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May 3, 1492
Christopher Columbus Discovers America
In 1492, Christopher Columbus discovers America, while searching for a new route to Eastern Asia. When he arrived at the Caribbean Islands, and explored coasts of South and North America. He was an Italian navigator and explorer.
This effected immigration because his discovery helped spread word about the "new land" and boost the population. -
Acadia established as French colony
Acadia was officially established as a colony of France in 1605. This led to lots of French colonists arriving in Canada. There were about 80 men, led by Samuel De Champlain and Pierre du Gua de Months. Scurvy was a big problem for them through there first winter, and it ended up claiming at least 36 lives.
The French colonists eventually settled down which made an impact on the population of French peoples in Canada. These French colonies encouraged French immigration. -
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The Fur Trade
The Fur Trade was a major event through the 1700s to the mid 1900s. Through these years many traders would come to Canada for beaver hides from the Native peoples in exchange for luxuries such as guns and alcohol. Many of the men that came to trade married native women, which helped strengthen the trading, and increased immigration to Canada from France and Britain. -
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The Seven Years War
The seven years war was the first global war in history, between all the major powers of Europe. The war made it very difficult ti immigrate to new countries, especially ones that were against your original country. -
The Battle of the Plains of Abraham
The Battle of the Plains of Abraham was part of the Seven Years War. It was a battle mainly between the British Force, led by James Wolfe, and the French troops that were led by Marquis De Montcalm. the British won and the French troops left home to Quebec.
This impacts immigration because there would have been more French immigration if the French had won. -
The Quebec Act
The Quebec act ensured many rights that were in favor of French Canadians. the purpose of this was to gain loyalty from the French by extending more rights to them. The rights of the Quebec Act included guaranteeing all Canadians their religion, and restoring French civil law.
this would affect Immigration because more French people would want to immigrate to Canada and less would want to leave as their rights are respected. -
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The Loyalists
The loyalists were a group of people with different racial backgrounds that supported Britain during the American Revolution. They found refugee in Canada, which meant that there was immigration of Loyalist in Canada at this time. After the revolution, most Loyalists traveled to New York, or went back home., which meant some emigration in Canada. -
Constitutional Act
The Constitutional Act was an act that divided Quebec into two territories; upper and lower Canada. Upper Canada is known as Ontario, while Lower Canada is known as Quebec.
The purpose of the Constitutional act was to divide the majority of French speaking people (in Lower Canada), and the majority of English speaking people (Upper Canada). This affected immigration as most French people would want to live in lower Canada, while most English people in Upper Canada. -
Battle of Seven Oaks
The Battle of the Seven Oaks was a result from the struggles between the Hudson's Bay Company and the North West company. The NWC told the Metis that lived on the trading grounds that if they destroyed the crops and homes of the new settlers, the land would be returned to them. this ed to a Battle in which 20 NWC men died and one Metis member.
This has an impact on immigration because new English settlers were arriving, and this changed the amount of land available for them -
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The Underground Railroad
The Underground railroad was actually not underground, but a passage of houses and safe routes that African slaves could use to escape America, where slavery was legal, to Canada, where it was not. Through the Underground Railroad, thousands of African- American slaves immigrated to Canada. -
Indian Act is Created
The Indian Act was created in 1876, for the purpose of simplifying the peace treaties that the government made before. One of the points on the act was the the First Nations peoples would live on reserved land, rather than individual farms. This affects immigration because the reserves resulted in more land, which would attract immigrants interested in farming and cheaper land. -
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Chinese Immigration
Most of the Chinese that immigrated to Canada came to assist in the construction of the Canadian Pacific Railway. This railway was to be built from coast to coast of Canada. The Chinese immigrants came in hopes of making more money than they would have in China. They were given the most dangerous jobs in the building of the railway, and were given very low pay. -
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Chinese Head Tax and Exclusion Act
The Chinese Head Tax was a tax that all Chinese peoples of Canada had to pay every year, between 1885 and 1923. This, along with extreme racism towards the Chinese caused a decline in the amount of immigration. Furthermore, the Chinese Exclusion Act was passed in 1923 that banned all Chinese immigration entirely. This act was finally lifted in 1945. -
Louis Riel is Hanged
Louis Riel was a leader of the Metis peoples, and played a major role in the Red River and North West resistances. He was hanged on November 16th 1885.
He impacted immigration because he was a big advocate for equal French and English rights. This must have encouraged more French people to move to Canada. -
Saskatchewan and Alberta are Created
Th creation of Alberta and Saskatchewan contributed to helping the economy stronger, because the division resulted in more provincial governments that could now handle the taxes better. Alberta and Saskatchewan both had abundant farmland that was relatively cheap at that time. This was a huge factor that encouraged immigration to Canada. Many people came with the hope of having a successful farm in Canada. -
Women Gain the Right to Vote
Women gained the right to vote in federal elections on January 27th 1916. This was a big step towards gender equality in Canada. Nellie Mclung played a big role in this by talking to the president, and acting in a play to get her message across. This impacted immigration because this made Canada a more desirable place to immigrate to, especially for women. -
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Great Migration
The Great Migration was a time of massive immigration between 1916 and 1970. This was because lots of African-American immigrants were coming to Canada. There were about six million African American immigrants that immigrated, most of which were from Southern United States. -
Halifax Explosion
Halifax was a very attractive place for new immigrants in the 1900s, they had a strong economy as well as lots of new jobs. This changed when the war began, and Canada experiences thousands of incidents in which people died. The Halifax explosion was one of the biggest and most harmful explosions in which about 2000 people died and 9000 were wounded. This, along with many other incidents mad Canada and especially halifax an undesirable place to immigrate to. -
World war 1 Ends
When world war ended on November 11th in 1918, immigration increased because countries were no longer at war with each other. The roaring twenties were a time of wealth due to a better economy. This led to large amounts of immigration to Canada because there was a better quality of life that seemed to be offered in Canada . -
Chinese Immigrants are Given the Right to ote
The right to vote was given to the Chinese on May 3rd 1947. This was a big step in reconciliation with the Chinese as they had been treated unfairly before. The head tax and no Chinese immigration were just some of the mistakes the Canadaian government made towards the Chinese. This right to vote helped gain back trust, which led to increased chinese immigration.
