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Unlike most immigrants to Canada, Jews did not come from a place where they were the majority cultural group. Jews were internationally dispersed at the time of the ancient Roman Empire and after unsuccessful revolts against it lost their sovereignty in their ancient homeland. Subsequently, Jews lived, sometimes for many centuries, as minorities in the Middle East, North Africa and Europe. In the 2011 National Household Survey (NHS), 329,495 Canadians identified as Jewish when responding to the census question on religion, and 309,650 identified as being of Jewish ethnic origin (115,640 single and 194,010 multiple responses).

SKY Lee, illustrator, novelist, short-story writer (b at Port Alberni, BC 1952). SKY Lee grew up in Port Alberni, BC. She moved to Vancouver in 1967, where she received a BA in fine arts from the University of British Columbia. She also received a diploma in nursing from Douglas College.

Priscila Uppal, FRSC, poet, novelist, playwright, professor (born 30 October 1974 in Ottawa, ON; died 5 September 2018 in Toronto, ON). Dubbed “Canada’s coolest poet,” Priscila Uppal was a politically pointed voice in contemporary Canadian poetry. Her writing addressed issues surrounding women, violence, sexuality, culture, religion, illness and loss. Her works were shortlisted for the Griffin Poetry Prize and a Governor General’s Literary Award. She was named the Canadian Athletes Now Fund poet-in-residence for the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics and Paralympics, and the 2012 Summer Olympics and Paralympics in London, England. She also taught creative writing and English literature at York University.

Masumi Mitsui, MM, farmer, soldier, Canadian Legion official (born 7 October 1887 in Tokyo, Japan; died 22 April 1987 in Hamilton, ON). Masumi Mitsui immigrated to Canada in 1908 and served with distinction in the First World War. In 1931, he and his comrades persuaded the BC government to grant Japanese Canadian veterans the right to vote, a breakthrough for Japanese and other disenfranchised Canadians. Nevertheless, Matsui and more than 22,000 Japanese Canadians were displaced, detained and dispossessed by the federal government during the Second World War (see Internment of Japanese Canadians).

Han territory traditionally straddled the Yukon-Alaska boundary, extending along the Yukon River from about 20 km south of Dawson northward to about 50 km south of Circle, Alaska.

Raymond Dudley. Pianist, teacher, b Bowmanville, Ont, 20 Jun 1931, d Columbia, South Carolina, 16 Dec 2004; ARCT 1947, LRCT 1949, Artist Diploma (RCMT) 1952.

Arthur Herbert Lindsay “Tappy” Richardson, VC, policeman, soldier, war hero, labourer (born 23 September 1872 in Southport, England; died 15 December 1932 in Liverpool, England). Richardson served in the North-West Mounted Police from 1894 to 1907 but took leave in 1900 to fight in the South African War. He was the first member of a Canadian unit to receive the Victoria Cross.

Philip Siu Lun Lee, CM, OM, 24th lieutenant-governor of Manitoba 2009–15, research chemist (born 5 May 1944 in Hong Kong). Lee was installed as 24th lieutenant-governor of Manitoba following 38 years in municipal civil service. Lee was the first person of Asian heritage to be appointed to the vice-regal position in Manitoba and the third Chinese Canadian appointed lieutenant-governor in Canada.

Cornelia Hahn Oberlander, CC, OBC, landscape architect (born 20 June 1921 in Mülheim an der Ruhr, Germany; died 22 May 2021 in Vancouver, BC). Cornelia Oberlander moved to Vancouver, British Columbia in 1953, where she founded her own architectural firm. During her career, Oberlander established herself as a landscape architect and became recognized for her social and environmental approach to architectural design. (See also Landscape Architecture.) Oberlander was the recipient of numerous awards and honours throughout her career and life.

George (Dimitri) Sawa. Ethnomusicologist, b Alexandria, Egypt, 18 Jan 1947; B SC (Alexandria) 1969, Diploma performance and theory (RSM) 1970, Licentiate music education (RSM) 1970, MA musicology (Toronto) 1971, PH D Middle East and Islamic studies (Toronto) 1983.

Migration is a unique experience for a child and Canada receives child migrants from all over the world. Some children come as unaccompanied minors and claim refugee status, some come alone and wait to be reunited with their families, while others are international adoptees by Canadian families.

English-speakers in Québec form a linguistic minority from a wide range of ethnic, religious, and socio-economic backgrounds and with many regional differences. The presence of this minority dates back to the French Regime, but coherent communities developed only after the British Conquest. The proportion of English-speakers increased in the years leading up to Confederation , followed by a gradual decline, particularly in the regions outside Montréal.

Lotta Hitschmanova (née Hitschmann), CC, humanitarian, founder of the Unitarian Service Committee of Canada (born 28 November 1909 in Prague, Bohemia, now the Czech Republic; died 1 August 1990 in Ottawa, ON).

Henri Bourassa, politician, journalist (born 1 Sept 1868 in Montreal; died 31 Aug 1952 in Montreal). Henri Bourassa was an important Canadian nationalist leader who supported Canada’s increased independence from the British Empire. Bourassa was also an advocate for French Canadian rights within Canada.

The Asahi was a Japanese Canadian baseball club in Vancouver (1914–42). One of the city’s most dominant amateur teams, the Asahi used skill and tactics to win multiple league titles in Vancouver and along the Northwest Coast. In 1942, the team was disbanded when its members were among the 22,000 Japanese Canadians who were interned by the federal government (see Internment of Japanese Canadians). The Asahi were inducted into the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame in 2003 and the British Columbia Sports Hall of Fame in 2005.

Old Believers, also known as Old Ritualists, are descendants of conservative members of the Russian Orthodox Church who refused to accept a reform imposed in the mid-17th century by the patriarch Nikon.

Duo Turgeon, husband and wife piano team formed in 1994 by Edward Turgeon (born 13 July 1964 in Scarborough, ON), B MUS (Toronto) 1988, M MUS (Yale) 1993, MMA (Yale) 1994, DMA (Yale) 2000) and Anne Louise-Turgeon (born 10 Mar 1967 in Montréal, QC), B MUS (Toronto) 1989, M MUS (Yale) 1993, MMA (Yale) 1994, DMA (Yale) 2000).

The Canadian Expeditionary Force (CEF), of some 630,000 men during the Great War of 1914–18, consisted almost entirely of civilian soldiers. Pre-war farmers, clerks, students, and workers voluntarily enlisted to serve King and Country, although close to 100,000 were conscripted for service in the last year of the war. Most of the Canadian senior officers were drawn from the middle class — lawyers, engineers, professional soldiers, businessmen, farmers, and even a dentist.

Donald Alexander Smith, 1st Baron Strathcona and Mount Royal, fur trader, railroad financier, diplomat (born 6 August 1820 in Forres, Scotland; died 21 January 1914 in London, England). Smith was a leading businessman, politician, diplomat and philanthropist of the 19th and early 20th century. He was governor of the Hudson’s Bay Company, president of the Bank of Montreal and high commissioner for Canada in the United Kingdom. Smith also played an important role in the development of the Canadian Pacific Railway, the Royal Victoria Hospital in Montreal and the Royal Victoria College for women at McGill University.