The Importance Of Migration To Canada

1. Through an exploration of family history develop your own immigration profile determining where your family has come from, when they came to Canada, how they travelled here and why they came. One page in length.
On my mother’s side of the family, some of the earliest members of the family to arrive, in Canada, came from Sligo, Ireland. The ultimate push factor that caused them to move away from Ireland was the potato famine and the search for a better life. As they were farmers, this was troublesome for their profession. They moved to Canada so they could have more success in their field, as well as promise for better opportunity. It was said that they came over on the Mayflower. They settled down in a village, near Toronto, called Markdale.
Here, all except one family member succeeded in farming. My great-great-great grandfather, W.H Henry, was suffering from tuberculosis. This interfered with his farming ability. He moved to Warkworth, Ontario and he launched and ran a local newspaper called the Warkworth Journal. Later on, he ended up travelling to Arizona by train, since it was said the warm and dry climate would aid tuberculosis. There, he needed to find work to sustain himself, which lead him to finding a job working with the Pony Express. His job was to guard the Wells Fargo wagon from thieves, who would attempt to steal shipments. This family moved from Warkworth to Toronto and my great grandfather, at the age of 12, worked on the Niagara Railway. He moved onto medical school and became an ear, nose, and throat specialist. He subsequently provided medical attention to servicemen during World War II. He left his family behind, in Canada, for five years, to travel to Europe, where he was stationed during the war, and for a few years after. Also on my grandfather’s side was a woman who married into the Crysler family. This being the same Crysler family who are known for owning Crysler Farms, where the famous Battle of Crysler Farms took place. On my grandmother’s side, part of the family is of French-Canadian background with some Native ancestry. On another part of my grandmother’s side, the first family members, to come to Canada, came from Scotland. Like those on my grandfather’s side of the family, they came here for farming purposes. My great-great grandmother, who had already been living in Canada, married an Englishman. The Englishman became the first livestock commissioner of Canada. The land they owned is now the home of the Lord Elgin Hotel, in Ottawa. They no longer had possession of the land when it was purchased with purpose of being the site for the hotel, as the land had been abandoned. After their house burned down, due to arson, they tragically were victims of substance abuse and both my great-great grandfather and grandmother lost their lives to suicide. After that series of unfortunate events, my great grandmother moved to Oshawa, where she met my great grandfather. At the time, my great grandfather was working in Robson Tannery, which was a leather tannery. One of my great grandmother’s brothers was part of the air force. During World War II, he had the duty of being a bomber at the rear of the plane. My great-great uncle was the Director of Education, for the Scarborough Board of Education, retiring at the beginning of 2001. Not too many generations back, family members left Europe, to come to Canada, in search of a better life and opportunity. All seemed to find success and created good stories along the way.

2. Describe the changing immigration patterns throughout the last century and note the shifting geographical sources of immigration as well as the fluctuations in the numbers of immigrants. One page in length.
Within the past century, immigration patterns have immensely changed.
Early on in the century, the government decided to purposefully attract large amounts of immigrants to Canada, mainly from America and Europe. During this period, a large amount of immigrants flooded into Canada. To gather interest and attract people to Canada, the government was offering free land to those who were willing to become citizens. As a result, most of those who migrated to Canada came with a strong background in agriculture and wanted to take advantage of the opportunity to claim free, functional land. This was one of the biggest pull factors for immigrants in this time period. Most also had solid knowledge of the English language, but some also had no background speaking English or French. As the Canadian Pacific Railroad had recently been completed, everyone could now easily access the western Canadian provinces. This was where the land that the government was giving away was located. Consequently making it the region that most immigrants ended up settling in. Although many came from all over the world as well, the primary location that a majority of these immigrants came from the British Isles and other European countries. Later on, after World War II, Canada got another surge of immigration. Many new immigrants were people who felt more secure and protected in Canada, rather than their country of origin. At this time, over one and a half million people chose to immigrate to Canada. While the British Isles were still the most common regions to immigrate from, people from other European countries moving to Canada was beginning to become a more common occurrence. It was not until the seventies when people from non-British countries started frequently immigrating to Canada. For the first time, the amount of people from countries outside of Europe exceeded the amount of Europeans who immigrated to Canada. This was the beginning of solid diversity and multiculturalism in Canada. Within
the 21st century, immigration patterns have dramatically changed. As of 2011, there are almost seven million immigrants living in Canada, making up over twenty percent of the population. Despite the fact that the population of immigrants had nearly tripled since 1931, the amount of immigrants represents a lower number of Canada’s population. A change in immigrant’s most common native land changed as well. The most common ethnicities of immigrants have now been Chinese and Indian. This was the first time that the streak of the United Kingdom being the country of origin for foreign born people living in Canada had been broken. There has been a shift in the preferred region of settlement as well. The provinces that receive the most immigrants are Ontario, Quebec, Alberta, and British Columbia. But out of those provinces, Ontario is the province that encounters the most immigration activity. In 2012, immigrants with Toronto as their chosen region to settle in accounted for approximately one third of all immigrants moving to Canada. The majority of immigrants have turned to choosing cities to settle in, as opposed to rural farm areas. A big reason for this is that cities have a significantly larger pool of jobs that new Canadians can take up. Instead of farming, mining, lumber, and so on being the profession of choice for immigrants, they are now getting jobs that are typically within the food, transportation, and services field. Overall, Canada’s immigration patterns have changed in location preference, job fields, population, and country of origin.

4. Write a letter from Robert Trotter to family back in Scotland describing the journey and life in Canada.
Dearest Family,
It has been a long and intense journey to Canada. Nevertheless, we have made it and are doing well!
After leaving Fife, we made our way down to the west coast of Scotland. From there, we travelled to Liverpool, where we got on a ship that was destined for Canada. Our accommodations aboard the ship were less than mediocre. Our cabin was located below deck, making for a long and dark trip. Upon arrival in Montreal, we were surprised to discover that our main destination was actually over three thousand miles away, all the way across the country! Needing to get to British Columbia, our intended location, we got on a train that was headed for our town. After an inconvenient and tiring journey, we finally made it to Merritt, our beautiful new home! Since arriving, I have begun working at a local mine. The work may be harsh and have long hours required, but it is a reliable job and gets us by. After saving up my work earnings, I was able to purchase a home for our family. It’s nothing remarkable, but it’s a nice, welcoming house in a beautiful area! We have adjusted well to our new area and are pleased to call it home! The landscape here is absolutely incredible! There are magnificent mountains, lovely streams, and beautiful trees everywhere. The children have started going to school and we are making friends with folks in the area. The people around here are so polite and kind! But for some reason, they talk in a different way. Since coming here, we have picked up the term “eh” after hearing it so often. There are also some other Scottish families who have resettled here that we are pleased to have become friends with.
Hope all is well in Scotland. We would be thrilled if you wanted to come visit us in this beautiful land.
All the best,
Robert Trotter.