Pakistan is located on the western side of the Indian
subcontinent. The
name "Pakistan" was actually derived from two Persian words:
"Pak" meaning pure, and "Stan" meaning country
or land. Pakistan possess a diverse and beautiful landscape with towering mountain peaks,
lush valleys, and expansive deserts. Many Pakistanis adhere to
the Muslim faith which is ruled by the philosophy that the will of God
can bee seen in all things.
Even though the Pakistani people began to come to Canada as early
as the eighteenth century, the Pakistani people make up one of the
smallest communities in this country. The lack of extensive immigration
by the Pakistani
people to Canada is largely due to the strict immigration laws of
this country. Immigration on any sort of major scale into Alberta from Pakistan
was not able to occur until around 1960, but only after 1967 did a
large
majority of the Pakistani people begin arriving in Alberta. During
this time, many of the immigrants who arrived in Alberta from
Pakistan, were people who possessed a formal education - professionals such as doctors, engineers and teachers.
Around the mid 1970s Pakistani immigrants who were
tradesmen, and skilled workers also began to immigrate to Alberta.
Many Pakistani's, upon arrival in Alberta faced huge obstacles.
They are forced to familiarize themselves with an entirely new language and
face serious cultural
barriers and often times discrimination. Many Pakistanis have
encountered difficulties obtaining education, finding employment
that enables them to utilize the skills they obtained in their
homeland, and fitting in with westerners. As a result, most Pakistani immigrants
in Canada have tended to settle in larger urban cities such as Edmonton or
Calgary where they can seek out other Pakistanis that have lived
and worked in this country to help them adjust to their new
society.
During the 1980s there was a sizeable number of Pakistanis refused
immigration status for a number of reasons. Canada's immigration policy changed around this
time, making immigration into the country more difficult than
before and, during this same period, many Universities began
charging a lot more for foreign student tuition. The increase in
tuition costs was a significant issue because the majority of
Pakistani who choose to immigrate to Canada do so as students looking for educational
training that is unavailable to them in Pakistan. For those
Pakistanis that are able to immigrate into Canada, Alberta is home
to one of the largest Pakistani communities in Canada. The Pakistani
population of Alberta has come together to organize many
associations and to celebrate important days for the Pakistani
people in Alberta, such as Pakistan Day, and various Muslim faith festivals.
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This digital collection was
produced with financial assistance from Canada's Digital
Collections initiative, Industry Canada.
Heritage Community Foundation Presents
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