• Fred Carter
    … Fred Carter was born July 23, 1900 in Manchester, England and immigrated to Canada arriving in Quebec City … but it was so poor that his father took a job seeding land 12 miles away and only came home on weekends. The barn they built housed them and … From 1915-1917 Fred worked on various ranches and was a delivery boy in town, being cared for by various people in Shaunavon and Swift …
  • Movement of War Brides and Their Children through Pier 21
    by Jan Raska, PhD, Historian (Updated June 22, 2022) Introduction: Canadian Immigration before the Arrival of War Brides and Their Children From 1945 to 1947, Canada’s immigration controls remained restrictive. Although a majority of labour organizations opposed the liberalization of immigration …
  • Entrenching Refugee Rights in Canada: The 1985 Singh Decision
    by Jan Raska, PhD, Historian Introduction: Up to the early 1980s, refugee claimants had the possibility of appealing a negative outcome to their refugee claims. However, Canada’s refugee determination system remained partial to the interests of the Canadian government rather than the claimant. The …
  • Hooks for History: Using a Building Model to Introduce Complex Pasts
    by Steve Schwinghamer, Historian (Updated July 20, 2021) Our Museum is located at a National Historic Site: Halifax’s historical immigration facility at Pier 21. One of the principal tasks for the Museum has been to introduce and orient visitors to the historic place as they stand in the converted, …
  • What does PEACE look like to you?
    … It is a glowing success, attracting about 6,000 visitors in just six weeks. One of the elements that make it so successful is the activities … and it gives a great opportunity to contribute in a meaningful way. Some of the tiles might make you laugh; others will pull at your …
  • Port of Entry, Process and Gatekeepers – A History of Immigration at the Port of Quebec during the Great Depression
    … by Jan Raska, PhD, Historian (Updated October 14, 2020) In May 2015, the Canadian Museum of Immigration at Pier 21 opened new … history of immigration to Canada. This blog is based on research that informs these new exhibits. Introduction From the eighteenth century onwards, Quebec City’s … and Gatekeepers – A History of Immigration at the Port of Quebec during the Great Depression …
  • Kinship, Inclusion, and Exclusion in Canadian Immigration History
    … Canadian officials to broaden immigration for the sake of settling the West, but it is absolutely not about enlarging the idea of desirable … also severe cuts in spending as Superintendent of Indian Affairs, as well as the signature of Treaty 8. Sifton’s preoccupation with agricultural settlement in Western Canada is well-known, and his direct authority to create the …
  • Immigration from the US - Biographies
    … Bruce Campbell Bolin was born in 1946 in Detroit Michigan. He grew up in Dearborn Michigan with his mother, father and older brother. He …
  • Signs of Agency in Refugee Narratives
    … country, he focused on Canada because it sounded exotic to him. “As a boy I read quite a few books of Jack London...It shaped in my mind that …
  • Un/Wanted? Canada and the Resettlement of Chilean, Indochinese and Somali Refugees
    … by Jan Raska, PhD, Historian (Updated October 19, 2020) Introduction After the Second World War, Canada’s response to international refugee crises varied, driven by Cold War ideology, economic self-interest, humanitarian considerations, political necessity, and public … Un/Wanted? Canada and the Resettlement of Chilean, Indochinese and Somali Refugees …