Croatian Canadians 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 who are of Croatian descent. The community exists in major cities including the

Greater Toronto Area The Greater Toronto Area, commonly referred to as the GTA, includes the City of Toronto and the regional municipalities of Durham, Halton, Peel, and York. In total, the region contains 25 urban, suburban, and rural municipalities. The Greater ...

Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: People * Hamilton (name), a common British surname and occasional given name, usually of Scottish origin, including a list of persons with the surname ** The Duke of Hamilton, the premier peer of Scotland ** Lord Hamilto ...

Ottawa Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the c ...

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the city, up from 631,486 in 2016. ...

Calgary Calgary ( ) is the largest city in the western Canadian province of Alberta and the largest metro area of the three Prairie Provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806, maki ...

Edmonton Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city an ...

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749 ...

, Windsor,

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple- ...

and

Waterloo Region The Regional Municipality of Waterloo (Waterloo Region or Region of Waterloo) is a metropolitan area of Southern Ontario, Canada. It contains the cities of Cambridge, Kitchener and Waterloo (KWC or Tri-Cities), and the townships of North Dumf ...

. Popular events celebrated in the Croatian-Canadian community include the Canadian-Croatian Folklore Festival (held in eastern and western Canada) and the Croatian-North American Soccer Tournament.

Demographics

There were approximately 114,880

Canadians 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 ...

of Croatian ethnic origin as reported in the 2011 Census compiled by Statistics Canada, rising to 133,965 by the 2016 Census. Although predominantly found in Ontario, Croatian Canadians are present in most major Canadian cities throughout the country. The ten largest Croatian communities are found in the following cities: *

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

,: 13,670 *

, Ontario: 10,110 *

Mississauga Mississauga ( ), historically known as Toronto Township, is a city in the Canadian province of Ontario. It is situated on the shores of Lake Ontario in the Regional Municipality of Peel, adjoining the western border of Toronto. With a popu ...

, Ontario: 9,935 *

,: 5,575 *

,: 4,175 * Oakville,: 4,045 *

,: 3,890 *

,: 3,540 *

Burnaby Burnaby is a city in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia, Canada. Located in the centre of the Burrard Peninsula, it neighbours the City of Vancouver to the west, the District of North Vancouver across the confluence of the Burrar ...

,: 3,225 * Kitchener,: 3,000 The town with the largest percentage of people of Croatian ethnic origin is Kenaston,

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan ( ; ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada, western Canada, bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and on t ...

- 17.5% of its 285 inhabitants claim Croatian ethnic origin. Statistics Canada also designates

Census Metropolitan Area The census geographic units of Canada are the census subdivisions defined and used by Canada's federal government statistics bureau Statistics Canada to conduct the country's quinquennial census. These areas exist solely for the purposes of stat ...

s in the collection of its data. The ten Census Metropolitan Areas with the highest concentration of Croatian Canadians are: * Toronto CMA: 37,460 * Vancouver CMA: 15,670 * Hamilton CMA: 13,655 * Calgary CMA: 6,265 *

CMA: 5,265 *

CMA: 5,230 * Kitchener-Cambridge-Waterloo CMA: 4,920 *

CMA: 4,135 * Windsor CMA: 3,925 * Niagara CMA: 3,225

Religious affiliation

Most Croatian Canadians are

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: * Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

who follow the

Latin Rite Latin liturgical rites, or Western liturgical rites, are Catholic rites of public worship employed by the Latin Church, the largest particular church '' sui iuris'' of the Catholic Church, that originated in Europe where the Latin language onc ...

of their ancestors in

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = " Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capi ...

and

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of south and southeast Europe, located in the Balkans. Bosnia and ...

. This is in line with the population in Croatia, which is also majority Catholic. A very small minority of Croatians are

Byzantine Rite The Byzantine Rite, also known as the Greek Rite or the Rite of Constantinople, identifies the wide range of cultural, liturgical, and canonical practices that developed in the Eastern Christian Church of Constantinople. The canonical hours a ...

Roman Catholics The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

. There is also a very small community of

Croats The Croats (; hr, Hrvati ) are a South Slavic ethnic group who share a common Croatian ancestry, culture, history and language. They are also a recognized minority in a number of neighboring countries, namely Austria, the Czech Republic ...

who follow

Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God (or '' Allah'') as it was revealed to Muhammad, the ...

, the descendants of those who converted after the 16th century, after the conquest of much of

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = " Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capi ...

by the

Ottomans The Ottoman Turks ( tr, Osmanlı Türkleri), were the Turkic founding and sociopolitically the most dominant ethnic group of the Ottoman Empire ( 1299/1302–1922). Reliable information about the early history of Ottoman Turks remains scarce, ...

. Communities of

Protestants Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...

have historically been negligible in

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = " Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capi ...

Catholicism

In Canada, the first ethnic Croatian parish was established in Windsor in 1950. Soon, parishes were established in Toronto (1951), Hamilton (1958), Vancouver (1967), Winnipeg (1968). Today there are ethnic Croatian parishes and missions in seventeen cities in Canada. One of the most prominent Croatian Catholic parishes is the Queen of Peace Catholic Church in

Norval, Ontario Norval is an unincorporated community in the town of Halton Hills, Ontario, Canada. Situated on the Credit River, it is located approximately west of Toronto and is part of the Regional Municipality of Halton. Norval is believed to take its nam ...

. The establishment of the parish began in 1976 when community members, under the guidance of the Franciscan Friars, gathered for one evening to discuss the necessity and logistics of creating a place of gathering and cultural and faith building and preservation for the large Croatian immigrant population. In May 1977, 160 acres of property were purchased by the organizing committee with the specific dedication to Croatian Catholics. In the Norval Croatian Centre, as is in many other Croatian Catholic parishes, brochures, books, CDs and other forms of Croatian media are offered. The Croatian Catholic youth in particular have started and taken part in many faith developments of their own. The Croatian Catholic Youth Group (CCY) is a faith-based group that comes together by schedule to discuss Catholic subjects and strengthen their religious belief. In addition, Mladifest is an annual event started in 2013 by the Queen of Peace Parish and has each year attracted hundreds of young Catholic Croatian to further explore the intersection of their faith and culture. As the event continued to develop over the years, the rotation of it between host parishes started, with the 2013, 2014, and 2015 Mladifest being in Norval, 2016 in Sacred Heart, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, 2017 in Immaculate Heart of Mary, Vancouver, British Columbia, 2018 in Croatian Martys Church, Mississauga, Ontario, and 2019 in Saint Nicholas Tavelic, Montreal, Quebec. It is an event funded by each parishes' members donations and contributions to bake sales, banquets and other events held to amass funds.

Other Christian

While an overwhelming percentage of Croatians in Canada remain Roman Catholic, there are non-Catholic populations, including

(most of whom have been in Canada for more than one generation) and

Eastern Orthodox Eastern Orthodoxy, also known as Eastern Orthodox Christianity, is one of the three main branches of Chalcedonian Christianity, alongside Catholicism and Protestantism. Like the Pentarchy of the first millennium, the mainstream (or " canonical ...

(the majority of whom are of mixed ethnic background).

Islam

Previously unorganized Croats of the Muslim faith, with the arrival of eminent physician Asaf DurakovićPoskok.info
Fikret Artuković: Toronto slavi 35 godina hrvatske džamije (picture) founded the Croatian Islamic Centre on June 23, 1973 in

Etobicoke Etobicoke (, ) is an administrative district of, and one of six municipalities amalgamated into, the city of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Comprising the city's west-end, Etobicoke was first settled by Europeans in the 1790s, and the municipalit ...

(75 Birmingham Street, Etobicoke, ON M8V 2C3), helped by the Croatian Catholic community.Vinko Grubisic: Croatians in Toronto, From: Polyphony Vol.6, 1984 pp. 88-91
An old Catholic school was bought for 75,000 CAD and readjusted into

masjid A mosque (; from ar, مَسْجِد, masjid, ; literally "place of ritual prostration"), also called masjid, is a place of prayer for Muslims. Mosques are usually covered buildings, but can be any place where prayers ( sujud) are performed, i ...

. Since the old building was in bad condition, a new mosque was built on the site of the old one in 1983. Today, given changing political affiliations and political pressures from 1990's, and influx of non-Croat option of Bosnian Muslims, the center is now known as the Bosnian Islamic Centre. Despite that, today 4 out of 64 Canadian mosques have the attribute "Croatian". In Croatian Islamic Centre the children are taught the Croatian and Arabic languages, but there also Croatian Islamic newspapers, books, brochures, etc. Croatian Islamic Center called on Muslim governments, organisations, and individuals to press the Yugoslav regime, to end the persecution of Islam and to grant genuin equality of Muslims in Yugoslavia. The director of Centre Kerim Reis wanted that Belgrade releases the Muslim prisoners of conscience and to end to restrictions on the building of mosques. During Yugoslavia, this group often spoke accused Tito's Yugoslavia for practising discrimination both Muslim and Catholic Croats.Google Books
Paul R. Magocsi,Multicultural History Society of Ontario: Encyclopedia of Canada's peoples

Notable Croatian Canadians

Businesspeople

Robert Herjavec Robert Herjavec (; ; born September 14, 1962) is a Croatian-Canadian businessman, investor, and television personality. Herjavec founded BRAK Systems, a Canadian integrator of Internet security software, and sold it to AT&T Canada (now Allstr ...

- CEO of the Herjavec Group, one Canada's most prominent technology companies *

Tihomir Orešković Tihomir "Tim" Orešković (; born 1 January 1966) is a Croatian Canadian businessman who was Prime Minister of Croatia from January to October 2016. Born in Zagreb, Orešković emigrated to Canada at a young age and spent most of his life there ...

- 11th Prime Minister of Croatia

Politicians

Eve Adams Eve Adams ( Horvat; born November 7, 1974) is a Canadian politician who served as the Member of Parliament for the federal electoral district of Mississauga—Brampton South from 2011 to 2015. She was elected as a member of the Conservative Par ...

- Liberal MP, Missisauga-Brampton South; born Eve Horvat to Hungarian-Croat parents * Bob Bratina - former Mayor of Hamilton, 2010–2014; Liberal MP, Hamilton East-Stoney Creek 2015–present * Jan Brown - former Reform/Independent MP Calgary Southeast, 1993-1997 * Allan Kerpan - Saskatchewan Party MLA, Carrot River Valley, 2003–present; former Reform MP, Moose Jaw-Lake Centre, 1993-2000 * Janko Peric - former Liberal MP, Cambridge, 1993-2004 * Peter Sekulic – former Alta Liberal MLA, Edmonton Manning, 1993-1997 * Roseanne Skoke - former Liberal MP, Central Nova, 1993-1997 * John Sola - former Liberal MPP, 1987–1995 *

Dave Stupich David Daniel Stupich (5 December 1921 – 8 February 2006) was a member of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia for most years from the 1960s to the 1980s, and a member of the House of Commons of Canada from 1988 to 1993. Stupich w ...

- former NDP MP, Nanaimo-Cowichan 1988-1993; former B.C. NDP MLA, 1963-1969; 1972-1988 *

Ruža Tomašić Ruža Tomašić (; born 10 May 1958) is a Croatian politician who has been a Member of the European Parliament since July 2013, having been elected to the position three times. After finishing elementary school at the age of 10, Tomašić move ...

- police officer and politician, Member of the European Parliament *

Berry Vrbanovic Berry Vrbanovic (born August 19, 1966) is a Croatian Canadian politician who has served as mayor of Kitchener, Ontario since the 2014 municipal election. Berry attended St. Jerome's High School, and graduated from Wilfrid Laurier University wit ...

- mayor of Kitchener, 2014–present;

Kitchener City Council Kitchener City Council is the governing body for the city of Kitchener, Ontario, Canada. The council consists of the Mayor of Kitchener and 10 ward councillors. 2006-2010 Council elected in the 2006 municipal election. 2010-2014 Council elec ...

lor, 1994-2014; Liberal Party candidate for

Kitchener Centre Kitchener Centre (french: Kitchener-Centre) is a federal electoral district in Ontario, Canada, that has been represented in the House of Commons of Canada since 1997. Geography The district includes the north-central and north-eastern parts o ...

in the 1999 Ontario Election. * Lynne Yelich - Canadian Alliance/Conservative MP, Blackstrap, 2000–2015

Scientists

* Asaf Durakovic - physician and expert in nuclear medicine and depleted uranium; poet

Arts and entertainment

Michael Bublé Michael Steven Bublé ( ; born September 9, 1975) is a Canadian singer. A four-time Grammy Award winner, he is often credited for helping to renew public interest and appreciation for traditional pop standards and the Great American Songboo ...

- singer * Steve Bacic - actor *

Frank Cvitanovich Frank Cvitanovich (14 August 1927 – 12 August 1995) was a Canadian documentary film maker, who made much of his best work for British television. Early years Cvitanovich was born in Vancouver, the son of a Croat immigrant. His father founded ...

- documentary filmmaker * Ivan Hrvatska - singer * Alicia Josipovic - actor * Stana Katic - actor * Josip Novakovich - writer * Daniella Pavičić - singer and songwriter *

Teresa Toten Teresa Toten (born October 13, 1955) is a Canadian writer. The daughter of a Canadian father and a Croatian mother, she was born in Zagreb and left with her parents for Canada on the day she was born. They settled in Delhi; her father died when ...

- writer

Athletes

* Nikola Andrijević -

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

player * Sandra Bezić -

figure skater Figure skating is a sport in which individuals, pairs, or groups perform on figure skates on ice. It was the first winter sport to be included in the Olympic Games, when contested at the 1908 Olympics in London. The Olympic disciplines are me ...

* Val Bezić - figure skater *

Željko Bilecki Željko Bilecki (April 28, 1950 – April 26, 2023) was a Canadian soccer player who played as a goalkeeper. Club career Bilecki played at the youth level with Toronto Croatia's junior team in 1969. In 1970, he played in the National Soccer ...

- soccer player *

Joseph Cattarinich Joseph Jean Étienne Stanislas Cattarinich (November 13, 1881 – December 7, 1938), was a Canadian professional Ice hockey player, and co-owner of horse racing tracks in Canada and the United States as well as a co-owner of the Montreal Canadien ...

- hockey player * George Chuvalo - boxer * Nick Dasović - soccer player * Great Antonio -

strength athlete A strength athlete is a person who trains for or competes in events in which muscular strength and power play a primary role. Such events include weightlifting and powerlifting, strength athletics and strongman competitions, and arm wrestling, as ...

Tony Hrkac Anthony John Hrkac (; born July 7, 1966) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player of Croatian and Ukrainian ancestry who played eighteen seasons of professional hockey. Playing career Collegiate Hrkac was drafted in the second round, ...

- hockey player * Dejan Jakovic - soccer player *

Ante Jazić Ante Jazić (born February 26, 1976) is a Canadian retired soccer player. Club career Youth Growing up in Bedford, Jazić started his soccer career as a youth player for Scotia Soccer Club. As a senior level, he played for one the nation's str ...

- soccer player * Dan Kordić - hockey player * John Kordić - hockey player * Frank Mahovlich - hockey player * Peter Mahovlich - hockey player *

Tony Mandarich Ante Josip "Tony" Mandarich (born September 23, 1966) is a Canadian former American football offensive tackle who played in the National Football League (NFL) for seven seasons. He was selected second overall by the Green Bay Packers in the 1989 ...

- NFL player * Phil Oresković - hockey player * Matt Pavelich - hockey player *

George Pesut George Matthew Pesut (born June 17, 1953) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player. He played in 92 NHL games for the California Golden Seals over two seasons. He also played in 17 WHA games with the Calgary Cowboys during the 1976 ...

- hockey player * Brian Sakić - hockey player * Joe Sakić - hockey player * Cory Sarich - hockey player * Paul Spoljarić -

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding t ...

player * Marc-Édouard Vlasić - hockey player * Bo Horvat - hockey player

Political activists

* Madeline-Ann Aksich *

Gojko Šušak Gojko Šušak (; 16 March 1945 – 3 May 1998) was a Croatian politician who held the post of Minister of Defence from 1991 to 1998 under President Franjo Tuđman. From 1990 to 1991 he was the Minister of Emigration and in 1991 the Deputy Minist ...

Other

Mato Dukovac Mato Dukovac (23 September 1918 – 6 June 1990) was the leading Croatian fighter ace of World War II, credited with between 40 and 44 confirmed victories. He joined the Air Force of the Independent State of Croatia following the Axis invasion o ...

- World War II fighter ace *

Zvonko Vranesic Zvonko Vranesic (born 4 October 1938) is a Croatian–Canadian International Master of chess, and an International Master of Correspondence Chess. He is an electrical engineer, a university professor, and a developer of computer chess software. ...

- Master of Chess * George "Stan Stasiak" Stipich - professional wrestler

References

External links

History of Croatian Canadians

Statistics Canada
{{Croatian diaspora *

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by to ...

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = " Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capi ...

Croatian

Demographics

Religious affiliation

Catholicism

Other Christian

Islam

Notable Croatian Canadians

Businesspeople

Politicians

Scientists

Arts and entertainment

Athletes

Political activists

Other

See also

References

External links