Perspective: Cost of Immigration

The sign on the CPR exhibition car in Wiltshire, England in 1894 read: "160 Acres of Land as Free Gift to Every Settler." Although land in Canada was cheap, the cost to immigrate was actually quite high. Immigrants who followed Canadian promises of free land often encountered unexpected expenses. The requirements of the Dominion Land Act, which organized settlement in Western Canada, were simple: settlers paid a $10 registration fee (in 1910 dollars, the

equivalent of $153 in 1999) and had three years to win a patent to the land. In order to fulfill the requirements of the patent, they had to live on the land six months in each of the first three years, clear a minimum of thirty acres, dig a well, build a home worth $300 ($4,604 in 1999 dollars), and erect fencing worth $200 ($3069 in 1999 dollars). 1

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