Canada

Organised Basque life in Canada today fits into two clubs, one in the west of the country and the other in the east, and into one census figure. The Basque Government’s official register recognises two Basque organisations in Canada: the Zazpiak Bat Basque Society, in British Columbia, and Euskaldunak, Association des Basques du Québec, in Montreal.⁸

The British Columbia club was founded, according to the club itself, by David Maritorena and José Miguel Etchart in 1993, in Merritt, inspired by the Basque clubs of the United States; the Basque Government’s register gives 1995 as its founding year.⁹⁸ Over time the administration moved to Vancouver, where more Basques lived. Elena Sommer chaired it from 2002 to 2019, the period in which, according to the club, it was most active, and since 2019 its president has been Julia Etchart, who took the seat back to Merritt. It organises mus and dancing and guides anyone who wants to learn Basque.⁹

The Quebec club was born in 1996 in Montreal, where it has premises.⁵¹⁰ In April 2012 it enlarged its board of directors from six to ten members to carry new projects forward.¹¹ Four years later, in August 2016, it celebrated its twentieth anniversary with a photography exhibition, a pintxo contest, Basque rural sports and concerts, and with a trainera, a traditional rowing boat, in which members could row on the St. Lawrence.¹⁰

In the 2016 Canadian census, 6,970 people declared Basque origin, 715 of them as their only origin.¹²