Post World War Two
and Displaced Persons

The end of the Second World War heralded important changes in Canadian immigration policy and outlook that altered Canada in unsuspected ways. The first post-war immigration policy was Prime Minister Mackenzie King’s directive of May 1, 1947. It stated that the policy of the government would henceforth be to foster the growth of the population of Canada by encouraging immigration which would neither alter the fundamental character of Canadian society, nor exceed Canada’s ‘absorptive’ capacity. In other words, the Canadian government approved of the idea of a cultural melting pot, in which all immigrants would abandon their cultural heritage to become part of the dominant English-speaking, or French-speaking, culture. The mandate of federal policy was to select immigrants from the preferred ethnic groups, which included British, American, and northwestern European individuals. Canadian government policy well since the 1920s reflected the prevailing belief that these groups were easily assimilated, as they were culturally and linguistically similar to the dominant English group.

The Canadian government actively recruited preferred immigrants such as the Dutch from Holland. The ‘Netherlands Farm Families Movement,’ an initiative begun by the federal government in 1947 to entice Dutch farmers to come to Canada, brought thousands of Dutch, comprising the third largest group of immigrants who came to Canada, in this period. In common with other post World War II immigrants, the Dutch came to Canada to escape intolerable living conditions in their homeland. Holland was crowded because it had managed to sustain a fairly high birth rate throughout the war years. In addition, the country was war-torn, and tens of thousands of hectares of arable land had been submerged under sea-water by the invading Nazis.

Three young Dutch immigrants arrive in Quebec City aboard a ship, 1947

The reception of non-preferred immigrants in Canada, particularly oriental and Mediterranean peoples, was not as friendly. Although both naturalised Chinese-Canadians and East Indians (because they were British subjects) could sponsor relatives as of January 1, 1947, Asians were discouraged from entering Canada until the 1960s. This is indicated by the arrival of small numbers of these non-preferred groups between the late 1940s and early 1960s. French nationals, as well, were not considered ‘preferred’ immigrants until 1948, when PC 4186 enabled all citizens of France who had sufficient means to support themselves until they could find employment to enter Canada.

The fact that Germans quickly became preferred immigrants despite their status as ‘enemy aliens’ after WWII provides yet another example of Canada’s racial and ethnic preferences. Public opinion polls revealed that the majority of Canadians would rather allow German enemy aliens into the country than Mediterranean or Asian peoples. In keeping with these racial preferences, the federal government fully revoked the enemy aliens prohibitions against Italy and Germany by 1952.

At the war’s end, Canada’s immigration gates remained closed to Europe’s war victims. The federal government introduced a series of initiatives which linked immigration policy to Canadian labour requirements and ethnic prejudices. From the outset Canadian officials were highly selective in admitting immigrants. Part of the screening process required that prospective immigrants pass medical and character examinations prior to their acceptance to Canada. In London, an RCMP post was established precisely for this purpose. The Canadian government denied suspected communists, as well as those harbouring other ‘questionable’ political tendencies or inappropriate physical characteristics, including handicaps, admittance to Canada.

The Canadian Citizenship Act:

Photographer Yousuf Karsh with Arthur Leigh Jolliffe (left),
Immigration Director, at Canadian Citizenship ceremony; January 1947

In 1947 the Canadian government passed the Citizenship Act, which created Canadian citizenship as an entity independent of British subject status. To become a Canadian citizen the prospective candidate was required to have legally gained admission to Canada, five years residence prior to application, bear evidence of a good character, adequate knowledge of either French or English (or twenty years residence), ‘adequate’ knowledge of the privileges and responsibilities of Canadian citizenship, and to make a statement of intention to reside permanently in Canada. Privileges for British subjects remained intact under this new Act. British citizens who had completed the five year residency requirement at the passage of the Act automatically became citizens of Canada, and retained their voting rights and old age pensions. These rights for British residents remained in place until the 1980s. Obtaining Canadian citizenship under this new Act enabled Canadian citizens to sponsor relatives in Europe. In the late 1940s, therefore, Canadian citizens could legally sponsor any immigrant to whom he could ensure employment in agriculture, lumbering, or mining.

Displaced Persons:

A keen concern in Canada, as well as in Britain, Australia, and the United States, was what to do about the millions of ‘displaced persons’ living in former concentration camps in Europe. Many of these refugees originated in central, southern and eastern Europe and the Baltic States, and were unwilling or unable to return to their homelands at the war’s end for political and economic reasons. Chaotic conditions existed in 'DP' (displaced persons) camps; former enemies and allies, from Jews to ex-Nazis, cohabited and possessed only remnants of  'official' documentation to prove their nationality and role in the war.

Source: Alan G. Green. Immigration and the Postwar Canadian Economy. Canada: Maclean-Hunter Press, 1976.

One of the first Canadian Orders in Council providing for refugees and Displaced Persons was PC 3112, passed on July 23, 1946. This made provisions for the selection and placement of a variety of European Displaced Persons. Among the first Displaced Persons admitted to Canada were 4,000 single former members of the Polish Armed forces who had served with the Allied Forces during the War, who were to be placed in the Canadian agricultural sector. Croatian and Serbian refugees also came to Canada to fill the demand for cheap unskilled labour in mining, lumber and construction. On November 7, 1946 the Prime Minister announced that the government would henceforth approve to adopt emergency measures to assist in the resettlement of refugees and displaced persons by co-operating with the Intergovernmental Committee on Refugees (IRO). In addition, a variety of churches joined in this initiative, and organised recruitment campaigns in European ‘DP’ camps. In 1947, six Canadian religious and ethnic organisations joined to form the Canadian Christian Council for the Resettlement of Refugees (CCCRR). These organisations included the Catholic Immigrant Aid Society, German Baptist Colonization and Immigration Society, Canadian Lutheran Relief, Latvian Relief Fund of Canada, Canadian Mennonite Board of Colonization, and the Sudetan Committee.

Not all Displaced Persons passed the gate. Ottawa in 1949 denied 18 Arab families admittance to Canada because they were considered too alien. Compared to the United States and Australia, Canada also had the worst record for accepting Jews. The anti-Semitic views of bureaucrats such as Frederick Blair, departmental secretary of the Department of Immigration and Colonisation, and Prime Minister Mackenzie King, in office to 1948, partly explain this situation. Between 1947 and 1952 less than 10 per cent of immigrants to Canada were Jewish.

"DPs" came to Canada primarily either under the sponsored labour scheme, which required them to sign a contract guaranteeing that they would remain employed in farming, mining, domestic service, railway work, or other forms of manual labour for a period of two years; or, under the close relative scheme, which enabled Canadian citizens to sponsor their close relatives stranded in Europe. Between 1947 and 1952 female "DPs" could come to Canada only as domestic contract workers.