Heidi Hart on board the S.S. Beaverbrae, March 1949. Canadian Museum of Immigration at Pier 21.

…Our first house was near Botanical Gardens so guess where we went for walks on Sunday afternoons?

We were lead to other tables and received our fist nourishment on Canadian soil. Many were still seasick and the texture of the nourishment did not help. Compared to European wieners, the hot dogs were tasteless and the mustard too sweet. Along with the hot dog came a slice of white, square pieces of tasteless sponge. All of us, used to European rye bread or white rolls, did not recognize it as a standard Canadian bread.

...We were the only ones on the ship not ill.

I came to Canada 2013. I lived in Regina. I am happy to visit in Moose Jaw Museum. There are a lot of interesting histories, I’m glad to know that. I am proud to live in Canada I am from Somalia.

It is okay to cry. Missing home is normal. You’re a very strong individual. Remember that change doesn’t happen over night.
Matt Evans Halifax, NS

Damiani family with Officers on board the S.S. Olympia. Canadian Museum of Immigration at Pier 21.

Refugees from the S.S. Walnut. Origins Unknown.

…In early March, 1970, I attended a meeting on co-op housing in Sackville, and came home a member of a Co-op shortly after that, we were assigned a building lot, allocated $14,000, and we were on our own.

When the server came around with this bread, we didn't know what to think. We surely thought we would not be able to swallow it since we couldn't crunch it in our teeth. We thought it may get stuck in our throat!..."

I felt like a small grain of sand washed up on the shores, with many thousands of others. Many had stories, similar to mine, coming for refuge and with high hopes, to Canada. Fortunately, my story has a happy ending. I fell as though some greater power must have been leading my unpredictable steps to the right places through the years. I am grateful to Canada for giving me the life I now enjoy.

Bottos family with group on board the S.S. Conte Biancamano, August 1953. Canadian Museum of Immigration at Pier 21.

As time passed we came to grow in this land, and, if the truth be known, the land came to grow in us. Wy binne gelokkich (we are blessed).

I thank God for Canada and the life my family has enjoyed here. It has been a terrific country to grow up in and to live. There's no place on earth I'd rather live.

The airport doors opened and oh my God, the breeze of air, the cold breeze, it felt like it pierced through my body like I was like, oh my God, I’m not even wearing anything like for suitable for this, this climate and I came right back in and just sat down, I was very cold, I was, I was, like I wasn’t prepared, like I wish I would have brought like something, something warm with me, but I wasn’t really resourceful in Afghanistan either.

With all the hardships we went trough, my parents never complained. Every year got better and better. Canada is a great country. We all love our new homeland, its people and open spaces. From the seven people that arrived on Pier 21 on May 15th, 1951, we are now 57 proud Canadians. Thank You Canada!!!

I came to Canada to visit my uncle and it didn't take me long to fall in love with this great Nation after stepping off the airport. The air, the environment, the people, the culture and the lively vibe of the city, things I have never experienced before.

We are grateful and thankful that we immigrated to Canada. If we had stayed in post-war Europe, none of us would have had the opportunities that Canada offered.

Pier 21 airing gallery. Origins unknown.

My father and his friends built our first house in 1953.

Pier 21, 1963, by photographer Ken Elliot. Canadian Museum of Immigration at Pier 21.

I arrived in Canada on July 1st, on Canada Day and it was very, very meaningful. In South America, we believe in signs and for me was a good sign that, that everything was going to be okay.

I never found those gold nuggets, however, Canada gave me more than gold. A place where freedom surpasses ones’ wildest dreams, where you can look at yourself in the mirror and be thankful for what you have accomplished. This is an immeasurable country, full of opportunities. God Bless this land. In 1955, I crossed the Atlantic Ocean, landed at Pier 21 with a small suitcase, a one way train ticket west and $50 bucks in my pocket. Canada is home, what more can I say "O’ CANADA" thank you.

"...We loved the taste of Canadian white bread, sliced at that! It tasted like cake to us and it was the first of many pleasant surprises..."

I moved to Canada when I was 16 (2010) It was hard at first, but people here are nice. I am now Canadian citizen. Thank ü Canada. HaHaHa...

R.M.S. Ascania, December 1947. Canadian Museum of Immigration at Pier 21.

...They went to buy bread. No one was able to speak English, and the store owner didn¹t speak Italian.

I came to Canada from Brazil when I was 5 years old. I remember I had to leave all my xmas gifts and friends behind in Rio. It was very hard. Also, we arrived in winter and found it hard to breath the cold air. I had to teach myself how to inhale short breaths to be able to take in the cold!

The second I land at the airport as overseas student, my gosh, that feeling was so great that I actually, you know, I was, I couldn’t stop smiling. It sounds weird, but I couldn’t stop smiling. Yeah, ‘cause it’s just hope and excitement and change.

At Pier 21, I was met by Immigration officials and after clearing the necessary paperwork, I received my landed immigrant stamp and boarded a train for Lethbridge, Alberta. My first recollection of a good Canadian meal came in the form of Kellogg’s Corn Flakes served in a mini-box. Never having seen this before, I wondered in amazement if everyone in Canada ate out of little one-meal boxes!

My mother came from Czechslovakia. They were running from Hitler because they were gypsies. I love Canada.

My brother was waiting for me in the airport, so. It was nice to see him after 17 years and then we came here and I got sick because it was so cold, and yeah that was one of the happiest day in my life, I think. And I never forget the day.

The year was 1953 as the ship pulled away from the docks of Naples. Leaving family, friends and possessions; Vincenzo Armenti said goodbye to his homeland. He also left behind memories of unemployment and destitution in a country still suffering from a devastating war. He set out for Canada in hopes of finding prosperity with a chance to work and earn money so his family could have a better life other than the certain poverty they faced in Italy.

It was a nervous and exciting experience to enter the new world with lots of hopes and countless confusions. The confusion was how will this country be for us, is it worth leaving everything back, the settled life, luxury and employment to face an unknown world of no one known to us. Going through rigorous immigration procedures and exploring the city to get the PR card, SIN card, opening bank accounts, housing and schooling relying on the internet and immigration flyers was an amazing experience, the smooth completion of all these procedures made us understand that Canada is no more a land of unknown. We are a diverse family here living in harmony. People here are very warm and friendly offering every help they could. Government trying its best for quick settlement of immigrants and strengthening the ties of humanity is highly commendable. Now we feel we are in the land of our own.

In 1948, over sixty years ago, Canadian representatives of the Immigration and Employment Department came to Malta to select young tradesmen to immigrate to Canada. I, Lewis Borg, was one of the 500 select to immigrate.

My advice would be…Stay warm in the winter. Stop in at a Tim Horton. Try moose meat at least once. And keep smiling.

Doppenberg family on board the M.S. Ryndam, 1960. Canadian Museum of Immigration at Pier 21.

We have had our share of sorrows, but also lots of joy. Life has been wonderful here in this marvelous country. I am thankful and grateful that I have had the opportunity to live here. Canada, in my opinion, the greatest country and the most generous, fine people to be found.

Doris Peter, Margaret Burt, and others in Toronto, 1940. Canadian Museum of Immigration at Pier 21.

My mother assured him that we only had personal belongings and oil and cheese, he marked the trunks with a check mark and away we went on the train. If course it wasn’t the whole truth because my grandmother was loaded up with liquor bottles sewed inside the coat she was wearing…

I once said "Mom, you were so brave to come to Canada as a war bride." "No", she replied, "Not 'brave' darling...just stupid.

I am so happy to live in Canada, in Halifax, Thank you!

When we passed customs and boarded the train they gave us two loafs of bread. Not knowing what it was I used it to play accordion as it was soft and flexible..

Italian immigrants on board the T.S.S. Nea Hellas, spring 1953. Canadian Museum of Immigration at Pier 21.

Schultz family on board the S.S. Fairsea, 4 Dec 1951. Canadian Museum of Immigration at Pier 21.

...Eventually the Customs and Immigration people were done processing us and we were free to leave the area.

We are grateful and thankful that we immigrated to Canada. If we had stayed in post-war Europe, none of us would have had the opportunities that Canada offered. As soon as it was legally possible, we became Canadians. Canada became our country and we love Canada.

Immigration Officer McFaul at Erin Meeting, Queens Hotel, October 1958.Canadian Museum of Immigration at Pier 21.

...At the train station my mom was told to buy some bread and a can of meat.

Hungarian Revolution Refugees in 1956 / Jewish Public Library Archives.

Arriving in New York harbor on 12th October, shipyard workers re-painted the huge American flag on each side of Washington’s hull, advertising her neutral status. Andrew’s underpants, hung out the porthole to dry, received a coat of red paint. I never learned which of the original 13 colonies they were baptized by.

Evacuee children on board the S.S. Duchess of Bedford, 1939. Canadian Museum of Immigration at Pier 21.

Greek Hellenic youth, 1949. Image courtesy of the Delefes family.

M.S. Saturnia, April 1959. Canadian Museum of Immigration at Pier 21.

My parents, brother and I would like to thank the Canadian government and its people for allowing us to be part of them, and we are. May God Bless this beautiful land called Canada

...Before boarding the train, my mother went to a nearby convenience store to purchase some food.

I give thanks for Canada because Canada helped me and family to start life again and also thanks to everyone who helped the Syrian people to stop bloodshed. I hope with all my heart to live in Canada lasting peace and getting stronger ever time.
Mohammad October 13, 2016

Thank-You Canada for making this Beautiful country my Home for me and my beautiful family. And Thank You for making it all possible

...For our train trip, we were given ten dollars per person to get us to our destination, enough to buy that pure soft cottony white bread we had never seen before.

Heads or tails" father said as he balanced the coin on his fingertips. "Tails", mother said without hesitation. The coin flipping ceremony was decided upon after many hours of heated discussion, ending in a stalemate. They had agreed to emigrate, the choice was between Australia and Canada. Mother opted for the former because her sister had emigrated to Free mantle in the late thirties. She married an Aussie soon after her arrival; her letters were filled with glowing commentaries of life down under. Father, on the other hand, had relatives in Canada, who also wrote urging him to take advantage of the many opportunities waiting in Canada. They agreed to let the coin decide.

...At first the soft white sliced bread tasted like cake to me

Estonian refugees, date unknown. Canadian Museum of Immigration at Pier 21.

Canada allowed me to become a Canadian Citizen, gifted me a future, one of freedom of speech and religion, the opportunity to make choices, allowing me to determine my future! I am eternally grateful to Canada for all of these gifts and privileges!

The Netherlands is our country of birth and always will be our homeland but now we are Canadian. We will be forever grateful to the staff and all who were, and are now, associated with Pier 21

S.S. Queen Frederica, March 1958. Image courtesy of the Brana family.

It was the Canadian Red Cross that came to our aid when our house in London was bomb damaged during the war. I was 11 years of age and vividly remember the boxes of clothing and food they delivered to our door. I promised myself that I would go to Canada one day.

My first feelings about Canada, Halifax and the new world, were a mixture of confusion, terror and curiosity. While on board the Britannic waiting to dock I became aware of the requirement that upon arrival we were to be taken to a "hall". To my Hungarian ears that notion sounded unusual. You see in Hungarian, "Hal" with one "L" means "fish", so I imagined that we were all to be taken into a giant fish! And the smells upon arrival at Halifax did not do much to convince me otherwise.

I was born in Denmark (1931) and raised in Jylland. As a teen-ager I was endowed with an adventurous spirit; as I read stories of pioneering in Canada, I determined that I would someday emigrate to that country.

As soon as we landed at Toronto airport, that was amazing the peace and the comfort, I had in my heart, in my body, I cannot explain, I was just standing outside the airport and I was just shivering, like oh my God, so finally we are in Canada.

…In 1966 we bought our first house in Etobicoke, a suburb of Toronto

Red Cross nurses during the Second World War. Canadian Museum of Immigration at Pier 21.

We feel lucky that they are all growing up in the most wonderful country in the world. I will always remember where I came from but it is who I am now that matters.

In 1963 we bought our first house in West Vancouver

I look back on how Canada has changed me and my values. I think the hardest part of emigrating was changing the way I believed things should be done. I was brought up to understand that the British knew how to do things correctly.

One of my funniest memories," Bette continued, "was the day we landed at Halifax. We were so eager to get off the boat but they told us that the train had already left. When we finally departed, every time the train stopped we all jumped off and mailed letters to our husbands to let them know we were coming. We thought the letter would arrive the next day same as in Britain! We had no idea.

...I felt wonderful to be in a new country.

...Actually I already know a few words. When a man comes around selling food I just say, "Ham sandvits!"

Your anthem dearest Canada we sing with pride and thanks
From the heart of all the immigrants who landed on your banks.
Our family came aboard the ship they call the Volendam
In nineteen hundred fifty one, a Canadian to become.

To Canada, we are also grateful, for allowing us the opportunity to become part of this great nation; for accepting us for what we were and for allowing us to become what we are, proud Canadians.

Unidentified evacuee children on board the S.S. Bayano, August 1940. Canadian Museum of Immigration at Pier 21.

One thing I can smell even today was the Wonder Sliced Bread