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by Adriana Albi Davies, Ph.D.
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The coming in of Leduc No. 1 in 1947 changed the economy of Alberta. With it came
opportunities for work not only in the oil patch but also in the range of industries
supporting it and the growing population of the region. Edmonton truly was also the
"gateway to the North."
 As has been noted in the Canadian overview, the economy
of Italy had been devastated by the War and emigration was encouraged by the Government of
Italy. In its own right, the Government of Canada sought immigrants to support its
economic growth. Edmonton became a destination of choice for
both skilled and unskilled labour. New West Construction provided employment to many among
the first being Raffaele (Ralph) Albi
and Attilio Gatto in 1949.
The New West Construction yard, near the CN tracks on 113 street in the Oliver area,
had a small duplex in which the Albi and Gatto families resided in 1951-53. Angelo
Santa Rosa was their foreman. They did road construction work among other construction
activities and Bill Nigro was based in Edson from 1946 to 1957 and then came to Edmonton.
 Once immigrants were financially on their feet and
had learned the language, they looked for other work opportunities. Mr. Albi moved to
Imperial Oil and worked on plant maintenance. Because he had quickly acquired English, he
was able to obtain his carpenter's papers (he was a trained master carpenter in Italy). He
used his knowledge to help many others acquire their trade qualifications by serving as an
interpreter when they sat their exams. He also helped many obtain work at Imperial Oil,
among the first being his bestman and friend, Attilio Gatto. He is fondly remembered by
many in the community, but also summer students who worked at the refinery including Allan Shute, founder of Tree Frog Press.
Whereas earlier immigration from Italy had brought largely unskilled labour from Italy's
rural south, the new immigration brought people with trades. This included carpenters,
masons and, to a lesser extent, tailors, teachers, engineers and others. Among their
numbers were people who came for the love of travel and adventure, and also because they
did not like what was happening in Italy.
Sabatino Roncucci came in to Edmonton in 1958. He had his own tailoring firm but was not happy with the Italian way of doing things. Bribery and corruption were rampant. On his arrival, he bought a house and car and got
employment the day after his arrival at the Hudson Bay Co. in downtown Edmonton.
Tony Falcone, a recently qualified school teacher in Italy, came because, having sat state
exams, he would have had to wait for up to three years to get either a teaching or civil
service job.
Alessandro Urso mentions in his interview that the ad that he saw in an
Italian newspaper used the word "trasferire," which means transfer. He did not
see himself as "emigrating" but, rather, as a newly qualified engineer, he saw
himself "transferring" to a better position than the one he had. Immigration
authorities had chosen for him a destination in Quebec-Armstrong-near the American
border. He didn't find work there and went on to Sherbrooke and Montreal where he found a
job in Domo Chemicals. Through a friend who found work in the petrochemical industry, he
was encouraged to come to Edmonton where he began working for the Government of Alberta in
the area of environmental monitoring (specifically, water pollution).
 The City of Edmonton also became a significant employer for both unskilled and skilled labour.
Carlo and Lina Amodio, as newly-weds, came to Edmonton in 1967 and
Carlo was hired by the
City of Edmonton as an appraiser and worked for the City for over 30 years before moving
into consulting work. Frank Cairo came as a newly-qualified hairdresser and ended up
establishing his own business, which developed into the Marvel School of Hair Design and
associated businesses. Antonio and Aurora Frattin came in 1956 and
Antonio began to work for
the Honeyboy Bakery and ended up as superintendent. In 1960, they established the Italian
Bakery.
 Earlier immigrants had established grocery stores but, as
Mr. Enrico Butti pointed out in
his interview, they sold the same goods as anybody else. Goods from Italy could not be
obtained easily and were expensive. In the post-war wave of immigration, we see another
phenomenon and Mr. Frank Spinelli
played a key role. Initially he worked in the North but
after a work injury, he received a compensation payment and began the Italian Centre Shop. He was a clever businessman and expanded his grocery store into a wholesale business
supplying Safeway and other mainstream chains. The
Saccomanno brothers, Frank and
Maurizio, also began an Italian grocery store.
 They were to change the food habits
of
Edmontonians as were restauranteurs such as Giovanni Prete and
Carmelo Rago and his
father-in-law Maurizio Saccomanno who started the Sorrentino chain of restaurants.
Ralph Maio set up the popular Sceppas, which flourished in various downtown locations before
becoming Il Forno in the west end. There are numerous other restaurants that have enriched
Edmonton's social life.
 While much attention has been paid to male immigration, very little has been
done with female immigration. Very few women came to Alberta
alone-most came as wives or in arranged marriages. They too
made their way into the work force in jobs requiring skill but not
language. A popular employer was the Great West Garment Company
(GWG) and other businesses (such as Tony Lynn) requiring skilled
seamstresses. Women also worked in institutions such as
hospitals and also undertook janitorial duties.
 Those who came as children (including Adriana Albi, Silvano Vecchio, Rita Vecchio) went to
university and qualified as teachers and other specialists. This was an important sign in
the entrenchment of the community and the validation that community members had "made
it." Italian immigrants were now a part of the "mainstream." Adriana Albi
got her doctorate in comparative literature (English and French) from the University of
London, England, and, on her return to Canada, became the Science and Technology Editor of
The Canadian Encyclopedia. Others, such as Caterina Edwards and Giuseppe Albi have
established reputations as artists. Enrico Musacchio, Massimo Verdicchio and
Joe Pivato
are established academics.
After the struggles of the first generation of immigrants in the three
principal waves of
immigration to Alberta, Italian Community members in Edmonton have
become a part of
mainstream society. They have, even, in the case of Sab Roncucci, influenced provincial
and national policies in the area of multiculturalism.
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Heritage Community Foundation Presents
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