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TheGreat Migration of Canada (also known as theGreat Migration from Britain or thefirst wave of immigration to Canada) was a period of highimmigration to Canada from 1815 to 1850, which involved over 800,000 immigrants, mainly ofBritish andIrish origin.[1] Though Europe was becoming richer through theIndustrial Revolution,population growth made the relative number of jobs low, forcing many to look to theNew World for economic success, especially Canada and the United States.[2]
In the late-18th and early-19th century, there occurred a transition in parts ofGreat Britain's previously manual-labor-based economy towards machine-based manufacturing. It started with the mechanization of thetextile industries, the development ofiron-making techniques, and the increased use ofrefined coal.
It was at the same time met with a rapid population explosion. A slow rise in quality of living standards throughout the past 200 years allowed more children to survive and made childbearing more economic. Jobs that were previously done by poor peasants could now be done even cheaper by machinery, and this led to the loss of many jobs. The combined effects made it difficult for some to find jobs, leading them to look to thecolonies in the Americas for work.[3]
As the Industrial Revolution began in Britain, the first immigrants, who were the majority, of the Great Migration were British (English and Scottish) and made up 60% of Canada's immigrant population and so were the largest group in Canada.[4][failed verification] The Great Migration encouraged immigrants to settle in Canada after theWar of 1812, includingBritish army regulars who had served in that war.
Worried about another American attempt at invasion and to counter the French-speaking influence of Quebec, colonial governors of Canada rushed to promote settlement inbackcountry areas along newly-constructed plank roads within organized land tracts, mostly inUpper Canada (nowOntario).
Irish immigrants to Canada first came as workers, ornavvies, in the 1820 to the 1840s, mostly to Ontario, Quebec, and New Brunswick. They increased in small numbers to organize land settlements and mostly to work oncanals,timber,railroads. Between 1846 and 1849, much of Irish immigration would come as result of people escaping theGreat Famine of Ireland.[5] As such, hundreds of thousands more Irish migrants arrived on Canada's shores, with a portion migrating to theUnited States in the short term or over the subsequent decades.
Other people from other countries migrated as well.Americans went toBritish Columbia to look for gold, a material that was quickly evaporating because of theCalifornia gold rush. Also,Chinese went toBritish Columbia to help build theCanadian Pacific Railway and to escape war and famine in their own country. Those migrations can be considered apart from those in earlier times.
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The Great Migration had profound impacts on Canadian culture and identity. Before 1815, 80% ofEnglish-speaking Canadians were exiles or immigrants from the13 American colonies or their descendants. Because of this, until the 1830s,English Canada had pronounced American cultural 'flavour' in spite of the political divide over membership in the British Empire and independence. This may account even today for many cultural similarities.
At the beginning of the Great Migration, when the total population of Canada was approximately half a million, Canadians of French descent (known asCanadiens) outnumbered those of British descent. By the end of the period, however, the English-Canadian population was double that of the French-Canadian population out of a total of 2.4 million. The British Canadians also expanded intoLower Canada, which caused contentions with the French-Canadian subjects. Crowded conditions on immigrant ships led to periodic outbreaks in diseases such ascholera in Lower Canada which spread to local urban populations and resulted in increased use of quarantine facilities such asGrosse Isle, Quebec andPartridge Island, New Brunswick. The impact also had more British influence onBritish North America, further assimilating the French residents of Lower Canada.
it is fairly clear that up to 1800 or maybe 1750, no society had experienced sustained growth in per capita income. (Eighteenth-century population growth also averaged one-third of 1.0 percent, the same as production growth.) That is, up to about two centuries ago, per capitalincomes in all societies were stagnated at around $400 to $800 per year.
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