17 November 2025
Written by: Darian Charron
Interviewee: Cinzia Caruso Servello
From the personal collection of Cinzia Caruso Servello; school photo of Cinzia around the age of 12-13.
Introduction
On November 1st, 2025, I had the privilege of meeting and speaking with Cinzia Caruso Servello for the first time. The purpose of this meeting was to learn about her experience as an Italian immigrant in Canada and record this meeting to preserve it. By doing this, I was able to ensure that her family history was archived and that this data and information were preserved. While we were unable to meet in person, we utilized technology and met via Microsoft Teams. I was able to record our meeting using the built-in recording system that allows calls to be recorded and saved. After the call was recorded, I used Adobe Premiere on my iPad to edit the footage to my liking. These edits consisted of adding photos and editing out a part where we experienced technological difficulties.
Cinzia Caruso Servello was born in Bergamo, Italy in 1984. She moved to Canada in 1995 at the age of 11 due to her father’s work as an artist, who frequently took work-related trips to Canada. In her interview, Cinzia talks about her experience of being a young Italian immigrant in Canada, her loving family, and the life she built here in Canada.
Summary of Interview
| Date of Interview : November 1, 2025 | |
| Name of Interviewer: Darian Charron | Name of Interviewee: Cinzia Caruso Servello |
| Questions + Follow Up | Response (Paraphrased) |
| 1. What age group/generation are you in? | I am a millennial, so I was born in 1984. |
| 2. Where did you grow up? | I was born in Bergamo, Italy. The scenery is beautiful; there are valleys and mountains all around you. |
| 3. What brought you to Canada? | What brought me to Canada was my father’s work, he had been travelling to Canada since 1983. He is an artist, so he did a lot of and exhibits in Canada and was away from home very often. Shortly after my brother finished high school, he joined my father on his trips. So, then my parents decided in 1994, or 1995 to make me finish fifth grade in Italy, then move to Canada during summer break to start sixth grade in Canada without missing any school. We travelled by plane and left from Milano Linate, which is an airport in Milan that is close to my hometown of Bergamo. We landed in Toronto on August 27th, 1995. I remember being on the plane and looking down on the vast land of Canada, and seeing small, tiny buildings and houses. Then obviously they weren’t so tiny when we landed. |
| Where in Toronto did you land? | We landed at Toronto Pearson Airport. |
| How old were you when you landed? | I was 11. |
| 4. Did you experience any culture shocks when you arrived in Canada? / What was your first impression of Canada? | For the first month or so we were looking to find a home so that I could start school in September. We first settled in a town called Alliston, just north of Toronto. There were a lot of Canadians there and no Italians at all; we were probably the first ones in the area at that time that came freshly off the plane. When we found a home, they registered me for school and said you will find yourself at ease here because Saint Paul (the school) has about 2 or 4 Italian speaking students and you will be at ease. I remember being excited to make new friends and learn a new language. When I got there, I was like, where are these Italian kids? I don’t see any. They were all speaking to me in English. There were those 2 or 3 that had Italian background, but they weren’t speaking to me in Italian. I was expecting them to speak to me in Italian. They probably had parents or grandparents that spoke to them in a dialect, but they were not speaking to me in Italian, they were speaking to me in English. For me this was a big culture shock. Also having recess and lunch, and the recess breaks in between (was different to me). I remember pulling out my Italian panino at recess thinking that it was lunchtime, and they were like no this is your break. I said no, I want my panino now, I’m hungry. I remember the lunches being different. My Italian panino was like the calabrese bread, the hard calabrese bread, and with prosciutto cheese inside. My Canadian friends were having peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, and sometimes with bananas and stuff. I was like, that’s breakfast for me. So that was another culture shock. And then with English, I guess within a month or 2 months I was already able to communicate with them and make myself understand. Another thing is that we found the school a little further away. We purposely went to this school because of the other Italians, so we said how about we change and go closer to home? We had an elementary school down the street from me, so we ended up switching schools. I went to Holy Family. It was not even a block down, and so I would walk to school. Switching schools was an advantage because then in high school I knew the kids from the old school and (the kids) from the new school that I went to. So, they remembered me and were like, oh yeah, you’re the Italian girl, Cinzia. |
| Was it easy for you to make friends? Or was it difficult? | It was okay. It was nice. If they were making fun of me or laughing at me, I would laugh with them. I came with the intention that it was an experience, and an adventure for me. That’s how my parents made it seem, and that’s what it was for me. It was an adventure. It was a new way of finding new friends, a new language, and a new home. Making friends was pretty easy; I had 2 good friends, Jennifer and Jessica, and we would go to each other’s houses. They came over a few times, and I remember one friend asked for macaroni and cheese, and I’m like sorry we don’t have the actual (Canadian) macaroni and cheese. My mom was making macaroni but with cheese, and my friend really enjoyed it. |
| Would you say that your overall experience when you first came to Canada was a positive one? | Yes, it was. |
| 5. Did you experience any barriers as an immigrant, or did you find that because you were so young, it was easy to adjust? | It was easy to adjust. But I had teachers that I didn’t like. I had trouble with English at first and they told me to stop speaking Italian at home and that you need to start speaking English at home with your parents, and siblings. I can’t. I can’t do that; I can’t just stop what I know and start speaking English. So, that was hard to digest. I didn’t follow her instructions. |
| Are you glad that you kept speaking the Italian language? | Yes, because by doing so I was able to teach my daughters, and they are now doing French immersion so that they can learn another language in addition to Italian and English. They can be open to all other cultures, languages, and countries if they are ever abroad in Europe or anywhere. They know they can rely on speaking Italian, English and French. Eventually Spanish, who knows? The more the better. |
| 6. Did you bring any items of importance when you came to Canada? | I’ll share some pictures with you later. On the day that I came, I brought a backpack that was half empty. I remember there was barely anything, maybe a book and a few photographs. I also remember wearing a watch; it was my birthday gift, and a fanny pack, maybe to put my lip chap in. Being 11 years old I don’t remember filling that backpack. |
| 7. At any point did you struggle with your identity as an immigrant in Canada? What is your experience with your identity? | When I would travel back home, my parents kept our house for a long time so I would just go back home like nothing has changed. It’s like you’re stuck between 2 worlds: your home here, and your home over there. (You’re stuck between 2 worlds) until you find a home where the heart is, basically where your family is. If they were to move, I guess if we went to Japan, that’s where my home would be. |
| So, you would say that home is wherever your family is? | Yes. |
| 8. What was the experience of raising your daughters like as an immigrant? | They were both born in the early 2000s and I would speak with them in Italian first and then English. I would always speak the Italian language and then speak to them in English so that they could get both languages at the same time and get the translation. Both of them started speaking in both languages, and it was beneficial having grandparents on my side and my husband’s side. They were able to flourish and speak with them even more. My parents and father-in-law don’t speak English, so they were forced to try their best to speak. Now they can communicate and translate for the grandparents if they need it. Sometimes when we do French homework, they say that they sometimes think in Italian before they think in English because Italian and French are so similar. So, that’s one of the benefits that I see. |
| Is your husband also Italian? | He is Canadian. He was born in Canada, but both of his parents are Italian. His mom is from the north, and his dad is from the south. |
| 9. Have you ever experienced a reverse culture shock when you went back to Italy? | Yes, Italy has changed a lot and it’s always changing. There’s a lot of new immigrants and now multiculturalism is coming into place. So, not so much of a culture shock, but I remember being on the plane and travelling there and you feel you’re proud Canadian, and then when you’re here (Canada), you’re like, I’m proud Italian and Canadian. When you’re travelling there (Italy), you feel like you’re appreciated because you’re coming from another country. |
| So, when you go to Italy you feel more Canadian, and when you’re in Canada, you feel more Italian? | Yes. I guess it’s because you’re always missing the land that you’re far away from. |
| 10. Have you ever thought of moving back to Italy? | I did. I just think with the demographic and the culture, I wouldn’t be able to. I don’t know. Maybe when I retire. But I thought about it many times when I was younger, to have a family and a future there. But now I have my daughters and my husband here, and everything. It’s different now. |
| 11. Would you say that raising children in Canada is better than raising children in Italy? How do you think raising children in Italy would have been different? | The lifestyle (In Italy) would be slower, and you would have more time for a lot of things. Here (in Canada) it’s always like rush and go go go. One positive thing that Italy has is that it’s more relaxed, and one problem that I find is bureaucracy. You appreciate Canadian bureaucracy more than Italian bureaucracy because things flow better and are faster. If we were to have moved to Italy, a negative part would have just been the bureaucracy of things, it was a slow process. |
| 12. How do you think your experience of coming to Canada differed from other immigrants? | I think the first pioneers, like my father-in-law for example, came by boat or first planes. They all came to north Ontario and there wasn’t much around, so they were the first settlers that laid down the ground for us. For me, it was 1995 so the land was more developed, and there were already more Europeans here. I didn’t find that they discriminated me, and the discrimination that they (the early wave immigrants) had was nothing like what I experienced. I didn’t experience it. That’s the fortunate part. But unfortunately, immigrants from the older generations were discriminated against, and had to fight for their rights. Then a lot of movies, and fashion came into place, and they saw how Italians are full of beauty and art. So, there was much development over the years, and I didn’t experience the same things that the old settlers experienced. |
| 13. Looking back on your experience, is there anything that you wish you did differently? | Not really. Like I said before, my parents told me that this was going to be an adventure, and it was. It was the best adventure they could have done at the time because they gave me the opportunity that they never had when they were growing up. They gave me the opportunity to learn and speak English, find myself, and establish my family here. I don’t think I would have changed anything. |
| 14. You’ve mentioned your father’s art career a couple times, is there anything you wanted to share about that? | With my father’s work, I’ve always been involved with his art. He’s been travelling here since 1983, so he was the inspiration to our move. There was a need, and there still is a need for art here in Canada, because it’s so new, so fresh. My father brought to Canada a technique that you’ve never heard before, his own technique, which is fresco graffia, and frescoes. So, the frescoes from Michelangelo with the Sistine Chapel; he brought that technique over to Canada. One collaboration that I was proud to be apart of was with my father and a designer in Toronto, Joseph Galt. The collaboration involved being a part of the Christmas Canada stamps of 2008, 2009, and 2010. That was an amazing experience and honour for my father and our family to be a part of that. Canada Post chose his sculptures to be a part of the Christmas Nativity. |
| Is there anything else you would like to say to conclude the interview? | I would like to say thank you. I’m honoured that you asked me to participate and answer your questions; I hope I gave a good representation of my experience here. |
Watch the interview here: https://youtu.be/4pLXYTp3nDQ
Analysis
When we talk about Italian immigrants in Canada, we often focus on first few waves of immigrants that came here in the early 1900s and in the 20 or so years after WWII. Statistically this makes sense, as the number of Italians immigrating to Canada decreased exponentially in the 80s and 90s (Harney, 45). Because of this, I often perceived 1st gen Italian Canadian immigrants as individuals from the baby boomer generation or before. I imagined them to be old men and women who have already retired and are spending their retirement with their grandchildren who struggle to speak Italian. However, these ignorant assumptions could not be further from reality. I understand now that my preconceived ideas stemmed from my own experiences in my hometown; I went to school with many 3rd gen Italian Canadians who often spoke about their grandparents’ Italian heritage. They would talk about how their grandparents came to Canada with nothing, worked hard, built a family, cooked amazing meals, and valued their family more than anything. These stories were, for the longest time, my only knowledge on Italian Canadians and their immigration stories. While these stories are true for the families of my former classmates, they are not the only stories representing Italian Canadians. Cinzia’s role as a millennial Italian Canadian gave me a new perspective on Italian immigrants and reminded me of how different everyone’s family history is. This new perspective reminded me of a TED talk done by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie titled “The Danger of a Single Story”. In her TED talk, Adichie talks about how one portrayal of a group of people can become the only portrayal of said group of people. Furthermore, she highlights the importance of taking into consideration that everyone’s story is different, and not one story is representative of an entire country or group of people. The stories of my formal classmates became my only perception of Italian Canadians, and thus I subconsciously made stereotypes about them based on what I knew at the time. Hearing Cinzia’s story reminded me that each Italian Canadian has their own unique story, and not one will share the same experience. Cinzia came here in 1995 at the age of 11, long after the major waves of immigration. Her unique perspective does not conform to my preconceived ideas regarding Italian Canadians and gives me a new appreciation for taking the time to hear everyone’s story. While nobody’s story is “wrong”, it is wrong to only look at one story and assume it is an accurate representation of everyone. So, next time you assume something about a country or group of people based on someone’s experience, consider that there are thousands of different stories that paint a vastly different picture.
Reflection
Cinzia and I were unable to meet in person, so the interview was done virtually. It is amazing that modern technology allows us to connect with people all over the world, and today it was used to record Cinzia’s family history. It is hard to imagine that just a few decades ago, this meeting would have been impossible. Technology has proven to be a great tool to utilise, but it also brings limitations and challenges. Learning how to record on Microsoft Teams, save that recording, and export it was an entire learning experience on its own. While I was able to utilise my Adobe Premiere skills from high school, I still experienced many technical issues that could have not been foreseen. At a few points, the audio did not seem to register in the recording, and I had to add subtitles to ensure that the viewer could understand. Additionally, the mp4 file of the recording on Microsoft Teams seemed to be mildly corrupted as Adobe Premiere would not register the audio as “proper” audio despite it being audible. This also resulted in the video not playing properly and would pause and refuse to play after the 2-minute point. This mild file corruption prevented me from exporting the final product. To get around this, I had to screen record the interview directly from Microsoft Teams and edit the whole thing again. This was a long process, but it worked, and I was able to save the recording without any other errors. If I waited a few more days to do this, the playback on Microsoft teams would have been deleted and I would only have access to the semi corrupted mp4 file. I wanted to mention this because it was a strong reminder that technology is unpredictable, files get corrupted, and entire videos can be lost. I was able to avoid that this time, but it can happen to anyone. My experience with technological issues showed me exactly why the work of Guelph’s Italian Canadian Narratives Showcase (ICNS) is so important. In addition to saving our data on the website, we are told to save our interviews and projects on a USB stick as well. The people behind the ICNS understand how easy it is for data to be lost, or just never archived, which further proves why archiving this information is crucial. If nobody archives this data, it can easily be lost and therefore decades or even centuries of important history can be lost. Having a reliable and accurate archive allows people’s family history to live forever, even long after they themselves are gone. Not only did this project teach now how to archive information, but it also taught me why we are doing this in the first place.
Being able to interview Cinzia and learn more about Italian Canadians has been a pleasure. I am grateful for this experience and have learned a lot about how to conduct an interview, why interviews are important, and even lessons about why unique stories are important.
Gallery
Cinzia’s Airport Photo
Source: Cinzia Caruso Servello
Publisher: University of Guelph
Uploaded on: 9 November 2025
License: REB compliant. Matereal collected in accordance with the Certification of Ethical Acceptability of Research Involving Human Participants.
Rights Holder: Cinzia Caruso Servello
Citation: “Cinzia’s Airport Photo.” Italian Communities in Canada: Heritage, Culture, and Ethnographic Studies.
Cinzia’s Pencil Sharpener
Cinzia’s pencil sharpener that was brought from Italy to Canada on 27 August, 1995.
Source: Cinzia Caruso Servello
Publisher: University of Guelph
Uploaded on: 17 November 2025
License: REB compliant. Matereal collected in accordance with the Certification of Ethical Acceptability of Research Involving Human Participants.
Rights Holder: Cinzia Caruso Servello
Citation: “Cinzia’s Pencil Sharpener.” Italian Communities in Canada: Heritage, Culture, and Ethnographic Studies.
Cinzia’s School Photo
Source: Cinzia Caruso Servello
Publisher: University of Guelph
Uploaded on: 9 November 2025
License: REB compliant. Matereal collected in accordance with the Certification of Ethical Acceptability of Research Involving Human Participants.
Rights Holder: Cinzia Caruso Servello
Citation: “Cinzia’s School Photo.” Italian Communities in Canada: Heritage, Culture, and Ethnographic Studies.
Cinzia’s Daycare Photo
Source: Cinzia Caruso Servello
Publisher: University of Guelph
Uploaded on: 9 November 2025
License: REB compliant. Matereal collected in accordance with the Certification of Ethical Acceptability of Research Involving Human Participants.
Rights Holder: Cinzia Caruso Servello
Citation: “Cinzia’s Daycare Photo” Italian Communities in Canada: Heritage, Culture, and Ethnographic Studies.
Cinzia’s Ballerina Photo
Source: Cinzia Caruso Servello
Publisher: University of Guelph
Uploaded on: 9 November 2025
License: REB compliant. Matereal collected in accordance with the Certification of Ethical Acceptability of Research Involving Human Participants.
Rights Holder: Cinzia Caruso Servello
Citation: “Cinzia’s Ballerina Photo.” Italian Communities in Canada: Heritage, Culture, and Ethnographic Studies.
Cinzia’s Letter From a Friend (part 1)
Handwritten letter from a friend in Italy, 1994. The writer is thanking Cinzia for inviting her to her 10th birthday, and also praises her.
Source: Cinzia Caruso Servello
Publisher: University of Guelph
Uploaded on: 9 November 2025
License: REB compliant. Matereal collected in accordance with the Certification of Ethical Acceptability of Research Involving Human Participants.
Rights Holder: Cinzia Caruso Servello
Citation: “Cinzia’s Letter from a Friend (part 1).” Italian Communities in Canada: Heritage, Culture, and Ethnographic Studies.
Cinzia’s Letter from a Friend (part 2)
Continuation of the letter, 1994. The writer states her name and writes both hers, and CInzia’s names “in a strange way.”
Source: Cinzia Caruso Servello
Publisher: University of Guelph
Uploaded on: 9 November 2025
License: REB compliant. Matereal collected in accordance with the Certification of Ethical Acceptability of Research Involving Human Participants.
Rights Holder: Cinzia Caruso Servello
Citation: “Cinzia’s Letter from a Friend (part 2).” Italian Communities in Canada: Heritage, Culture, and Ethnographic Studies.
Cinzia Helping Her Father with His Art
Source: Cinzia Caruso Servello
Publisher: University of Guelph
Uploaded on: 9 November 2025
License: REB compliant. Matereal collected in accordance with the Certification of Ethical Acceptability of Research Involving Human Participants.
Rights Holder: Cinzia Caruso Servello
Citation: “Cinzia Helping Her Father with His Art.” Italian Communities in Canada: Heritage, Culture, and Ethnographic Studies.
Cinzia’s First Canadian Home
Source: Cinzia Caruso Servello
Publisher: University of Guelph
Uploaded on: 9 November 2025
License: REB compliant. Matereal collected in accordance with the Certification of Ethical Acceptability of Research Involving Human Participants.
Rights Holder: Cinzia Caruso Servello
Citation: “Cinzia First Canadian Home.” Italian Communities in Canada: Heritage, Culture, and Ethnographic Studies.
Bergamo Postcard
Source: Cinzia Caruso Servello
Publisher: University of Guelph
Uploaded on: 9 November 2025
License: REB compliant. Matereal collected in accordance with the Certification of Ethical Acceptability of Research Involving Human Participants.
Rights Holder: Cinzia Caruso Servello
Citation: “Bergamo Postcard.” Italian Communities in Canada: Heritage, Culture, and Ethnographic Studies.
Cinzia’s Father with Her Daughters
Cinzia’s father doing an art piece with Cinzia’s daughters, 2000s.
Source: Cinzia Caruso Servello
Publisher: University of Guelph
Uploaded on: 17 November 2025
License: REB compliant. Matereal collected in accordance with the Certification of Ethical Acceptability of Research Involving Human Participants.
Rights Holder: Cinzia Caruso Servello
Citation: “Cinzia’s Father with Her Daughters.” Italian Communities in Canada: Heritage, Culture, and Ethnographic Studies.
Bibliography
Adichie, Chimamanda Ngozi, “The Danger of a Single Story.” TED, October 7, 2009. https://youtu.be/D9Ihs241zeg?si=TokKI-jyILlFYsnu
Harney, Nicholas. “Building Italian Regional Identity in Toronto: Using Space to Make Culture Material.” Anthropologica, 2002, Vol. 44, No. 1, 2002, pp. 43-54.
All photos used were provided by Cinzia Caruso Servello from her personal collection. Permission for use was granted by the owner.
How to cite this page
Charron, Darian. “An Adventure from Italy to Canada – Cinzia’s Story.” Italian Communities in Canada: Heritage, Culture, and Ethnographic Studies. suprv. Teresa Russo. University of Guelph, 17 November 2025. https://wp.me/pdBdmI-3vh