10 key points to explore the history of Canadian immigration

This year, Canada celebrated its 153rd Canada Day, a national holiday marking the anniversary of Canadian confederation, which occurred in 1867.    Over the years, immigrants from different countries have arrived in Canada and made the country their home.

 To celebrate Canada day, ImmigToronto has listed a few facts to give you insights into Canadian immigration history. Let us begin!

(1) July 1 memorializes the unification of three original provinces of Canada into one nation, which took place in 1867. The original provinces are:

1. Nova Scotia, 
2. New Brunswick, and
3. The Province of Canada (currently, Quebec and Ontario).

As of today, Canada has expanded into three territories and ten provinces. Canada day marks the year into half, as July 1 is the 182nd day of the year, with 183 days remaining. (2) The immigration is a shared responsibility of the federal government of Canada and governments of provinces and territories, defines the Constitution Act,1867. The decision was made considering the experience of the original provinces in recruiting immigrants from Europe before1867. Immigration has always been seen as a vital component for Canada’s economy, and participation from provinces and territories has been playing an essential role since Canada’s founding. (3) In 1967, Canada introduced a new system to nominate immigrants from economic class. With the effect of this, Canada became the world’s first country to introduce a points-based system to select immigration applicants. The purpose was to assess applicants based on human capital factors such as age, educational qualifications, work experience, language ability, and adaptability. Later, this model was adopted by various other countries, including New Zealand and Australia. Since then, Canada is using the point-based system to rank potential immigrants; for instance, the federal Express Entry system runs on the Comprehensive Ranking System to score and select applicants. (4) In 1968, Quebec became Canada’s first province to introduce a designated immigration ministry. Quebec wanted to uphold its Francophone character and political intimidation within Canada at the time. The province realized that welcoming more immigrants to the province is a crucial step in the play. Thirty years later, in 1998, Manitoba became the first province of Canada to associate with the federal government to launch a Provincial Nominee Program (PNP). Currently, out of 13 provinces and territories of Canada, 12 have their immigrant nominee programs to support their economies. Together, Canada has more than 80 immigration programs to welcome skilled foreign workers to the country. (5) The census conducted in 2016 showed that around 22% of the Canadian population were immigrants back then. Currently, Canada is home to almost 38 million people. Every year, thousands of immigrants from around 200 different countries arrive in Canada. (6) On February 15, 1965, Canada’s flag became the official flag of the nation. The flag on the Peace Tower of Parliament in Ottawa, the capital city, is changed daily and distributed free to the citizens. On the contrary, if you want to request a flag online, the Canadian government’s website shows a waiting period of over 100 years. (7) Prior to the Canadian Citizenship Act of January 1, 1947, anyone born in Canada was contained under British titles. In other words, Canadian citizens did not possess legal status. The Act outlined who all will be considered as Canadian citizens, and what is the procedure to obtain or lose citizenship. Canada has one of the world’s highest neutralization rates, with almost 85% of immigrants obtaining citizenship in the country. (8) Canada has introduced immigration-serving organizations to help and support new immigrants to integrate into Canada’s economy without any fee. As of now, Canada has more than 500 immigration-serving organizations. They offer job training, English and French language classes, and other types of assistance to the newcomers. You can locate these organizations by checking the federal government’s IRCC website. (9) Marking the immigration history of Canada, the country has built a museum of immigration. Situated at Pier 21, located in Halifax, Nova Scotia, the location was chosen for the Canadian museum of immigration as Pier 21 welcomed around one million immigrants to the country between 1928 to 1971. (10) Canada has welcomed more than 19.5 million immigrants to the country since 1867. Canada has always valued global talent and understands the importance of immigrants for the nation’s economy; thus, the country is committed to welcome maximum immigrants to the country in current adverse times as well. Before the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, Canada decided that within the coming three years, the nation will welcome over one million new immigrants to the country.  Cheers to all the Canadians and the Canadians to be! Find out if you are eligible for any Canadian immigration programs