Immigration: Silently Supporting Canada’s Economic Growth

However, the Punjabi immigrants also were targets of racism due to their appearance. There was even a very prejudical song written about them called White Canada Forever. Due to the xenophobia, in 1907, Sikhs were banned from employment. I believe that they should not have been treated this way, because of their contributions to Canada’s railway and logging industry.

When the Jews came to Canada, they went along the St. Lawrence River, arriving in Ontario and moving to provinces, such as Manitoba and Saskatchewan, where they colonized and formed towns. However, they also became merchants, trading natural resources to many peoples.

When the immigrants arrived,mostly to BC, the Punjabis found jobs working for the Canadian Pacific Railway, in lumber mills and mines, hoping to make money to bring relatives to Canada.

PUNJABI IMMIGRANTSThe first arrival of Punjabi immigrants to Canada happened in 1887. During that time, some Indians got jobs as tracklayers for the Canadian Pacific Railway. Since they were loyal to the British Empire, the chances of having a better life were high, especially in Canada. Some of the Punjabi immigrants noticed that the Chinese and Japanese were immigrating to Canada for the same reason, which reinforced the idea of immigrating.

EASTERN EUROPEAN JEWISH IMMIGRANTSIn Eastern Europe during the 1880s, Jews living there were treated very poorly because racist attitudes. They were experiencing pogroms, riots against Jews that usually ended in death, rape, and overall, destruction. Consequently, the Jews were forced to leave an area called the Pale of Settlement, a place now known as Ukraine.

UKRAINIAN IMMIGRANTSMost Ukrainians were living under the rule of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, where they were being oppressed. However, when Dr. Josef Oleskow (in the photo on the left), an agriculturalist visited Canada, he stated that it would be a fertile land, rich with soil for any farmers to settle and farm. So, the first wave of Ukrainian immigrants came in the 1890s, where they settled in the Prairies. When the Ukrainians made it to the Prairie provinces,

they mainly set up agricultural farms. Apart from that, they didn’t contribute Canada’s growth other than through argriculture. However, the Canadian government never interfered with their activities until the Ukrainian internment in 1914 due to WWI.

AFRICAN-AMERICAN IMMIGRANTSFrom the late 1820s to 1861, many African-American slaves were smuggled to Canada, through the Underground Railroad. They were hidden in benches and coffins that Canadians would bring to Nova Scotia to free them from slavery. However, 1861, most of the Black Canadian population returned to the United States due to emancipation. The Black Canadian population, after arriving to Canada, were moved to an area that would be later known as Africville. However, this would be known as a ghetto later on, until its destruction in the 1960s. As for what they did in Canada, when after emancipation in 1834, the group known as the The Anti-Slavery Society of Canada formed to abolish slavery all across the world, making an imapact in human rights history. However, in 1909, many African people moved to the Prairies, where they faced severe discrimination, and were predicted to be banned from Canada. However, they contributed the economy by doing housework and farming.

Sources:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ukrainian_Canadianshttp://www.torugg.org/History/history_of_ukrainians_in_canada.htmlhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Jews_in_Canadahttp://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/articles/jewshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Canadianshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sikhism_in_Canadahttp://www.blackhistorycanada.ca/education/LearningTools.pdf