Romanian Settlers in Alberta and, from Bukovina and Transylvania

Many Romanian settlements from the provinces of Bukovina and Transylvania, immigrated to Canada in the late 19th century. At that time, the northern part of Romania was part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. In 1914, there were 8,301 Romanians in Canada and a second source says that in the 1911 Census of Canada there was 15,000 Romanians in Canada.

One of my second cousins married a “Petruniuk” and this surname is on the list of the Romanian families who arrived from Boian, Bucovina, prior to 1900 and who formed the nucleus of the settlement of Boian, Alberta. However, as far as I know this family branch settled in Saskatchewan and I have a name of a village in the old country but can not find it on a map. This is going to take more research time as it looks like the village name is misspelled.

I also used to work with some people with the surnames of Toma and Knapp which show up near the early Romanian settlements in Alberta on old surveyor maps.

Last summer me, my brother and a friend who has some Romanian DNA went to the Romanian Pioneer Museum of Boian in Alberta. We had a good time. Some of my Baba’s extended family members from Bukovina showed up on the museum’s plaque. E.g., Tkachuk which I will have to check out further.

Courtesy of GoEastOfEdmonton.com

Romanian Pioneer Museum of Boian
https://www.facebook.com/boianalbertamuseum

Romanians of Boian Alberta and Bucovina
https://www.facebook.com/groups/316497192226

St. Mary’s Romanian Orthodox Church of Boian
https://boianchurch.ca/

Canadian Romanian Society of Alberta (Edmonton-Boian)
https://www.facebook.com/crsoa/
https://canadianromaniansocietyofalberta.org/
https://canadianromaniansocietyofalberta.org/their-arrival-in-alberta/

Romanian Genealogy Society
A branch group of the non-profit Minnesota Genealogical Society
https://romaniangenealogy.com/

Romania Genealogy – Family Search
https://www.familysearch.org/en/wiki/Romania_Genealogy

FamilySearch Romania
https://community.familysearch.org/en/group/96-familysearch-romania

Romania Resources – FEEFHS
https://feefhs.org/resource/romania

Romanian Genealogy
https://www.facebook.com/groups/romaniangenealogyhelp

Romanian Genealogy Society Research
https://www.facebook.com/groups/RGSconversations

Romanian National Archives
http://arhivelenationale.ro/site/

Romanians in Alberta 1898 - 1998, Canadian Romanian Society of Alberta, 1998

Romanians in Canada, Eleanor Bujea, The Romanian Orthodox Episcopate of America, 2009

Articles:

Romanian Settlement in Alberta
https://albertashistoricplaces.com/2016/01/13/romanian-settlement-in-alberta/

Romanians in Kalyna (Country)
https://www.kalynacountry.com/romanians-in-kalyna/

The story of the Romanian community of Boian in Alberta
https://thebunget.wordpress.com/2019/11/19/the-story-of-the-romanian-community-of-boian-in-alberta/

Romanian Canadians
https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/romanians

BOIAN – the oldest Romanian settlement in Canada -125 years of history
https://www.mrtv.ca/2023-07-15-16-boian-the-oldest-romanian-settlement-in-canada-125-years/

Romanian Canadians - Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romanian_Canadians

The Romanians of Saskatchewan: Four Generations of Adaptation, George James Patterson, 1977
https://books.google.ca/books/about/The_Romanians_of_Saskatchewan.html

Romanian Settlements (in Saskatchewan) - Facebook post
https://www.facebook.com/MeanwhileInSask/posts/romanian-settlementsbuilt-in-1902-st-nicholas-romanian-orthodox-church-is-the-se/717866978346317/