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1867-1914: Background / Fitful Growth / Changing Conditions / First Wave / Laurier Boom
Laurier Boom
Clifford Sifton
Economic Takeoff
Demography
Frank Oliver
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James S. Woodsworth, Strangers within Our Gates or Coming Canadians (Toronto: F.C. Stephenson, 1909). |
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Galician Women Harvesting Potatoes, ca. 1909. The Canadian government sought out eastern Europeans who were experienced farmers because it believed that this type of immigrant would be best suited to homesteading the West. |
Clifford Sifton opened the door to immigrant groups that he felt fit the needs of business and farming sectors of the economy. Despite preferences at the time for British Isles immigrants, he saw value in agricultural groups of diverse backgrounds who could drive the country's farm-based economy, most famously the Eastern European "men in sheepskin coats." They brought farming experience and large families.
The government's immigration officials indeed went out of their way to established contact with these prospective immigrations. Some 600 agents encouraged Canadian immigration in the area of Austria-Hungary, alone. They received bonuses of about $5 per head when they convinced settlers to emigrate to Canada.
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