Category: Canada

32 pairs of children’s shoes, cast in bronze, dot a 165 km trail in Ireland known as the National Famine Way. Crossing six counties, it marks the path taken by twelve-year-old Daniel Tighe and 1,489 others, two-thirds of them children. Why did the Irish orphans come to Canada? Although many families took in orphans for […]

The Irish immigrants were faced with difficulty after difficulty once they finally arrived in Canada, and discrimination was one of the hardships. Not only were they migrating from a different country, but an entirely different world. What hardships did Irish immigrants face in Canada? Many were sick: poor conditions and overcrowding on the ships that […]

The foreign policies of Canada and its predecessor colonies were under British control until the 20th century. This included wars with the United States in 1775-1783 and 1812–1815. Economic ties with the U.S. were always close. When did Canada gain control of its foreign policy? Canada gained the ability to make foreign policy decisions independent […]

1977. 1977 The Canadian Human Rights Act was passed by the Parliament of Canada in 1977, and protects Canadians when they are employed by or receive services from the federal government, First Nations governments, or private companies that are regulated by the federal government (eg., banks, trucking companies, broadcasters, What is the Canadian Human Rights […]

The queen’s role is to formally appoint the governor-general of Canada, who serves as her representative. At the provincial level, she is represented by the lieutenant governors. Elizabeth appointed 13 different governors general, with the last appointment of Mary May Simon in July 2021. Why was the Queen important to Canada? The Queen held a […]

In 1608, Samuel de Champlain, established a settlement at Donnacona; it would later grow to become Quebec City. The French claimed Canada as their own and 6,000 settlers arrived, settling along the St. Lawrence River and in the Maritimes. When did European immigrants come to Canada? From 1867 to 1914, the Canadian West became home […]

Many Irish have chosen to move to Canada in search of security and a better quality of life. Permanent Residency for Irish foreign nationals can be thought of as ‘tentative Citizenship” because of a few differences between permanent residency and citizenship in Canada. When did Irish people immigrate to Canada? 1.2 million Irish immigrants arrived […]

After the Second World War, a growing population and an economy devastated by war were leading reasons for many Dutch immigrants to seek economic opportunity in North America. How did the Dutch get to Canada? The first Dutch people to come to Canada were Dutch Americans among the United Empire Loyalists. The largest wave was […]

The first wave began in the late 1800s and early 1900s, with the arrival of new groups of immigrants from Eastern Europe (Russians, Polish and Ukrainians), Western Europe and Scandinavia. Why did immigrants come to Canada in the 1900s? Between 1891 and 1914, the Canadian government encouraged people from many European countries to come to […]

Over Canada’s history various refugees and economic migrants from the United States would immigrate to Canada for a variety of reasons. Exiled Loyalists from the United States first came, followed by African-American refugees (fugitive slaves), economic migrants, and later draft evaders from the Vietnam War. What are the four main reasons why immigrants come to […]