The Faculty of Humanities at the University of Debrecen and the Consulate General of Hungary in Montreal signed a Memorandum of Understanding at the end of 2023 to collaborate in research on the history of Hungarians in Montreal and the preservation of the community's heritage. This MoU (now we know) became the catalyst for an international and interdisciplinary collaboration, a community and scholarly endeavor, one of the results of which is this website and the Mapping Hungarian Montreal project.
The project was also related to the research carried out by Dr. Balázs Venkovits (Institute of English and American Studies, University of Debrecen) between 2022 and 2026, aimed at the detailed exploration of Hungarian immigration to Canada in the 1920s (title of the research project no. FK143388: "In the shadow of the United States: Canada and the transformation of the Hungarian emigration trajectory in the 1920s"). This period also coincides with the first major wave of Hungarian immigration to the city and the founding of the first Hungarian organizations in Montreal, many of which will celebrate their 100th anniversary in the coming years.
Sociologists, linguists, and literary scholars from the University of Debrecen also joined the project (studying different aspects of immigration) and so did the Center for Oral History and Digital Storytelling at Concordia University in Montreal. The Centre's staff contributed not only ideas but also essential skills and equipment, in particular to the interviews that were in the focus of our work.
The Klebelsberg Kunó grant supported the in-depth study of two key Hungarian events/sites in Montreal and allowed us to process the documents and history of the Hungarian St. Stephen's Ball in Montreal and the Hungária Social Club, which will turn 100 years old in 2026 (see Publications).
The map, as well as the educational and scholarly publications available on the website would not have been possible without the involvement and support of the Hungarian community in Montreal. We are grateful to all the organisations and individuals who have contributed to our work, whether as interviewees or by sharing stories, photos and documents.
Our goal with the map and our publications is to preserve the more than 100-year-old heritage of the Montreal Hungarian community, to make it accessible to the general public, while also exploring the history of the Hungarian diaspora in Montreal and Canada within a scholarly framework, using a multi- and interdisciplinary approach. We hope that the map and the materials made available on it will provide useful information for the academic community also, enabling further research or even serving as a model for other similar projects.