A History of the Austrian Migration to Canada

Book excerpt: Canadians of Austrian origin have helped define the Canadian cultural mosaic of the 20th century, making important contributions to their adopted home in virtually every field - from cultural and intellectual to scientific and commercial. Yet they seldom appear as a definable group in the Canadian ethnic spectrum, or in the literature relating to it. This threshold publication is one of two to emerge from an interdisciplinary research project undertaken during 1994 and 1995 to commemorate the millennium of Austria in 1996. The first major study in any language of Austrian migration to Canada, it documents the whole Austrian immigrant experience, combining new archival research, extensive personal interviews conducted across Canada and a nation-wide survey of Austrian-Canadians. Nine scholars from Austria and Canada bring together the diverse themes of this complex experience; their work recounts the history of the some 70,000 Austrian migrants and refugees who have found their place in the Canadian family tree. The companion to this volume is entitled Austrian Immigration to Canada: Selected Essays.