Enrollment options
Optional Print Course Material: Canadian: Immigration Records
*Course material will only be sent to students who are registered in the course.
The study and understanding of immigration is more than just dates and ships’ lists. Learning where our ancestors came from, and why, is a major goal for family historians. Canada was a beacon drawing waves of hopeful immigrants, even before it became a country in its own right.
The course will emphasize the “push-pull” principle underlying two centuries of population growth, including significant emigrant groups, travel routes, government policies, sponsored and assisted settlement plans, ports of arrival, ships’ passenger lists, North American border crossings, naturalization and citizenship. Each module will cover at least one immigration group or programme which made a significant contribution to the settlement and growth of Canada.
Attention is given to special collections such as Home Children and Russian Consular records. Students will learn about access to such sources and strategies for making the important connection to the ancestral country of origin.
Course Length: 7 weeksMODULE 1
INTRODUCTION
Why Did People Emigrate?
Historical Context and Immigration Policy
French Rule
British Rule
Hudson’s Bay Company Inland Posts
MODULE 2
CANADA 1867 ONWARDS
OVERVIEW OF IMMIGRATION GROUPS AND RESOURCES BY PROVINCE
Census
Land Records
MODULE 3
BACKGROUND
Upper Canada Land Petitions - Darley
Notable Names and Events
United Empire Loyalists
Upper Canada Land Petition
The Maroons
Lord Selkirk
Red River Settlement Map
Settlement of Ontario After The Napoleonic Wars
The Petworth Emigration Scheme
Land Companies
The Philadelphia Land Company & Alexander McNutt
The Canada Company
The New Brunswick and Nova Scotia Land Company
The British American Land Company
The Quebec and Megantic Land Company
Western Land Grants
The North Atlantic Trading Company
Political Boundaries of the Prairie West 1870-1912
MODULE 4
ESTABLISHMENT OF A CANADIAN IMMIGRATION SERVICE
Ocean Ports
Castle Garden
Ellis Island
Pier 21
Quarantine Stations
Grosse Île
Articles from Quebec Mercury
Other Quarantine Stations
Passenger Lists and The Location of Records
Prior to 1865
Library and Archives Canada
Other Sources for Passenger Lists
Arrivals from Other Parts of North America
Border Crossings and Immigration Policy
Crossing into the U.S. — “St Albans Lists”
Other Immigration Records
Records of the Sick and Destitute
MODULE 5
HOME CHILDREN
Background of the Home Child Movement
Canadian Research Sources
LAC/BIFHSGO Home Child Database
Government Inspection Reports
Other Canadian Sources
British Research Sources
Agencies
Church of England Waifs and Strays Society
MODULE 6
IMMIGRATION POLICY IN THE 20TH CENTURY – AN OVERVIEW
Immigration Act of 1910
Immigration Policy 1915-1945
Post WWII Policy
The Ukrainians
The Hungarians
NATURALIZATION AND CANADIAN CITIZENSHIP
20th Century Naturalization
The Citizenship Act of 1947
Passports
War Brides
SPECIAL COLLECTIONS
LI-RA-MA Consular Records
LI-RA-MA Examples
National Registration File 1940
Records of the Immigration Branch (RG 76)
Immigrants from China
Immigrant Ancestors Project – Brigham Young University