After
the First World War, the Canadian government cautiously resumed the task of
filling the West with settlers. Initial attempts at attracting primarily
British
migrants were fairly successful, but the vast majority of Britons immigrating to
Canada at this time eventually settled in towns and cities and not on prairie
farms.
Additionally, there were nearly as many people leaving Alberta for the United
States as there were arriving to the province. In 1924 the United States had
adopted a quota severely restricting European immigration. As this quota did not
apply to native-born Canadians, and combined with severe drought conditions in
central and southeastern Alberta, thousands of
homesteaders pulled up stakes and headed south for greener pastures in the
United States.
Immigration policy was adjusted to find a source
of "agriculturalists." To this end, in 1925 the Canadian government signed the
Railway Agreement with
Canadian National Railways and the
Canadian Pacific Railway.
The railway companies were given the authority to recruit immigrants from
agricultural areas in eastern, southern and central Europe.
Often, the railways
broke the terms of the agreement by going over quotas and by using it to bring
in inexpensive labour when employment in Canada was not guaranteed. The American
quota had potential European migrants now coming to Canada and, partially as a
result of the agreement, 35,000 of Alberta's immigrants in the 1920s came from
this part of the world.
The railway's introduction
in the West spurred great changes. How did it effect travel between
Edmonton and Calgary? Find out in this episode of CKUA's Heritage
Trails.[Listen]
Italian Immigrants started arriving in
Alberta in small numbers in the early 1880's. Often, the Italians
came to Alberta to find work in mining or with the railways. Learn
more in theCelebrating Alberta's Italian Communitywebsite
in Alberta's Online Encyclopedia,
www.AlbertaSource.ca!