The Peopling of Canada: 1891-1921

An early ranch near the present site of the Brentwood Shopping Center, Calgary, ca. 1896.
Glenbow Archives, NA-1097-1.

Only in 1896 did the worldwide tide of immigration begin to turn to Canada. Before settlement of the West could begin in earnest a number of things had to occur. One of the most important factors was the completion of the transcontinental railway in 1885. The railway eased the passage West for settlers, and provided a means for farmers to export their grain. In addition, the dispossession of Native land rights through the signing of the seven numbered treaties in the 1870s (Treaties 1 to 7) enabled the federal government to open up the West to agricultural settlement. A worldwide economic boom in the late 1890s caused wheat prices to rise on international markets and made farming more profitable. Also, innovations in dry land farming and agricultural machinery, and the development of hardier strains of wheat allowed for the expansion of a northern wheat frontier. Finally, the closing of the American frontier meant that Canada could attract thousands of immigrants from the United States, the British Isles and Europe.

The Rt. Hon. Clifford Sifton, Member of Parliament. NAC PA-022967

In 1896 the Liberals under Wilfrid Laurier came into power. Between 1896 and 1905 Clifford Sifton, the new Minister of the Interior, assumed responsibility for immigration and settlement in Canada. Sifton reorganized the previously inefficient immigration department and made it easier for immigrants to obtain homesteads in the West. The focus of Sifton's efforts was to populate the North West with farmers. Sifton saw a need for increased advertising of the West, and initiated a vigorous recruiting campaign aimed not only at the American farmer and British agriculturists, but at Central and Eastern European rural peasants.

Sifton viewed western Canada primarily as a commodity to be sold. 'Selling' the West was problematic as many people viewed the West as a cold and barren tundra. This image had to be seriously revised before serious settlement could occur. Sifton therefore urged advertising copy writers to use words like 'invigorating' and 'bracing' instead of 'freezing' and 'desolate' to describe western Canada. Sifton also banned publication of Manitoba temperatures abroad. Eventually, Sifton succeeded in forbidding all references to snow and cold in official publications, creating a more hospitable image of Canada's West.

The Canadian government presented Canada's attractions to potential overseas migrants in several ways. The government offered free or cheap land to potential agriculturists. As well, the government established agents and/or agencies for the purpose of attracting emigrants overseas. Assisted passage schemes, bonuses and commissions to agents and settlers and pamphlets also attracted some immigrants to Canada.

Canadian Government Emigration Offices in London, England circa 1910.
National Archives of Canada, C 63257

The most influential form of attracting others to Canada, however remained the letters home written by emigrants already in Canada. Letters from trusted friends and family members. Letters home often contained exaggerations of the 'wonder of the new world.' Migrant workers and settlers already in Canada did not want to disappoint, or worry, their family and friends at home. Embellished tales of good fortune and happiness often succeeded in encouraging others to come.

The American farmer was Sifton's preferred immigrant. Historian Jean Burnet noted that American farmers made excellent settlers to the West because many "brought capital; all of them brought experience in dealing with North American conditions and were able to provide advice and support to neighbours." (Jean Burnet with Howard Palmer, "Coming Canadians" An Introduction to a History of Canada's Peoples (Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 1988), 27.) Great Britain remained Canada's traditional source of immigrants and nearly two million British migrants arrived in Canada between 1901 and 1921. Sifton's most imaginative approach to populating the North West was to recruit Central and Eastern European agriculturists. Many Anglo-Canadians majority did not like this policy as they believed that these immigrants would be difficult to assimilate. According to Sifton, a "stalwart peasant in a sheepskin coat, born on the soil, whose forefathers have been farmers for ten generations, with a stout wife and a half dozen children" was the right kind of settler for the Canadian West.

A number of French Canadians also viewed all non-French-speaking immigrants negatively, as they felt large-scale immigration was merely a plot to reduce the total percentage of French-speaking as opposed to English-speaking people in Canada. Overseas, Western Canada was presented as an English-speaking area.

Family of Galician Peasants. Public Archives of Canada, C4745

Popular pseudo-scientific race theories concerning the perceived ability of certain ethnic groups to 'conform' to the Anglo-Canadian identity resulted in many potential immigrants barred from entering Canada. Sifton, and particularly his successors, believed some groups to be inferior and unable to assimilate. Calculating immigrants' 'foreignness' took into consideration the hue of the foreigner's skin; the darker the skin, the more 'foreign' the immigrant was supposed to be. Also important in determining 'foreignness' was the extent to which the immigrant's religious, political and social institutions differed from those of the British. A type of racial hierarchy based on these 'standards' emerged. The British headed the list as the most desired settlers, followed by Americans and northern and western Europeans. Less desired settlers included central and eastern Europeans; who, in turn, were followed by southern Europeans. The least desired settlers included Asiatics and Blacks.

Climate was often cited as the reason for the preference of certain ethnic groups over others in the selection of immigrants. According to social reformers climate was an important factor in the process of race selection. Many believed that Canada's hardy climate would ensure that only immigrants belonging to the 'sturdy' Northern races would flourish in Canada. Canadian agents discouraged numerous proposals made by African Americans spokespersons providing climate as the primary reason. Canadian immigration officials maintained that the Canadian climate was harsh, unforgiving, and potentially fatal to races accustomed to warmer surroundings. Between 1901 and 1911 less than 1,500 Blacks entered Canada.

Other 'undesirable' immigrants included Chinese, Japanese and South Asians. To keep these settlers out of Canada, the federal government increased their head tax on all Chinese immigrants from $50 in 1885 to $100 in 1900 and to $500 in 1903. A "gentlemen's agreement" with Britain's ally, Japan, kept Japanese immigration in Check. A "continuous journey" clause in the Immigration Act of 1908 made it impossible for immigrants from India to land in Canada legally. This clause required prospective immigrants to travel to Canada in an uninterrupted journey, which was not possible as ocean steamers agreed not to travel directly from India to Canada.

The South Asians in this picture were brought to Vancouver on the Komagatu Maru in 1914 to test the "continuous journey" policy and were refused entry.

South Asians brought to Vancouver on the Komagatu Maru in 1914.
Vancouver Public Library photograph no. 6231