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Immigration to Western Canada
Ethnic Immigration Links:
IMMIGRATION TO
WESTERN CANADA 1896-1914
Donald Avery
General Trends
From Confederation
until World War I there were two basic assumptions underlying Canadian
immigration policy: that large numbers of immigrants were vital to the
economic development of the nation; and that preference should be given
to those types of immigrants who could be readily assimilated into the
existing population. Under the terms of the British North America Act (Section
95), the Dominion and provincial governments were to have concurrent jurisdiction
over immigration. However, after federal-provincial consultations in the
1870's, it was agreed that a centralized authority, the Immigration Branch,
should be created to carry out promotional activities and to oversee regulations
dealing with the entry of undesirables such as paupers, criminals, and
diseased persons.
Immigration recruitment
in the three decades after Confederation was not very successful. A large
majority of the immigrants from western Europe and Great Britain felt that
economic and social opportunities were superior in the United States. In
fact, many nineteenth century Canadians were similarly attracted by 'the
American Way of Life' and, by 1900, over a million former Canadians resided
in the United States.
The election
of the Liberal government of Wilfrid Laurier in 1896 was followed by a
marked expansion of immigration into Canada. The change in administration
had coincided with a period of world-wide prosperity that, in a Canadian
context, focused attention on the development of the West. Wheat production,
railroad expansion and the development of industry in both the extractive
and manufacturing sectors were to provide the blueprint for Canadian prosperity.
To make this dream a reality, strong, willing workers were needed to cultivate
the vast acres of virgin prairie, to build the new transcontinental railroads,
and to supply the manpower for an expanding industrial system. Thus the
new government turned with greater enthusiasm than its predecessors to
attracting new immigrants not only from the traditional sources (Great
Britain, western Europe and the United States), but also from central and
eastern Europe.
Between 1896
and 1905 the Immigration Branch was under the vigorous direction of Clifford
Sifton, the Minister of the Interior. The expenditures of the Immigration
Branch doubled and redoubled as Sifton launched an ambitious programme
to funnel agricultural settlers into Canada. Government agents travelled
throughout Britain, the United States, and Europe promising 160 acres of
free land to any settler willing to homestead in the Canadian West. Special
bonuses were offered to steamship agents for distributing immigration propaganda
and for encouraging immigrants to come to Canada. The Dominion government
also allowed various ethnic and sectarian groups the right to settle in
colonies and guaranteed freedom of worship, a policy which would later
cause some controversy.
Another aspect
of the immigration debate revolved around the importance of racial and
cultural characteristics as the criteria for entry into Canada. Although
many entrepreneurs pressed for the large-scale importation of non-white
immigrants who would function as an industrial proletariat, the Canadian
public was generally hostile to the entry of ethnic groups who were believed
to be non-assimilable. The undesirable qualities of the non-white races,
it was argued, sprang from genetic and racial determinants which would
not be altered by contact with Canadian society. Although the Dominion
governments of Laurier and Borden resisted the demands of nativists for
the outright exclusion of all Oriental and non-Caucasian immigrants, by
1914 restrictive measures had been adopted which severely reduced the number
of non-whites coming to Canada.
No restrictive
measures were imposed against Caucasian immigrants. Despite some unsatisfactory
behavioural traits ascribed to certain ethnic and national groups from
Europe, it was maintained that these traits were based on cultural and
environmental factors. Time and Anglo-Canadian institutions, it was held,
would ultimately erase these differences and facilitate the absorption
of all white immigrants into the Anglo-Canadian community.
The high priority
afforded immigration recruitment remained throughout Laurier's term of
office, and this policy was not changed by the Borden government in the
years between its election in 1911 and the outbreak of war in 1914. It
has been estimated that over two million immigrants entered Canada between
1896 and 1914. Sifton's insistence that rapid population growth, particularly
in western Canada, was essential to national prosperity appeared to be
justified. At the turn of the century seven per cent of Canada's population
was located in this region; by 1914, the figure had increased to twenty
per cent. In economic terms, wheat production had increased ten-fold, railway
mileage had doubled, and the Gross National Product had advanced from $1,057,000,000
in 1900 to $2,235,000,000 in 1910.
Such growth,
however, did not escape criticism. Organized labour charged that immigration
recruitment produced a continuous supply of cheap labour which permitted
the business community to resist trade union demands for higher wages,
better working conditions, and a 'closed shop'. It was claimed that not
only were companies allowed to import strike breakers from abroad, but
also that many of the so-called agricultural immigrants entered the industrial
labour force. However, in an era where the dictates of economic growth
were paramount, organized labour fought a losing battle against the power
of big business.
Opposition to
this growth psychology also developed in Quebec. Many French-Canadians
argued that instead of recruiting European immigrants, the Dominion government
should assist French Canadians from Quebec to relocate in the rural areas
of western Canada. Moreover, concern was expressed that the influx of these
European immigrants would alter the bicultural character of the nation,
especially in the West. Neither trade unionists nor French Canadians concerned
about the immigration patterns, however, could stem the tide of settlers.
External conditions were too pressing and the mass of Canadians were too
optimistic to permit a lessening of the immigration movement.
British Immigrants
During the years
1896-1914 over a million newcomers - approximately one-half of all immigrants
- arrived in Canada from the United Kingdom. These immigrants represented
a cross-section of British society. Small landowners, professionals, and
merchants crossed the Atlantic along with farm labourers, mechanics, and
female domestics. British charitable institutions such as the Salvation
Army and Dr. Barnardo's Homes aided the passage of less fortunate persons
and thousands of orphaned children on the assumption that in the Canadian
environment they would have the opportunity to become productive citizens.
In general, the
response on the part of Canadians towards the British immigrants was favourable.
Some criticism was made, however, of the low percentage of settlers with
farming experience and of their inability to cope with the harsh conditions
in western Canada. This negative image was reinforced by the tribulations
of the ill-fated Barr Colony, established near Saskatoon in 1903.
American Immigrants
The arrival of
thousands of American farmers, motivated by the presence of free or cheap
lands in the Canadian West, was of immense importance in expanding agricultural
production. Experienced in dry farming methods and usually possessing adequate
capital, the American settler enjoyed a high level of material success.
It was not surprising, therefore, that the Immigration Branch spent millions
of dollars on immigration promotion in the agricultural regions of the
United States.
Many of the American
immigrants were members of ethnic or sectarian groups: Scandinavians from
Minnesota, German-Catholics from Illinois, Hutterites from South Dakota,
and Mormons from Utah. These groups came to Canada not only for economic
reasons, but also because the Canadian government was prepared to allow
them to settle in ethnic enclaves or colonies. This tolerant attitude on
the part of Dominion authorities did not, however, extend to American blacks;
their settlement proposals were usually ignored or rejected.
European Immigrants
Immigration from
continental Europe between 1896 and 1914 assumed unprecedented significance.
Over 700,000 immigrants from western, eastern and southern Europe streamed
into the country. There were several reasons for this sudden influx, especially
from eastern Europe where unsatisfactory economic, political, and cultural
conditions existed for many minorities. At the same time, a new image of
Canada as a land of economic and social opportunity was emerging from the
dissemination of immigration propaganda, the work of steamship agents,
and the favourable reports of friends and relatives who had previously
emigrated.
In deciding which
European national and ethnic groups should be assisted to come to Canada,
the Immigration Branch considered both the economic utility and the cultural
acceptability of each group. The 'preferred' category included immigrants
from the nations of western Europe: Belgium, France, Holland, Switzerland,
and the Scandinavian countries. Slavic immigrants from central and eastern
Europe were regarded as marginally acceptable, but, for most of our period,
were encouraged to settle in Canada. In contrast, immigrants from southern
Europe were placed in the 'non-preferred' category: Armenians, Greeks,
Turks, Italians, Spaniards, Portuguese, and Slavs from the southern Balkans.
Jewish immigrants were often added to the 'non-preferred' list as well.
French immigrants
were highly regarded by Canadian Immigration officials from both an economic
and cultural perspective. The French government, however, anxious to forestall
rural de-population, passed strict laws against immigration promotion and
attempted to channel any available emigrants to new homes within the French
colonial empire. As a result, prior to 1914, French immigrants did not
average more than 2,000 annually. Moreover, many of those immigrants who
did come to Canada were of middle-class urban background with little farming
experience. This failure to recruit large numbers of francophone immigrants
from either France or Belgium was a major source of grievance among French-Canadian
nationalists such as Henri Bourassa.
The Immigration
Branch also made an earnest attempt to attract immigrants from Germany,
Holland,
and the Scandinavian countries. People from these nations were thought
to have many attractive characteristics. They were excellent farmers and
industrial workers and they quickly integrated into Anglo-Canadian society,
readily assuming the obligations of citizenship. The flow of immigrants
from these countries was, however, impeded by several factors: the role
assumed by protective and vigilant governments which opposed the loss of
manpower; and the magnetic lure of the United States, where the economic
opportunities were enhanced by the presence of well-established German,
Dutch, and Scandinavian communities.
The Canadian
bias against immigrants from southern Europe was pronounced throughout
this period. The inclination of southern Europeans to seek work in an urban
milieu ran counter to the official policy of preference for agricultural
immigrants. Moreover, newspaper accounts of social problems in American
urban ghettos led many Canadians to associate southern Europeans with anarchism,
socialism, and crime. Because of these alleged disabilities the Immigration
Branch made no attempt to recruit immigrants from southern Europe.
Slavic immigrants
from the Austrian and Russian Empires were regarded in a more favourable
light by the officials of the Immigration Branch. Many of these newcomers
were Ukrainian and Polish peasants who responded enthusiastically to the
offer of free homesteads in western Canada. Their economic contributions
were substantial: as farmers, they cleared and cultivated vast areas of
land in the prairie provinces; as farm labourers, they facilitated the
increased production of wheat by Anglo-Canadian farmers; and as unskilled
workers, they provided the muscle and brawn required by railroad, mining,
and lumbering enterprises. Indeed, the economic potential of these immigrants
was strong enough to override certain initial reservations Anglo-Canadians
manifested towards the cultural traits of this 'new' type of immigrant.
As a result, the Slavic population of Canada increased from approximately
5,000 in 1896 to over 100,000 in 1914.
Religious persecution
caused the emigration of two pacifist sectarian groups from Russia - the
Mennonites and the Doukhobors. Their decision to locate in Canada stemmed
from the generous concessions granted by the Dominion government with respect
to communal settlement, religious freedom, and exemption from military
service.
The Mennonites
were the first to take advantage of the Canadian offer: between 1874 and
1880, some 7,000 members of the German-speaking sect located in Manitoba
and the Northwest Territories. By the 1890's the prosperity of the Mennonites
encouraged Immigration officials to offer other sectarian groups, notably
the Doukhobors, special privileges if they would settle in Canada.
In 1899, over
7,000 Doukhobors were settled in three colonies in the vicinity of Prince
Albert and Yorkton. Canadians were initially impressed by the economic
achievements of the sect. However, the 'strange ways' of the Doukhobors
and several incidents of mass civil disobedience created considerable Anglo-Canadian
hostility towards them. The refusal of the Doukhobors to take an oath of
allegiance, a condition for gaining final title to free land, resulted
in the confiscation of a large portion of their homestead grant in 1907.
As a result, many Doukhobors, under the spiritual direction of Peter Veregin,
moved to the Kootenay region of British Columbia where new colonies were
established on purchased land.
Jewish immigrants
formed another ethnic-sectarian group driven out of Europe by discriminatory
laws and violent persecution. Between 1880 and 1914 there were numerous
pogroms in eastern Europe directed against Russian, Polish and Roumanian
Jews. As a result, thousands of these refugees flocked to Canada. Initially
the agricultural inexperience and the apparently unassimilable character
of many of these Jewish immigrants did produce a certain amount of resistance
to their entry. However, the economic achievements of the group helped
to overcome some of this opposition. Perhaps, more significantly, there
was a strong pressure exerted upon the government by the Canadian Jewish
community which guaranteed support for Jewish immigrants. By 1914, there
were substantial Jewish communities in Montreal, Toronto, and Winnipeg.
Oriental Immigrants
Oriental immigration
into Canada, 1896-1914, was basically a West Coast phenomenon. The census
of 1901 revealed that ten percent of the population of British Columbia
was of Asiatic origin. Many were unskilled workers recruited by West Coast
labour contractors who had connections with emigration syndicates in China,
Japan, and India. Employed as railroad navies, miners, fishermen, domestics,
farm labourers, and lumber workers, the Oriental immigrant made a significant
contribution to the economic development of the coast province. Unfortunately,
many residents of British Columbia tended to regard these immigrants as
an economic and cultural challenge. The white workers viewed Oriental labourers
as unfair competition, a source of cheap labour which could be exploited
by ruthless entrepreneurs. The Canadian nationalist claimed that Asiatics
were non-assimilable and therefore an obstruction to national unity.
Opposition on
the West Coast to Oriental immigration resulted in many public demonstrations
and a series of federal-provincial constitutional battles. The British
Columbia Legislature sought to prohibit immigration from Asia entirely.
The federal government insisted that an outright exclusion law would make
it impossible for Canada to maintain important trade and diplomatic relations
with China, Japan, and India. Dominion authorities did, however, implement
a variety of regulatory devices such as the imposition of a 'head tax'
on Chinese labourers. These measures did not satisfy groups such as the
British Columbia branch of the Asiatic Exclusion League. In 1907, when
thousands of Orientals were arriving in the province, white mobs invaded
the Chinese and Japanese sections of Vancouver attacking Asiatics and destroying
property. As a result of these disturbances, the Dominion government placed
a tighter restriction on the entry of Oriental immigrants. Although these
measures restored peace for a time to the coast province, the 1914 Komagata
Maru incident involving a shipload of prospective East Indian immigrants
who tried to land in Vancouver again revealed British Columbia's sensitivity
to large-scale Oriental immigration.
The Impact of
the 'New' Immigration on Canadian Society
The entry of
over two million immigrants into Canada between 1896 and 1914 appreciably
altered the character of Canada's population. By 1914, the percentage of
foreign-born had increased to twenty-two per cent of the population, and
many of these newcomers showed little evidence of being Canadianized. Although
the supporters of large-scale European immigration had confidently predicted
that Protestant churches, the public school system, and exposure to the
Canadian political and economic system would transform these 'foreigners',
it was obvious that many of these immigrants still clung to their Old World
traditions. This trend was particularly true of the Slavic immigrants.
The Ukrainian, Greek Catholic, and Russian Orthodox churches not only organized
national parishes in the pre-war years, but also combined with the lay
elite in an attempt to have their mother tongues used for instructional
purposes in the public schools. In Manitoba, where the Laurier-Greenway
Compromise of 1897 had provided for a bilingual school system, it was estimated
that there were over one hundred Polish and Ukrainian bilingual schools.
Similar situations prevailed in Saskatchewan and Alberta after 1905.
Many Anglo-Canadians
attributed the ability of European immigrants to secure such concessions
in Manitoba and in the other prairie provinces to the tendency of many
ethnic groups, at the direction of their lay and clerical elite, to vote
en bloc for a political party. In various provincial and federal elections
both the Liberals and Conservatives found it expedient to adopt policies
which tended to perpetuate multiculturalism, despite public assurances
that they were committed to the rapid assimilation of the immigrants. It
is not surprising, therefore, that many Anglo-Canadian reformers should
have correlated bilingual schools with 'machine' politics and the ethnic
voters.
Anglo-Canadian
reformers took the position that the 'open door' immigration policy contributed
to the deplorable social conditions of the day. They pointed to the ethnic
ghettos in Montreal, Toronto, Fort William, and Winnipeg which were characterized
by excessive overcrowding, unsanitary living conditions, obvious indigency,
high crime rates, and commercial vice. Warnings were issued that Canada
faced a future of lawlessness and revolution if the thousands of immigrants
continued to be 'animalized' by the unhealthy urban environment. This alleged
social threat posed by 'the foreigner' provided considerable impetus for
various reform movements. Advocates of temperance legislation pointed to
the disastrous social effects which alcohol had on the immigrant male as
justification for stringent laws against the 'liquor traffic'. Attempts
were also made by various Anglo-Canadian institutions to help the immigrants
adjust to their urban environment. The Protestant churches, for example,
maintained missions in the 'foreign' districts of many Canadian cities:
one of the most famous centres was All-People's Mission, which was operated
by the Methodist Church in Winnipeg's North End. Here the immigrant was
offered English instruction, courses in civics, and various social services,
including kindergartens and fresh air camps for children.
Reformers were
also disturbed by the inhumane conditions which many immigrants were forced
to endure in isolated railroad and mining camps. It was charged that unsafe
industrial practices, unsanitary accommodations, and irregular pay were
seriously alienating the immigrant worker. The situation was aggravated
by the reluctance of both the Dominion and provincial governments to interfere
with private enterprise, and the difficulty that these workers, not yet
familiar with the English language, encountered in trying to publicize
their complaints. Because they felt that their grievances were not appreciated,
many gravitated towards radical labour organizations such as the Industrial
Workers of the World, the American-based anarcho-syndicalist labour movement.
Between 1912 and 1914, immigrant workers were involved in an epidemic of
violent strikes which threatened to disrupt vital sectors of the Canadian
economy. During World War I Anglo-Canadian fear and hostility towards the
'foreign' worker was intensified; these nativist sentiments were to reach
a climax during the 'Red Scare' of 1919.
The rapid growth
in Canada's population and the accompanying ethnic diversification which
occurred between 1896 and 1914 had critical implications for the future
of the country. While the settled regions of eastern Canada retained their
English-French cultural dualism, the developing regions to the north and
west of the Great Lakes assumed many of the characteristics of a pluralistic
society. The emergence of ethnic communities played a useful role in helping
their members to adjust from one linguistic environment to another, and
sometimes from a rural way of living to an urban one. However, in some
cases, the ethnic community acted as a brake on the individual achievement
and social mobility of its members. Economic and cultural discrimination
from both the anglophone and francophone host societies also created difficulties
for many immigrants. Yet despite the many problems, by 1914, Canada had
taken a major step in its evolution as a multicultural society.
  
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