Danish Canadians (
Danish: ''Dansk-canadiere'') are
Canadian
Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...
citizens of
Danish ancestry. According to the 2006 Census, there were 200,035 Canadians with Danish background, 17,650 of whom were born in Denmark.
Canada became an important destination for the Danes during the post-war period. At one point, a Canadian immigration office was to be set up in
Copenhagen
Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan a ...
.
[Bender, Henning. ''Danish emigration to Canada''] While most of the post-war immigrants settled in large cities, Danish-Canadian communities can be found in all of Canada's ten provinces.
The oldest Danish community in Canada is
New Denmark, New Brunswick
New Denmark is a rural community in Victoria County, New Brunswick, Canada. The community is situated in rolling hills east of the Saint John River valley several kilometres south of Drummond. Its main industry is potato farming and related in ...
, first inhabited by Danish immigrants in 1872.
History
Notable Danish Canadians
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Earl W. Bascom
Earl Wesley Bascom (June 19, 1906 – August 28, 1995) was an American painter, printmaker, sculptor, cowboy, rodeo performer, inventor, and Hollywood actor. Raised in Canada, he portrayed in works of fine art his own experiences of cowboying ...
– rodeo pioneer, artist, inventor, actor, Canada's Sports Hall of Fame inductee
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Karen Bulow – textile artist
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Erik Christensen – NHL player from the New York Rangers
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Hayden Christensen
Hayden Christensen (; born April 19, 1981) is a Canadian actor. He is best known for his portrayal of Anakin Skywalker / Darth Vader in the ''Star Wars'' media franchise. He first appeared in the prequel trilogy films, '' Star Wars: Episode ...
– actor (Danish paternal grandparents)
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Scott Frandsen
Scott Frandsen (born July 21, 1980, in Kelowna, British Columbia) is a Canadian rower of Danish and Swedish descent.
Biography
Born in Kelowna, British Columbia, he began rowing at age 16 at Brentwood College (High School), in Britis ...
– Olympic athlete
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Ann Hansen
Ann Hansen is a Canadian anarchist and former member of Direct Action, a guerrilla organization known for the 1982 bombing of a Litton Industries plant, which made components for American cruise missiles. After her arrest she was sentenced to ...
– former anarchist
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Glenna Hansen – Inuvialuit politician
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Rick Hansen – paraplegic athlete
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Valdy
Paul Valdemar Horsdal, (born 1 September 1945), commonly known as Valdy, is a Canadian folk and country musician whose solo career began in the early 1970s. He is known for "Rock and Roll Song", his first mainstream single. Valdy is the winner o ...
/Valdemar Horsdal – Singer-Songwriter
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Carly Rae Jepsen
Carly Rae Jepsen (born November 21, 1985) is a Canadian singer and songwriter. After studying musical theatre for most of her school life and while in university, Jepsen garnered mainstream attention after placing third on the fifth season of ...
– pop singer
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K.V. Johansen – writer
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Rasmus Lerdorf – programmer
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Erik Nielsen – Deputy Prime Minister of Canada from 1984 to 1986
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Leslie Nielsen
Leslie William Nielsen (11 February 192628 November 2010) was a Canadian actor and comedian. With a career spanning 60 years, he appeared in more than 100 films and 150 television programs, portraying more than 220 characters.
Nielsen was bo ...
– actor and comedian (Danish father)
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Robert Nielsen
Robert Fredsø Nielsen (1922–2009) was a Canadian journalist who is known for his time with the ''Toronto Star''. Nielsen was employed by the newspaper for 33 years and served in several capacities, including as a correspondent, foreign co ...
– journalist
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Kaj Pindal
Kaj Gøtzsche Pindal (December 1, 1927–June 28, 2019) was an animator and animation educator who worked at the National Film Board of Canada (NFB) beginning in 1957, and created such works as the Academy Award-nominated '' What on Earth!'' (1967 ...
– animator and animation educator
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Alf Erling Porsild
Alf Erling Porsild (1901–1977) was a Danish-Canadian botanist.
Biography
He was born in Copenhagen as a son of the botanist M.P. Porsild. He grew up on the Arctic Station in Qeqertarsuaq, West Greenland, where he acted as assistant to his f ...
– botanist
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Knud Simonsen – inventor, industrialist, entrepreneur
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Luke Skaarup – strength athlete, strongman
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Lauren Southern
Lauren Cherie Southern (born 16 June 1995) is a Canadian alt-right YouTuber, political activist and commentator. In 2015, Southern ran as a Libertarian Party candidate in the Canadian federal election. Southern worked for Rebel Media until M ...
– political activist (Danish father)
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Jens Haven Jens Haven (June 23, 1724 – April 16, 1796) was a Danish-Canadian Moravian missionary and the prime mover behind the founding of the Moravian missions in Labrador.
Biography
Jens Haven was born at Sønderhaven in Vust parish, Jammerbugt, ...
– Missionary and Settler
See also
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Canadians Of Danish Descent
Danish
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Danish diaspora
Danish