BRANTFORD’S POPULATION: 102,159

STATISTICS FOR THE PORTUGUESE IN BRANTFORD:

AS MOTHER TONGUE	AS MOST SPOKEN	KNOWLEDGE OF THE LANGUAGE	BORN IN PORTUGAL	ETHNIC ORIGIN
570 0.6% of population	180 0.2% of population	750 0.7% of population	380 0.4% of population	1,685 1.6% of population

Portuguese Club of Brantford, a lost gem

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The first Portuguese emigrated to Brantford in the 1950s to work in the tobacco fields and at Massey Ferguson, then the city’s major employer along with White Farm Equipment. Although in small numbers, most of the Portuguese residents of this region owned their homes but the formation of an organized club was still difficult due to the dispersion of rural residences. Over the years and with the decline of the agricultural industry, the Portuguese moved to the city and it became feasible to form an organization that facilitated the celebration of the culture and traditions of the old country. This association was founded in the early 1980s but survived only half a decade. Currently, the Luso-Canadians living in this city do not exceed two thousand but their majority is already fully integrated into Canadian society and no longer participates in the festivities of the Brotherhood of the Holy Spirit, the only Portuguese organization existent in Brantford. 

Maria Martins, a Brantford resident, got involved in the community soon after she arrived in Canada. In an interview with Luso-Ontario Magazine, in 2008, she recounted: “I came here in 1968 and when I arrived I didn’t like Brantford. My father came here in 1965 and worked at Massey Ferguson. There were very few Portuguese here. It was hard to adapt but then, when my father was on holidays, we would work in the tobacco farms and we started to know more Portuguese people. In the 1970’s, many Portuguese arrived here.”

This invasion of The Portuguese awakened the community’s pride and, in 1982, the Portuguese Club of Brantford was founded. “We had football, an adult folk group and a children’s group, Portuguese school… It was founded for the Portuguese people to join. There were many Portuguese people here and on the outskirts of the city. The Portuguese people worked in the tobacco farms and on weekends they’d come together. There was a football team that played in a league. The folk group was formed later and we represented Minho because the instructor, Manuel Neves, was minhoto. I’m from S. Miguel… we had people from everywhere. I was the Vice-President. It was very sad when the club closed its doors. It closed when the Holy Spirit Brotherhood was founded… it was more associated with the  church. The people of the Azores started to go to one side and those from the mainland to another,” Maria Martins recalled, and then confessed: “I would like the Portuguese community to be more united in this city.”

Maria Domingos was the last president of the defunct association in Brantford. In an interview with Luso-Ontario Magazine, back in 2008, she recalls those times with longing. “We rented church halls, schools, we had meetings at people’s homes, and rehearsals for the Beauty Pageant at other people’s homes. The club closed in 1986 and I was the last president. The Brotherhood continued and is still in existence.  We had a folk group that was a wonder” she recalls.

Today, Rego’s Supermarket is one of the lasting marks in an increasingly dispersed community. The owners José and Isabel Rego also remember the times when the Portuguese community of Brantford had a Portuguese Club but reiterate that the Portuguese are dispersed and integrated into Canadian society, many without interest for their roots. 

The Portuguese Club of Brantford is now part of history but in the downtown area a worn sign marks the site of the old club, and there it remains as if wanting to resist the misfortune of its disappearance. 

With files from Luso-Ontario Magazine, 2008

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