A Boom in Immigration

A Boom in Immigration

  • Submitted By: kpal
  • Date Submitted: 03/04/2009 2:54 PM
  • Category: Social Issues
  • Words: 715
  • Page: 3
  • Views: 1

Between 1896 and 1915, Canada experienced a boom in immigration. During this time two million immigrants came to Canada to improve their lives. Despite the opportunities Canada offered, immigrants who came to this country at the turn of the 20th century experienced significant hardships. The difference between the promise and the reality of life in Canada can be best seen in the discrimination towards immigrants, the travel and customs experiences and the challenges faced by farmers.
New immigrants faced discrimination on an almost daily basis, which increased the hardships of their lives. The Komagata Maru was a ship that tried to land in Vancouver carrying Sikh immigrants. Canada had a population of 5000 Sikhs already so these immigrants expected to be welcomed into Canada. The Canadian navy was instead sent to expel them from Canada. Even though they were British subjects and there were already Sikhs in Canada they were rejected because the colour of their skin and because they could not be assimilated into Canada’s culture. The Doukhobors were forced from Russia because of their religion and culture which would not allow them to fight in the military or swear allegiance to a King or Queen. Nearly 7500 Doukhobors came to settle in Saskatchewan in 1899 and Canada respected their religious beliefs and agreed not to make them join the military. Canada also respected their culture by giving them land as a community not as individuals. In 1906 however, Clifford Sifton’s successor, the new Minister of Interior, revoked this promise and forced the Doukhobors to individually register land and swear allegiance to the Queen. Naturally the Doukhobors refused and 2500 homesteads and more than half of the given land was revoked. A guarantee was broken and a community broken forcing the Doukhobors to move because the white, Protestants could not understand the Doukhobors way of life. Immigrants expected to be welcomed into Canada and to be allowed to practise their...

Similar Essays