WHAT WAS LIFE LIKE FOR
NEW IMMIGRANTS?
If you have ever moved to a new area or changed schools, you may know
what it feels like to be a newcomer in a strange place. What would that
experience be like if you felt very different from the other people in your new
community? You might find yourself in a place where the climate, language,
clothing, and traditions are completely different. This was the case for many
immigrants who came to Canada from 1896 to 1914.
LIVING IN BLOC SETTLEMENTS
Before coming to Canada, many immigrants farmed communally, or
cooperatively. They were promised they would be able to continue this
practice in Canada. The farmland in the Prairies was divided into 65 ha land
grants. The land was often distributed in a pattern of bloc settlements. This
meant that a group of people from the same cultural group were allowed to
settle on farms next to each other, forming small colonies. Settling in groups
meant that new immigrants could help each other get their farms started.
It also meant that new immigrants were surrounded by familiar people,
languages, religions, and customs. Read the exchange between E.G. Prior, a
member of Parliament, and Sifton in Figure 7.11 and Figure 7.12. How do
the perspectives on immigrants differ between these two men?
“The Galicians [Ukrainians] and
Doukhobors … are allowed to live in
communities. If they do that, they are bound to
perpetuate their religion and their habits – and
I must say that some of those habits are very
filthy – and will not, in any reasonable length of
time, assimilate with the rest of the population.
If these people must be brought in, for heaven’s
sake, let us have them distributed here and
there so that they may learn in a short time a
different way of living.”
bloc settlement a type of
land distribution that allows
settlers from the same
country to form small colonies
“If we are ever going to have the
North-West populated, we shall not succeed
in doing it by standing on our boundary with
a club or putting the microscope on every
man who wishes to come into the country.…
[The Ukrainians] are people who have lived in
poverty. That is no crime on their part.… [They
are] of good physique, and they are people of
good intellectual capacity; and they are moral
and well-living people.”
UKRAINIAN COMMUNITIES
It was hard work settling in a new country and building homesteads. Homes
were often built in forests and swampy areas, using logs, clay, and sod. In
some families, men had to leave for months at a time to work on other
farms, mines, and the railway to make money.
Ukrainian immigrants often lived in bloc settlements on the Prairies.
The largest Ukrainian bloc settlement was near Edmonton, Alberta. There
is still a large Ukrainian Canadian community there today. Examine
Figure 7.13, a photo of a Ukrainian homestead, and read Figure 7.14, an
excerpt from Anna Bokla’s immigration story. Bokla’s parents immigrated
to Saskatchewan from Ukraine in 1900 or 1901. In Bokla’s community, her
closest neighbours lived about 8 km away. As more Ukrainians immigrated
to the area, new immigrants gathered on weekends to spend time together.
At the time, the only community centre in Bokla’s district was a small
Ukrainian Orthodox church. What do these sources tell you about some of
the challenges the early settlers faced in these communities?
“There were no organized cultural or educational activities
in our district … Sheho, which was twenty-five miles [40 km] from our
district, had more Ukrainian people … the children were taught the
Ukrainian language.… Our parents wouldn’t let us go that far and we had
to grow up without the benefit of organizational activities.”
— Clifford Sifton, minister of the interior
— E.G. Prior, member of Parliament
FIGURE 7.11 Prior, a member of Parliament from Victoria,
British Columbia, said this in a debate in the House of Commons
on July 7, 1899. Analyze: What is Prior’s opinion about
bloc settlements?
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FIGURE 7.12 Sifton, minister of the interior, said this in a debate in
the House of Commons on July 7, 1899. Analyze: What is Sifton’s
perspective on Ukrainian immigrants?
— Anna Bokla, Ukrainian Canadian
FIGURE 7.13 This photo from
the early 1900s shows the
homestead of a Ukrainian
immigrant family in Stewartburn,
Manitoba. Analyze: What work
went into building this homestead?
Which aspects of the
Ukrainians’ lives do you
think they were able to
continue in their new
homes in Canada?
FIGURE 7.14 This is an excerpt from Bokla’s immigration story. Analyze: What might have
been the benefit of organized cultural or educational activities in these communities?
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CHAPTER 7: The New Canadians: 1896–1914
203
What challenges
might immigrants to
Canada face today?
FIGURE 7.15 In this excerpt from
his book, The Ukrainian Bloc
Settlement in East Central Alberta,
1890–1930: A History, historian
Martynowych explains how some
immigrants could overcome
challenges. Analyze: What could
be other benefits to arriving in the
early spring?
CHALLENGES OF SETTLING ON FARMS
BROKEN PROMISES
It was hard work to settle the land on the Prairies. The new farmers often
came from poverty and had limited resources to help them get started.
Everyone in the family had to work hard, often in isolation from their
neighbours, with few tools and machines to help. Read the quote by a
historian in Figure 7.15. Which of the three factors do you think had the
biggest impact in the lives of new immigrants?
Today, most descendants of the original Doukhobors
“That villages have been
live in British Columbia. What could have happened to
built and common stables for the horses
make the Doukhobor settlers leave the Prairies and move
of the villages, sheds for the agricultural
farther west?
implements … and that more than the
In 1905, Frank Oliver replaced Sifton as the minister of the
necessary cultivation has been effected.
The people had also acquired a large
interior. Oliver wished to see British families move onto the
number of steam ploughs and had
farmland that had been cleared by the Doukhobors. Sifton
installed
flour mills, flax mills and stores
had promised the Doukhobors that they would have the
to a very large extent. All of this was
freedom to maintain their cultural practices in their new
done
on the promise of the responsible
home. However, Oliver claimed that the Doukhobors had
minister [Sifton] that they should be
refused to sign an oath of allegiance, which was a condition
allowed
to cultivate their land in their
for receiving a homestead. He also said they were not
own way.”
allowed to settle in communities. Oliver began the process
of reclaiming 104 765 ha of land from the Doukhobors living
— James Mavor, supporter of the
in Saskatchewan. He claimed their communal farming
Doukhobors
practices meant they were not clearing the land fast enough.
James Mavor was a Canadian who had helped the
FIGURE 7.17 This is an excerpt from
Doukhobors initially settle in Canada. He wrote a letter of protest to
Mavor’s letter to Laurier, written
April 13, 1907. Analyze: What does
Prime Minister Laurier. Read an excerpt from his letter in Figure 7.17.
Mavor say the Doukhobors had
Mavor’s protests did not help; the government took away the Doukhobors’
invested in their land and been
land. In 1908, 6000 Doukhobors moved west to British Columbia, and the
promised in return?
government opened up the cleared Doukhobor land to new settlers. What
impact would this have on the Doukhobors and the communities that had
been established?
“[T]hree factors—money, contacts and time of arrival—
determined the ease with which the immigrants adjusted to the life of
homesteaders. Money allowed the immigrant family to subsist [survive]
from the time of their arrival until their first small crop was harvested. A
contact—a friend or a relative who had emigrated earlier—could orient
the new arrivals … and offer food and shelter for the first winter. Finally,
by arriving in the early spring the settlers would have enough time to
plant a few potatoes and sow some grain.”
— Orest T. Martynowych, historian
DOUKHOBOR COMMUNITIES
What is the
significance of
cooperation within
and between different
groups on the Prairies?
In 1909, in Saskatchewan, a friendship began between the Cree on the
Muskeg Lake Reserve and the Doukhobors in the community of Petrofka.
When the Doukhobors came to Canada from Russia, they did not have
any horses to help them plow their land. A Cree farmer, Jim Greyeyes, saw
Doukhobor women turning the soil by dragging a plow themselves. Look
at Figure 7.16, which shows an example of the type of scene that Greyeyes
would have witnessed. He provided four horses and his own worker to
help the women. How did having good relations with the Cree help the
Doukhobors overcome the challenges of new settlements?
HOME CHILDREN
Between 1867 and 1948, 100 000 British children were sent to live and
work on farms in Canada. These children were known as “Home Children”
because they were chosen
from orphanages or “homes”
for poor children in Britain.
Typically, Home Children
were between the ages of 8
and 16. Examine Figure 7.18,
which shows a group of
Home Children arriving in
Saint John, New Brunswick.
Why do you think settlers
would want these children
to work on their farms and
in their homes?
FIGURE 7.16 In this photo,
Doukhobor women are shown
manually pulling a plow in
Manitoba, 1899. Analyze: What
can you learn from this photo
about the challenges of farming
on the Prairies?
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FIGURE 7.18 This undated
photo shows British Home
Children arriving in Saint John,
New Brunswick. Analyze: What
details do you notice about the
children in this photo?
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205
FOCUS ON
EVALUATE AND
DRAW CONCLUSIONS
After you interpret and analyze your information,
you need to evaluate and draw conclusions
about your inquiry question. This means making
an informed and critical judgment based on
your evidence.
To draw conclusions about your inquiry question,
• use your new understanding and what you
already know
• evaluate your evidence to see if it does or
does not support your conclusions
• determine whether you have enough
evidence—you may need more sources
Dr. Thomas Barnardo, an Irish doctor, was one
of the individuals involved in the Home Children
program. From 1882 to 1939, his organization sent
about 30 000 Home Children to Canada. When the
children arrived, they were put in receiving homes
in Ontario until a family was found for them. Many
male children, like the boy in Figure 7.19, were
placed in a training farm near Russell, Manitoba.
Here, they learned farming skills. How old do you
think the boy in the photo is? Based on this photo,
how does his life compare with yours?
CASE STUDY: HOME CHILDREN
The immigration program to send Home Children
from Britain to Canada and other parts of the
British Empire began with the best of intentions.
Most people involved believed that this program
was saving children from the poverty in British
cities and giving them a chance at a better life.
Did life improve for Home Children in Canada? Use
this inquiry question to help you understand the
experiences of Home Children.
To answer this inquiry question, you need to
determine how you will evaluate or measure
improvement in Home Children’s lives. You might
consider the following criteria or create your own:
• What were some advantages of immigration for
Home Children?
• What were some disadvantages of immigration
for Home Children?
• What were some short-term effects of the
immigration of Home Children?
• What were some long-term effects of the
immigration of Home Children?
Some children were adopted into loving homes
in which the family fulfilled the obligation to provide
shelter, food, clothing, an allowance, and schooling.
These children achieved a good life, which was
the goal for all child immigrants. However, most
often, Home Children were taken to farms as
workers. Many farmers, who learned about the
children’s arrival in newspaper advertisements, saw
Home Children as cheap labour. They overworked,
abused, and neglected the children. They failed to
provide them with the support that was promised,
particularly when it came to education. Often, the
farmers’ own children were able to attend school
because the farm work they had been responsible
for was now being done by the Home Children.
This immigration program came to an end in
Canada in 1948. Today, more than 10 percent
of Canadians are descendants of Home Children.
Canada and a number of other countries
commemorated these children by declaring 2010
the Year of the Home Children. A few of the Home
Children still living at the time were interviewed about
their experiences. Read Figure 7.20, Figure 7.21, and
Figure 7.22, keeping in mind that children in the past
did not receive the same rights and treatment as
children today. What similarities and differences in
their experiences are evident in these quotes?
“My first assignment was at a
minister’s house. I did not like his wife. She
told me all Barnardo Children came from the
slums and I replied that I had as good a home
as she. She did not send me back to Hazel
Brae [home in Peterborough, Ontario] but
sent me to a farmer down the road where
I was happy.”
FIGURE 7.19 This photo, taken in 1900, shows a boy plowing
at Dr. Barnardo’s Industrial Farm in Manitoba. Analyze:
How difficult do you think the farming tasks were for
Home Children?
— Edith Hutchinson, Home Child
“I got more beatings in Canada
than I ever got.… One spring we were rounding
up the cattle and the cattle get in the right
place between me and the farmer. He took the
bamboo rod to me…. I have a spine injury and I
blame it on that man.”
— Anonymous Home Child
FIGURE 7.21 A Home Child shares her experience in 1912. She
and her sister were sent to Canada while her two brothers
remained in England. Analyze: How does this testimonial help
you answer your inquiry question?
“We were not allowed in the main
part of the house … only the kitchen and where
we slept. I shared a room over the kitchen
with the other girl.… Even though there was a
bathroom in the house we were never allowed
to use it.… We ate in the kitchen, alone.”
— Helen Gough, Home Child
FIGURE 7.22 In this quote, Gough describes her experience as
a Home Child in Whitby, Ontario. Analyze: How does Gough’s
experience compare to the intentions of the immigration
program for Home Children?
TRY IT
1.What conclusions can you draw about whether
the lives of the Home Children improved
in Canada? What evidence supports your
conclusions? Use the criteria on page 206 to
support your conclusions.
2. What other questions would you ask to help
you evaluate your evidence? Research to find
information that would answer these questions.
How does this additional information affect
your conclusions?
FIGURE 7.20 Hutchinson became a Home Child after the
death of her father. In this quote, she recounts her experience
as a Home Child in 1909. Analyze: What assumptions may
have been made about Home Children?
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CHINESE COMMUNITIES
Although settling in rural communities was encouraged, about 50 percent
of immigrants coming to Canada during this time settled in cities. As you
learned in Chapter 3, 15 000 Chinese people moved to Canada in the 1880s
to work on the Canadian Pacific Railway. After the railway was completed,
most could not afford the cost to travel back to China. Instead, they moved
to cities across Canada to find work. People from Eastern Canada and
Europe were arriving in Western Canada on the new railway, also looking
for jobs in industries such as mining and logging. Chinese immigrants
who continued to arrive in Canada mostly settled in the West. Read the
excerpt from a news article in Figure 7.23. (Note that the quote uses the
term Chinamen, which was common at that time. Today, it is considered
offensive.) Why were the Chinese recruited to work in Canada to build the
railway but were not welcomed at this time?
Many Chinese people became entrepreneurs to improve their lives. They
worked in laundries, cafés, and restaurants. It did not cost a lot of money to
open a laundry or café business. Lem Wong was 14 when he immigrated to
Canada from China in 1897. Wong would work in laundries for 14-hour days
for $4.00 a week. By 1914, he had saved up enough money to open his own
successful restaurant in London, Ontario, called Wong’s Café.
Starting in the 1890s, cities across Canada began to develop their own
Chinatowns. These areas were a safe place in cities for Chinese people to live
and work. They could attend social gatherings, buy Chinese goods, and send
money back to their families in China. Vancouver’s Chinatown is the largest
in Canada. Until the 1930s, Chinese people in Vancouver were allowed to
buy property only in Chinatown. Today, approximately 70 percent of Chinese
Canadians live in either Toronto or Vancouver. Look at Figure 7.24, which
shows Vancouver’s Chinatown in 2014. How do you think communities like
Vancouver’s Chinatown have changed Canada?
JEWISH COMMUNITIES
“On the
train last night … were
among the passengers
five Chinamen from
Victoria.… Early this
morning a committee of
young citizens waited
on them and told them
they were not wanted
in Yukon Territory and
they had better make
arrangements to return
from whence they
came … they would have
to leave on the freight
train … in an hour’s time
to which they agreed.”
slum a highly populated and
run-down area of a city
FIGURE 7.25 This photo from 1904
shows Winnipeg’s New Jerusalem
neighbourhood, where many
Jewish immigrants lived. Analyze:
How do you think people felt
living here?
As you learned earlier in this chapter, most Jewish immigrants to Canada
lived in cities. Most new immigrants spoke Yiddish and did not know
English or French. They found work as peddlers (salespeople who travel
selling goods), tailors, and shopkeepers, and established synagogues,
schools, sports facilities, and newspapers. Their lives were still difficult
and anti-Semitism was also present in Canada. You will learn more about
the effects of discrimination in Chapter 8. Many Jewish families ended up
living in slums, overpopulated and run-down parts of the city. In Winnipeg,
most Jewish immigrants lived in poverty and ended up finding homes in
the overcrowded slum area just north of the Canadian Pacific Railway
track. This neighbourhood became known as “New Jerusalem.” Examine
Figure 7.25, a photo of New Jerusalem. What challenges do you think new
immigrants faced living in New Jerusalem? Today, Winnipeg is still a large
centre for the Jewish community in Canada.
— Whitehorse Star
FIGURE 7.23 This is an excerpt
from an article entitled “No Chinese
Wanted Here,” printed in the
Whitehorse Star on June 28, 1902.
Analyze: What does this excerpt
tell you about the attitudes of some
Canadians toward Chinese people
at this time?
FIGURE 7.24 This photo, taken in
2014, shows dancers in the Chinese
New Year Parade in Vancouver.
Analyze: What can you learn about
the current Chinese community in
Vancouver from this photo?
CHECK-IN
1. CAUSE AND CONSEQUENCE What might be some of
the intended and unintended consequences of
bloc settlements?
2. CONTINUITY AND CHANGE How did Canada’s
immigration practices change when Oliver took
over for Sifton? Who benefited the most from
those changes?
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3. COMMUNICATE Imagine you were a Home Child
working on a new farm. Write a postcard
home telling the recipient of your impressions
of Canada.
4. EVALUATE AND DRAW CONCLUSIONS Which immigrant
group do you think had the most challenging
circumstances to overcome in Canada? Why?
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