1867-1914: Background / Fitful Growth / Changing Conditions / First Wave / Laurier Boom

Laurier Boom

Clifford Sifton

Economic Takeoff

Demography

Frank Oliver

The lack of debate about sections of the 1910 Immigration Act suggests that most Canadians may have shared a common view of ethnic minorities and the immigration of "non-British" groups. In these years, "anglo-conformity" was the primary ideology of assimilation, according to historian Howard Palmer. Anglo-Canadians assumed that immigrants should lose their ancestral cultures and national affiliations and gain Anglo-Canadian forms of behaviour and values. They thought that non-British peoples were entering Canada too quickly and in too great numbers to be sufficiently assimilated into British culture.

Not surprisingly, ethnicity was a crucial factor determining an immigrant's social and economic

prospects. The recent examination of the 1901 census records by historian Eric Sager shows that what mattered most to an immigrant's experience in Canada was his or her ethnic background. The immigrant's immediate economic prospects, the possibilities of advancement in an occupation, caps on wages and the type of work available were all significantly influenced by ethnic background. Immigrants from the British Isles, especially Scots, quickly made their way to managerial positions. Non-British immigrants did not. In the midst of the Laurier immigration boom, then, were wide disparities in the experience and economic prospects of immigrant groups in Canada.

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1914-1945: Introduction