SLOVAKIA TO CANADA
Every year, thousands of people from all over the world come to Canada to start a new life. They come with many different skills and the hope of contributing to their new society.

This website will help you find out more about Slovaks, where they come from and what life is like in Slovakia. Perhaps you are getting to know a Slovak family as part of the HOST Program, learning about the Slovak Republic in school or working with Slovaks. This website is meant to help you understand the needs of Slovak immigrants by describing the land they have left behind.

Slovakia, or the Slovak Republic, is one of Europe's newest countries. It was formed on January 1, 1993. There are approximately 2.5 million people of Slovak origin living outside Slovakia, almost half its current population. Canada has the third-largest Slovak community outside Slovakia, after the Czech Republic and the United States. There are more than 120,000 Canadians of Slovak origin. 
  Did you know?
Slovak violin virtuoso Charles (Karol) Dobias has been concertmaster with the Royal Winnipeg Ballet orchestra, the Stratford Festival orchestra and the National Ballet orchestra.
Slovak immigration to Canada began at the turn of the 20th century. Slovaks have emigrated to Canada in three major waves: after the First World War, after the Second World War and after the invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968. Today immigration from Slovakia has slowed, as economic prospects in the country have improved. Most immigrants in the 1920s and 1930s were young people who came to work in forestry, mining and agriculture. Many settled in Western Canada. Later immigrants settled in cities such as Montreal, Toronto and Windsor.

 Although this cultural profile provides insight into some customs, it does not cover all facets of life. The customs described may not apply to all immigrants from Slovakia.

  Summary Fact Sheet
Official Name:  Slovak Republic or Slovakia
Capital: Bratislava
Type of Government: Parliamentary Democracy
Population: 5.4 million 
Area: 49,035 sq. km 
Major Ethnic Groups: Slovaks, Hungarians, Ukrainians
Language: Slovak, Hungarian
Religions: Roman Catholicism, Evangelical Lutheran, Greek and Russian Orthodox
Unit of Currency: Slovak Koruna 
National Flag: Horizontal stripes of white, blue and red with the national emblem in the blue section.
Republic Established: January 1, 2022
  Did you know?
At Frank, Alberta, many Slovak miners died when a mountain collapsed and buried part of the town in 1903. Today a monument bearing the Slovak cross and emblem has been erected near the site.