J. D. B. News Letter

If You Are Pleased with the “Jewish Daily Bulletin” Tell Your Friends to Subscribe.

The Jewish population in Canada is on the decline is the startling revelation made in an article by B. G. Sack, co-editor of the “Jewish Daily Eagle,” in a Passover number of that publication.

After delving into official figures and making comparisons with various censuses, Mr. Sack comes to the conclusion that Canadian Jewry has within the last ten years lost much of its vitality through the exodus to the United States.

The fact is, states Mr. Sack, that in some parts of Canada we now have a much smaller Jewish population than in previous years. Official figures substantiate this fact. This condition is more noticeable in Western Canada.

According to the census of 1921 the Prairie Provinces had a population of 25,291 Jews, or one-fifth of the entire Jewish population in Canada. The majority was concentrated in Manitoba. Since then the Western Provinces have received the greater influx of Jewish immigrants and when we take into consideration the natural increase we should expect that the Jewish settlement in that part of the Dominion should be greater in number than at the time of the census ten years ago. Facts prove the contrary. The Jewish population in Western Canada has actually decreased and in some places in great numbers. The five-year census which took place in the Prairie Provinces in 1926 showed the number of Jews to be only 21,821. This is a net loss in population.

In 1921 Manitoba had 16,669 Jews and in 1921, 15,048. In Saskatchewan the number of Jews decreased from 5,380 to 3,973 and in Alberta from 3,242 to 1,900. The latter province suffered the greatest loss having within the last few years reduced its Jewish population by nearly a half. It is characteristic that a thriving city like Calgary should have its Jewish population reduced from 1,247 in 1921 to 508 in 1926. The city of Lethbridge is left with 25 Jews out of a total Jewish population of 108 in 1921.

Turning to the Eastern part of Canada where the census is to be taken in 1931, Mr. Sack uses the figures of the Jewish school population in Montreal to prove that his alarming statements are not theories but based on sound facts. He shows that whereas the Protestant schools in 1922 housed 12,751 Jewish children there are now only 11,274 Jewish children in the same schools. He deduces that about 400 Jewish families have left Canada during the last few years to seek the Golden Calf in Uncle Sam’s Domain. Whether they have found it is a question that is still to be answered.

If You Are Pleased with the “Jewish Daily Bulletin” Tell Your Friends to Subscribe.