Intergroup Relations

The years of immigration prior to the 1930s were the most difficult for social adjustment. Many Canadians associated Greeks, together with Armenians, Bulgarians, and Italians, with anarchy and radicalism. In 1907 the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) refused to hire Greeks as freight handlers in Port Arthur, Ontario, because they were known for organizing strikes and challenging exploitative working conditions. In 1913 several Greeks from Vancouver complained of the delay in granting them naturalization, which they felt resulted from them being Greek. During World War I the militia was reluctant to enlist Greeks for the Canadian Expeditionary Force, fearing that they were supporters of the German sympathizer King Constantine of Greece. The most publicized incident was the violent anti-Greek riot in Toronto on 2–3 August 1918, provoked by some Torontonians who apparently believed that Greek immigrants, especially from Asia Minor, were pro-German. The community’s leaders and journalists countered that Greek Canadians had shown indisputable loyalty to Canada and supported the liberal Venizelos government in Greece, a British ally.

Despite such setbacks Greek Canadians continued to be reliable and industrious workers, and many became entrepreneurs. The latters’ success, visits by thousands of Canadians to Greece, and the arrival of Greek physicians and teachers changed Canadian attitudes, as did Greece’s strong support of the Allies during World War II, including resistance to German occupation.

But even after 1945, when Canada liberalized its immigration policies, Ottawa instituted a trial immigration period for Greeks in order to ascertain their suitability as workers in outdoor jobs, such as farming and lumbering. Though many Greeks came to Canada for such work, most ended up in cities. In the 1960s almost twice as many Greek immigrants entered Canada as in the 1950s. With the help of relatives, friends, and compatriots, they found jobs and began to integrate into Canadian society. Relatively little schooling in the homeland, limited knowledge of English or French, and exploitative employment hindered integration. Many Greeks lived in overcrowded and deteriorated housing in large Canadian cities. However, through hard work, cooperation, and the establishment of small businesses and ethnic institutions, Greek Canadians transformed their neighbourhoods. Consequently, by 1980 areas such as Park Avenue and Park Extension in Montreal and Danforth Avenue in Toronto became “Greek villages,” attracting middle-class Greeks and non-Greeks.

Greek-Canadians’ adaptation is reflected in what seems to be their satisfaction with life in Canada – with their standard of living and the continuing presence of ethnic institutions such as churches, schools, food markets, and entertainment.

Greeks have generally avoided conflicts with other ethnocultural minorities in Canada, perhaps because of opportunities to achieve middle-class status and realization of common bonds resulting from membership in a democratic society. In crises Greek Canadians cooperated with other ethnic groups. For example, in the early 1900s Greek and Italian CPR freight handlers in Port Arthur and Fort William, Ontario, organized strikes for better wages and regular hours; at the CPR freight sheds the immigrant workers fiercely opposed strikebreakers and the company’s private police force. It was only in the early 1990s that open conflicts between Greek Canadians and Macedonian Canadians occurred in Ontario over recognition of the republic centred at Skopje in former Yugoslavia.