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John Cabot was a talented navigator and was given full authority of King Henry VII to explore the unknown. He set sail in hopes for finding a route to Asia. A month later, he finally found land and named it Newfoundland. He believed it was Asia, but it was instead a country whose inhabitants were the Indigenous people. So, he went back to England with plans of returning in a second expedition. This was one of the main events that eventually led to European immigrants colonizing Canada. -
Jacques Cartier was a French navigator who was ordered by the King of France to search for a route to Asia. While he didn’t discover a route to Asia, he did discover a whole new country. Cartier had found the St. Lawrence River and mapped it, along with the Gulf of Saint Lawrence. Although he failed his initial goal, his actions led to the French making their way to the new land and immigrating there to claim it. -
In 1608, Samuel de Champlain, a French navigator, founded what is now known as the city of Quebec. His many explorations played a key role to the French establishing a place in the New World, which led to the increase of French immigrants and colonies in Canada. -
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Les Filles du Roi were women who were sent to New France with the help of King Louis XIV. In France, they lived in poverty and were abandoned, unmarried or widowed women. In New France, they could start their lives anew—they had hope for a better future. The king sent these women to live in New France because he wanted to increase its population. They even took extra measures to ensure that the women got married and gave birth to many children.
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Many of the English soldiers fighting in the Battle of the Plains of Abraham were from Ireland. They were originally farmers who were unfortunately displaced from their lands, so they were recruited and immigrated to Canada. The rest of the English soldiers were mostly from Britain and Scotland. For the former, many of the men were jobless apprentices from clothing factories and shipyards. The latter were evicted from their homeland and had no choice but to join the very army who evicted them. -
On November 7, 1775, Lord Dunmore made a proclamation granting freedom to Black slaves in America who would join the British army. If they left their masters and went to Canada, they would be fully protected and safe with the British. -
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During and after the American Revolution, Loyalists—American colonists who were loyal to the British crown—were driven out of the country by the rebels who supported the revolution. They were forced to flee their homes because they were declared as enemies. There were about 100,000 Loyalists in total who left the country and around half of them made their way up farther north to the land which is now called Canada. The main waves of refugees arrived in the years of 1783 and 1784.
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Black Loyalists arrived in Nova Scotia between 1783 and 1785 after being driven out of what is now called the United States of America after the American Revolution. In fact, they were the largest group to arrive in Nova Scotia who were of African birth and descent.
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Britain was experiencing an Industrial Revolution during this time. However, as a result, the number of jobs were decreasing, and it was especially the lower class who suffered because of the job shortage. Many immigrants left Britain during the Great Migration hoping for a better life in Canada. There were over 800,000 of them.
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Contrary to its name, the Underground Railroad was not in fact an actual railroad. It was a system where people along with safe houses helped slaves escape from their plantations and flee north to Canada. In the end, there was between 30,000 to 40,000 slaves who had escaped and got their freedom.
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During the late 1840s, a widespread famine occurred in Ireland forcing many Irish people to emigrate to Canada. Many crops such as potatoes had begun to fail and many farmers were unable to produce enough food, causing a mass starvation. Families were even forced to leave their homes because they couldn’t pay rent.
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Between the years of 1880 and 1914, over 3 million people came to Canada. Great Britain was one of the areas that the new immigrants mainly came from, along with Continental Europe and East Asia.
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During the years of 1880 to 1885, the most difficult part of the CPR was being built. Around 17,000 Chinese workers immigrated from China to Canada to help build that section of the railway.
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After the British Columbia section of the Canadian Pacific Railway was finished being built, Canada found no need for more Chinese immigrants. To deter them from coming to Canada, the Canadian government issued a head tax on the Chinese people. When the Chinese Head Tax was first implemented, the cost started at $50, then it was increased to $100, and finally to a grand sum of $500.
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Ukrainians were one of the many groups of people who emigrated to Canada from Continental Europe. In their home country, they had very few political rights and if their lives were to continue that way, they wouldn’t have a very bright future. Thus, many of them emigrated to Canada and most of them settled in the Prairies. In Canada, the land was plentiful, and the price of grain was rising in the World Markets which drew them to go there since most Ukrainians were farmers.
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