Forming Associations and Forging Identities

The main reason Italians immigrated to Canada was to improve the socio-economic status of their families. This did not prevent them from forming associations and organizations that extended well beyond the domestic circle. Over the past century, all sorts of them have been established. These organizations have had a variety of objectives. Italian-Canadian mutual aid societies, offering immigrants security in case of illness, accident or death, were extremely popular across the country during peak immigration periods.

	Italian Mutual Benevolent Society picnic, 1931 Source: © Italian Society of Port Arthur, Ontario

Numerous associations, organizations and institutions were set up to meet other needs as well. Religious associations, bands and recreational groups, athletic leagues and clubs, professional and political associations, theatrical and musical groups, and cultural centres — all these expressed, and continue to express, Italian-Canadian community life across the country.

	The Dieni band, Montreal, Quebec, 1953 Source: © Mario Cosentino and Rosina Cosentino

	Juventus soccer team, founded in 1950 under the sponsorship of the Calgary Italian Club, 1964 Source: © Glenbow Archives, Calgary, Alberta, NA-5293-1

	Preparing ravioli stuffed with chestnuts for the carnival of the Associazione Regionale dei Marchigiani, 1999 Source: © Associazione Regionale dei Marchigiani A.L.M.A. Canada Inc., Montreal

The associations also reflect the diversity of the community. Hundreds of hometown associations that bring together paesani from the same village, associations of people from the same province or region, as well as national associations exist side by side.

The development of an Italian press in the early twentieth century, and the broadcasting of radio and television programs in Italian as early as the 1960s also contributed to the definition of a rich and complex "Italianness" that is uniquely Canadian.