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Mar 10, 1000
The Aboriginal Peoples
20 000 - 10 000 BCE The Aboriginal Peoples settled across North America, developing many different ways of life based on different environments. They are rumoured to have been following a food source in North America. Aboriginals are thought to have travelled across a land bridge from Asia to North America. Approximately 500,000 Aboriginal peoples lived in North America when the Europeans arrived. -
The French
1600 - 1760 The French established permanent settlements, at Port Royal in 1605 and Québec in 1608, in order to exploit the fur trade more fully. They hoped to find great riches in Canada. These people established a colony called New France. British and France had been rivals in North America for many years. War broke out between the two countries in 1756. In 1763, i became a British colony. -
The Great Migration
The British and Europeans from some countries of Europe came to Canada because of the great deal of unemployment in their countries. The failure of potato crop, which is a major source of Ireland and political unrest in Europe were additional reasons for migration. Sixty percent of the immigrants in Canada were British at the time. This made the British the largest cultural group in Canada. Economic conditions in Britain and Europe in general were poor in the years after 1815. -
Post-Confederation Immigration
1867 - 1914 Shortly after Canada became a nation in 1867, settlers from Ontario began moving west because the government wanted to develope the Prairies in order to carry out its economic goals for the country. Immigrants did not come to the Canadiam West in great numbers until 1896. By then, various circumstances had made the West more attractive to settlers. The trip to Canada was easier and more people could afford it. -
Post-war and Mid-Twentieth Century
1919 - 1969 About 1.5 million immigrants came to Canada during the 1920s. Many came to live in the cities and work in industries. The number of non-British immigrants of European and other backgrounds increased. After 1918, Canada became an attractive place to those struggling with the hardships caused by the way. Immigrants were greatly reduced during the Great Depression of the 1930s and during World War II. During the Depression, Canada was not a land of opportunity. -
Recent Immigration Patterns
1970 - Present Canada began to accept large numbers of people from areas from which it had not traditionally accepted immigrants, which are the Cariibbean, Latin America, Africa, and new areas of Asia. The new group of immigrants who came in the 1970s and early 1980s were mostly professionals, technicians, managers, and entrepreneurs. The reason behind this is because Canada wanted to increase it's economic growth. By 1981, refugees made up 25% of all immigrants to Canada.
