Canadian Immigrants

As the west was developing, the number of immigrants migrating to Canada increased. Some hoped that they would have a new start; where some may have expected a better life than they had prior to Canada. Yet, it did not go as expectedly for most of them. The reality of farming for new settlers, different experiences that were brought upon minority racial groups, and the harsh treatment of immigrants after settling not only illustrates but exposes the unique change that was brought amongst settlers and immigrants.

Farming in the west for new settlers was difficult since it required patience, capital, and then the full workforce employment by the family; simply known as homestead. Homesteading was a process of settling on a provided 160 acre of land under the Dominion Lands Act of 1872 for free, except the registration free that was $10. Settling and then starting farming on new land require patience because cultivation would not grow quick as it is an obvious factor and needed a lot of physical effort. In addition, to have the free land that you were given, they had to farm in a specific area and build a house within three years (Nickel, Lecture 4). Machineries and other farming goods were either not available or had a high cost where most of the work was done physically. Barbara Alice Slater was an English woman who experienced the difficulty in homesteading with her husband. Life was difficult for her since she not only had to cultivate but to meet new neighbors, build a house and then raise her children (Dryden & Myers, 1987). Incorporating from the article, “Despite the dawn-to-dark round of work, she understood that the success of the homestead required this effort on the part of both husband and wife” (Dryden & Myers, P. 17)...

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Dryden, J., & Myres, S. (1987). Homesteading on Canadian Prairies: The Letters of Barbara Alice Slater, 1909-1918. JSTOR. Retrieved January 31, 2014, from http://www.jstor.org/stable/4519028

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