In 2026, the Polonia Foundation in Alberta is granting scholarships to students at the University of Calgary and University of Alberta of Polish descent and those who are or have been involved in our Polish community.
The scholarships are:
1) The Hedinger Family Scholarship for two students enrolled in the 3rd or 4th year of full-time studies at the University of Calgary or the University of Alberta The amount awarded will be $3,000.00 for each recipient. Our intention is to award one scholarship to a deserving student at each of the two universities.
2) The Walter K. Mis Law Scholarship for one student enrolled in the 2nd or 3rd year of the Juris Doctor Program at either the University of Alberta or University of Calgary Law School. The amount awarded will be $3,000.00.
More information on the eligibility and criteria for the applications can be obtained by clicking on the attachments.
The deadline for receipt of applications is November 30, 2026, with scholarships to be awarded by December 15, 2026.
Please feel free to forward this information to potential scholarship applicants and/or anyone who might bring this the Hedinger Family Scholarship and the Walter K. Mis Law Scholarship to the attention of of potential scholarship applicants themselves.
Do you like learning languages? Do you want to finally be able to talk in Polish with your Polish family members? Do you speak Polish but struggle with Polish spelling and writing? Are you interested in learning more about your Polish heritage? Look no further! Join us in POLISH 111 Polish course offered through the University of Alberta! We meet in person 3 times a week. Classes start on the 3rd of September but you have until the 15th of September to join! Also, you don’t need to be a UofA student to start learning! For more information please contact the instructor Dominika Tabor at tabor@ualberta.ca
Meeting with Paul Wojdak, author of Escape from Siberia, Escape from Memory, An Odyssey across Two Oceans & Nine Countries to Arrive Home” (www.paulwojdak.ca) on June 3 in Edmonton and June 5 in Calgary. Both meetings begin at 7:00 pm and admission is free. Author Paul Wojdak from Smithers, British Columbia, will be in Alberta for presentations of his book Escape from Siberia, Escape from Memory on Tuesday, June 3 in Edmonton in the Kingsway Room of the Polish Hall (10960 104 Street) and Thursday, June 5 in Calgary in the Combatants’ Room in the Polish Canadian Cultural Centre (3015 -15th Street NE). The subject of his presentation will be “The Challenge to Preserve Polish Identity”. The following is the text from the back of the book.
“PAUL WOJDAK’S FATHER, PAWEL, was born in 1912 in Novosibirsk, Siberia. During the 1800s, many Polish people were banished to Siberia for rising against czarist Russia’s repressive policies aimed to destroy Polish language and culture, and they eventually lived in Siberia for generations. By the 1920s, war and chaos followed the Russian Revolution, and Poles were cast as “enemies of the people,” fleeing east as refugees. Most died from disease, starvation, cold, or violence, including Pawel’s parents, and many Polish children were tragically trapped in Siberia—a seven-year-old Pawel among them. Later in life, living in Canada with his wife and son, Pawel physically could not speak about his childhood and refused to speak about his life as a young adult, but his memories were sometimes triggered by chance events, leaving mysterious tidbits for his son, Paul. Why could his father sing the Japanese national anthem? How did he come to see a tractor as a young boy in the United States? Inspired by his love for his father combined with a desire to understand Pawel’s complicated life, after his father’s death, Paul takes on the daunting task of trying to piece together his father’s past, determined to uncover the truth in the hopes of learning the story of a man who, despite all his hardships, was respectful, loyal, dedicated, and loving.
Only knowing bits and pieces of his father’s childhood and knowing his father fought in World War II, Paul begins by connecting his father’s story with the stories of other Polish children and men in Siberia and Eastern Europe from 1917 to 1945. From there, he brings to light the remarkable story of the Polish Rescue Committee and their plight to rescue Polish children in Siberia after World War I and of the compassion of the Japanese people in harbouring these children. Following records of his father’s trail, he shares the incredible journey these children then took before finally arriving in Poland in late 1922, only to find their lives in upheaval again in 1939, when Poland was invaded by Russia and Germany.
Escape from Siberia, Escape from Memory not only shares an extraordinary story of heroism and survival but also explores the struggle to recapture and preserve cultural and personal memory and the impact of war on children and young adults.” This author’s meeting is organized by the Canadian Polish Congress Alberta Society, the Polish Canadian Association of Calgary, the Polish Combatants in Canada, Branch # 18, Calgary and the Polish Canadian Society (Edmonton) as part of a series of events celebrating Polish Canadian Heritage Day in Alberta.
It would also be possible to meet Paul Wojdak on Sunday June 1 between 2 – 3:30 pm at a book signing at Audrey’s Books, 10702 Jasper Ave in Edmonton.
Dni Poradnictwa ZUS w Kanadzie Zachodniej (24-30 marca 2025)
Poniżej zamieszczamy planowane terminy spotkań z Przedstawicielami ZUS:
24 marca 2025 Edmonton (Dom Polski)
26 marca 2025 Calgary (Dom Polski)
29 marca 2025 Vancouver (PVA)
30 marca 2025 Vancouver (Parafia Św. Kazimierza)
Szczegółowe terminy i godziny spotkań zostaną przekazane w terminie późniejszym.
ZUS zachęca do przesyłania pytań na jakie przedstawiciele ZUS będą mogli udzielić odpowiedzi.
W przypadku jeżeli osoby zainteresowane wyżej wymienionym spotkaniem będą chciały zadać jakikolwiek pytania, mogą je przesyłać e-mail adres: vancouver.info@msz.gov.pl do 10 marca br. z dopiskiem: „DPZUS Edmonton”, „DPZUS Calgary” lub „DPZUS Vancouver”.
Zachęcamy do zapoznania się z broszurą: „Poradnik dla Polaków pracujących lub mieszkających za granicą. Najczęściej zadawane pytania”. Link poniżej:
The Honourable Salma Lakhani, Lieutenant Governor of Alberta, addressed the Polish Community at “Opłatek 2025,” organized by the Polish Canadian Congress in Alberta. The event occurred at Polish Hall in Edmonton on January 11, 2025.
Wyjazd z Polski poniekąd zainspirował mnie do gotowania tradycyjnych polskich dań. Dopiero w Kanadzie zaczęłam lepić pierogi, kisić ogórki, robić biały twaróg z maślanki. Swego czasu regularnie hodowałam zakwas i piekłam domowy chleb żytni, a nawet zrobiłam kiszkę ziemniaczaną. Czytaj więcej @ https://www.onet.pl/turystyka/klubpolekpl/polka-w-kanadzie-o-przeprowadzce-w-calgary-gorskich-wedrowkach-i-karierze-w-kanadzie/x1n7wkm,30bc1058
