Major Immigrant Groups

The British

The majority of immigrants to come to Canada before the First World War were originally from the British Isles. The period between 1896 and 1914 saw the greatest wave of British immigration that Canada had ever witnessed. Sadly, a large number of these immigrants were British “Home Children”. These were young people who lived in the slums of Britain. They were shipped to Canada to serve as a cheap source of labour on Canadian farms. Some of these children were then abused in their new homes. Prior to 1914, 50,000 of these children were recruited and imported to Canada. Many of these children were encouraged by their parents to go to Canada. Their parents thought they would have a better chance for a good life there. Others were snatched off the streets and sent to Canada by individuals who believed that they were doing the right thing.

One of these individuals was Thomas John Barnardo who, beginning in 1871, sent over thirty thousand young people to Canada from London, England. “Doctor” Barnardo received thousands of pounds from the British public. He searched the streets of London for poor, malnourished children, and used the funding to rehabilitate these children in his Barnardo’s Homes for Destitute Girls and Boys. In 1882, he established a fourteen square mile Industrial Farm at Russell, Manitoba, where these children lived and worked. Despite the circumstances surrounding this operation, there were very few complaints from the children of being abused or victimized.