Population during the contemporary period

Since 1867

Confederation -The Dominion of Canada

• Quebec, Ontario, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick were united under the British North America Act in 1867.

Immigration

• In 1869, the Canadian Parliament enacted its first immigration law.– creation of a quarantine

system (like on Grosse-Ile)– regulations for safety on

ships. – no restrictions to numbers,

so almost everyone who wanted to immigrate to Canada could. Photo is a magazine cover of Canadian Illustrated News

dated August, 1880. Titled, "Come to Stay", it showed a Canadian woman, welcoming immigrants.

The demographic situation at the time of Confederation

• The population was concentrated near the border of the United States.

• Majority of population were farmers living in rural areas.

• However, large cities like Montreal and Toronto were growing quickly.

• In the late 1800’s, most immigrants headed to cities and to the Prairies in the west where new farmlands were available.

• The most populated provinces were Quebec and Ontario, making up 75% of Canada’s population.

National Policy of 1879• In 1873, there was an economic crisis in the

Dominion.• To fix the crisis, Prime Minister John A. Macdonald

implemented a National Policy.

• The National Policy was mainly based on immigration. With settlement of immigrants, a market would be created to buy Canadian products.

• Immigrants were also used to build railways and work in new industries in urban centres.

Asian immigrants

• Many Chinese immigrated in the 1880s to work on the construction of the Canadian Pacific Railway.

• Upon completion of the railway, many Chinese workers chose to stay in Canada.

• However, Canadians were generally racist towards them.

• Immigration policies change in 1885 requiring Chinese immigrants to pay a head tax to enter the country.

• A study concluded that Asians were not able to adapt to Canadian way of life.

• From 1923-1947 Most Chinese immigration was forbidden in Canada.

Losing immigrants to the United States

• At the end of the 19th century (1800s), many families were choosing to immigrate to the United States instead of settling in the Prairies.

• To counter this, the government did its utmost to encourage immigration from Europe and by facilitating their transport to Canada.

• Between 1871 and 1901 there were about 1.5 million immigrants who arrived in Canada.

• Most were from England, Scotland, Ireland, Northern Europe and the United States.

• The arrival of so many Anglophone immigrants changed the liguistic portrait of Canada.

Immigrants arriving in Canada, around 1900

Aboriginal Populations• Section 91 of the British North America Act

said that the British government had control over all the land it possessed and allow colonists to settle in Aboriginal lands.

• Many Aboriginals protested the presence of colonists on their lands.

• There were rebellions which lead to treaties being signed and the creations of reserves.

Louis Riel led a Metis rebellion.

Reserves• In exchange for giving up their land titles, the

government set aside sections of land reserved for the sole use of Aboriginal peoples.

Indian Act of 1876• The Indian Act gave Aboriginals the

same status as minors and was designed to assimilate the population. Aboriginals had to live under guardianship of the government.

• Indian status was defined as:– Any male individual of Indian blood,

and reputed to belong to a specific band.

Indian Act

• Indians were confined to reserves and forced to integrate into a Western way of life.

• Aboriginal peoples were gradually losing their identities and their culture.

• Until 1985, Indian who wanted Canadian citizenship had to renounce their « Indian » status and their belonging to their band.

• Chiefs from the Six Nations Reserve at Brantford, Ontario, reading Wampum belts. Photographer: Unknown. Photo copied by Electric Studio, Brantford, Ontario. Original probably 1870s. National Archives of Canada