Photo by Malgorzata Kowalczuk
Metro Vancouver’s Polish community will be holding its third annual Polish Cultural Festival on Sept. 6 and 7 in North Vancouver, presented by Belweder, the non-profit North Shore Polish Association.
“The main purpose of the society is to keep the Polish culture and tradition alive in our community,” says Urszula Sulinska, president of Belweder.
Waves of immigration
Sulinska, who immigrated to Canada in 1987, says that there have been six waves of Polish immigration to Canada, the first of which occurred in the latter part of the 19th century. Between the World Wars, most new arrivals settled on the prairies. After WWII, many former members of the Polish armed forces, inmates from Nazi concentration camps and refugees from communist Poland came to Canada to start a new life; over fifty per cent settled in Ontario. The last wave of immigration into Canada, 1981-93, Sulinska says was motivated by Poland’s economic and political crisis.
B.C.’s Polish population rested at 128,360 in 2011, roughly half of which resided in Vancouver, says Sulinska. This number is now increasing due to births from Canadians of Polish descent. Immigration rates have decreased over the years as a result of Poland’s increasing economic and political stability.
“Immigration to Canada isn’t happening as much anymore because Poland is a free country now and there are no political reasons to emigrate. Some people come here because they are employed by companies who are looking for skilled workers, but not that many,” says Sulinska.
Belweder, founded in 2002, aims to help people who have immigrated here integrate their Polish and Canadian heritages.
“We are helping Polish people better understand Canadian culture and build the bridge between these two cultures,” says Sulinska.
The Polish community today
Ursula Sulinska | Photo by Malgorzata Kowalczuk
Belweder promotes Polish education, music and arts by holding local events. Sulinska emphasizes the importance of involving children in these cultural events in order to pass on the Polish culture to the next generation.
Attending a Polish school is an option for parents who want their children to learn about the Polish language and culture. Sulinska says that being able to speak Polish has a number of benefits, including opening communication with overseas family members and pursuing education or employment in Poland. The Church of St. Casimir in Vancouver houses a Polish school that has been issuing high school diplomas since 1953. According to Sulinska, the first Polish missionaries, pioneers in the creation of the Catholic Church and other faiths, came to Canada as early as 1841 and eventually settled in the parish of St. Casimir in 1944. The church also unites the members of the local Polish community through patriotic demonstrations, prayer groups and a children’s choir.
“The Polish church is very buoyant here and the Polish children who have completed the school speak perfect Polish. They are familiar with the history and culture of their people,” says Sulinska.
Another association, the Polish Friendship ZGODA Society, was established in 1926 to preserve the Polish identity and language and to help new arrivals settle into their new lives in Canada. In 1959, the society opened the Polish Community Centre on Fraser Street, which offers services such as Polish folk dancing lessons and celebrates traditions like Dozynki, the Polish Harvest Festival.
Sulinska feels that it is important to encourage all community members to get involved in Polish cultural activities, like the annual Polish Cultural Festival.
“Our goal was to share all that is Polish with North Shore’s multicultural community,” Sulinska says of last year’s Polish Cultural Festival. “The event had an educational character, and it was interesting to get to know more people from the North Shore community.”
This year’s Polish Cultural Festival will include authentic Polish cuisine, folk dancing and a string quartet, among other spectacles. The second day of the festival will be dedicated to children’s activities, including face painting and a puppet theatre.
