A tanner by trade, he was born and raised in the Svisloch shtetl in the Russian Empire (later part of Poland and now Belarus).
Realising that he was not safe under either regime, and the prospects for the future of his family were bleak, he left for Canada in May 1921, to work in his brother-in law's clothing factory in Montreal, Quebec.
[5][6] Lewis resumed his labour activism in Canada becoming involved with the Arbeiter Ring (Workmen's Circle).
[8] They were able to do this through the federal government's "bulk-labour" program that allowed labour-intensive industries to bring European displaced persons to Canada, in order to fill those jobs.
[citation needed] His grandson Stephen Lewis was leader of the Ontario New Democratic Party in the 1970s and later Canada's ambassador to the United Nations.