Amelia Lindsay-Kaufman

The History and Future of the Ukrainian Language in Canada

Canada has the third largest population of Ukrainian speakers after Ukraine and

Russia. In 2011 Ukrainians made up Canada’s 9th largest ethnic group. However, only

a small fraction (11.5% in 2011) actively use the Ukrainian language. Because

Ukrainians make up such a large percent of the Canadian population and have been

living there since the late 1800s/early 1900s, the evolution over time of the Ukrainian

language in Canada can be used to model how languages in general evolve when they

are spoken by a minority group in a country with a different majority language.

Furthermore Ukrainian language schools and Ukrainian/English bilingual schools have

existed in Canada almost as long as Ukrainians have lived there, and thus from the

effect of Ukrainian schools on the use of the Ukrainian language in Canada it may be

possible to ascertain possible effects of other language schools on the prevalence and

development of their languages. The ultimate goal of language schools in Canada and

elsewhere is to preserve a foreign language (and, through language, culture) in an

environment where it is in danger of being overwhelmed by another language and

culture. By looking at the evolution of the Ukrainian language in Canada and the history

of Ukrainian schools it may be possible to generalize to other languages, for example

the Russian language in Canada, and predict whether it will be ultimately possible to

preserve a language in a foreign country.

 Ukrainian immigration to Canada took place in three waves1. The first wave, of

170,000 people, took place between 1891 and the beginning of World War One. The

majority of these Ukrainians came from Western Ukraine, specifically the provinces of

Galicia and Bukovina, which was at the time under Austrian rule. These immigrants

settled almost exclusively in the Prairie region, as a result of the Canadian policy of

granting free “homesteads” to settlers in the Prairies. This first wave established

Ukrainian communities in Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Alberta, into which later

immigrants preferentially settled. The second wave of immigrants, with 68,000

Ukrainians, arrived between the two world wars. The third wave began in 1946 and

tapered out after 1961, although immigration continues today at a reduced rate. These

three waves of immigration have influenced the way Ukrainian is spoken in Canada.

During the first wave of immigration, a new dialect of Ukrainian arose called

Canadian Ukrainian (sometimes called Ukish). Canadian Ukrainian descended from the

Ukrainian spoken by immigrants in the first wave, which was the variant of Ukrainian

spoken in Western Ukraine rather than the more standard variant from the urban

centers. Canadian Ukrainian has been influenced less by Russian than what is now

standard Ukrainian, and has been influenced more by English. Concepts invented after

the immigration into Canada are expressed as English words adapted to Ukrainian

morphology. Furthermore the phonology and sentence structure of Canadian Ukrainian

have shifted to be more like the phonology and sentence structure of English. Although

standard Ukrainian continues to be brought into Canada by more recent immigrants,

Canadian Ukrainian is still spoken and is the dialect taught in most Ukrainian language

programs in Canada. Some studies have shown that the difference between dialects is
great enough to create a language barrier between established Canadian Ukrainians

who have lived in Canada for multiple generations and new Ukrainian immigrants. One

recent Ukrainian immigrant to Canada said that the Ukrainians who had already been

living there for several generations “were not speaking the same language […] which

[was] weird because it is the same language, but you have this era in between.4” Given

that Canadian dialects of many languages have been documented (most famously,

Canadian French is significantly different from French in France even though French is

an official language of Canada), divergence of dialects is likely inevitable in languages

spoken in two separated communities. This is an important factor to consider in

attempting to preserve the language of ethnic minorities in a foreign country, as the

language may evolve away from the standard despite successful preservation

programs.

Shortly after the arrival of the first wave a number of Ukrainian schools were

established by the immigrants2. One common type of educational centers were

“prosvitas”, or local reading rooms. Bilingual public schools were founded in 1905 in

Manitoba and Saskatchewan as was the Ruthenian Training School for Ukrainian

Teachers in Winnipeg. In Manitoba the Ukrainian settlers founded and attended many

bilingual Ukrainian-English schools, until Manitoba’s bilingual school policy was

abolished in 1916 despite protests from the Ukrainian community. Ukrainian schools

were banned in other provinces around the same time due to wartime paranoia and

nationalism, and the pressure for Ukrainians to assimilate into Canadian society

became stronger. After this, Ukrainian education was offered unofficially in community-

run schools in an effort to preserve Ukrainian cultural identity. The bilingual policy in
Manitoba was not reinstated until 1980, at which point English-Ukrainian school

programming again became available in some schools. Due to the Russification of

Ukraine and a desire to protect the Ukrainian language from obsolescence, from the

1950s to the 1980s the Ukrainian communities in Canada arranged for Ukrainian to

become a recognized language of study in universities. Despite the long

discouragement of official Ukrainian schools, until recently Canadian Ukrainians had

one of the highest percentages of mother tongue speakers among the ethnic

communities in Canada and were mostly successful in preserving their culture3. Only in

the past few decades has Ukrainian language use declined in Canada.

Census records has shown that, while the numbers of Ukrainian speakers were

relatively stable until the early 20th century, in the last 60 years the number of active

speakers has fallen dramatically. In 1951 there were 352,000 Ukrainian speakers in

Canada, and Ukrainian was the most spoken language other than English and French.

In 1971 there were 309,000. In 1991 there were 175,000, and in 2006 there were

135,000 speakers of Ukrainian in Canada with Ukrainian no longer in the top ten most

spoken languages in Canada. Even more telling is that the numbers of Ukrainian

immigrants to Canada who speak Ukrainian at home is also falling. In 1971, 145,000 out

of 309,000 speakers actually used their language at home. In 1991 that number was

down to less than 80,000. Language spoken at home is especially important because

when a language is regularly spoken at home or at school it is more likely to be retained

and passed onto the next generation. While Ukrainian schools are now legal in Canada,

they are becoming increasingly less popular. Most language programs are for

elementary schoolers only, and university courses have seen a decline in student
registration. Between both home and school language use declining, it appears that

Ukrainian in Canada is endangered.

The shift occurring in Ukrainian-Canadian culture which seems to be the cause of

the decline in language use is that language ability is ceasing to be an ethnic identifier 4.

Ukrainians by heritage living in Canada who want to identify themselves as Ukrainian

previously could only do this by demonstrating proficiency in the language. In recent

decades other forms of demonstrating one’s culture, such as folk dancing, traditional

weddings, and traditional art have become acceptable substitutes for language.

Ukrainian folk dancing is now more popular in Canada than in Ukraine. Many Ukrainians

living in Canada decorate their homes with paintings made by recognizable Ukrainian

artists. One study stated that the “third dimension of ethnic identity—‘doing,’ which

involves participation in group activities, friendships, music, traditional food, clothes,

etc.— is the most widely used indicator of ethnic identity”4. This preference of cultural

activities over language proficiency has created a divide between “diasporic” Ukrainian

Canadians and recent immigrants from Ukraine, many of whom doubt the authenticity of

the Canadian Ukrainians’ claim to their heritage. This divide is exacerbated by the fact

that many Ukrainians from Ukraine speak both Russian and Ukrainian, while Ukrainians

in Canada rarely speak Russian. Canadian Ukrainians often listen to traditional

Ukrainian music, while many Ukrainians in or recently from Ukraine find it ““quotidian,”

influenced by Soviet heritage, and in the “shadow” of the Russian music industry and

Soviet legacy”. In this way not only is the Ukrainian language in Canada diverging from

Ukrainian language in Ukraine, but the Canadian Ukrainian community is diverging from

the Ukrainian community in terms of cultural interests and language dynamics.

 From the information found it seems that the presence of Ukrainian schools is not

the most powerful influence on language use. Language use even began declining

around the same time Ukrainian school programs became common, although there is

no evidence showing a causal relationship between those two things. While use of

language in school is important, use of language at home, and by extension motivation

to use the language regularly, is a more important factor in determining whether the

language will be taken on by the next generation. Motivation to use the language seems

to stem from wanting to affirm one’s ethnic identity, and now as it becomes possible to

do that through other activities, language use is declining. Furthermore the Ukrainian

language in Canada has been heavily influenced by English to the extent that a

language barrier sometimes arises between Ukrainians in Canada and Ukrainians from

Ukraine. In addition to the divergence of the dialect, it is a common practice among

Canadian Ukrainians to use Ukrainian words in English sentences (or vice versa) rather

than speaking only Ukrainian. All this suggests that the dialect will continue to diverge

from standard Ukrainian under the influence of English, which will hasten its

replacement with English in the community. While the Ukrainian community in Canada

remains active and still includes tens of thousands of enthusiastic members who take

part in many folk traditions and keep their cultural heritage alive, the use of the

Ukrainian language in Canada is declining and will likely die out altogether in the next

century unless some new factor comes into play which makes language proficiency

necessary to the community again. From this we can extrapolate that in order to

maintain any active language in Canada, not only must there be language school
programs, but the heritage must be important to the ethnic community and language

use must be seen as an indispensable part of ethnic identity.

RUSSIAN SUMMARY:

У Канады есть огромное население Украинцев, которые там жили с началы

двадцатого века. Из-за того, что их население такое большое и оно приехал в

Канаду так давно, через изменение использование Украинского языка, можно

узнать как языки в общем изменяются в в чужой стране. Хотя программы на

иностранном языке чаще всего были незаконны в Канаде с Первой мировой

войны до 80-х годов, оба официональные и неофициальные Украинские языковые

школы всегда были распространённами. Много Украинцев живущие в украинских

сообществах построили школы, чтобы продолжать их наследие. Первые

иммигранты на самом деле создали свой диалект Украинского, который

отличается от стандартного украинского языка достаточно, чтобы Украинцам из

Украины сложно понять. Большинство преподаватели украинского языка в Канаде

преподают этот диалект. До 70-х и 80-х годов, количество носителей украинского

языка не много изменялось, но недавно количество носителей значительно

уменьшилось. Некоторые учёные считают, что это потому, что раньше, Украинцы

в Канаде говорили по-украински, чтобы показать, что они были настоящами

членами их этнического сообщества. Теперь можно показать наследие через

другие мероприятие, например традиционный танец - Украинский традиционный

танец теперь популярнее в Канаде чем в Украине. Если использование языка не

снова станет важным методом показать Украинскую идентичность, наверно

использование языка продолжит снизиться. Из этого, можно узнать, что один из

самых важных факторов для поддержании языка в чужом стране, это то, что

владение языком важное сообществу.

1
Makuch, Andrij. "THE HISTORY OF UKRAINIANS IN CANADA." Toronto Ukrainian Genealogy Group.
N.p., n.d. Web.
2
Duravetz, George. "First Wave of Ukrainian Immigration to Canada, 1891-1914." Virtualmuseum. Taras
Shevchenko Museum, n.d. Web.
3
Hudyma, Khrystyna. "Ukrainian Language in Canada: From Prosperity to Extinction?" University of
Saskatchewan, 2011. Web.

4
Lynn, Susanna. "Ethnic Identity Discourses of Recent Ukrainian Immigrants to Canada: Interactions between
New Ukrainian-Canadians and the Established Ukrainian-Canadian Diaspora." University of Alberta, 2014.
Web.