Manitoba

Communities: Winnipeg – Thompson

POPULATION OF MANITOBA: 1,386,000

STATISTICS FOR THE PORTUGUESE IN MANITOBA:

AS MOTHER TONGUE	AS MOST SPOKEN	KNOWLEDGE OF THE LANGUAGE	BORN IN PORTUGAL	ETHNIC ORIGIN
6,585 O.5% of population	2,800 0.2% of population	8,460 0.6% of population	4,380 0.3% of population	14,540 1.1% of population

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PROFILE OF THE COMMUNITY IN MANITOBA

For a thorough profile of the Portuguese in Manitoba from the decades that saw the largest growth and the settling of the community (1960 to 1990), please consult the work compiled and written by Agostinho Bairos, former Community Consultant for the Multiculturalism Secretariat of Alberta and former board member of the Portuguese Association of Manitoba:

A Profile of the Portuguese Community in Manitoba

Note: published with author’s consent

VIBRANT COMMUNITY WITH WINNIPEG AS THE CENTRE

Audio Version:

The first Portuguese who arrived in Canada were mainly destined to Ontario, Quebec, and British Columbia. In Western Canada, they worked mainly at the Canadian National Railway or as farmhands. Those who worked in the farms, were laid off in the winter and looked for employment and accommodation in cities. This is how they got to Winnipeg and, later, spread throughout the Province of Manitoba, especially the northern part, to work in the mines.

The 1950s and 60s saw a few Portuguese settle in Manitoba. The numbers grew as the early settlers, mostly men, called for their families and continued to have more children. The 1970s witnessed the largest boom of immigration from Portugal, followed by a slow decline in the early 80s and then again a large number at the end of that decade. The 1990s witnessed a slow influx of Portuguese and, by the new millennium only a few have arrived here from Portugal.  

Winnipeg has always been the main destination for the Portuguese who sought to work and live in Manitoba. The 2016 Canadian Census shows that there are nearly thirteen thousand residents in the city who consider Portuguese their ethnic background, of which just over four thousand were born in Portugal. These numbers, when contrasted with the totals for the province (14,540 who consider Portuguese their ethnic heritage and 4,380 who were born in Portugal), show clear evidence that the vast majority of Luso-Canadians who reside in the province have settled in Winnipeg.

There is, however, a town in northern Manitoba that once boasted a significant Portuguese population: Thompson. This town, located eight hours north of Winnipeg, was once a thriving mining region, which attracted several ethnicities to the area, including the Portuguese. Here, there was once a Portuguese school, founded by Joaquim Lima and directed by teacher Fernanda Magalhães, and weekend gatherings at a location in town that became the closest to a Portuguese association. In Thompson, the community also once celebrated Our Lady of Fatima, each May 13, at the St. Lawrence Roman Catholic Church. Currently, the community has dwindled to a few.

In Winnipeg, the story is completely different. Here, the community has been thriving since the 1960s. The associative movement began in 1966 with the founding of the Portuguese Association of Manitoba, an organization that continues to be the most significant in the community, offering various opportunities for the locals to engage not only in our heritage but also in different other social, cultural, and sporting activities. The organization became the first ever to have a pavilion representing Portugal at the distinguished Folklorama, a municipal initiative that showcases its various ethnicities.

The decade that followed saw a large movement in the community. It started in 1973 with the formation of Banda Lira de Fátima, formed at the Immaculate Conception church, the parish most frequented by the Portuguese in the city. The church burnt down in 1978, prompting the community to rebuild a new one, which was inaugurated in 1980.

Casa do Minho was founded in 1974 and quickly became a dynamic and vibrant organization in the province. Beyond boasting folk-dance groups, soccer teams, and various cultural and social events, the organization was integrated into Folklorama in 1982 and continues, to this day, to represent Portugal with a pavilion every single year.

A group of Azoreans felt that their community was not well represented in Manitoba and decided to found Casa dos Açores de Winnipeg in 1992. It continues to serve the community to this day.

Although Winnipeg is the epicentre of the Portuguese community in Manitoba, there are other landmarks in the province that have become very much Portuguese. One is the Portuguese Park, originally purchased by the Portuguese Association and located in the municipality of Saint Laurent, on the margins of Lake Manitoba. The other is Winnipeg Beach, a location that has become a favourite for the Luso-Canadians in the area (check out a documentary about Winnipeg Beach here).

Interestingly, the Portuguese have also left a mark on the most northern city in the province. In Churchill, a town that is known as the Polar Bear Capital of Canada, there was once a famous establishment called Gypsy’s Bakery, which was owned by a Portuguese family. We are still looking for the opportunity to tell this story. If you can help, please contact us.

Although not the largest in Canada, the Portuguese community of Manitoba is certainly one of the most dynamic and vibrant. Its concentration in the City of Winnipeg has helped the cause, but the commitment of many in the community cannot be undermined. Here, you are not only able to bask in the cultural aspects of our heritage, but you can also visit and enjoy the various establishments that reminds one of the old country.

If you notice errors or misrepresentations in the article, please e-mail contact@lusocanada.com

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