Angelo Cuoppolo

Alumni Type: Immigrant
Country of Origin: Italy
Date of Arrival: April 24, 1954
Ship Name: Roma
Port of Entry: Halifax
Age on Arrival: 19

At the age of 19 in April of 1954 Angelo Cuoppolo left his home town of Monteleone, Italy, with his brother Giuseppe. Angelo had never traveled out of his small town before. Angelo and his brother had only been told of Toronto by their father Giovanni, who had come to Canada in his youth to work and help support his family back home. Having earned his citizenship, he was able to pass this on to his two youngest sons, with the hope to give them a better life.

This journey would set Angelo and his siblings on a new yet difficult path.

Angelo and Giuseppe boarded the ship “Roma” in Naples, Italy, with ten dollars in their pocket, a Canadian passport, and the privilege of a few English phrases their father Giovanni had taught them. Many passengers did not have any knowledge of English let alone have a Canadian passport. This proved to be somewhat helpful when they arrived in Halifax.

The voyage at sea took 9 long days before reaching Halifax harbour. Their time on the ship was tedious. Shortly after clearing Canadian customs and immigration, and before boarding a train, they went to a local store to buy some food for the next leg of their journey. Sliced soft Canadian white bread, something they had never seen or tasted, and a can of Spam. At the store, Angelo and Giuseppe were able to help others with a few known phrases they had learned from their father.

The train from Halifax to Montreal was a coal fueled locomotive.

The cabin happened to be in the middle of the train. Who would have imagined that the soot from the engine would end up on their faces? A source of entertainment by others in the cabin was to frequently tell Angelo he had to wash the soot off his face. He pointed out that they too had soot on their faces.

From Montreal they boarded another train to Toronto’s Union Station, where they were met by a friend who would take them to a temporary home. In 1954 unemployment was high, and Angelo was without work. To earn money, he helped others from his home town doing chores in exchange for a meal.

Angelo’s first break was washing dishes at a restaurant in downtown Toronto. He woke up very early and would walk to and from work to save the money he would have spent on bus fare. He then worked as a shoe shine boy for the next 5 years on Bay Street, working 60-hour weeks. Not just shining shoes but cleaning windows and shoe stations or whatever his boss asked of him.

In 1959 Angelo he was introduced to Gaetana via photograph by a co-worker. After several letters to each other, and with permission from her father, Angelo sponsored Gaetana who began a similar journey to Toronto to start their lives together. Married in 1959, they started their family and over time had 3 children, Giovanni, Rosa, and Daiana.

Though the struggle of starting a new life in a new country was at times very difficult, he is thankful to Canada for having given him the opportunity for a better life, and for providing his children a bright and successful future.