Immigration to Canada :: Canadian Canada History

Immigration to CanadaEarly immigration to Canada was generated by a network of transportation agents who were salesman who advertised to Canadas attractions to prospected immigrants. They targeted wealthy farmers, agricultural laborers and female domestics, preferably from Great Britain, the United States and Northern Europe.Canadas first immigration legislation, the Immigration Act of 1869 reflected the laissez-faire philosophy of the cartridge holder by not saying which classes of immigrants should be admitted but , merely that the governor could prohibit the landing of pauper or destitute immigrants at any Canadian port.The Chinese, who were arriving in large numbers to build the railway, were a special target of fear and suspicion. An act passed in 1885 to restrict and regulate Chinese immigration, was later complemented by motion taxes designed to discourage Chinese immigration. It wasnt until the 1960s that regulations and restriction to Chinese immigration were completely l ifted.The 19th century closed with a world wide depression and a slow down of immigration to the West. But all that changed in 1895, when Clifford Sifton was appointed as Minister of the Interior at the start of an economic recovery. Sifton believed that a loyalist peasant in sheep skin coat made the most desirable immigrant , and set out to attract people suited for farming, In 1896, 16,835 immigrants entered Canada. When Sifton left in 1905, the population was 141,464. It rocketed to 400,970 by 1913. Some three million newcomers arrived between 1896 and the outbreak of World War 1.But Siftons policies triggered criticism, despite success in attracting farmers. Immigration from primordial and southeastern Europe raised a ground swell of hostility on the prairies because residents didnt believe theses newcomers could assimilate readily into the dominant Anglo-Saxon society.The authorities treasured to keep African-Canadians out of Canada because they thought that they were useless to Canada.