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1497
John Cabot
When John Cabot came exploring Canada in 1497, he did not accomplish his main goal of finding the Northwest Passage. What he did find, however, were large amounts of cod on the banks of the rivers. These brought fishermen to Canada all the way from Europe. -
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Fur Trade
While it was the search for India that brought Europeans to Canada's shores, it was beaver furs that kept them coming back. The fur trade is the reason both Quebec and Montreal were founded, and it was the backbone of the economy for nearly 300 years. Also, there were French boys who came to Canada to work as Voyageurs. People working in the trading posts had to have been from Europe. Last but not least, it allowed missionaries to immigrate to Canada and visit the Indigenous. -
Creation of Quebec
French explorer Samuel de Champlain, among others, originally built the city of Quebec as a colony for the fur trade. Despite it being burned down, Champlain rebuilt it and eventually it became a thriving city of agriculture and trade. It would later become the province of Quebec's capital. -
Paul de Chomedey
Paul de Chomedey, after a short career in the army, joined the Société Notre-Dame de Montréal. While the organization would finance a new town in New France, de Chomedey would be the one to lead it. This was the beginning of the city of Montreal. The settlers at first had to defend the city from Iroquois attacks, but once they had achieved a peace with the Iroquois, immigrant numbers grew steadily. From 1642 to 1714, for example, anywhere from 1200 to 1500 immigrants settled there. -
Filles du Roi
The Filles du Roi was an initiative made by the king of France to populate his country's colonies in Canada. He would send girls with no future in France overseas to marry settlers and have children, and they would be rewarded financially based on how many children they had. There were about 800 of these girls that came to Canada as a result. -
Battle of the Plains of Abraham
Although it was only 15 minutes long, this battle would massively impact Canadian history. Through the French being defeated, the British were able to assert dominance over Canada. Not only would British citizens have felt more secure immigrating to Canada, but without French presence in North America, the United States felt more confident. They also wanted greater independence from Britain. As a result, this battle led to the American revolution and to the Loyalist migration to Canada. -
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American Revolution
Since the American Revolution was about the colonies wanting to split off from Great Britain, there was of course largely anti-British sentiment throughout. However, there were some Americans who, for various reasons, still felt loyalty to Britain or at the very least, did not want to leave it. These people were known as Loyalists, and were very disliked by most Americans. They were forced to become refugees, and during the American Revolution, about 30,000 of them fled to Canada. -
Underground Railroad
The Underground Railroad was a system of safe houses and secret routes established in America. Its purpose was to help slaves who had escaped bondage to get farther north, usually to Canada, where slavery was illegal. It lasted 240 years, from 1620 to 1860. It brought at least 30,000 people to Canada during its existence. -
Irish Potato Famine
During the 1840s, there was a widespread failure of the potato crop throughout Ireland. Because of this, many citizens could not produce their own food and would go hungry. While about a million Irish died, another million emigrated from Ireland. About 450,000 of these came to Canada. -
Sir Clifford Sifton
Clifford Sifton was born on March 10, 1861. His father was a politician, and he followed in his father's footsteps. As an MLA in Manitoba, he helped resolve the Manitoba Schools Question by reaching a compromise between Laurier's federal and Greenway's provincial governments. In Laurier's government he became Minister of the Interior. He is mostly known today for being the man who strongly promoted the settlement of the West after Confederation, which brought 1 million immigrants to Canada. -
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Issei
From 1877 to 1928, there was a wave of Japanese immigrants to Canada. This wave is called "Issei" (first generation). These people wanted adventure and wealth, and in some cases, wanted to escape from family obligations. These Japanese were placed in internment camps later on. During the Second World War, they were treated horribly and had all sorts of racism leveled against them. -
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Canadian Pacific Railway
The CPR was built not long after Confederation to physically unite the different provinces who had joined. Over 17,000 Chinese workers came from overseas to help build the railway. They were treated very unjustly. They got the hardest jobs and the least pay, and in the photograph where the ceremonial last spike is being driven in, there is not even a single Chinese worker there. -
Colonizing the West
Not only was Canada attractive to immigrants due to there being better living conditions than their home country and more ways to make money, the government actively promoted immigration. They gave 160 acres of land for free and sold the rest for cheap. Through this policy, called the Open Door Policy, over 1 million immigrants came to Canada. -
Continuous Journey Regulation
In 1908, the government passed an amendment to the Immigration Act known as the Continuous Journey Regulation. This prohibited anyone from coming into Canada if their journey did not come directly from the country where they were born or were citizens. In practice, this mainly affected Indians and Japanese since those routes were not direct, while most others were. Because of this regulation, between 1910 and 1920, only 112 Indian immigrants gained entry into Canada. -
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World War One
World War One caused an anti-German hysteria among Canadians.There was also mistrust and hatred of people born in enemy countries to Canada. There was even some hatred towards foreigners from allied countries. Canada's immigration policy reflected this. For example, in the Komagata Maru incident, 400 East Indians aboard the ship were forced to wait for Canadian authorities' decision on what to do with them. Eventually, the Canadian navy was brought in to escort the ship out of the harbour.
