Ethiopians have been residing in Calgary since the early 1970s. By 1975, there were still less than ten Ethiopians living in Calgary, fortunately, the city of Edmonton had a larger population. Most of the Ethiopians in Alberta were studying or working around university campuses
As the 1980s began, a large number of Ethiopians started to arrive in Calgary, mostly from Kenya, Djibouti, Sudan and a few from Italy. As the number of Ethiopians increased in Alberta it became very necessary to organize community associations both in Calgary and Edmonton. This necessitated the establishment of community associations in both Calgary and Edmonton. An Ethiopian community association was established in September of 1982 in Edmonton. Following this, the Calgary Ethiopian Community Association (CECA) was born in November 1982.
Source: Hibert Magazine 20th Anniversary Special Issue.