Pakistan Canada Association Of Edmonton Alberta - Edmonton

Edmonton’s Pakistani community is rapidly growing with over 10,000 Pakistani Canadians residing in Edmonton. Pakistan Canada Association of Edmonton (PCAE) is a community based organization that aims at making desired improvements to the Edmonton’s Pakistani Community’s social well-being and overall functioning. The organization is striving to preserve and promote the cultural and social heritage of Pakistan, including appreciation of history, cultural, language and traditions of Pakistanis among the members of the Association as well as other Canadian residents. We work on community development, community empowerment as well as community mobilization. Our organization is a non-profit organization that relies on volunteers for various programs and events that we run. We also setup special programs for our Youth, Ladies and Seniors. Programs such as language, religious, music, sports, soft skills, computer classes, arts & culture are offered multiple times a year. We collaborate with other organizations to run some of the specialized programs. The Team of dedicated PCAE Executives have the all important job to ensure that they bring all these programs & services to its members. 

Pakistanis began migrating to Canada in small numbers in the late 1950s and early 1960s. In late 1950s, a very small number of Pakistanis came to Alberta and settled in Edmonton. In the sixties, there were more Pakistani students at the University of Alberta than immigrants. Pakistan Student Association (PSA) on campus facilitated all community activities well into early seventies and beyond. Immigration regulations gave preference to those with advanced education and professional skills, and the Pakistanis who came during this period, and throughout the 1960s, generally had excellent credentials. Many of them considered themselves to be sojourners, who had come to earn but not to settle, or were students who intended to return home when their degree programs were completed. While some went back, others remained to become the founding members of the Pakistani Canadian community. Throughout the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s most who arrived were young men pursuing graduate or professional studies. Majority of the Pakistanis immigrating to Canada were mainly students, professionals and economic migrants who had reasonable levels of education. As the community grew, there was a strong need and desire to establish a community based organization to address day to day issues of settlement and to promote and preserve Pakistani Canadian culture and heritage. In early seventies, the number of Pakistanis who had settled in Edmonton had increased significantly numbering around three hundred or so.

In 1973, Pakistan Canada Association of Edmonton, Alberta (PCAE) was established as a not-for-profit society that works in partnership with community organizations, non-government organizations, the private sector and all levels of government to develop sustainable legacies in inter cultural and social issues. It was registered under Alberta’s Society’s Act and has been in operation since then. The PCAE is involved in facilitating settlement of new immigrants, promotion and maintaining Pakistani culture, language and heritage for the benefit of all Canadians. The vision of PCAE is to be a leader in the promotion of a society that recognizes the essential role, value and diversity of volunteers in improving the quality of life in our province. Thus, we hope that by working together, we will maximize the impact of volunteers and voluntary organizations of Alberta.