Topic 4: Immigration
Populate the west was Sir John A. Macdonald's 3rd goal in his National Policy. Did the young Canada fulfill his dream?
Gallery of posters advertising on Immigration |
Theme 1: Canadian Government Power on New Immigrants
From 1890-1914 As a guardian of the fast-growing country, the Canadian government puts in a lot of efforts. Firstly, the Constitution Act (BNA Act) separated the responsibility of the immigration between the provincial and federal government. The event such as WWI (World War One) brought the political upheavals, economic problems, restrictive immigrant policy. Accordingly, they left unchanged until 1962. Our capital-Ottawa, dominated the law and policy-making area. Of course, it included the immigration. However, the population boom in the late-19th century forced Ottawa to reassess their organizations and administrations. The Quebec government, on the other side, tried to get as many French-speaking immigrants as possible to make their culture and economy stronger. In the end, the Canadian government adapted and learned about the big challenges that they were facing. From 20th century-today Right now, the Government of Canada had 3 objectives about immigration: reunite family; fulfill the international obligations, humanitarian tradition, respect for refugees; and foster steady economy in every region in Canada. The current Immigrant Act, along with the Canadian Employment, and Immigration Commission, shap the immigration policy, create the annual immigration levels, provincial government's potential employees, humanitarian organizations. In addition, the Department of Citizenship and Immigration (1950-1965), the Department of Manpower and Immigration (1966-1977), and the Canada Employment and Immigration Commission (1997) played a significant role of taking care of immigration throughout the 20th century. Also, Quebec's government established its own Department of Immigration in 1968. Compare the overall organizations of immigration to the late-19 century, the Canada grew amazingly and learned how to make Canada one of best country to live in. Sir Clifford Sifton's Promotion of Immigration After the worldwide depression in 1873, the Canadian economy got weaker and the population growth reduced to less than 25%. Particularly, in 1880s, more Canadians immigrated to the United States than Americans immigrated to Canada. Regarding of this, Wilfrid Laurier had been elected for the Minister of Canadian Interior (control of the prairie), the Canadian government was focused on these problems: make reserves for the Aboriginal people, build more facilities, increase the extraction of lumber and mineral. In order to accomplish these goals, they need to populate the vast western land between Ontario and British Columbia. As an important politician, Sir Clifford Sifton brought up an aggressive advertisement plan to attract new immigrants around the world to come to the Canadian prairie. He posted 6,000 newspapers in the US and Europe about the cheap and the fertile land. He was mainly interested in Ukraine, Galicia, Hungary, Germany, Poland, and Russia because the residents that lived there were familiar with farming. Also, they can easily adapt to the new environment. Meanwhile, he sent agents to Great Britain, US central, eastern Europe to promote the settlement. They used exhibition vans to promote Canadian farm product samples and posters. The furious promoters described Western Canadian as "the breadbasket of the empire". The free tours were offered to American newspapers men to Canada. As a result, the campaign spent more than a million dollars, but received thousands of new immigrants who settled in western Canada. But with this action, the Canada had took a important step for the purpose of building a stronger nation. |
Theme 2: Immigrants' perspectives
Reasons to Immigrate (1890-1914) Why would people leave their mother land that they had lived on for all their lives? No matter what circumstance, they always wanted to live a better life. For this reason, people could do anything they could to improve their lifestyle for themselves and their next generations. Fortunately, to immigrate to Canada was on their wish list. Speaking about this, there were push factors (something that encourage people to leave the home country) and pull factors (something that attract them to the new land). The push factors for the Europeans and Americans at that time were the feeling of land shortage, religious discrimination, persecution, and the threat of war. Differently, the main pull factor was the policy from the Dominion Land Act: every family arrived would receive 160 acres of free land to farm. There were also social opportunities, protections from the RWMP, convenient CPR which can move goods and people faster, the right to vote, and the freedom to practice religion. During 1901 to 1904, more than 750,000 Americans became the immigrants of Canada. Today, these immigrants 'descendants should feel proud for their parents' choice to move to Canada. Modern Reasons to Immigrate Now a day, more and more people around the world choose Canada as their home for varieties of reasons. They might visit, work, study, or declare as refugees. For visitors, they are immigrants' relatives who are allowed to come to Canada to meet them for some time. For the workers (people with professions), they could live and work in Canada either for a period of time or permanently live there. For students, they are attracted by Canadian education's qualified value in the world. The government offers many inexpensive education plans, a unique campus life, and a possibility of immigration after graduate. In 2010, around 260,000 people settled in Canada as a resident. Lastly, the Canada is providing a home for everyone. Immigrants' Difficulties or Problems Being a immigrant of Canada, the path isn't always bright ahead. The first obstacle that the European immigrants faced was the long trans-Atlantic voyage, they needed to conquer one month of boredom and struggle on the decision whether it was a good to leave or not. After all, they were disconnected from their family and friends. When the immigrants arrived at their new land, they were given the lot number, general directions, and the basic supplies. Their next step was to build the shelter, it was a very exhausting work after a long voyage. Indeed, they had to get used to all kinds of the problems: different climate and the first harsh winter, financial problems (dealt with CPR, banks), discrimination, racism, childcare, language training, health care, and, most difficult of all-find an adequate job. The working condition was tiring and unsafe and most people lacked experience. The wage was very low-the average in Ontario was $185/year and $245/year in Quebec. Besides, the government didn't provide any security services such as insurance and medical plan. Lastly, they lived far apart from other neighbors. They had to accept the isolation and the homesickness. Therefore, it wasn't easy to start a new life in Canada during 1890 to 1914. Their Heritages Where did the immigrants settle in the first place? The BC was the favorite settlement for many Asian immigrants (Chinese, Japanese, and Indian). The Japanese settled on the Pacific coast, Fraser Valley, and Alberta. Some French speaking immigrant chose to settle in Quebec or Montreal. The Europeans and the Americans moved into the Canadian prairies by using the CPR. As a common sense, the new immigrants always wanted to settle with the people who had the same cultures and religions. That was the making of the China Towns. After all, the Prairie Region was the most popular choice of all. Immigrants' Opinions As a matter of fact, the immigrants said that it was extremely more harsh and difficult than what promoters had said. They had to wait for 4 years to qualify for the homestead patent. The Chinese immigrants had to pay head tax ($100 CDN, but worth very much during that time) to the Canadian government in order to settle on the Canadian soil. After that, they faced discrimination and lower wage than the rest of the people. Most of them felt angry but helpless because they couldn't speak neither English nor French. Statistics of Canada did an survey recently on the immigrants that settled in Canada for more than 5 years, on "whether immigrate to Canada was worth it or not". The results are quite interesting. : 81% -plan to stay in Canada permanently 5%- plan to maintain the residences in Canada and elsewhere 2%- live in Canada sometimes then return to the home country 1%- want to move to other country 10%- uncertain From the information above, it shows that majority of the immigrants like the quality of life in Canada and feel satisfied. Immigrants' Jobs and Businesses Different settlers from different countries had different jobs. For example, the Norwegians and Swiss moved west and built their thriving agricultural sectors. The Japanese immigrants established their fishing industry in British Columbia. The Chinese worked mainly in factories. Next, the Indian immigrants constructed sawmills and lumber camps for the hope to run the lumber business. In 1909, Saunder, a plant breeder, developed a frost-resistant wheat called Marquis in Saskatchewan. It matures (grows) faster than the old Red Fife. This means the farmers could gain more profits and more immigrants to become wheat farmers. There were also some small businesses like the blacksmith shops and hardware stores. Since the Industrial Revolution, the demand of the farm machinery surged. These hard-working immigrants boosted the Canadian economy into a higher standard. |
Fun FactsIn 2011, 51% of the immigrants settled in GTA (Great Toronto Area). That is about 777,000 people!
For more fun facts, please go on http://www.canadafaq.ca/Images/canadian-immigration-infographic.jpg Videos About ImmigrationGreat Canadian QuotesCanada will be a strong country when Canadians of all provinces feel at home in all parts of the country, and when they feel that all Canada belongs to them. Two races share today the soil of Canada. These people had not always been friends. But I hasten to say it. There is no longer any family here but the human family. It matters not the language people speak, or the altars at which they kneel. Make no mistake. Canada is not a bilingual country. In fact it is less bilingual today than it has ever been. I've been a very lucky guy. I played on championship teams. I played for Canada. I've won some awards and I'm very proud of those accomplishments. But I don't think there's anything greater than to come home and to be recognized at home. This is the pinnacle. For more great Canadian quotes, please check:
http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/ keywords/canada_3.html |
Theme 3: Benefits for Canada
The Beneficial Decisions
The new immigrants not only improved their living standard, but also made some huge contributions to the Canada. Such as, they boosted the usage of CPR, tripled the wheat production, opened up thousands of hectares of lands in the west, imported new mechanical tractors and threshers. Surprisingly, the wheat export amount rose from 9 millions in 1900 to 45 millions in 1915. Since the west were populated, it led to the creations of Saskatchewan and Alberta. Many immigrants decided to volunteer to join the battles of the WW1, they already had the strong patriotism to their new home. Behind the scene, it was them whom developed Canada into a multicultural country that is second to none.
The Continuous Profits
Majority of the Canadian population growth was due the immigration, wow! The Canadian government (federal and provincial) made billions of revenues by collecting taxes from its residents, which also included the immigrants. The income tax depended on the money that a family or a person earned in the past year. If you earn less, you would pay less taxes. But if you earn more, then you would pay more taxes. In either way, the government are still making money out of them. This positive cycle would keep the Canadian society healthy. Further, Canada is in need of skill immigrants to create more job opportunities. However, there was the underground economy- the economic activities that is untaxed by its government, it means that the tax payer doesn't pay the tax. This would hurt the economy because the money will be spent on different budgets and improvement in public facilities. The foreign countries are abundant of the collage and university graduates. They are the best material to strengthen Canada. In conclusion, the immigrants are essential to the a country 's development, especially to Canada.
The Beneficial Decisions
The new immigrants not only improved their living standard, but also made some huge contributions to the Canada. Such as, they boosted the usage of CPR, tripled the wheat production, opened up thousands of hectares of lands in the west, imported new mechanical tractors and threshers. Surprisingly, the wheat export amount rose from 9 millions in 1900 to 45 millions in 1915. Since the west were populated, it led to the creations of Saskatchewan and Alberta. Many immigrants decided to volunteer to join the battles of the WW1, they already had the strong patriotism to their new home. Behind the scene, it was them whom developed Canada into a multicultural country that is second to none.
The Continuous Profits
Majority of the Canadian population growth was due the immigration, wow! The Canadian government (federal and provincial) made billions of revenues by collecting taxes from its residents, which also included the immigrants. The income tax depended on the money that a family or a person earned in the past year. If you earn less, you would pay less taxes. But if you earn more, then you would pay more taxes. In either way, the government are still making money out of them. This positive cycle would keep the Canadian society healthy. Further, Canada is in need of skill immigrants to create more job opportunities. However, there was the underground economy- the economic activities that is untaxed by its government, it means that the tax payer doesn't pay the tax. This would hurt the economy because the money will be spent on different budgets and improvement in public facilities. The foreign countries are abundant of the collage and university graduates. They are the best material to strengthen Canada. In conclusion, the immigrants are essential to the a country 's development, especially to Canada.
Theme 4: Personal Experience
To me, the author of this page, the immigration to Canada was an unbelievable journey. My family came from China, the country with the most population. It was completely two different worlds. Since we stepped on this vast land in 2010, we began the tough first 2 years. First of all, the killer was the language barrier and finding a right job. In fact, very few people in China can speak fluent English, especially the teenager like me. Even a person has the skill for a profession, he still can't qualify without speaking a local language. I had to take ESL class (English as a Second Language) and do easier homework than my classmates. This gave me a ton of emotional stress- it wasn't my fault that I can't speak a language! Same with my dad, he worked daytime and went to night school, the life was very stressful and tired. And not to mention the freezing weather during the winter because we got used to the Chinese hot and humid tropical climate. To be honest, I wore 5 layers of clothing to keep me warm! In the first year, we had hundreds of question regarding to the city service such as the Mississauga Transit, community center, open a bank account, and the first income tax.
After 2 years, everything started to settle down: we bought a house, a car, found the right jobs, went back to China for a visit, and made a lot of friends. Although that my parents are still very busy, but we are happy together as a family!
Comic on Immigration
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Bibliography & Useful Resources
Websites
http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/resources/publications/dpr/2013/dpr.asp#strategic1-1
http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/immigration/
http://www.historymuseum.ca/home
http://www.canadahistory.com/
http:www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business-new-canadians-struggle-to-find-job/article545197/
Books
Canada Revisited by Arnold, Clark, and Westerland
Coming to Canada by Suan Hughes
Canada: Years of change by Deir Elspeth
Discovering Canada: Developing a nation by Ronald C. Kirbyson
Videos
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=09_sMgetN7E
https://youtu.be/EpZhurb1OvU
Downloadable Document
Be sure to check out other page!