Ethnic Macedonians-Report 1996, Macedonian Human Rights Movement of Canada, Toronto, 1996; p.111-112</ref>

==Settlement patterns== [[Image:Harper-Stojkovski.jpg|thumb|left|Prime Minister of Canada Stephen Harper with UMO President Dragi Stojkovski, 2009<ref>{{cite web|author=TJ-Hosting |url=http://www.mhrmi.org/news/2009/february15_e.asp |title=Macedonian Human Rights Movement International |publisher=MHRMI |date= 2009-02-15|access-date=2011-05-11}}</ref> ]] Many Macedonians originally settled in industrial areas. Most Macedonians came to Canada via the process of chain migration.

==Organizations==  Many organizations have been set up by the Macedonians in Canada. Village associations from Banitsa, Osčima, Bouf and Želevo have been set up. A Macedonian Boys' club was founded in Toronto in 1915.{{Citation needed|date=October 2008}} Community picnics were also very common amongst Macedonian immigrants. Macedonian basketball and hockey teams were founded. Fundraisers for assistance for the Greek Civil War and the 1963 Skopje earthquake were held. Other establishments, such as the Canadian Macedonian Restaurant Co-op (1970), Canadian Macedonian Business and Professional Association, Canadian Macedonian Historical Society and Macedonian Canadian Medical Society (1992) have been founded in recent years, along with the Macedonian Film Festival (2006). Youth organizations such as Macedonian Association of Canadian Youth, Ryerson Association of Macedonian Students and the Association of Macedonian Students at the University of Toronto are also in operation.

==Religion==

Originally Macedonian churches were established under the Bulgarian Diocese of America, Canada and Australia. The church Saint's Cyril and Methodius was consecrated in Toronto in 1910. This was followed by the St. George Macedono-Bulgarian Orthodox Church and the Holy Trinity Macedono-Bulgarian Church. Post-war immigrants built churches under the jurisdiction of the Macedonian Orthodox Church.{{Citation needed|date=October 2008}} They were St Clement of Ohrid, St Demetrius of Salonica, St Ilija, St Nedela and St Naum of Ohrid. There are two Macedonian cathedrals in Canada – Toronto being the location of the largest Macedonian church community in Canada: St Clement of Ohrid in Toronto.<ref>{{cite web|author=Aco Lukaroski |url=http://www.stclementofohrid.com/ |title=St. Clement of Ohrid Cathedral |publisher=Stclementofohrid.com |access-date=2011-05-11}}</ref>

==Notable Macedonian Canadians== {{More sources section|date=April 2026}} ===Academia=== *Andrew Rossos – historian *Boris P. Stoicheff – physicist

===Art=== *Gligor Stefanov – Sculptor and Iconographer *Georgi Danevski – Painter, Iconographer and Muralist

===Business=== *John Bitove – chairman and CEO of Obelysk, Mobilicity, Scott's Real Estate Investment Trust, and SiriusXM Canada *John Bitove, Sr. – businessman and philanthropist *Susan Niczowski – CEO and founder of Summer Fresh Salads Inc.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.summerfresh.com|title=Summer Fresh|website=Summer Fresh}}</ref> *Chris Pavlovski – CEO and founder of Rumble<ref>{{cite news |title=This Toronto-based website surged to a half-billion-dollar valuation almost overnight — thanks in part to interest from conservative American investors |url=https://www.thestar.com/business/2021/06/11/this-toronto-based-website-surged-to-a-half-billion-dollar-valuation-almost-overnight-thanks-in-part-to-interest-from-conservative-american-investors.html |date=11 June 2021 |author=Jacob Lorinc |publisher=Toronto Star }}</ref> *Steve Stavro – businessman and philanthropist; founder of Knob Hill Farms, owner of Toronto Maple Leafs, director of Liquor Control Board of Ontario

===Music=== *Dan Talevski – singer-songwriter

===Politics=== *Paul Christie – Toronto City and Metropolitan Councillor, TTC Chair *Lui Temelkovski – Liberal MP, Oak Ridges, Markham 2004–2008

===Sports=== *Andy Andreoff – NHL player *Mike Angelidis – NHL player *Jonah Gadjovich – NHL player *Tommy Ivan – NHL coach, winner of four Stanley Cups *Dan Jancevski – NHL defenseman *Ed Jovanovski – NHL player *Julian Micevski – Professional wrestler, better known as "Ethan Page" *Steve Staios – NHL player *Steven Stamkos – NHL player *Alek Stojanov – NHL player *Christopher Tanev – NHL player *Brandon Tanev – NHL player *Michael Zigomanis – NHL player

===Television and entertainment=== *Ziya Tong – television producer *Natasha Negovanlis – actress, singer, writer *Thea Andrews – journalist and TV personality * Lex Gigeroff – television writer, actor and co-creator of the science fiction series ''Lexx.''

==See also== {{Portal|Canada|North Macedonia}} * Canada–North Macedonia relations * Macedonian diaspora * Immigration to Canada * Yugoslav Canadians * Macedonian Americans ==References== {{Reflist|30em}} ==External links== *[https://macedoniantoronto.blogspot.com/ Macedonian Community of Toronto Blog] *[https://web.archive.org/web/20080407213623/http://www.macedonia-toronto.ca/ Macedonia Canadian Newspaper] *[http://www.tugjinojabano.com/ Headquarters of the Macedonian Community in Canada] *[http://www.unitedmacedonians.org/ United Macedonians of Canada] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190916033133/http://unitedmacedonians.org/ |date=2019-09-16 }} *[http://www.mhrmi.org/ Macedonian Human Rights Movement] *[http://www.macedonianhistory.ca/ Canadian Macedonian Historical Society] *[https://web.archive.org/web/20100305065457/http://www.umdiaspora.org/ United Macedonian Diaspora] *[http://www3.sympatico.ca/emb.macedonia.ottawa/ Macedonian Embassy in Canada] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141224063338/http://www3.sympatico.ca/emb.macedonia.ottawa/ |date=2014-12-24 }} *[http://www.stclementofohrid.com/ St Clement of Ohrid, Toronto] *[http://www.macedoniancentre.ca/ Macedonian Centre for Culture and Social Integration] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140517214120/http://www.macedoniancentre.ca/ |date=2014-05-17 }}

+ Category:European diaspora in Canada Category:Macedonian diaspora Category:Macedonian diaspora in Canada