Russians

RUSSIANS were among the earliest explorers and traders on the Northwest Coast. They trapped furs and traded from their base in Alaska (see FUR TRADE, MARITIME), although Spain and Britain prevented them from establishing settlements on the BC coast. Russia's presence on the West Coast ended completely with the sale of Alaska to the US in 1867. The first Russian immigrants to BC were left-leaning political emigrés from the Tsarist regime. In 1909 a socialist club, the Russian Progressive Club, was established by these newcomers. The club was dissolved in 1918 after its members were arrested by Canadian authorities in the wake of the Bolshevik Revolution. A large wave of immigrants came to Canada after 1917 to escape the turmoil of the revolution. While most settled in eastern Canada, a small group, mainly army officers and their families, came to BC from the Russian colony of Harbin in Manchuria. Another wave of immigration followed WWII; it included a large group of Russians from Shanghai who came to BC in 1947 to escape the Chinese communist revolution. While immigrants who arrived before the Russian Revolution tended to be poor and illiterate, many of those who came later were well-educated professionals. In 1926 the Russian Orthodox Church of the Holy Resurrection was established in VANCOUVER, followed by 2 other ORTHODOX churches, St Nicholas and Holy Trinity. A separate group of Russian immigrants, the DOUKHOBORS, settled in the KOOTENAY and BOUNDARY districts in the early 1900s. Largely because of the Doukhobors, BC has a larger population of Russian origin than any other province: in 2001, 86,105 people claimed Russian background. Since the 1970s Russian Jews have been the main immigrants to BC from Russia. The 3 Orthodox churches remain the centre of Russian culture in Vancouver.
by Dianne Mackay