Canada's Immigration Classes 



In the resumption of immigration on a sub- 

 stantial scale in the post-war period there have 

 been several features of a gratifying nature to 

 the Dominion of Canada. Canada as a bourne 

 for new hopes, an outlet for pent-up energies, a 

 land of great future for the creation of new homes 

 has appealed to the highest and most intelligent 

 types of people who have flocked thither in a 

 resistless avalanche. Many of these people are 

 possessed of substantial capital which they are 

 investing in the farm lands and industries of the 

 Dominion. Striking and pleasing, too, is the 

 evidence of the main stream bound for the land, 

 for those expansive, fertile partially cultivated 

 tracts, the greater productivity of which is the 

 prime factor of Canadian development. 



It has been agreed among the best authorities 

 on the question, in the absence of reliable statis- 

 tics, that immigrants from the British Isles have 

 brought with them in the past approximately 

 $100 per head to make a start in their new home. 

 This figure was based on estimates of pre-war 

 immigration, and whilst there are no statistics 

 to go upon for the period since the war it would 

 be safe to assume that for the year 1920, for 

 instance, it could be considerably raised and still 

 be conservative. The group hit most directly 

 and severely by the war in England, and in 

 which there is a greater proportion looking for a 

 betterment of conditions in new fields, was the 

 middle class, and this class has been found to 

 largely compose the crowds which leave the 

 liners at Canada's ports of entry. 



Per Capita Wealth of Immigrants 



The per capita wealth of persons immigrating 

 from the United States has always maintained a 

 much higher level, being largely in excess of the 

 average from the British Isles, due without doubt 

 to the large proportion of farmers who have sold 

 their old holdings to purchase new farms in the 

 Dominion. Varying estimates have been made 

 by immigration authorities up to $1,150 per 

 person, and it would seem a very fair estimate 

 to take an average of $500. 



A survey of immigration for the year 1920 

 illustrates the distribution of the various classes 

 which make for the most agreeable assimilation. 

 It is gratifying to find that still the overwhelming 

 majority of immigrants went on the land. Of the 

 adult immigrants entering Canada by ocean 

 ports and border ports, 19,185 were of the 

 farming class or declared their intention of 

 settling on farms; 6,821 were laborers; 9,283 

 mechanics; 2,720 were of the trading class; 538 

 miners; 996 female servants, and 9,721 un- 

 classified. 



The gratifying feature of United States immi- 

 gration to Canada has always been its large 

 proportion of farmers and agriculturalists, and in 



the year 1920 this was substantially main- 

 tained, of the 19,185 men who intended following 

 the profession of farming, 16,177 being from the 

 various agricultural states of the Union. The 

 laboring class accounted for 3,882, or a little 

 more than half of the total of this transient 

 calling. There were 5,931 mechanics or more 

 than half of the total machinists. The trading 

 class from the United States accounted for 

 almost the total of this category with 2,008 out 

 of 2,720, whilst the 342 miners made up more 

 than two-thirds of the immigrating total of this 

 class of labor. Of the total 996 female servants 

 listed on the returns, 578 came from across the 

 line. There were 6,842 tabulated as un- 

 classified. 



Many British Industrials 



British immigration to Canada has always 

 had a tendency towards the industrial centres 

 rather than the land, and with 800 followers in 

 the 1920 figures, the class of mechanics looms up 

 largest, those who avowed their intention of 

 following agriculture accounting for just more 

 than half this number with 472. There were 340 

 laborers and 186 of the trading class. Whilst only 

 86 are listed from the British Isles as domestic 

 servants, this would presuppose the omission 

 from statistics of those government conducted 

 special parties of this class of labor which reached 

 fairly high figures. There were 598 persons from 

 the British Isles entered in Canada as of un- 

 classified professions and callings. 



The United States human contribution to 

 Canada is always most pleasing on account of its 

 locating where most needed ; Great Britain is apt 

 to send more to the industrial centres than to 

 the land, and laborers and female servants are 

 largely made up of those immigrants coming from 

 other European countries. The maintaining of 

 an equitable balance of classes in 1920, as illus- 

 trated by the figures, has made for rapid and 

 agreeable assimilation, the most valuable asset 

 in development in times of economic stress. 



The Labor Situation 



A survey of the labor situation in Canada 

 for the month of May, 1921, is more encouraging 

 than for some time past, and warrants optimism 

 for the immediate future. The review discloses 

 a further decline in the cost of living, as illus- 

 trated in the cost of a weekly family budget of 

 staple goods, and a general improvement in 

 wholesale and retail trade throughout the 

 Dominion. There was an increase in the volume 

 of employment, activity being especially notice- 

 able in building construction, the value of 

 permits taken out being nearly double of that 

 of the month of March. 



In the logging industry, there was a decline 

 in the Maritimes, due to the completion of river 

 driving. I n the provinces of Ontario and Quebec, 



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