The earliest Armenian settlements in Canada go back to the 1880's. The first person to have settled in Ontario is believed to have been one named Garabed Nergararian in 1887, in Port Hope. A few Armenian students were sponsored by Canadian missionaries to study in Canadian University.
One such student by the name of Mesrob Baghdasarian studied at McMaster University. In a letter to the Governor General dated January 21, 1896, the Chancellor of the University requested that Baghdasarian's family be assisted to escape from their native town of Kharpert in the Ottoman Empire.
Most of the Armenian immigrants during this period who settled on the American continent, mainly in the United States, came from the various regions of the Ottoman Empire. Soon some were recruited to Canada to work in the factories of Brantford, Hamilton and St. Catharines. Others are believed to have been hired in the construction of the Canadian Pacific Railway, according to the Canadian Family Tree. These were few in numbers, and it is not known whether they stayed on in Canada when work on the Pacific Railway was completed.
Read more about the history of the Armenian community in Canada from "A History of the Armenian People" by George A. Bournoutian .. |
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