1945-1967: Introduction / Post-war Years / 1952 Immigration Act / Policy Practise

Policy Practise: Applicants

Applicants

Refugees

The second, citizens of other western European countries, like Austria, Germany, the Netherlands, Finland, Italy, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland, Luxembourg, Belgium, Greece, and Iceland, could apply as independent immigrants, provided they secured employment before they left their countries of origin or could prove they had the financial means to become self-employed. The third, citizens of all other countries, had to be sponsored by relatives (defined as a husband, wife, or unmarried child), who were Canadian citizens and who could prove they had the financial security to sponsor someone.

From time to time in the 1950s, there were attempts to curb "sponsored" immigration, such as when the economy waned in 1958 and publicity grew around the illegal sponsorship of "paper families" comprised of illegally smuggled individuals posing as family members. The family reunification and sponsorship policies had by then been in place for several years already, however, and reducing the numbers of sponsored immigrants proved to be an impossible task for the minister of Citizenship and Immigration.

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