Canada Migration

While the majority of early immigrants came to Canada from Britain or the United States, other nationalities also came, including non-whites. Many immigrants from continental Europe were drawn to Canada by its economic promise, or as an escape from religious or political threats. In the years before the American Civil War, the Europeans were joined by thousands of black slaves who escaped by following the Underground Railway northward into Canada. After Canadian Confederation in 1867, thousands of Irish and Chinese labourers were imported as workers to build the Canadian Pacific Railway. On the Pacific coast, other Chinese joined the rush of fortune hunters from all over the world who trekked into British Columbia and later the Yukon interior after the discovery of gold.

After the turn of the century, hundreds of thousands of American farmers moved northward into the Canadian prairies in search of farm lands. At the same time, many from central and eastern Europe, seeking land, were recruited by Canadian immigration agents anxious to fill the west with farmers.

While Canada’s western lands filled with settlers, other newcomers laboured in Canada’s expanding lumber, mining, railway, manufacturing and construction industries. Some planned to stay and become Canadians; others wished only to save money and then return to their families. Meanwhile, the money these sojourners sent home helped support those who remained behind. But whatever their motives for coming to Canada and whether or not they ended up staying permanently, each newcomer played a role in the building of Canada.