I brought my parents to Canada in 1944. I was two years old, but I believe my future was on their minds when they applied to enter Canada.
Poland, their home, had been invaded from the west by Germany and by Russia from the east. That war must have looked interminable.
My father had been a mid-rank officer in the Polish army. Captured by the Russians, he escaped, walked to Warsaw, obtained a counterfeit passport and fled Europe.
My parents married in the Middle East, with Dad wearing a British army uniform. He served in a Polish regiment with General Wavell’s forces in North Africa.
I was born in Northern Rhodesia, one month after my parents left a Polish refugee camp there. My father had found work managing a farm. Dad contacted an old school chum, Stanislaw Zielinski, who had immigrated to Canada earlier. He sponsored our family to enter Canada.
They arrived with “nothing.” I was 10 years old when they bought their first house in Montreal, and 16 when they moved into their “forever” home. I remember my parents working long hours to achieve this.
On their part, they insisted I finish my homework before going out to play.
At Montreal’s McGill University, I joined the McGill Outing Club, a group devoted to mountaineering, canoeing, cross-country skiing and other outdoor activities. On a trip to New York State, the United States border official popped his head into our van: “Y’all born in Canada?”
The scale of Canadian immigration struck me when 17 of us entered the office with passports. We were from Estonia, Britain, Ireland, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Greece, etc. Just one was Canadian-born! These immigrant families entered Canada, like mine, with just a suitcase. In a few years, they were prosperous enough to send us to university.
My earliest memory is my parents dancing around the radio celebrating VE Day (“Victory in Europe,” marking Germany’s surrender). They would have heard the May 8, 1945 broadcast on CBC Radio proclaiming VE Day.
Of course, I didn’t understand the significance until years later.
After arriving in Canada, my parents joined a Polish Club consisting of refugees looking forward to returning to Poland and resuming their lives. Then something changed. My parents stopped attending these meetings.
I cannot ask my parents, they're long gone. They probably recognized that Canada offered a better future than Communist Poland. Indeed, my parents prospered, retiring in comfort and security.
My (elegant) Canadian citizenship certificate is dated Dec. 9, 1950. My parents must have become Canadian then. Just five-and-a-half years after arriving in Canada, they had put Poland behind them. My mother visited Poland once, in 1973, but my father never went back.
After many years abroad, my wife and I returned to Canada in 1988 with two daughters. We settled in Barrie and have lived in the same house for 36 years.
Five years ago, a Russian couple moved in next door. Two years ago, Yuri proudly showed me his new Canadian citizenship certificate; just weeks ago he renounced Russian citizenship grumbling about “Putin’s Russia...”
A Jordanian family moved in across the street. The children clearly enjoy our local school; their hijab-clad mother often stops to chat with her neighbours.
Not long after Russia invaded Ukraine, we took in a Ukrainian couple and their young son. They moved on to a rental shared with another family, but we remain in touch. We are pleased the husband is fully employed. They are settling in to life in Barrie.
Last year, Georgian College students had trouble finding accommodation. We offered space to a young Mexican couple. After six months, they began sharing a rental with other students. Both are working the maximum number of hours permitted by their visa and say they intend to remain here.
In 2021, 23 per cent of Canada’s population was immigrants. Canada’s annual population growth rate is 3.2 per cent.
If not for immigration, our population would be decreasing because our fertility rate, declining for 60 years, now stands at just 1.43 births per woman. The fertility rate required to maintain population is 2.1. In Europe, the U.S., Japan and Australia, it is well below that.
Many Canadians complain we admit too many immigrants, but our economy needs them. Surprisingly, 32 per cent of businesses with paid employees are owned by immigrants.
More than 33 per cent of people working in scientific research are immigrants as are 24 per cent of sports coaches.
One pharmacist at my local pharmacy is Indian, the other Russian. My family doctor is Nigerian. His locum is Indian, from Kenya. Our health care would collapse without immigrants helping staff it.
The first “ethnic” restaurant in Barrie was probably Tara, set up by two Pakistanis in 1989. They offered excellent Indian cuisine – as good as we had enjoyed in Britain! Since then, Korean, Japanese, Mexican, Greek, Caribbean, Persian, Mid-East and others have appeared in Barrie.
I love roast beef, fish and chips, burgers and pasta, but am grateful for the “exotic” cooking styles brought here by immigrants.
Looking back on my experience, I believe immigrants succeed because they arrive here with ideas and energy, leavened with a dash of desperation. They work very hard to make up for the lack of family support in their new country. Many pressure their children to work hard, too.
Peter Munk arrived in Canada in 1948 from Hungary on a student visa, aged 21. Earning a degree in electrical engineering from the University of Toronto, he went on to found Barrick Gold, the world’s largest gold miner.
He said: "I arrived in this place not speaking the language, not knowing a dog...”
He died in 2018, recognized for philanthropy — Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy, Munk debates, Munk lectures.
Set aside Austrian-born (1932) Frank Stronach’s current legal woes. He left school at 14 to apprentice as a tool-and-die maker. After working as an employee for several years, he set up Multimatic in 1959 to make car parts for GM. This became Magna International, a huge worldwide manufacturer of vehicle components and complete systems.
German immigrant Wolfgang Schroeter began making wood-heating stoves in 1976. Renamed Wolf Steel in 1979, their 'Napoleon' products include barbecues, wood stoves, kitchen stoves and central heating systems. Wolf Steel is one of the Barrie area’s largest employers.
Jagmeet Singh, NDP leader is a Canadian-born son of immigrant parents.
Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow was born in Hong Kong.
Mike Lazaridis, founder of Research in Motion (BlackBerry), came to Canada from Turkey at age five.
Immigrants are Canada’s winning “ace.” We have people who speak every language and understand every culture on Earth. They bring imagination and energy to our society. They work very hard to succeed. Their success, over many decades, helped make Canada a success.
Our country has its flaws – every country does – and we must address these. But the suggestion that “Canada is broken” is ridiculous and dangerous political rhetoric.
Canada always makes the lists of world’s 10 best countries. “The world” knows. The queue of folks waiting to enter Canada is long.
We should be proud of that. We should welcome them.
Immigration made Canada what it is now. Immigrants are our future.
