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The Republic of Malta is an archipelago comprised of seven islands located in the Mediterranean Sea, south of Sicily. Although waves of immigration occurred in 1840, around 1907, and between 1918 and 1920, there were few Maltese in Canada until after the Second World War (WWII). The 2016 Canadian census reported 41, 915 people of Maltese origin (12, 815 single and 29, 100 multiple responses).

Between 1835 and 1865, several hundred immigrants from Finland settled in Alaska (which was part of Russia at that time). Many moved down the coast to British Columbia (see Sointula). Some early Finnish immigrants to Ontario worked on the construction of the first Welland Canal, which was completed in 1829. The 2016 census reported 143, 640 people of Finnish origin in Canada (25, 875 single responses and 117, 765 multiple responses).

Cabbagetown, a district in east-central Toronto, the general boundaries of which are the Don River on the east, Parliament St on the west, Gerrard St on the north, and Queen St on the south.

Slovenia is a country in central Europe. It is bordered by Croatia, Hungary, Austria, Italy, and the Adriatic Sea. In the 2016 Canadian census, 40, 475 people reported being of Slovenian origin (13, 690 single and 26, 785 multiple responses).

Latvia is a small country situated on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. It shares borders with Russia, Lithuania, Belarus and Estonia. Established as an independent state after the First World War (WWI), Latvia was occupied by the Soviet Union in 1940, by the Nazis from 1941 to 1944, and then again by the Soviet Union. In 1945, 110 000 Latvians who had fled to western Europe were classified as displaced persons. Of these, 14 911 eventually immigrated to Canada. The 2016 census reported 30, 725 people of Latvian origin in Canada (7040 single and 23, 685 multiple responses).

Lithuania is a small country on the southeastern coast of the Baltic Sea. The first recorded Lithuanian immigrants to Canada were soldiers serving in the British army in the early 19th century. The 2016 census reported 59, 285 people of Lithuanian origin in Canada (11, 185 single and 48, 100 multiple responses).

Immigration to Canada by Southeast Asians is relatively recent; most arrived in Canada after 1974. Southeast Asia is located south of China and east of India. It consists of multiethnic nations with common histories, structures and social practices, as well as a cultural system that recognizes ethnic pluralism. Southeast Asia is comprised of 11 countries: Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar (Burma), the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, East Timor and Vietnam.

In the 2011 National Household Survey (NHS), more than one million Canadians indicated that they were of Southeast Asian origin. Filipino Canadians were the most numerous (662,600), followed by Vietnamese Canadians (220,425), Cambodians or Khmer (34,340), Laotians (22,090), Indonesians (18,125), Thais (15,080), Malaysians (14,165), Burmese (7,845) and Singaporeans (2,050). Southeast Asians of the Hmong people (an ethnic minority living in the mountains in the south of China, and the north of Vietnam and Laos) have also settled in Canada, as well as several hundred Chinese originally from Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos who came to Canada following the “boat people” crisis.

Icelanders, coming by way of Greenland, were the first European visitors to what is now Canada. The 2016 Canadian census reported 101,795 people with Icelandic ethnic origins, and 1440 people whose mother tongue was Icelandic.

Greek immigration to Canada began early in the 19th century. Greeks from the islands (e.g., Crete, Syros and Skopelos) and from the Peloponnesus, especially the poor villages of the provinces of Arcadia and Laconia, settled in Montreal as early as 1843. However, in 1871 only 39 persons of Greek origin were known to be living in Canada. Greek immigration, sporadic prior to 1900, increased considerably in the early 20th century as a result of poverty, war and political upheavals at home. The 2016 census recorded 271, 405 Canadians of Greek origin (141,580 single and 129,830 multiple responses.)

Swiss immigration to the territory we now know as Canada began in the late 16th century. The 2016 census reported 155, 120 people of Swiss origin in Canada (25, 235 single responses and 129, 885 multiple responses).

Belgians have contributed significantly to the economic, social and cultural development of Canada despite their relatively small numbers and their dispersion across the country. Originally, the majority of immigrants were Flemings whose settlement concentred in the agricultural regions of Québec, southwestern Ontario and Manitoba. Since 1945, Belgian immigrants have tended to be young, well-educated French-speaking professionals and entrepreneurs who prefer the urban centres, particularly in British Columbia and Alberta.

The first substantial Canadian immigration from Slovenia (the northwestern region of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes, which was renamed Yugoslavia in 1929) occurred 1918-29. Peasants and labourers moved to Ontario, many becoming farmers on the Niagara peninsula.

Immigration to Canada by the peoples of this eastern portion of modern Yugoslavia began in significant numbers after World War II, and by 1986 some 12,970 Serbian-Canadians lived and worked in the industrial areas of southern Ontario. Others lived in Ottawa, Montreal, and Vancouver.

The Republic of Macedonia is located on the Balkan Peninsula in south eastern Europe. It is bordered by Serbia and Kosovo to the north, Albania on the west, Greece to the south, and Bulgaria is located on Macedonia's eastern border.

The first Danish contact with the place we know today as Canada resulted from the voyage of Captain Jens Eriksen Munk, who had been dispatched by King Christian IV of Denmark in the early 17th century to find the Northwest Passage. In 2016, the Canadian census reported 207, 470 people of Danish origin (26, 990 single and 180, 485 multiple responses).

Immigration detention falls under the framework of administrative law — the person being detained has not committed a crime under Canada's Criminal Code, but is being detained for immigration reasons.

The immigration of Laotian nationals to Canada is relatively recent, having begun in earnest in the late 1970s. After the withdrawal of American troops from Vietnam in March 1973, mainland Southeast Asia (former Indochina) was left at the mercy of revolutionary forces in the region. In 1975, at the end of a 20-year-long civil war, communist revolutionaries of the Pathet Lao (Lao State) movement took power, abolished the monarchy and proclaimed the Lao People’s Democratic Republic. Living conditions deteriorated in Laos, as they did in Vietnam and Cambodia. Former civil and military officials were sent to labour camps and their families were denied access to employment and education. These difficult economic conditions, combined with an increasingly forceful communist regime and violations of human rights, sparked a mass migration in the region. Like Vietnamese, Laotians left their country in makeshift vessels, facing perilous conditions on the Mekong River and then the China Sea. This is the origin of the name often used to refer to these migrants: “boat people.” From 1979 to 1982, Canada welcomed nearly 8,000 Laotians. Approximately 20 per cent were of Chinese origin. Supported by the federal government and private sponsor groups, they resettled in various parts of Canada. Today, however, the Laotian population is concentrated in Québec and Ontario. In the 2016 Census of Canada, 24,590 people reported being of Laotian origin.

The term “Lost Canadians” refers to people who either lost the Canadian citizenship they had at birth, or didn’t qualify for citizenship that would normally have been theirs by right in Canada. This was the result of various haphazard and discriminatory laws and attitudes surrounding Canadian citizenship since Confederation. Much progress has been made reforming the law in the 21st century, however, some Lost Canadians still remained without citizenship as of 2017.

Norway is a Scandinavian country in northwestern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden, Finland and Russia. Permanent Norwegian migration to North America began in 1825 when the first shipload of Norwegians arrived in New York. In 2016, the Canadian census reported 463,275 people of Norwegian origin (35,905 single and 427,370 multiple responses).

Rose Mamelak Johnstone, FRSC, biochemist (born 14 May 1928 in Lodz, Poland; died 3 July 2009 in Montreal, QC). Rose Johnstone is best known for her discovery of exosomes, a key development in the field of cell biology. These tiniest of structures originating in all cells of the human body are vehicles that transport proteins, lipids and RNA from one cell to another. A pioneer of women in science, Johnstone was the first woman to hold the Gilman Cheney Chair in Biochemistry and the first and only woman chair of the Department of Biochemistry in McGill University’s Faculty of Medicine.