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Lethbridge Region's Italian Community

The natural environment of Southern Alberta is largely prairie and it is this land that attracted settlers who came to farm and ranch. A number of factors contributed to making it an attractive destination for settlers:
• land that could be tilled;
• available water through several river systems including the Milk and Oldman Rivers;
• moderate climate that included Chinook winds bringing warm air over the mountains.

But there were also major amounts of coal underneath the surface of the ground. Italian immigration was directly related to the exploitation of coal and, in southern Alberta, is similar to the pattern of immigration to the Rockies, Nordegg and the Coal Branch, as well as Edmonton and Calgary. Many Italian immigrants worked in the coal mines of Alberta. The railways needed fuel to run and coal mines were developed to do this, as well as to meet industrial and domestic needs. The largest coal deposits are found in Alberta and BC.

Southern Alberta’s Italian Community

Southern Alberta’s Italian Community