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Dictionary of Canadian Biography
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Immigration to Canada

In the early years of the territory that became Canada, immigrants were largely of French, and later British, origin. From 1838 to 1868 about 866,000 came to Canada, chiefly from the British Isles, including thousands of refugees fleeing famine in Ireland. The economic development of the western provinces and territories depended in large part on settlement by immigrants. The population of Manitoba, the North-West Territories, and British Columbia doubled during the 1880s. The years between the end of the 19th century and the First World War witnessed an enormous influx of newcomers, from 21,716 in 1897 to 400,870 in 1913. Many were from central and eastern Europe, especially Ukraine. Canada, however, remained hostile to newcomers of colour: a policy was issued to limit immigrants from Asia, and the immigration of Black people, mostly from the United States, was severely curbed. For a long time, the Canadian government refused to take any action to improve conditions for those arriving, in particular setting up adequate hospitals to treat them, because it believed that would merely attract more immigrant vessels in distress. Enticed by relatively high wages, most immigrants worked as labourers. Many converged in poor and overcrowded areas like the Ward in Toronto. In the 1960s important changes to Canada’s immigration policy made it less restrictive and therefore more appealing to new Canadians.

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Other Resources

150 years of immigration in Canada. Content archived on 25 May 2018
Immigration in Canada - The Canadian Encyclopedia. Content archived on 11 Dec. 2024
Immigration to Canada - Wikipedia

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We acknowledge the support of the Government of Canada.

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