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Slovenian, Settlement

One of the first Slovenes to come to Canada was the Reverend Frederick Baraga, who arrived as a representative of the Jesuit Brotherhood in 1830. Reverend Baraga worked with the Aboriginal Peoples of the Lake Superior region where he became an expert on the language of the Ottawa and Chippewa peoples. Reverend Baraga's presence in Canada inspired many other Slovenes to immigrate to Canada.

Between 1900 and 1915 several thousand Slovenians moved to Canada. Most went to Ontario, but Slovenia communities also formed in the Alberta towns of Canmore, Barrhead, Coleman, Banff, Botha and Evergreen. Most of the Slovenes in Alberta became farmers, while others worked in the province's coalmines.

During the 1920s and 1930s, about 4,000 more Slovenians came to Canada, but few settled in Alberta. Those who did choose the prairies moved to Calgary, Edmonton or the Crow's Nest Pass area.