At the turn of the 19th century, one of the largest groups of non-British settlers to arrive in Canada were villagers from the Balkan mountains, then part of the Turkish Empire. These early residents (and their descendants) call themselves Macedonians. They speak Macedonian, and have their own social and economic institutions including churches, fraternal and self-help organizations, and community-based enterprise, mainly in Metropolitan Toronto and the southern Ontario region.
Migration and Settlement
The majority of Macedonians who migrated to Canada arrived in the aftermath of the Illinden Uprising of 1903 - a heroic but unsuccessful attempt by Macedonians to end Ottoman domination.
