Migration

Bulgarian emigration reflects changes in the homeland. The Balkan Wars (1912–13), the establishment of Communist rule in 1946, and its fall in 1989 have all affected what may be considered four periods of Bulgarian emigration to North America: 1890s–1914; 1919–39; 1945–89; and 1989–present.

The first immigrants who began arriving in the 1890s came from the regions of Lovech, Pleven, Popovo, Razgrad, Ruse, and Tâ rnovo in northern Bulgaria. Their numbers were small and their motivation was primarily economic; a few young people sought a better education. In the 1901 Canadian census, Bulgarians and Romanians were listed together and totalled 1,066.

The first organized wave of Bulgarians began in 1903 and consisted mostly of Slavs from Macedonia. After what came to be known as the Assaults of Solun (Salonika), the Misler and Jagich Company sent ships from Salonika to North America with refugees; other groups went through Belgrade and Hamburg. About 3,000 people left the Bitola region of Vardar Macedonia in October 1903.

In August 1903 the failed Ilinden uprising of the Macedonian underground (IMRO) against the Ottoman Empire increased political tensions. Many Bulgarians in Macedonia went to the independent Kingdom of Bulgaria and from there to North America. By the end of the year, about a thousand people left the Macedonian town of Bitola, followed soon by many others from Ohrid, Prespa, and Prilep, as well as from Kastoria (Kostur) and Florina (Lerin) in what is today northern Greece. About 720 people emigrated from Florina alone.

The first settlers in North America sent home news about the political freedom and economic opportunities they found in their new homes. Consequently, by 1906 and 1907, about 6,000 people had left for the United States and Canada, mainly for economic reasons. Most travelled through Hamburg and Bremen or through Salonika, Naples, or Marseilles to New York, Halifax, Baltimore, and Galveston, Texas.

There is confusion regarding the number of Bulgarians in Canada during this early period. This is because Canadian census reports listed Bulgarians and Romanians together, and because many Bulgarians travelled with Ottoman passports before 1912 and with documents from Greece and Serbia after 1913. Many Macedono-Bulgarians returned home from North America to serve in the Bulgarian army during the Balkan Wars of 1912–13. When Bulgaria failed to acquire Macedonia, the Macedono-Bulgarians re-emigrated, this time taking with them their immediate families and relatives. As a result, many villages in the regions around Bitola, Kastoria, Florina, and Resnen were largely depleted of their inhabitants.

By 1913 there were an estimated 10,000 Bulgarians in Canada, some 4,000 of whom resided in Toronto. World War I interrupted the flow of immigrants, but the return to peace brought another eight to ten thousand during the inter-war years. Thus, by 1939, there were an estimated 20,000 Bulgarians in Canada, although only 3,260 persons indicated Bulgaria as their place of birth (1941).

Although World War II cut off direct emigration to Canada, the conflict displaced many Bulgarians who eventually arrived in Canada after the war ended in 1945. By the late 1940s, the new Communist authorities in Bulgaria placed restrictions on emigration. Nevertheless, that same government claimed that during the 1960s between 30,000 and 35,000 emigrants left for Canada. When the Communist regime was on the verge of collapse in 1989, restrictions were indeed lifted and about 3,800 Bulgarians arrived in Canada claiming refugee status.

According to Canada’s 1991 census, 4,750 persons claimed to be of wholly Bulgarian ethnicity and 3,840 cited Bulgarian as one of their ethnic origins, for a total of 8,590. The primary reason for the decline in numbers from the period before World War II is that many Canadians who previously claimed a Bulgarian identity now describe themselves as Macedonian and are listed as such in the census reports. (See MACEDONIANS.) Of the 8,590 persons of Bulgarian heritage listed in the 1991 census, over half lived in Ontario (4,785), followed by Quebec (1,580), British Columbia (825), and Alberta (625).