This year marks the 70th anniversary of the beginning of a new wave of Maltese migration to Canada. While there was a trickle of Maltese migration in the 19th century, it was only in the few years immediately prior to and following World War I that large numbers of emigrants from Malta began arriving in Canada. But after 1921 and until 1948, the Canadian government all but closed immigration from places such as Malta.

It was on May 8, 1948, that the first contingent, consisting of 131 men, left Malta for Canada on board the Marine Perch. They were joined by another 380, on board the Vulcania, which departed from Grand Harbour on June 17.

After years in which the doors had been closed, or partly closed, to Maltese immigration, Allison Glen, Canada’s Minister of Mines and Resources, had announced, on December 19, 1947, that arrangements had been made with the government of Malta to allow 500 men into Canada. A joint announcement to this effect was made in Valletta and in Ottawa on March 1, 1948.

As the late Fr Lawrence Attard noted, despite the “heroic stand that the people of Malta made against the Axis forces during World War II, racial prejudice against the Maltese was never far from the surface”. On March 10, F.B. Cotsworth, Canada’s acting superintendent of European migration, wrote that “the rate of tuberculosis among the Maltese could be high” and “single men should be preferred because most married men in Malta liked to father many children”. Moreover, “the Maltese could be troublesome”.

J. Robillard, a member of the Canadian selection team to Malta, who was then stationed in Rome, “was afraid that some Maltese could carry in them traces of Arab or Asian blood in their veins”. Once he had completed this work and had personally met a number of the prospective emigrants, however, “his fears were assuaged and he was of the opinion that Canadians had nothing to fear from the Maltese as they were physically and civilly of a very good standard”.

Of the more than 2,000 applicants it was believed that only 1,364 were really serious about living in Canada. Of these, 300 were thought to require further questioning and only 36 were rejected outright as being considered too old or unsuitable for the Canadian market. 

W. Carnhill, the Labour representative from Ottawa on the selection team, “believed that the men he interviewed would be readily accepted by most Canadians anywhere and that they had the makings of solid citizens”. He further noted “that the candidates spoke good English, had good manners and were prepared for hard work. He also thought that the Maltese officials underrated those they classified as unskilled because these would be readily acceptable to Canadian employers looking for good workers”.

Rosaria Muscat, a nurse on her way to join her fiancé in New York City, together with other Maltese emigrants on board the Marine Perch.Rosaria Muscat, a nurse on her way to join her fiancé in New York City, together with other Maltese emigrants on board the Marine Perch.

Malta’s Prime Minister Paul Boffa, and John Cole, Malta’s first Minister of Emigration, were well aware that this experiment with the 500 “pioneers” being selected to resettle in Canada had to succeed as “the future of Maltese settlement in Canada” depended on it.

While initially transport to Canada was to be the responsibility of the Maltese authorities, according to Fr Attard, interviews with some of these ‘500’ leads this writer to believe that each had to pay half the fare of £21, and the Canadian government paid the other half, on condition that the immigrant remained in Canada for at least a year.

The American Export ship Marine Perch had left Naples on May 8, arrived in Grand Harbour the same day and then left with the 131 men bound for Canada and a handful of other Maltese emigrants en route to New York Harbour.

The ship arrived at Pier 22, in Halifax on May 19, and cleared port the same day for New York City.

Most of the 131 men who disembarked from the Marine Perch at Halifax were brought by special train to London, Ontario. A few may have been lured by employers while still on the dock in Halifax, eager for the skills many of these men had. As a case in point, 21 of the Maltese emigrants were hired on the spot by INCO in Port Colborne, Ontario. A few others may have left the train when met by relatives and acquaintances at Union Station in Toronto. This was to be even more the case with those arriving in June.

After arriving in London, Ontario, early on the afternoon of May 21, the men were taken in big army trucks to the former World War II Royal Canadian Air Force bombing and gunnery station at Fingal, less than 40km southwest of the town. Employers quickly hired the men who found employment in nearby St Thomas, London and Woodstock, as well as further afield, in Ontario, in St Catharines, Collingwood and Peterborough.

Maltese emigrant Edward Scicluna kissing the hand of Archbishop Michael Gonzi as he blessed those about to board the Vulcania. Photo: Joe PaceMaltese emigrant Edward Scicluna kissing the hand of Archbishop Michael Gonzi as he blessed those about to board the Vulcania. Photo: Joe Pace

On June 17, a second American Export ship, the 24,400-ton Italian liner Vulcania left Naples for Malta, en route to Halifax and New York. The number of emigrants picked up in Malta that same day was 380.

The work ethic and law-biding characteristics of these first post-war groups from Malta would open the doors for the many thousands who followed in the subsequent decades

Their families were at the dock to see them off and, as they boarded the ship, a band played in the background. One of the last tunes it played was Auld Lang Syne. One of the emigrants, Anthony Grima, a capable young singer with the voice of a tenor, sang the last song, Maria Christina, at the dock in Malta. Another of the emigrants, Karmenu Sapiano, read his own farewell poem, ‘To Malta My Native Land’, over the microphone at the dock. 

There were a total of 1,252 passengers on board the ship including a large number of Jewish refugees from continental Europe.

At about 5.30pm on June 19, the ship entered Gibraltar Harbour. A number of boats came out to meet the ship and their occupants offered to sell wine and other items to the passengers on the Vulcania. But after the latter lowered money in buckets to the boats for the goods, the boats took off with the money without giving the passengers the goods for which they paid.

The Maltese emigrants in front of Customs House before boarding the Vulcania on June 17, 1948.The Maltese emigrants in front of Customs House before boarding the Vulcania on June 17, 1948.

The Vulcania docked in Halifax on June 25. The next day it cleared the harbour for New York.

Meanwhile, the 340 Maltese emigrants who had disembarked at Halifax went through customs and immigration and then boarded a Canadian National Railway train for St Thomas, Ontario. The train made at least two stops – at Campbellton, New Brunswick, and a French-Canadian village in Quebec – before reaching Montreal. At each of these stops the immigrants were able to get off the train and stretch their legs before reboarding.

Along the way to St Thomas some were met by relatives and friends. The Debono brothers – Amadeo and Tony – were met by relatives in Toronto and stayed there. Accompanied by A.J. Murray of the Department of Labour at Ottawa, those who remained with the group, like those in May who had preceded them, were taken to the Dominion Department of Labour’s hostel in Fingal, where they arrived at about 3pm on June 27.

As with those who had arrived in May, many of these men quickly found work in nearby St Thomas and London. These two groups laid the foundation for the London area, becoming the second largest Maltese-Canadian community in Canada, after Toronto.

The Marine Perch setting out from Grand Harbour on May 8, 1948. Photo: Frank CauchiThe Marine Perch setting out from Grand Harbour on May 8, 1948. Photo: Frank Cauchi

Some of these new arrivals ended up in Hamilton, Ontario. Joseph Cassar, Joseph Tabone and Johnny Camilleri knew Tony Vella, a school friend of Cassar’s, who had emigrated before the war and was living in Stoney Creek, near Hamilton. Vella telephoned them while they were at Fingal and they took a taxi and met him in Hamilton. Camilleri was the only one of the more than 500 men at that time who had been able to bring out his entire family, consisting of his wife and four children.

A few others settled in Brantford. Edward Scicluna was met at Union Station in Toronto by his oldest brother, Charles, whom he had not seen since about 1913. The latter advised his youngest brother that his prospects for work would be better in Brantford where Joe Gatt, an acquaintance of Edward’s who had come out with the first group, had settled, than in Toronto. Coincidentally, Scicluna and his fellow companions on board the Vulcania, Mike Portelli and Paul Chetcuti, worked for a time at the Brantford Glue Factory, as had some of the Maltese arrivals in Brantford in 1913.

The wives and children of these two groups would start arriving later in 1948, and others would follow in the following years. The work ethic and law-biding characteristics of these first post-war groups from Malta would open the doors for the many thousands who followed in the subsequent decades.

To these first post-war arrivals by way of the Marine Perch and the Vulcania, a great debt of gratitude is owed by those who followed in their wake and by their children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

Dan Brock, who is based in London, Ontario, Canada, is the editor of the newsletter of the Maltese-Canadian Club of London, Canada.

The Maltese emigrants participating in the mandatory safety drill on board the Vulcania. Photo: Frank and Yvonne GattThe Maltese emigrants participating in the mandatory safety drill on board the Vulcania. Photo: Frank and Yvonne Gatt

The Vulcania about to leave Grand Harbour on June 17, 1948. Photo: Frank and Yvonne GattThe Vulcania about to leave Grand Harbour on June 17, 1948. Photo: Frank and Yvonne Gatt

The Maltese emigrants on the Vulcania’s deck as it entered Gibraltar Harbour on June 19, 1948. Photo: Frank and Yvonne GattThe Maltese emigrants on the Vulcania’s deck as it entered Gibraltar Harbour on June 19, 1948. Photo: Frank and Yvonne Gatt

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