Canadian Immigration Policy Essay Research Paper Immigration

Canadian Immigration Policy Essay, Research Paper

Immigration has been an important factor of population growth in Canada. Between the years of 1851 to 1996 over 13.5 million immigrants entered Canada (see Appendix 1), mostly from Western Europe and Great Britain (Grindstaff, 1998:435). The number of immigrants admitted into Canada is regulated by Canadian Immigration Act and its policies, which are, in turn, regulated by federal and provincial governments (Jackson & Jackson, 1998: 86). Historically, early Canadian immigration policies were largely discriminative; thus immigration policies and regulations have changed, mostly to eliminate explicit discrimination on the basis of race or nationality.

The first Immigration Act was established in 1869, when the British North American Act gave the responsibility of immigration to federal and provincial governments. This immigration act did not have any specific rules and regulations about who can or who cannot enter and live in Canada. Thus, between the years of 1869 to 1895 1.5 million people immigrated to Canada (Kubat, 1993:25). These new settlers were mostly British labourers, eastern European peasants, and American farmers (Jackson & Jackson, 1898: 86).

However, between the years of 1881 and 1884 about 15,701 Chinese labourers entered Canada, most of them as a .cheap labourers. for the construction of Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR). Knowles (1997:50) also points out that .without these Chinese labourers the construction and completion of the CPR would have been postponed indefinitely.. Yet, because the Canadian federal government favoured .white. British, American, and Northern Europeans immigrants, .non-white. immigrants, Chinese particularly, were no longer welcomed in Canada. Thus, upon the completion of the CPR, a new act was passed in 1885 .to restrict and regulate Chinese immigration. (Knowles, 1997:50). This new policy did not prohibit the Chinese from entering Canada; yet the Chinese immigrants had to pay a $50 head tax in order to be allowed to enter Canada. Yet, .the whites. from British Columbia were not satisfied with $50, and so the tax was raised to $100 per person of Chinese origin entering Canada in 1900, and later to $500 in 1903 (Knowles, 1997: 51).

Moreover, between the years of 1906 and 1907 about 7,000 new immigrants entered British Columbia, mostly of Japanese and east Indian origin. This new wave of .non-white. immigrants created a great deal of unrest in British Columbia.s .white. residents. As a result of this dissatisfaction, Vancouver residents started to rebel against the admission of the Japanese into British Columbia, due to their fear of .a Japanese invasion. (Knowles, 1997:92). Hence, the federal government of Canada passed a bill in the Immigration Act of 1910, known as the . continuous journey regulation.. This regulation prohibited an entry to Canada to any immigrants, who did not came directly from their country; without any other stops at any other ports along the way (Knowles, 1997:93). Thus, this new regulation made it impossible for the Japanese and east Indians to enter Canada, because there were no direct steamship service from either country into Canada (Knowles, 1997:93).

After a while, the federal government was once again pressured from British Columbia on the issue of Chinese immigration into British Columbia. Therefore, the Immigration Act 1923 was passed, which banned all Chinese from entry to Canada, except .members of the diplomatic corps, children born in Canada to Chinese parents, students, and merchants who had a minimum of $2,500 invested in a business for at least three years and who were prepared to invest at least $2,500 in a business in Canada. (Knowles, 1997:107). Because of this restriction, only twenty five Chinese people entered Canada between the years of 1923 and 1946 (Knowles, 1997:107).

During the years of World War II, Japanese Canadians had to endure another discriminating phase from the federal government of Canada. After the bombing of Pearl Harbor in 1941, the federal government ordered the confiscation of Japanese-Canadians. properties, and all Japanese aliens had to register with the RCMP (Knowles, 1997:124). Afterward, as many as 22,000 Japanese-Canadians were relocated into various detention camps and unsettled areas in British Columbia. Also, many of the Japanese-Canadians were relocated to work in the sugar beet fields in Alberta, Manitoba, and Ontario. The end of WW II, however, did not put an end to these restrictions against Japanese-Canadians. Almost 4,000 Japanese were ordered by the federal government to leave Canada for Japan, even though most of these Japanese were either Canadian-born or new Canadian citizens (Knowles, 1997:124).

After WW II, there was a large movement of immigrants from Europe to Canada. The government welcomed the new wave of immigrants from Europe, thus the Canadian government introduced its Canadian Citizenship Act of 1946. This new wave of immigrants was aimed to increase the Canadian standard of living. New immigrants were expected to help to develop Canadian resources, which would increase the domestic market and, thus, decrease Canada.s independence on the export of primary products (Hawkins, 1989:37). However, Prime Minister Mackenzie King stated that this new policy would be a selective one, in order to avoid .a large-scale immigration from the Orient,. an