Major Immigrant Groups

The Doukhobors

The Doukhobors are a distinct religious group who are peaceful in nature, live in isolation with one another, and believe in the brotherhood and sisterhood of all men and women. Doukhobors were persecuted against in their native Russia because of their religious beliefs and were forced to live in isolated areas of the Russian empire, such as southern Russia, Ukraine, and Siberia, by the Russian government. Many Doukhobors came to western Canada to escape this persecution.

Doukhobors were considered ideal immigrants by Canadian authorities because of their agricultural experience. The Doukhobors negotiated their immigration with the Canadian government and were granted three blocks of land in the North-West Territories, now Saskatchewan, where they could live as they wished. The Canadian government granted them conscientious objector status in 1898 which granted them the right to refuse to participate in any armed conflict. 7500 Doukhobors settled in Saskatchewan and Alberta in the following years. Years later, many moved to British Columbia when the Canadian government went back on their promise of allowing this group to live together in isolation, forced them to live on individual homesteads and also to pledge their allegiance to Canada.