The Japanese martial art and combat sport judo has been practised in the Canadian province of New Brunswick since 1955.
Judo was introduced to Canada in the early twentieth century by Japanese migrants, and was limited to British Columbia until the forced expulsion, internment, and resettlement of Japanese-Canadians after Japan entered the Second World War in 1941.
New dojos opened in the Prairies, Ontario, and Quebec, primarily in the mid-to-late 1940s, and the centre of Canadian judo shifted from Vancouver to Toronto, where a significant number of judoka had settled after the war.
Many early dojos were housed at the local branch of the YMCA, which also provided short-term accommodation, assisted with finding employment, and coordinated social programs for resettled Japanese Canadians.
[3][4] The Club also received guest instruction from Jon Bluming, a Dutch martial artist who was teaching judo in Halifax, Nova Scotia in 1958,[5] and another dojo was established in Fredericton by RCMP Sergeant Melrose around the same time.