How many Poles in (the other) London?

13 Sep, 2009

How many Poles in (the other) London?

Posted by: Michał In: bits and bobs|p for press

It would seem London – any London – is quite popular with Poles.

To be honest, I had no idea that the Canadian city of London, Ontario was also a popular destination for Poles. But an article I’ve just seen on a Canadian site, the London Free Press claims that:

An estimated 20,000 Polish people call London home. Many came to Canada after the Second World War and more still during the Cold War in the 1980s.

A different country, the same reasons for migrating. And quite a big Polish community, it would seem.

Read how they celebrate the Polish culture in Ontario here.

2 Responses to "How many Poles in (the other) London?"

1 | Michał Buś

October 10th, 2009 at 11:18 pm

Heh, One of the London (On) Poles is Basia Bulat (http://www.basiabulat.com/). She’s a pretty good folky singer-songwriter, who released an album on Rough Trade Records and was nominated for a Polaris Music Prize (the Canadian equivalent of the UK’s Mercury, but with better bands).

She’ll be playing Cafe OTO in the ‘proper’ London (if you can call Dalston ‘proper’ London, that is ) at the end of November, go check her out, if you’re in the area.
She’s also coming over for her first two shows in Poland at the start of December (Kraków and Warsaw)

(full disclaimer: I’m sort of, kind of, helping out with putting on her Polish shows).

2 | Juliusz Smieja

October 30th, 2009 at 9:04 pm

Another Londoner Pole, by blood is Juliusz Smieja, relative of the latest Polish saint being Saint Zygmunt Felinski. With family in nearby Mississuaga and Toronto.

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Czarny kapturek: The UK gains a lot, when we are able to have Polish people. It also means that people like me are able to live and work with no bother in Germany and
Czarny kapturek: I find that outside of restaurants and bars I always have to pay for toilets. Still, 50 groszy or 1.5 złoty isn't much. At least the toilets are
Czarny kapturek: I don't get how "ław" becomes "love", when in English it would be written "wav". Not that "wav" offers itself well to people trying to market a ci
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Missy: I had been to Poland as a masters student in Warsaw ( 2006-2008), travelled all over Poland. I like it there, i am glad i found your blog. :) niec