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

Post-war Years

Reconstruction

Racial Discrimination

Policy to 1952

For example, Canada accepted 4,527 Polish refugees under a "contract-labour" scheme in 1947, and the success of this program led to the eventual acceptance of 10,000 European refugees under labour contracts. The contract system ensured that the refugees would be employed upon entry to Canada, thereby dispelling the myth that refugees were unable to become assimilated into the Canadian way of life and economy. The contract-labour scheme helped provide workers for Canada's booming economy, especially as farm workers and miners.

While Canada accepted 23,000 European refugees in the 1945-57 period, as King's speech suggests, Canada's immigration policy remained racist in the immediate post-war

period. "Admissible classes" continued to be British subjects, U.S. citizens, wives and children of Canadian citizens, and agriculturists having sufficient means to farm in Canada. By 1947, some of these requirements were relaxed. In particular, farmers no longer had to purchase a farm in order to enter Canada- if they had relatives who promised to assist them. In 1948, French citizens were added to the list of "preferred classes."

The year 1947 was important for immigrant families who were Asian or South Asian. The Chinese Immigration Act was repealed, and wives and children were permitted to join their husbands and fathers who were already residing in, but not citizens of, Canada.

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