Canada’s Selective Immigration Strategy: an Evolution (Part 1/6)

Canadians from coast to coast have expressed concern about the pending drastic changes to the rules surrounding immigration buried in the 400-page omnibus bill. As the House of Commons debates the voluminous bill, little time is devoted to dissecting the hundreds of policy changes. Those Canadians who study history regard the new rules with a different lens -- a return to tactics of yesteryear, of which few are proud today. Let us take a stroll through Canadian immigration memory lane.

1867 -- A NATIONAL "OPEN-DOOR" POLICY
Following Confederation, the newly formed country of Canada began to develop its own national immigration policies. Its open-door policy helped attract a more diverse group of arrivals than ever before, but not all the new immigrants were welcomed with open arms.

1870s - BRITISH JUVENILE DELINQUENTS WELCOME
Between 1869 and the 1930s, Canada received over 100,000 juvenile immigrants from the British Isles. Most of these children had been brought up in poverty, and were homeless or living in the urban slums of the UK. Some were accused or even convicted of crimes. (cough.) Ottawa did not view their shortcomings as a barrier to immigration however.

1885 – HALTING CHINESE VIA HEFTY HEAD TAX
To avoid spoiling Canada-China relations, the federal government could not outright forbid Chinese immigration. Therefore, Canada passed the Chinese Immigration Act, which put a hefty head tax on Chinese immigrants in the hopes that this would deter them from entering Canada. No other ethnic group had to pay this kind of tax at the time. The head tax would prove to be profitable for the federal government, while effectively stifling the flow of Chinese newcomers. As the tax increased a number of times reaching $500 in 1904 (over $12,000 in 2012 dollars), it would prevent wives and families from joining their husbands or fathers in Canada.

Next: Part 2 of 6

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