History of Immigration To Canada - The Great Migration of Canada

The Great Migration of Canada

The Great Migration of Canada (also known as the Great Migration from Britain) was a period of high immigration to Canada from 1815 to 1850, involving over 800,000 immigrants. Though Europe was becoming richer through the Industrial Revolution, population growth made the relative number of jobs low, forcing many to look to North America for economic success.

In the late 18th and early 19th century, there occurred a transition in parts of Great Britains previously manual-labor-based economy towards machine-based manufacturing. It started with the mechanization of the textile industries, the development of iron-making techniques and the increased use of refined coal. Though the Revolution began an era of expanded economic growth and higher standards of living, it was at the same time met with rapid population explosion. A slow rise in quality of living standards throughout the past two hundred years allowed more children to survive and made child bearing more economic. As well, jobs that were previously done by poor peasants could now be done even more cheaply by machinery. This led to the loss of many jobs. The combined effects made it difficult for some to find jobs, leading them to look to the colonies in the Americas for work.

Because the Industrial Revolution began in Britain, the first (and therefore the majority of) settlers were English speaking British. Sixty percent of these immigrants to Canada were British. This made them the largest cultural group in Canada. Different people from other countries migrated as well. Americans went to look for new gold, a material that was quickly evaporating from the American California gold rush. Chinese came too for the same reason, and to escape war and famine in their own country. The Irish came to escape the Great Potato Famine.

The Great Migration had profound impact on Canadian culture. At the beginning of the Great Migration, the Canadiens, Canadians of French descent, outnumbered those of British descent. By the end of the Great Migration, and even partway through it, the British population was more than double that of the French. As these new emigrants were coming, they expanded into French land, which caused many disputes. As they landed in Canada, they also brought the fatal disease Cholera with them, causing the creation of the quarantine station at Grosse Isle